Numerology in Tarot - Number Nine

In Tarot, IX The Hermit, means silent council, wisdom from above, prudence. It also indicates one has to come to terms with and accept imperfections in order to allow development. Nine in a reading indicate the completion of an event.There is a focus on an important situation in the seeker's life. It may well be about to progress on to a new stage of life, but needs to remove any difficulties from the current situation in order to be able to make the progression. The Hermit card represents wisdom, prudence, solitude, faith and discrimination. This card indicates the seeker is self-aware and this self-knowing will prove useful in achieving greater wisdom and understanding. Once the seeker feels the situation is entirely in the past, he/she will able to help others who are experiencing the similar difficulty, and able to provides insight advice.

In numerology, nine is the number of all the forces of the other numbers are summed up. It symbolise three planes of being: physical, mental and spiritual. Nine is commanded to be perfect in Ten, which is the One of the beginning placed beside the Zero of Spirit, after which man begins on a higher level.

Nine is the number of high mental and spiritual achievement. Nines are large-minded, visionary, idealistic. Romantic, passionate, impulsive, they are people of wide sympathies and great charm. They have an intense urge to help other people and to serve the cause of humanity at large. They make brilliant scientists, teachers and artists. Strong willed and determined people, inspired and inspiring, they are often condemned by their duller contemporaries as wild, unorthodox and impractical. They are easily imposed on, they constantly fall in and out of love, and they have a genuine horror of ugliness, poverty, old age and unhappiness for themselves and everyone else. They can be uncharitable and intolerant when opposed. Their desire to do good may be expressed in a repellently conceited and egocentric way. Sometimes they seem to be too busy loving their fellow men in general to bother about the feelings of individuals. But on the whole the numerologist's picture of 9 is an attractive and inspiring one. The names of President Lincoln and Kennedy both add to 9.

The last single odd number corresponds to the rising Sun and the fiery planet, Mars, ruler of warlike activity. It is the number of rekindling the life spark, as the human gestation period is nine months. It is followed by ten which reduces to one (10 = 1 + 0 = 1) and thus restarts the sequence. In Greek myth, Phyllis was turned into an almond tree on the ninth night of waiting for her lover. Hephaistos, who brought fire from heaven, was reunited with his mother, Hera, in his ninth year.

The nine year old monster twins, Otus and Ephialtes nine fathoms tall and nine cubits wide, attempt to scale Mount Olympus by piling Mount Pelion on Mount Ossa. Every nine years, the Athenians sent their tribute of seven youths and seven maidens to Crete as an offering to the Minotaur. It is the number of wisdom and ignorance, and virtue and profligacy. If 9 features heavily in your birth date, it is likely there will be a powerful physique leading to some clumsiness. Facial hair will mar the features (a problem for women) as well as there being a higher than usual chance of a birth mark. As nine is the colour of red, it is likely that there will be a ruddy complexion and dark hair. Such minor irritations are balanced by a confident personality, which can tend to impetuosity. Mars was warlike, but often defeated through rash actions.

In Tarot, IX The Hermit is an old man 'blends the idea of the Ancient of Days with the Light of the World'. Isolated and withdrawn from the world, he is yet a light and a beacon to others.