The hermit wears a white head of an Ibis, the likeness of Thoth, inventor of the written word. He stands in the shape of the Hebrew letter Yod, the first letter of the Tetragrammaton, Yod-he-vav-he. He is said to be Mercury, who is the Romanized Hermes. The word hermit comes from the Greek erēmos, "desert", but the name Hermes probably came instead from herma, "heap of stones," a trail marker. At times, the hermit is solitary, and at others, he functions as a guide, as Hermes is the god of travellers, and Mercury is indicated as a psychopomp, a guide through the underworld.
Crowley calls yod 'the secret fire.' The ace of wands emits ten flames, one per sephirot, which are also in the shape of the letter yod. The Moon card features nine yod-shaped droplets of blood rain. Crowley also associates the letters of the tetragrammaton with the ranks of the face cards, which are knight, queen, prince, and princess, and the knight's element is fire. In Liber 777, one of the Roman gods associated with this atu is Vesta, goddess of the hearth. Her temple is attended by virgins, and virgo is the hermit's associated constellation.
The Hebrew letter Yod is considered to resemble a hand. The man's hand itself is the center, and the Book of Thoth informs us that the diamond-shaped object he's holding is a lamp. If we visit his neighbor, Adjustment, we'll see that the diamond is a common visual element between them, and the Book of Thoth refers to hers as a concealed 'vesica piscis,' which is the two-pointed curved intersection between two circles which can be used for the construction of two opposite-facing equilateral triangles. The vesica can be considered a yonic symbol, which makes sense if you consider its placement relative to the 'wand' in the bottom left corner. Considered three-dimensionally, you can see that the rays surrounding it define the planes of the shape of the lamp, which is two square pyramids joined square-to-square.
Within this lamp shines the sun, which is attributed to Tiphareth, as path IX connects Tiphareth to Chesed. Eight rays shine from it just as eight paths leave Tiphareth, but they do not originate there. A brighter triangular region shines at the top from where three rays actually appear to emanate, and another brighter region divides these from the rest. The triangle connects the three sephira that reside on the other side of the abyss, and the second region separates these and the fourth ray's point of emanation, which appears to be directed away from the orphic egg. All four are broken in two at the point of the sun-lamp to make the eight.
In the Book of Thoth, the wand is said to be growing out of the abyss, so we know this is where the hermit stands. He is alone save for the company of Cerberus, the three-headed hellhound, who he is said to have tamed. He has conquered his 'beasts,' so he is prepared. He requires his lamp of Tiphareth and the light it derives from Kether, Binah, and Chokmah to navigate.
In the Book of Thoth, the individual presiding over the wedding of the lovers is identified as the hermit. The orphic egg also makes another appearance there.
This card is attributed to the letter Yod, which means the Hand. Hence, the hand, which is the tool or instrument par excellence, is in the centre of the picture. The letter Yod is the foundation of all the other letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which are merely combinations of it in various ways.
The letter Yod is the first letter of the name Tetragrammaton, and this symbolizes the Father, who is Wisdom; he is the highest form of Mercury, and the Logos, the Creator of all worlds. Accordingly, his representative in physical life is the spermatozoon; this is why the card is called The Hermit.
The figure of the Hermit himself recalls the shape of the letter Yod, and the colour of his cloak is the colour of Binah, in whom he gestates. In his hand he holds a Lamp whose centre is the Sun, portrayed in the likeness of the Sigil of the great King of Fire (Yod is the secret Fire). It seems that he is contemplating — in a certain sense, adoring — the Orphic egg (greenish in colour) because it is conterminous with the Universe, while the snake which surrounds it is many-coloured to signify the iridescence of Mercury. For he is not only creative, but is the fluidic essence of Light, which is the life of the Universe.
The highest symbolism of this card is, therefore, Fertility in its most exalted sense, and this is reflected in the attribution of the card to the sign of Virgo, which is another aspect of the same quality. Virgo is an earthy sign, and is referred especially to Corn, so that the background of the card is a field of wheat.
Virgo represents the lowest, most receptive, most feminine form of earth, and forms the crust over Hades. Yet not only is Virgo ruled by Mercury, but Mercury is exalted therein. Compare the Ten of Disks, and the general doctrine that the climax of the Descent into Matter is the signal for the reintegration by Spirit. It is the Formula of the Princess, the mode of fulfillment of the Great Work.
This card recalls the Legend of Persephone, and herein is a dogma. Concealed within Mercury is a light which pervades all parts of the Universe equally; one of his titles is Psychopompos, the guide of the soul through the lower regions. These symbols are indicated by his Serpent Wand, which is actually growing out of the Abyss, and is the spermatozoon developed as a poison, and manifesting the foetus. Following him is Cerberus, the three-headed Hound of Hell whom he has tamed. In this Trump is shewn the entire mystery of Life in its most secret workings. Yod Phallus Spermatozoon Hand Logos Virgin. There is perfect Identity, not merely Equivalence, of the Extremes, the Manifestation, and the Method.