I haven’t written much about The Hermit card on this blog. Probably because I’m quite comfortable with him. The cards you forget are often the ones you understand the best or else they’re cards that aren’t particularly active in your life.

In the picture a man in a cloak holds aloft a lamp in an icy landscape. He is a guide through challenging territory. You may hear his voice in your mind as your sub-conscious or he may be a person in real life who offers you advice such as a friend or a psychologist.

Twice in the last few days I’ve found myself showing people the ropes at the campsite where I’m staying. It’s a place I’ve been coming for years. I took some friends I invited to visit on a tour of the facilities and I gave a tourist some tips on a local walk. And in performing these services it occurred to me that one of the roles of The Hermit is to be your friendly local tourist guide. Offering helpful advice when you are literally in foreign territory.

So there you are. The higher form of The Hermit card might be a wise guru on a mountaintop but the garden variety version is the tourist guide. Does this make sense to you?