The Hanged Man
A person hangs comfortably and purposely upside down from a beam attached only by a rope on their ankle.
Card Number 12:
Communication, Community, Teamwork (in this case rejecting these things)
Place in the Fool’s Journey:
The Fool finds an experience that is too heavy for him to handle. He steps into himself and learns to let go of the need to try and control it by hanging in the stillness and allowing it to just be.
Upright Meaning
Keywords:
Letting Go – Pausing - Sacrifices - Surrender Internal Reflection - Uncertainty - New Perspectives
As a Person:
The Hanged Man is someone who has withdrawn from a situation and given up caring about what the outcome is. Things have not turned out as they hoped and they realize there is nothing that can be done to change it as they have no power to control what is happening. Instead of fighting it, The Hanged Man has decided to accept whatever is coming and to simply go inside themself to try and understand the situation better as they wait for the final outcome to be revealed.
As a Situation/Experience:
As a situation The Hanged Man represents a period of stagnation. The energy of the experience has stopped and its success has become uncertain. It has gotten so far but no one knows how to move forward from here. Internal reflection and new perspectives are needed to open up different paths that will allow for further growth.
As Advice:
As advice The Hanged Man reminds us to stop trying push our will onto what is happening. We cannot control everything in life nor are we meant to. Now is the time to change your thinking. Take a step back and look at the situation in new ways. Sacrifices may be needed in order to move forward. You will not succeed in helping this situation thrive if you continue doing the same things you have been and expecting different results.
Reversed Meaning
Keywords:
Discontentment– Stagnation – Fear of Sacrifice
Delay – Resistance - Stalling
As a Person:
The Hanged Man reversed is someone who is resisting change in any way they can. They continue to fight for what they want and refuse to see that doing so is only making things worse. They are not happy with what is happening but refuses to step back and look at things differently than how they have been. They fear letting go of what they have even though they are miserable in the situation which his holding them back from moving on to better things.
As a Situation/Experience:
The Hanged Man reversed is a situation where the feeling of being stuck is frustrating everyone. Something needs to change but no one is willing to take the steps to do so. They are holding back, stalling, repeating the same cycles that have continued to fail them over and over again. They refuse to let go of control. They refuse to accept that they may be wrong in how they are looking at things. They are holding on their beliefs about the situation so strongly that they are risking loosing everything by suffocating it with their determination.
As Advice:
As advice The Hanged Man reversed reminds us we need to stop hiding from ourselves and spend some time reflecting on our behaviors and how they are affecting our own lives. It is time to let go of old value systems and belief systems that no longer serve us. We have been refusing to let go of them for too long. The Universe will no longer allow us to say no. It is time. Let go. Either heal the situation by changing your beliefs about it or move on. Either way you will be in a better place for it. Ultimately the choice is yours but the choice must be made.
Artist credits to: Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith’s Tarot Vintage Deck, Matt Hughes’ Ethereal Visions Deck & Mrdiyshisha’s Cute Ghost Tarot Deck
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