2019

YEAR OF THE HANGED ONE

From The Star Tarot Deck

Original Writing by Kathryn Ravenwood

Suspended within the great Cosmic Egg of all Creation the Hanged One meditates, releases, realizes and dissolves the old consciousness so new realization can emerge. Like a cocoon hanging from a limb, wrapped in silent layers of silk, the promise of the butterfly yet to emerge is far from actualized. No activity is apparent;  the larvae inside is immersed in the process of dissolution. It is a surrender of its core essence to Divine Timing.

In the Tarot card we see a beautiful Being hanging in peaceful repose.  Her foot is held by the infinity sign; her legs crossed in an inverted four, suggesting a refiguring of attachments or previous foundations. Hands pressed together are non-doing hands; no action is being taken.  A snake-like coiling wraps around her leg and pelvis, suggesting rebirth.  Her hair forms the infinity sign as she suspends over the triangle with the Hebrew word “Mem” - the Cosmic Waters, the eternal womb, the place of being held, suspended, born and nurtured. Her third eye is fully illuminated and, with a great aura of light around her, she hangs in sanctuary and waits.

In the world of duality in which we live, we spend a lot of energy in the activities of physical and mental busy-ness with various degrees of success in balancing those two realms. It can be consuming, leaving no awareness, time, or inclination to search for the balance of the rest of our life - our consciousness, our soul essence. No matter how grand our enterprises may be or how much we know, we all need to allow for voluntary time to meditate, be quiet, rest, and allow for the evolution of our very being.  It is not about making change or deciding a new course of action; it is non-doing, non-thinking surrender to the silence. In that surrender we are free to allow what is “out” to go “in” and what is “in” to come out - an inversion, an immersion into the source of love, light, and eternal creation.

Each Tarot card is an archetype of our spiritual becoming through human form. Think of them as doorways into and through lessons we all must experience and re-experience throughout our lives. Could you imagine a beautiful doorway with XII carved into it with radiant light? See how the number glows throughout the face of the door, as if a guiding light to beckon you forward.  Approaching the door you sense a shift somewhere deep within you, your breath deepens, your heartbeat slows. As you stand in front of this doorway you begin to remember being called to a higher purpose for your life; a feeling of hope emerges. Now, the door opens. As you step across its radiant threshold, you feel a gentle presence holding on to your foot; a silent voice says, “I got you.”  Slowly you exhale and lean into that support, trusting, letting go, as you simply fall forward and find yourself suspended, held, into a peaceful no-doing and no-thinking. In this place of inversion and stillness, you just hang out for awhile. And, held by ultimate cosmic truth and love, you are filled with peace. You are the Hanged One.

May the coming year find you in allowance to release your self into the sacred waters of Cosmic creation.

….Kathryn Ravenwood  12.28.18