We’ve taken somewhat of a pause is our exploration of the Trumps, in hesitation about having enough to say about the Hermit. This card is too simple in its initiated meaning and does not warrant a full essay. In one magical formula of The Hermit Crowley states it as: Yod Phallus Spermatozoon Hand Logos Virgin. What does that bring to mind? This card exhorts, the primarily male mystic to masturbate effectively. While some of the layers of meaning of this card do invite one to live as the mystic hermit seeking communion with that which is above, the addition of Cerberus and the sperm in Crowley’s version hint at what he thought the value of living the holy man’s life was. The virgin should use the hand to tame the hound of hell, i.e. Cerberus, i.e. the phallus.
Not one to be fooled by the rhetoric of the churchman, Crowley thought the isolation of the Hermit was perfect for training the phallus through masturbation and he found the traditional attribution of the hand to lend itself to this interpretation. As a bonus he again references the serpent wrapped round the egg as a suggestion that this could also be a method for triggering Kundalini, or at least locating the center of the Kundalini awakening. The field of grain in the image references both the seed reinforced by the spermatozoa and the Earth Goddess Demeter.
Despite the simplicity of the meaning and technique implied by the card, this card deserves an exalted place in the deck as the Hermit is one of the 3 Magii cards, and essential to the process of transformation in the wheel of the Trumps. The Hermit finds the light, and periods of isolation should not be wasted. In addition, the explicit reference to sperm should not be ignored given Crowley’s and various other traditions beliefs that the sexual fluids can be used in magick. If one wants to consecrate a sigil or object of the temple with semen, then it would probably pay to masturbate effectively, with concentration and purpose.