It is 2025 and our tarot card for this year is card number 9 – The Hermit. This card invites introspection. Instead of pushing forward, this card advocates for a strategic withdrawal, a pause for self-reflection and understanding. The Hermit is about assessing our past choices, finding wisdom, learning more and sometimes being more reclusive or protective of our energy.
Each suit reflects the meaning of The Hermit card back to us in some way. If we can study and understand the meaning of each of the minor arcana 9 cards, we will be able to see the whole picture behind The Hermit. And since study is part of The Hermit card meaning, it feels rather appropriate to do a deep dive.
9 of Wands
In tarot, the 9 of Wands signifies perseverance, resilience, and the determination to push through challenges even when feeling weary or battered by obstacles. It represents a strong will to see a goal through to the end despite exhaustion. The 9 of Wands is often interpreted as a message to “keep going” and not give up, drawing on inner strength to overcome adversity. Afterall, you’re at the 9 card, you are almost there!
The 9 of Wands tarot card is one that symbolizes great hope even when you are faced by problems that may threaten your progress. The 9 of Wands symbolizes one’s life, which has undergone many trials but through their determination and will, they were able to overcome them. The card is a sign of hope and encouragement that you should face your trials with courage so that you may attain success. It can also be a call to take care of yourself, so that you can continue your fight.
9 of Cups
The 9 of Cups is often called the “wish card,” signifying the fulfillment of desires, achieving goals, and the manifestation of dreams. The 9of Cups essentially represents a feeling of contentment and happiness with where you are in life, as if your wishes are coming true. It indicates a positive outcome and a sense of satisfaction with your current situation.
After a long journey, the 9 of Cups symbolizes the finding of self-satisfaction. The emotional journey of the cups is starting to come to a close after the volatile ups and downs you faced in the earlier numbers of this suit. You have struggled to find purpose and joy after loss, you have tasted the different things that life offers, and you have left comfort in order to find greater heights. Here, you have found them, and you are indulging yourself as you celebrate this new stage of your life.
9 of Swords
The 9 of Swords signifies a state of anxiety, fear, despair, and overwhelming negative emotions. This card often represents feelings of being consumed by worry, guilt, or past trauma, which is typically depicted as sleepless nights spent ruminating on problems with no clear solution in sight.
When we are never released from the entrapment depicted in the 8 of Swords, we escalate into the 9 of Swords, where we are plagued by nightmares. The suit of swords is concerned with the mind, logic, intelligence, and with communication. But somehow the 9 of Swords was caught on the destructive end of the spectrum, the one which turns inward on itself, and then multiplies and festers. Questions are plaguing you, and you find yourself reciting all the possibilities – all the things that can happen to you. You are haunted by what could be. The 9 of Swords must begin to understand the process of unresolved issues that has led them to this breaking point.
There is a sense of repetition within this card, that some event which has troubled you before, and one which you managed to either repress or run away from, is coming back again. Sharing your grief does at least provide an outlet for your pain and may release you from carrying this burden alone.
9 of Pentacles
The 9 of Pentacles signifies a state of achieved success, financial independence, self-sufficiency, and the ability to enjoy the fruits of your hard work. This Nine of Pentacles card indicates that the you have reached a stage in your life where you are confident, independent and self-sufficient. Through hard work, you are now ready to enjoy money, leisure and material comfort.
The difficulties that were faced in the earlier journey of the Pentacles appear to be over. The Nine of Pentacles conveys not only joy, but also the feeling of security and freedom that material wealth can bring. Looking back, you can now celebrate the difficulties, the struggles, and the hard work that lined your path. Your previous challenges gave you the perspective that you need to understand the spiritual value of your success. Knowing how difficult it was to get here, you can enjoy every single day of your success.
Putting the Nines Together
In the 9 of Wands, the journey of passionately working on your desires brings you to a place where you’re protective of yourself and what you have built so far. You may even be eager to forge ahead. Though you have had some bumps along the road, you are protecting yourself with that fence or wall of wands. Against the odds, you are standing there, ready to go forward with that one wand in your hand.
In the 9 of Cups, however, we see a different picture. Here you sit in front of all your cups, showing them off as if they were trophies or accomplishments. The person of the 9 of Cups cards usually looks quite happy and content with their lot. Your journey of exploring emotions has come full circle.
The story swings a different direction in the 9 of Swords. This is where the journey of the thoughts and the mind has culminated in giving the person in the card anxiety and nightmares. Although those nightmares are not permanent, they still suffer from the pain and disappointment brought about by their negative thoughts.
Finally, in the 9 of Pentacles, we find hope and positivity. The journey of seeking material fulfillment has now been rewarded.
The masculine or projective energies of the Wands and the Swords find their culmination in the spaces of defensiveness and anxiety respectively, while the feminine or receptive energies of the Cups and Pentacles find their destinations in contentment and luxury. The Nines of the Minor Arcana show us how the stories of these energies evolve in their natural expressions, and find their distinct end points.
Reflecting Back to The Hermit
In The Major Arcana, the four nines correspond with The Hermit. The Hermit’s solitary presence and long grey beard suggest his maturity and understanding. He is the ultimate seeker of self-knowledge and knows, that to hear the inner-voice, and to find your true purpose, involves retreat and withdrawal from distraction. The Hermit retreats into the inner-planes, far from where he will be disturbed. He is the driving force behind the Nines in the final stage of their Journey. The 9s of the minor arcana suits all ask the same questions of themselves. What was it all about? Who am I? Where have I come from? Where am I now?’ Where do I want to go next and why?
The Hermit has seen many cycles come and go. He even resembles Father Time. His knowledge and wisdom is infinite. What he has learned, has not come easy. He advises the four suits that if they not have found the answers they were looking for in their current cycle, they just might in the next. The idea is not to give up, even if what they look back on does not, in their estimation, amount to much. There is no such thing as failure or mistakes, for all is knowledge and experience under The Hermit.
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