Welcome to Alison’s Alembic! You may have arrived here as a stop on the
Tarot Blog Hop from either Cosmic Whispers Tarot or Ania M's blog. Or you
may have found this through TABI’s Facebook page, or though one of the many
wonderful tarot bloggers in the ether. However you came to be here,
welcome to this instalment of the Tarot Blog Hop!
For those of us in the
northern hemisphere, it’s the Summer Solstice today (16.37 GMT) - the longest
day, the shortest night. It’s the time when the sun appears to have reached a
standstill; the word ‘solstice’ means ‘the standing of the sun’. The sun has reached its zenith in the sky -
its furthest boundary of power, if you like – and as such, its greatest
potency. For those of us below, it’s
time to stop and look back at what we’ve achieved on our journey, since the
Winter Solstice six months ago. Now we
can celebrate what we’ve created, as well as acknowledge what hasn’t worked. It’s no surprise that this solstice (again,
in the northern hemisphere) has been called the ‘Festival of Achievement’.
Our wrangler for this Blog Hop,
Alison Cross of This Game of Thrones fame, has asked us to choose one of the
Major Arcana cards and write about it. The reason for picking the card has been
left up to us – we might love it or hate it, or it might inspire us. With the
idea of celebrating something I’ve created (although not in the last 6 months!),
I’ve chosen The Hanged Man because it’s the card that I created for the Major
Arcana of the TABI Tarot Deck.
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© Alison Coals
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The Hanged Man is superimposed on a butterfly emerging from
its chrysalis. The chrysalis is suspended from an oak tree, representing the
World Tree, with its roots in the Underworld.
Beneath it is a pool of water, symbolizing the unconscious world. The pool is edged by poppies, argrimony, and
burdock. Poppies represent sacrifice, while agrimony and burdock in the Druidic tradition are both
associated with being ready to let go of feelings, attachments, influences and
habits that are no longer useful. The dawn sky and the approaching sunrise
symbolize light coming after the dark night, and the hope and optimism that
come with new beginnings. The emerging
butterfly represents vulnerability as it ventures into a new world.
I see The Hanged Man as a call to look
at life in a different way. In order to do this we may need to sacrifice something so that we can make room for something else to grow. This may require descending into our unconscious, where we can find out what matters most to us, and help us to see
things from a different perspective. The butterfly waits in its chrysalis,
suspended in time, waiting for the moment when it is time to emerge and see the
world it has been born into. By
voluntarily letting go and surrendering control, we too will
emerge with the ability to see the world in a new light, and be free of old
habits and patterns. This surrendering, or sacrifice, leaves us
vulnerable, like the butterfly, but we will be ready to
open our
wings and enter a new dawn, hoping and trusting that what
we’ve
given up will be replaced by something more valuable.
The collage
was created using watercolours, ink, coloured film, and paper – on paper.
Thank you
for stopping off here on your own journey through this Litha Tarot Blog
Hop! Please do come back and read some
of my other posts.
