Cosmic Tribe Tarot

XII - HANGED MAN

Let go my people! Barbarity may have rendered us homeless and poor.
Our philosophies and ideologies may lay shattered on the floor.
But I see amidst the tumult, our souls still shining brightly.
Listen through your screams to the wind still whispering: don't give up, Surrender!

In the card we find a figure hanging upside down by an ankle. We may see him and want to turn him "right-side up." We imagine him to be in pain or discomfort, a victim of some dastardly deed. But our projections miss the mark, the Hanged Man is not struggling to right himself. He has surrendered into the situation. Looking closely, we see his expression is more one of post-orgasmic bliss than one of torment. Indeed, a glowing aura suggests that he has found the seed of ecstasy that sprouts in the soil of pain and discomfort. The Hanged Man is on the edge. He dangles between multiple worlds. Behind him the tapestry of right-side up conventionality appears rich yet distant and flat. His experience lies outside the security of conventionality. Here, he is closer to the truth-sustaining tree of life. This tree has roots both in the earth and in the sky, channeling energy between the physical and the spiritual, the conscious and the unconscious. The Hanged Man suspends from an energy thread coming from the core of the same cosmic mandala that feeds the tree of life. The cosmic mandala focuses the universal life force and helps the Hanged Man surrender his ego to the apparent predicament. This reopens the channels in his mind/body that allow the lifeforce to flow through him again. What had been a shameful and maddening situation has evolved into an opportunity to sense the majesty in life. From his hands, cosmic eyes pierce the blindness of the universe. The Hanged Man is unconventional and may verge on madness. But his perceived madness is really a journey to the edge that expands the possibilities for all of us. Used properly the madness becomes tremendous psychic ability. Eyes on hands are the synesthetic or cross-sensual tools of this ability. He feels colors and speaks them. He smells fears and moves through them. The Hanged Man has much power even as, perhaps because, his world is turned upside down.

Divinatory Meaning

Should the Hanged Man appear in your reading, examine your outlook on life. Are there old fears or prejudices that are stringing you up? Are you being too conventional for your own good? Is normality working as a strategy for dealing with depressions, illnesses or injuries that hamper your life? Or would you be better served by turning your world upside down for a new view on an old dilemma? Are you blocked, frustrated, psychologically or physically "constipated"? See if you can find a way to let go of a tight hold, slow down, hang out, submit to the obstacles in your path. Or, in the words of an ancient mystic, if you're feeling hung up, get the hell out of the way! Be true to this experience, if others tell you that you're crazy, know that you may be on to something big. Learn to trust the mysterious powers of the universe and they will provide you with the wherewithal to move through difficulty gracefully.