The Hanged Man - #TarotImageTuesday

This week, it's The Hanged Man, and I've selected the Shadowscapes Tarot.

A beautiful purple background immediately calls our attention to the crown chakra, and to thoughts of higher consciousness and awareness, of development and that spiritual growth and connection.

The youth dangles from the tree acrobatically, marked in tribal patterns of spirals, representing the path to knowledge, and the sun, representing knowledge and illumination. He appears to have been hung there for some time, as strands of ivy have wound themselves about his legs, reminding us that learning, growth, and the acquisition of knowledge takes time, and often requires us to endure a level of discomfort to see the process through.

From his unusual vantage point, he's able to commune with sylphs and nymphs, drawing on their input, perspective and wisdom, and it's only by accessing these things in this precarious way that we receive their blessing - much like the traditional kissing of the Blarney Stone.

I love that he holds a ball of light behind himself, casting light and shadow around him in unusual ways, reminding us that it's not always in the light that we will find the answers that we seek, and that the shadows have much to teach us, if we are prepared to embrace that alternative viewpoint, or seek to understand its influences.

The ankh, symbol of life, eternal life, or at least the key to it, dangles from the branches higher up, reminding us that our knowledge and wisdom can contribute to something greater than ourselves, that will live in beyond our own lifetime, if we are selfless enough to contribute to that pool, applying our new perspective and sharing our renewed wisdom with others.

What do you see in the image? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, and we can share the similarities and differences between the images in the various decks!

[image from the beautiful Shadowscapes Tarot by the gifted Stephanie Pui-Mun Law - her deck is available here]