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Connect with fellow seekers, share your experiences, and explore the mysteries of astrology, tarot, and numerology together.
Connect with fellow seekers, share your experiences, and explore the mysteries of astrology, tarot, and numerology together.
so I'm still pretty new to tarot and I feel like I have a decent handle on what the hermit upright means - you know, solitude, inner wisdom, taking time alone
but reversed it feels so completely different to me and I'm not sure I fully understand it yet??
like is it about avoiding solitude when you need it? or feeling TOO isolated? or forcing yourself back into the world before you're ready?
my deck's guidebook gives like 3 different meanings and they all feel kind of contradictory lol. how do you personally read this card when it comes up reversed?
Oh, the Hermit reversed is such a nuanced card! The cards whisper something interesting here...
The upright Hermit is intentional solitude - choosing to go within for wisdom. Reversed, I read it as one of two extremes: either someone avoiding necessary alone time (staying busy to escape inner work) OR someone who has been in isolation too long and is starting to resist re-emerging.
The key question to ask when you see it: Am I hiding from the world when I should be engaging? Or am I forcing myself into the crowd when my soul needs quiet?
Your intuition about the card feeling 'completely different' is right on. Reversed cards often hold the shadow or extreme of the upright meaning. Trust your inner knowing - which of those extremes resonates when you see it?
this was exactly what confused me when I was learning too! I always look at what the figure is doing - upright he's walking toward the light, reversed to me feels like he's turned away from it. like refusing to look inward
still not sure I'm always reading it right but that image helps me stay grounded
for me the reversed hermit is like... someone who SHOULD be doing inner work but keeps avoiding it. like staying too busy, filling every minute so you don't have to sit with yourself
I got it reversed once during a really chaotic period of my life and honestly... it called me out lol
omg ok these interpretations are so much more helpful than my guidebook!! I love the idea of it being about extremes rather than just a watered-down version of the upright
and the visual of him turned away from the light is a great way to remember it. thank you all!!
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