Sacred Days- Aoife

[Diana]

I'd love to know your interpretation!
And most particularly your thoughts about the Hanged Man.

Well, your wish is my command. Give me a day or two though. Of course, it's not too difficult for me because I've known you for a long time now. Even if we had lost contact for so long (much too long - it shouldn't have been that way but it happened), the connection is still there and just as strong so the "feelings", the "intuition", come easier than for someone I don't know.

Hanged Man is very difficult card. One of the most difficult to understand along with the Lover.

[Diana]

And most particularly your thoughts about the Hanged Man.

Well let's start with the Hanged Man then. A most auspicious card.

10. Day of Nymphs - Dec 29th
This card encourages us to connect to our playful side, our inner child and how best to cultivate this aspect of ourselves.

Here we don't have the branches as on the TdM with their rich blood red sap. We have instead the faces of those long gone. (The Hudes is really a very special and worthy deck - I can't put my finger on why.)

Please watch this short youtube extract and listen very carefully to what Harry's mother, Lily, says at 1:44 -/1:48 (more or less). It's only a few seconds. I won't say anymore - I couldn't explain it better than this so it would be like reinventing the wheel badly. In fact, listen to those few seconds a few times, or even the whole extract. You will understand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bujRZhOt9w

Harry summons also the Goblet of Fire at the end with his wand and magic spell. The Ace of Cups perhaps ?

Now also : The Hanged Man is in complete suspension between heaven and earth. It's a perfect position to be in, at least for the time it lasts and it doesn't last long because he's just suspended in the TdM by a feeble looking rope which doesn't look at all like it's tied to anything. So it's very easy to miss this opportunity that we are sometimes offered on our path through life. The hustle and bustle of life sometimes and our subsequent lack of concentration (you drew the Magician in your readings - he's the one who concentrates) make us miss important signposts. They will always return one day - it is no false promise the one that says "I will never leave you nor forsake you". But when we get a sign like you have here - thanks to the Sacred Days of Yule - it's hard to miss.

You know how they say that the Amoureux/Lover card is about choices and also do you remember I shared recently in a post what Anna wrote to me about l'Amoureux and that it has nothing to do with choices ? She was right. It doesn't. (Except in the more occult sense). Well, it's strangely enough the Hanged Man that is the card of Choice. Appearances can be deceptive. Deceptive appearances are also all what this card is about.

Most people who interpret this card say "you have no choice - you just have to wait and ride it out". The Hanged Man upsidedown on his tree is well aware that this is a misconception. See how happy he is, like a child on a swing - just swaying in the wind. Not a care in the world. Why is he happy ? Because he has NO MORE CHOICES TO MAKE. So you tell me that doesn't make sense - that I just said that The Hanged Man is the arcanum of choice. But you see, he made the choice ALREADY. He had said before climbing "I will CHOOSE Release". The word "will" has in its etymology the definition "to choose". So he chooses to choose release.

The Hanged Man is also called the card of sacrifice. Bollocks. Once one has made a DECISION to "sacrifice" something, it's no longer a sacrifice, it becomes a choice. So once the Hanged Man climbs up on his tree to do his mystical yoga, he's already made the choice for release.

Do you know of a beautiful park with a swing in it where you could go and swing for a while ? Take a little picnic with you too. Maybe a park with ducks and swans. And you could make some sketches, or do some knitting or whatever you like to do when you've not a care in the world. Or just listen to the birds singing. Even in winter, the birds sing - just as there is always sap in a tree.

The Nightingale of the East

Amidst the flowering plants of a garden in Egypt sat a nightingale of great beauty. Its soaring song filled the Oasis with lilting melody. Its song was a carol of love; a message of peace from out of the heart of the Inifinite, stilling the waves of a world of sense.
Knowest thou, O Bird, of the peace that fares forth with thy song? Knowest thou of the strife that is stilled by the melody from the throat? Nay, the nightingale knows naught of the power of its song and less of the unrest that is quieted by its sound.
So should ye be as the song of God pours forth from you - the willing carrier of the divine message – yet unaware of the power of your being and still less aware of the troubled hearts ye quiet with your melody of love.

[Aoife]

Oh my goodness, Diana... I'm lost for words.
I've been thinking about this all day, but need to sleep on it in the hope that the words will come.
In the meantime Thank You!!! - so much.

[Aoife]

Thank you so much for your post, Diana!
Your reading of this card in this position is immensely helpful to me.
All too often I feel that I'm dangling in indecision when it comes to creativity. But it's interesting that I'd 'chosen' to marry the idea of play with creativity, probably because that's where I've felt most free from constraint. And since reading your interpretation I've been thinking a lot about my self-imposed constraints, or rather, the limits I've chosen to bind myself with.

Appearances can be deceptive. Deceptive appearances are also all what this card is about.

Yes! This is exactly how I feel about this card.
I'm aware that it could be a depiction of a tortured, broken body... and on occasion in readings this can emerge. But he could equally be as you describe. We have no way of knowing for sure what's going on with his arms, or whether his right leg is useable. The beardless, solid body suggests youth, and if he is unbroken, then he would likely have the core strength to escape the position? In which case, the fact that he hasn't indicates 'choice' rather than constraint?

I recall that jmd [how wonderful it would be to hear from him again] suggested that this could be a depiction of banishment... a transgressor exiled. And it makes me think of how adulthood effectively creates exiles from childhood, when we were free to play to our heart's content. Of course, this is all metaphor as too many children do not enjoy the childhood to which they should be entitled. For myself, I was fortunate to experience play and playfulness as a child, and as an adult to be able to recall... yet, these are not behaviours and characteristics particularly valued in most societies. There are significant constraints, which if breached earn one the label of transgressor - whether consciously [antisocial/criminal] or limitation [mentally ill].
I have absolutely no idea where I'm going with this, but its such fun to speculate!
Diana, sincerest thanks!