Card Four: The Hanged Man

Fourth House: The Hanged Man

Gut feeling wise (a very 4th house thing) says that it'll be a year of personal revolution. Turning feelings around and finding more detachment from them. Turning them on their heads. Uprooting (I'm planning on moving) and finding something (a place and way of being) that reflects my newfound independence and freedom (Uranus is in my natal 4th house right now and the Solar Eclipse fell there this month).

So CHANGE, but a gentle, calm, self created one, which is good to see. Seeing things from a different perspective. A new and unusual home (and home life). The Hanged Man is connected to the element of Water) so bringing water into the home, living by the water, or just a lot more feeling at home. Possible water issues as a reflection of this. I already cut my finger when I tipped the water cooler onto my hand and it fell, this happened week or so ago).

Looks like more time for meditation and 'hanging' lol. Taking it easy. Using the mind more (yet this is a water card, will have to do some research to get further into this symbol). it seems to be about using the head more (head is nearer the ground of the card). Yet also remaining in the air about things, not touching down (one foot is tied). Stay grounded in the realm of thought? Channeling ideas. Balancing head and feeling again?

I truly see the meditative side of this card - at home, I'll need to become more detached from old feelings, my past. To reserve judgment of self (through judging others too). Blue and red - my two colors, combine here as hot and cold, neither too much of one. Hands aren't tied, it's a choice to not decide or act. One foot is weighted so that structure can be attained and some form of roots while the other foot 'tests the water'...or the air.

CLOUD behind = so much mental activity inside. Stalemate perhaps and something its a sign of sacrifice this card, but I see it as a refreshing year where comfort comes from detaching and thinking things through or letting things be. Emotionally, a time of taking a break from heavy feelings and pondering them instead. Great for my writing again...

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 - After the crisis of seeing what you have made of your life comes the peace of acceptance. Love alone can effect the transformation to "obedience" through which your will is able to "perceive" the revelations from above which inspire, direct and strengthen you. Your choice to obey renders your will capable of receiving the divine call from above - the gift of faith - the union of your will to Gods will, leaving behind the powers of thought and imagination.

Authentic faith produces absolute certainty as you pierce the barriers of your limited consciousness and avail yourself to the higher wisdom. Allow yourself now to experience the power of "stillness" and you will be blessed with truth. Look above your present situation - prepare your mind for new and innovative ideas - a complete and unexpected change at home and at work. Trust and have faith that there are unexpected views, attitudes or decisions on the horizon.

Your heart is the center of LOVE - it abolishes distance and has the power to make all things present. God is present in a heart that is glowing with love, for this heart perceives His spiritual warmth and learns not to reject anything...for authentic faith renders everything truly useful - it gives value, meaning and purpose to everything. Do the opposite of what your "ego" ordinarily expects and you will achieve victory. Release your self-aspirations, be patient, accept yourself - understand your limitations and success will soon follow. Look at what you have hidden - turn your shadows into light and you will control the forces which control your life.

It is the process of your "ego" or "waking" mind to first think - it must first imagine, feel and desire before it will finally choose to "act". Your Higher Self "acts" first - then it desires to KNOW, then it feels the worth of its action and lastly it understands - for its FAITH is the firm assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Your "will" KNOWS while your mind and imagination "have not yet seen or understood".

You will now experience the reversal of attitude and experience that comes through spiritual awakening as you are taken out of the ordinary consciousness - that of reason, memory and sensual perception. You will learn to "act" before your thought and imagination have understood what your action implies. While everyone else is frenzied - you will know peace. While other people "believe" themselves to be free, yet are pushed from one thing to another by forces which they do not understand - you will achieve true freedom by understanding and embracing those forces. You KNOW that you must seek solitude wherever you find tension - for in solitude you live, develop spiritual temperament, breath spiritual air, quench your spiritual thirst and satisfy your spiritual hunger. In solitude - you are in control, poised on an "inner" level, centered in peace and through chaos you maintain serenity by reversing the usual way of living and finding contentment. Pause now, be willing to listen and observe things as they really are - not as they "appear" to be on the surface. Suspend your decision-making and remain passive now - use your sympathy, tact and maintain tolerance by centering yourself within.

You still fear that there will be risk and sacrifice in your decision to abandon your worldly values and plunge into the depths of "Self" to seek the inner reality needed to become whole - but from this sacrifice, from your willingness to put aside the world for a while and experiment with the "inner" experience will come enlightenment and renewal. Accept your fate and you will be re-born.

When you try to evaluate any situation based solely on your limited, conflicting beliefs - you will always feel powerless. LOVE does not demand any sacrifice. Sacrifice is nothing more than your own passive surrender to fear and despair. As you try to hold two conflicting ideas simultaneously and equally in your mind - you actually stalemate yourself. "FEEL" the spiritual power within you - allow yourself to surrender to it. Experience it, "feel" the great power and excitement which exists in the midst of complete calm. Withdraw to your "inner" awareness and allow yourself to BE who you are - even if everyone thinks you have everything backwards - allow yourself to experience the calming peace. Be willing now to make your mind a clear, reflective vessel. Suspend your judgments and your expectations so that you might receive higher knowledge.

New - Emotional development, you swing from passionate to compassionate, from inner to outer, from self to others. Opening of the heart chakra allowing others easier access. Life becomes more public as you externalize and extend yourself into your environment. Major emotional shift. Major emotional change, literally turned upside down as the spiritual descends to your emotional level. Voluntary self-sacrifice to a greater good without sacrificing the self. As the self gives, it gets larger. As the heart gives, it grows. An ability and willingness to accept suffering. The open heart is a trusting heart. A change of heart - the heart working vertically to balance the mind and body.

Questions to Answer: What do you expect from the sacrifices you are making? What are you devoted to? How are you hung up? What do you need to get straight? What do you need to give up? What are you trying to escape? How are you seeking higher knowledge?