The Hermit

A hooded old man, bent forward, holds a lamp within which shines a sun; his path is a field of wheat, and before him coil a serpent and the spermatozoon-like Orphic egg. Cerberus, the three-headed dog, follows at his heel.

Yod, the hand, on path 20 from Chesed to Tiphareth: the hand of the Father, the seed-letter from which all the others are formed. Yod is the first letter of the Tetragrammaton, so the Hermit is the hidden fatherhood that fertilises the world without being seen.

Virgo, mutable Earth, ruled by Mercury, which is also exalted here: the virgin harvest, discrimination, the seed and the wheat. The decans of Virgo are the Eight, Nine and Ten of Disks.

Nine, the Naples number of stability and Yesod, and Yod's value 10, the completion of a cycle in a single point. The lamp holds the sun of Tiphareth in the smallest possible vessel.

The Wise Old Man as inner guide, and the introverted turn that individuation requires at midlife. His shadow is the withdrawal that never returns to share its light.

Waite's hermit on the mountain top holds a lantern with a star; Crowley's carries the sun itself, walks through wheat and is accompanied by the serpent, the egg and Cerberus, so that the card becomes an image of hidden fertility rather than only of retreat.