Summer Solstice 2015 Tarot Blog Hop: The Hanged Man

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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.

© Alison Coals

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.  

  

The next stops on the Tarot Blog Hop are - depending on whether you’re moving backwards or forwards through the list – Cosmic Whispers Tarot or Ania M's blog. The Master List can be found here.

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Gemini in the Druidcraft Minor Arcana: The Ten of Swords

The Ten of Swords, in the astrological correspondence system I follow, is linked to the Sun in Gemini – and to the final ten days in this sign.   The Sun brings out the creativity in Gemini, the mutable Air sign, inspiring new ways of thinking, of acquiring information.  The Sun in Gemini radiates mutability and mental energy – it’s talkative, happily making connections and contacts that allow complete self-expression.  The downside of this is that it may become hard to concentrate of any one thing at a time, as it will be attracted to so many different things!

Druidcraft: Ten of Swords (detail)

But how does this fit with the Ten of Swords? Again, as with the Eight and Nine of Swords, it’s not easy to see the astrological associations.  This card is often linked to the ending of a phase or stage, and with the Swords being the most challenging of the four suits, the ending is perhaps not easy.  I’ve heard this card called ‘the drama queen’ – that figure lying on the ground with ten swords in his back does have the touch of the melodramatic about it!  

But whatever’s ending is ending because it needs to – the situation is untenable and needs to change. The figure lies face down because we don’t want to see that this change is needed, that we want to hold on to our illusions and not admit that things have to move on. This is where I see the connection with the Sun; dawn is breaking – it’s a new day, a new start – and of course the Swords are linked to dawn.  The rising of the sun brings hope and optimism, helping us to let go of the illusions that all’s well with the status quo, and that we have an opportunity to start afresh.

Druidcraft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections