Hanged Man

One of my favourite cards in the tarot deck is the Hanged Man.  In most decks, it shows a body, hanging upside down but in the deck I use most usually it's of a body hanging from his hands from a chandelier.

The usual interp of this card is the urgency of changing direction - that perhaps there's an issue that the querant has been banging their head on the wall about, forever - and it's just high time that the way they've been attacking this issue needs to change, big-time.

Everyone needs this advice in their life at one time or another, about some issue or another.  It's the old adage about insanity resulting from doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.   The Hanged Man asks that a completely different approach be taken to effect the start of a solution.

Now about my deck, which shows the body hanging from his hands instead of upside down, it has an additional texture of meaning for me.  I see that by just hanging on (to the issue perhaps) that there isn't anything that can be done.  But if one let's go, now 1/ feet are able to change the position 2/ hands and arms are able to be used, and 3/ geographically a major change can be made.  In other words, just hanging' around doesn't do anything constructive. 

So next time you see the Hanged Man come up, let your mind float free and consider some other avenues of approach.  Chances are, if you get outside the usual boundries that limit your thinking you WILL come up with something creative and new.

Wendy & Gaylle
www.whisperingpath.com