Yesterday I wrote about The Hermit as the year card for 2025. Here is another snippet from the tarot magic book I’m working on—it is about using The Hermit in tarot spells.
Tarot Spells: When The Hermit card comes up in a reading, you can look for interesting graphic associations if the Hermit is holding up his lantern to an adjoining card. For example, The High Priestess card often denotes secrets or hidden knowledge, so (using the RWS deck) The Hermit appearing to the right of the Priestess would indicate his help in illuminating the mysteries that the High Priestess conceals. (By contrast, if he appears to the left of the High Priestess, it would indicate that you are looking in the wrong place for the information you seek—maybe too absorbed with the past to notice what is right before you.)
Going
on the same principle, when you want to create a tarot spell to bring some
matter to light, you can set The Hermit to the right of whichever card best
illustrates your concerns. Based on the example of the High Priestess, (and
depending on whether the deck you use has The Hermit figure facing left), you
could lay The Hermit to her right when you want to uncover some secret or gain
intuitive knowledge. (If using a deck in
which The Hermit is facing to the right, the Priestess would go to the right.) In other examples, The Hermit placed next to
Justice can be used for seeking justice and transparency in legal matters, next
to The Star for seeking a spirit guide, next to The Hierophant for
clarification of received teachings, to The Moon to shed light on a path
through darkness, the Ace of Pentacles for transparency in financial matters,
the Page or Knight of Pentacles for help with gaining practical information,
the Knight of Cups for a better understanding of what he brings to his mission
of healing, the Seven of Swords to reveal the identity of a thief-- and so on
and so forth. The possibilities are
numerous.
In this example, notice the graphic resonance between the Knight's pentacle and the Hermit's lantern.
