The Hanged Man - a Timely Tarot Card Reading

I posted last night on my personal facebook page that I've been wanting to reorganize my life and be able to do the things I am passionate about for my well-being and happiness. 

Here's what I shared:

Bonding with baboo Peter's best friend Peachie last night really gave me a lot of insight and inspiration as to how I should budget my time making sure that I not only spend it on work but on things that enrich my life too... like my passions. Peachie is an artist. She loooves to draw and paint and make beautiful things! And what I really like about her is that she gets to incorporate her art in her daily activities. As for me, I have so many things I want to do (like play with my drums, guitar and keyboard, draw, make beaded accessories, sew, paint, do yoga, meditate, play with my tarot cards, surf, windsurf, travel, read my books, blog, plant vegetables, make crafts, sing, dance, act, etc.) but I am at a loss as to which ones I should accomplish first.... or which one is really my ultimate passion. All I know is I have to earn my keep and keep our house spick and span. So most of my 24 hours on a weekday are spent on house chores and work. But this has to change. While I re-organize my life and discern my real passion, here's an article I read that can help people like me who want to get started on anything. I hope this helps you too. 

And with this, I say good night. Hoping to get back to a more normal body clock and more productive routine for health and fitness purposes. Sweet dreams, everyone! 

http://blog.jvf.com/2013/06/25/five-ways-to-get-started-on-anything/

And so today, I've once again started doing some of those passions of mine which includes being able to do my tarot card reading. I had a lot of questions and concerns which I hope my card for the day would be able to answer, or at least help enlighten my cluttered mind. I've just been out of a very long emotional rut (as evidenced by my lack of posts here for almost a year now); it's been almost a week since my hormones and moods have stabilized (and I am hoping it's for good); and it's been far too long since I last felt neutral and content.   I want to make full use of it by being productive with my everyday activities despite the fact that on the financial front, my hubby and I had been duped by one of our insurance companies and we are talking about a huge sum of money. But we are not letting that bring us down. So back to my tarot card reading, I had a lot of questions like: What do I do with my life? How do I go about fixing my priorities? Is it right to pursue my new dreams? Etc.

As I was talking to God and my spirit guides about it, meditating hard on these questions, I picked my card - The Hanged Man.

In terms of ACTIONS, The Hanged Man is all about:

letting go

having an emotional release

accepting what is

surrendering to experience

ending the struggle

being vulnerable and open

giving up control

accepting God's will

reversing

turning the world around

changing your mind

overturning old priorities

seeing from a new angle

upending the old order

doing an about-face

suspending action

pausing to reflect

feeling outside of time

taking time to just be

giving up urgency

living in the moment

waiting for the best opportunity

sacrificing

being a martyr

renouncing a claim

putting self-interest aside

going one step back to go two steps forward

giving up for a higher cause

putting others first

The Hanged Man is one of the most mysterious cards in the tarot deck. It is simple, but complex. It attracts, but also disturbs. It contradicts itself in countless ways. The Hanged Man is unsettling because it symbolizes the action of paradox in our lives. A paradox is something that appears contradictory, and yet is true. The Hanged Man presents to us certain truths, but they are hidden in their opposites.

The main lesson of the Hanged Man is that we "control" by letting go - we "win" by surrendering. The figure on Card 12 has made the ultimate surrender - to die on the cross of his own travails - yet he shines with the glory of divine understanding. He has sacrificed himself, but he emerges the victor. The Hanged Man also tells us that we can "move forward" by standing still. By suspending time, we can have all the time in the world. 

In readings, the Hanged Man reminds us that the best approach to a problem is not always the most obvious. When we most want to force our will on someone, that is when we should release. When we most want to have our own way, that is when we should sacrifice. When we most want to act, that is when we should wait. The irony is that by making these contradictory moves, we find what we are looking for. -The Hanged Man

It is so true that we control by letting go. Before, whenever I'd think about the big money that we lost or other troubles that seem so huge, my head would hurt and I would lose the will to wake up. It happened to my husband too. He'd have these panic attacks and terrible migraines I thought I'd need to bring him to the hospital! It's unhealthy and it's been controlling our emotions, our moods, our disposition in life. When I let it go and told my husband to just let it go, things got better emotionally and mentally. We're still in a financial rut but it seems more manageable now. We are both standing still and we are keeping our emotions in check so we can move forward from the situation. 

Furthermore, according to the Tarot Bible by Sarah Bartlett:

In a "you now" position, this card means you are at a crossroads and may have to stand back and look carefully at all the issues involved; or it may mean that you simply get out of a rut. 

I am indeed being proactive at getting out of my rut. I am reading self-help and inspirational books, I am seeking emotional support from my best friends and I am looking at my married life as a glass half full instead of looking at it as a glass half empty.

You are in a limbo about what to do next, or are in a cease-fire in a relationship clash. 

I was indeed in a limbo before my hormones/moods stabilized. I was always arguing with my hubby, I was always nit-picking fights with my bessy, I was constantly in a bad mood. Thank God that these two men I love the most love me to pieces that no matter what I did, they stood by me through thick and thin.

The Hanged Man also warns you about whether to make sacrifices or not. Fine if you are ready to give up a bad influence in your life, but think clearly - have others really manipulated you or have you chosen to be a victim? If chosen as a "future card", you will undergo a change of mind and will have to readjust your feelings in order to forge ahead with your plans.

I was in a victim mindset and I knew it had to stop. When I readjusted my feelings, when I started accepting "what is", when I let go of my expectations of how the world should work and how people I love should behave, that was when I started feeling better about everything. It was almost an instant change of heart. And it felt great. I continue to feel good about it. 

The complexity of this card is that it invites you to do the opposite of what you think is right to do., and thereby gain results. The more you want something, the more you have to give up on wanting that thing and then it will happen. The paradox is that as soon as you make those contradictory moves, you find what you are actually seeking. 

It's like this cliche about holding sand on your palm, that the more you hold on to it, the more the sand will slip through your fingers. But if you just let the sand sit there on your palm, the more you can have it. So I stopped wanting to fight. I stopped wanting to win. I stopped expecting that the money will be returned to us. When I did that, my relationship with my husband improved; my friendship with my bessy has deepened; I felt more connected with my old best friends and I am now in a much better place in my heart and in my mind.

Finally, The Hanged Man says that it is time to let go of emotional baggage and that you will soon be released from any pain or emotional hurt because you are opening your mind to living for the moment, not for the past. 

So true! Like I said, I've let go of my emotional baggage. I now live for the moment. I still dream of a better future and try to learn from my past but more often than not, it's the NOW that I am living for. I am making it count! 

Thanks to my spirit guides and my tarot card for the day, The Hanged Man, for helping me see things in a much better light. ^_^