What does the Hanged Man mean in a tarot reading?
The Hanged man speaks of being in limbo and surrender…..
The Hanged Man looks almost relaxed as he surrenders to circumstance
I often think we need take look at the man hanging upside down on this card, he looks strangely relaxed for someone hanging upside down, as if he’s just hanging out enjoying a new view of the world. The presence of a halo shimmering around his head suggests some kind of enlightenment, awakening or realisation.
He has clearly let go of any struggle against being hung upside down, and there’s is a sense of peaceful surrender.
This is at the heart of the teaching of the Hanged Man. Sometimes circumstances outside of our control mean where we have to surrender something (we don’t want to let go of!!) is actually a necessary sacrifice for our long term well being. Acknowledging we are in a place of limbo and to view the situation from a place of surrender rather than resistance is the Hanged Man’s implicit advice.
What are the key attributes given to the Hanged Man?
1. Being ‘in limbo’.
Often this card describes moments in life when we are in limbo, when we are in between situations, in flux, when we are ‘forced’ (after all I don’t suppose he hung himself up there?) to surrender our hold on something, when we have to let go of something with nothing tangible ahead. Progress is stalled, we are in ‘no man’s land’ between a past situation and a future one. The Hanged man gives us pause to consider things from a completely different point of view (upside down).
2. Sacrifice. Surrender. A Price to pay…for the greater good.
This card describes situations when we know there’s a price to pay or a sacrifice we need to make, or indeed are already making. Deep down we know our ‘sacrifice’ will be for the best in the end, for our greater good, or the good of others. A typical example would be when we know we have to give up a relationship that hasn’t worked out. Equally the Hanged man can describe a working mother who is the bread winner, who surrenders her needs for the good of her family.
I picked it today as my daily reflection card and was initially nonplussed. How did the Hanged Man apply? And as ever with a daily reflection card, it gives you food for thought and makes you ponder. Personally I find the daily practice of pulling a Tarot card not only fascinating but also essential for my mental health. Today writing this blog made me realise something that hadn’t occurred to me. I am ‘in limbo’, for various reasons outside my control, which have been making me (or forcing me?) to consider a pivot of focus. I use the word pivot as a new favourite word that young clients use all the time when describing a change of direction. The Hanged Man speaks to this…..
a. having to look at things from a different point of view and
b. acknowledging what might need to be given up/let go/ sacrificed/surrendered to follow this new ‘pivot’.
What a perfect card to describe my situation. How insightful. How delightful. And its strange because I am in the process of changing my office in my art studio :-)
Do come and have a tarot reading with me. I don’t promise a reading that will tell you your future but I do promise a reading that will leave with a fresh perspective and new insights that will inspire you forward day by day to fulfil your heart’s desires.