decks: rider waite, hermetic
the hanged man is not an executed man, as commonly assumed. this is a very misunderstood card as well as the death. if you look at the card closely, the man is not hung from his neck. only his ankle is tied to the cross and he is rather free to move his limbs, despite being in a difficult position of hanging upside down. the hanged man card’s keyword is delay. patience is required. you are being in that limbo-like position for a reason. you are stuck there for a reason, because you have a lesson to learn. the man in the card has a golden glow surrounding his head, signaling enlightenment and wisdom that comes from the delay. if you’ve ever heard the stories of the saints leading ascetic lifestyles hanging their feet to a tree and staying that way until they reached enlightenment, you might get the sense of why this man is in this position.
but such thing is not always easy to accept or even grasp. when you are about to reach a breakthrough, or something that feels so close you can touch it, like success or maybe a project that you’ve been pushing through forever, it feels as if you are about to give birth and you’re stuck in the last trimester. I was once reading for a family member in an exceptional occasion, which I usually try not to do, and she had started bawling when I drew this card and explained to her, “I know it’s really hard for you to hear, but you still need to be patient. you’re still climbing.” I tried to tell her that you feel stuck, but even this state of being stuck is the part of the process, you’re still getting somewhere. but she was crying and crying and crying, big fat tears rolling down her face. and I might not be her but we can all empathize about how it feels. you wait and wait and wait and wait. is this my time? is this it? is this the time? that feeling of having to put down your hopes every single time, every single moment, disappointment sinking your stomach like a heavy rock put into it. it’s heartbreaking. it makes us doubt ourselves. but delay, sometimes, is necessary. it is perhaps natural that we as human beings feel impatient about it or find hard to understand exactly what kind of lessons are left for us to learn in that limbo situation. but that feeling of wanting to get out of the situation, wanting to move forward, feeling stuck, struggling—all that, do nourish you. I know you are trying. I know you really are. but allow yourself to surrender, and know that once you complete the lesson, you will be released from the state, you will move onto another level without you having to control it. you will get there. it’s not now or never. you are still getting there. hold on.
