‘The Hermit- a solitary seeker searching for truth; alone, but not lonely.’
The Hermit follows his own path, seeking truth, but yet is not cut off from humanity. In the medieval period, hermits were counsellors, someone whose hut you might encounter on a long journey, and seek spiritual succour there. The Hermit as wise sage became such a popular figure that 18th century landowners sometimes employed one to live in their grounds, in a suitably quaint, custom-built hermitage! Accompanied by Robert Lee-Wade's drawing of the Hermit card for my book, a hermit by Jan Breughel the elder c1597, and an ornamental 'hermitage' in Killerton gardens, Devon