On the Hermit
Gébellin on the Hermit
I translate
No. VIIII. or IX
The Wise man or the Seeker of Truth and of what is Right ["du Juste" = of the just, true, right, correct]
Number IX. represents a venerable philospher in a long coat, hood over his shoulders: he walks bowed over his walking stick and holding a lantern in his right hand. It is the wise man who seeks Justice and Virtue.
This Egyptien painting makes one think of the Story of Diogenes who, lantern in hand, seeks a man in broad daylight. Witicisms [bons mots], especially epigramatic ones, belong to every century, and Diogenes was the man to put this picture into action.
The cardmakers have made a Hermit of this wise man. That is pretty well envisioned on their part: the Philosophers live volontarily in a retreat, where they can escape the frivolity of the world [siècle]. Heraclide was seen as crazy by his fellow citizens: in the East ["Orient"], furthermore, to devote oneself to speculative sciences or to be a hermit, is practically one and the same thing. The Egyptian Hermits had nothing over the Indian Hermits, or the Buddhist Monks of Thailand [Talapoins de Siam]: they were or are all so many Druids.
There are a few (obscure perhaps to us but not to readers of Gébellin's time) References that ought to be clarified.
Diogenes: The
Wikipedia explains - He is the witty, cynical, Greek philosopher, who lived in a tub, and "used to stroll through the Agora with a torch at full daylight. When asked about it, he would answer "I am just looking for an honest man".
When Gébellin says Diogenes was just the man to put the "bons mots" into action - you have to read the wikipedia article - I think he is thinking of how Diogenes acted out his witty/cynical ideas instead of saying them. Looking for a wise man with a torch in broad daylight is one example -- in another example:
[...]Alexander [the Great] found the philosopher rummaging through a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave."
He made of himself a sort of living epigram, how perfect that it be turned into a tarot card.
(from the wikipedia: "An epigram is is a short poem with a clever twist at the end or a concise and witty statement. They are among the best examples of the power of poetry to compress insight and wit.")
I find it fascinating that he makes the comparison between scientists, Indian Hermits, Greek philosophers, and Buddhist monks, and then goes on to say "They are all so many Druids". -- all just druids in disguise. -- all retiring from the world, and concentrating deeply inward. I wonder if he is the first person to think of the Druids in seeing this card?