Hello, beautiful blissmaker! We’re back with The Fool on His Journey through the Major Arcana. I know … I’m excited, too!
After last week’s interlude with Justice, The Fool was making amends for past transgressions and taking responsibility for His actions. It was uncomfortable, but the resulting lightness of being proved worth the discomfort.
Plodding along His path, minding His business and whistling a jaunty tune, The Fool suddenly looks up to find Himself face to foot with a peculiar figure. Lowering His gaze, The Fool discovers this foot belongs to a man who, for reasons yet unknown, is hanging upside down from a tree branch by one foot. The man’s eyes are closed as if resting in this odd repose.
Curiosity piqued, our hero clears His throat to announce His presence. The upside-down man slowly opens his eyes, and introduces Himself to The Fool. He gives a name, but says most people simply refer to Him as The Hanged Man. He then proceeds to tell The Fool His story.
The nutshell version is that this guy was faced with a trial, and he failed it. His punishment was to be strung up to this tree by one foot for an undisclosed amount of time which, at this point, was looking like forever. At first, He had rebelled against His circumstances, shaking His fists, working the ties that bound Him until His fingers bled, cursing the gods and anyone who was unlucky enough to be in proximity to hear Him. He was bitter, and bloodied, and totally defeated.
He had sacrificed so much facing this trial, and for what?
Eventually, He tired out. This was the moment The Hanged Man gave up fighting and surrendered to His circumstances. And it was in the surrendering, that He gained a beautiful gift. Once He surrendered control and stopped struggling against His circumstances, and blaming and cursing any- and everyone, The Hanged Man started to see things in a new way. He was able to appreciate the beauty of this new perspective of the world around Him. The birds became His friends, singing to soothe Him, bringing Him crumbs and berries to eat. The tree provided shade from the heat of the sun, and a sweet rustling accompaniment to the birds when a breeze was blowing. Strangers were intrigued by His predicament, and engaged Him in conversation sharing news of the world and offering gifts of food and clothing where possible. He found the flow of life opening up for Him as a result of letting go of the struggle.
From Him The Fool learned the magick of surrender and the power of shifting perspective for reconnecting with the beauty and flow of life. He learned how to navigate periods of suspended momentum with grace and in sacrifice of something greater than one person’s momentary comfort.
So delighted was He to have had this weird and wonderful exchange with The Hanged Man, The Fool gave His new friend His beloved flute as a token of His appreciation, hoping it would bring the suspended fellow some moments of joy.
His curiosity sated, The Fool bids The Hanged Man farewell, and marches on toward the horizon.
I look forward to next week when we meet again on The Fool’s Journey. May you find fresh perspectives and delicious surrender this week, blissmakers! xo