The Hanged Man
This year, 2019, is ruled by The Hanged Man. This is according to numerology which you can use to simply add up the separate digits of the current year.
It looks like this:
2 + 0 + 1 + 9 = 12
The Hanged Man is card 12 in the major arcana, making this year 2019 one imbued with the energy of The Hanged Man. I find that working in collaboration with the card of the year can be helpful in attuning expectations, actions, and sense of purpose with a universal energy that is affecting us all. This world holds many cycles and patterns that reveal the mysteries that surround us. Working with a tarot card for the year is one method of interpreting those cycles.
We are now half way through this year of The Hanged Man, so I thought I would sit down and write some reflections on how I feel its presence around us all and how we can use this knowledge to live well during the rest of the year. Here are three insights or tips I’ve gleaned from The Hanged Man so far. I hope you find them useful!
1. This is a time to pause and rest. There is a sense of slowness to this year and not in a bad way. It feels like things are unfolding gently. There are still things to accomplish, create, and do this year, but overall there isn’t an overwhelming urgency behind these actions. Moments of frustration pop up, but you can always bring yourself back to the idea of everything in its right place and time. This gives the year a sense of ease if you allow yourself to take your foot off the gas and stop spinning your wheels.
As you look ahead to the next five months of the year, keep in mind the idea that time is moving more slowly this year, that you might not make the huge leaps and bounds of progress that you experienced in other years, and that more rest is needed to accomplish the same number of tasks. It’s not that you need to scale back on your goals, but rather that forcing things won’t make much of a difference. What is ready to come forth will do so at its own pace and measure. Allowing that flow will create more ease and grace in your life. Enjoy more downtown, more rest, more reflection, more meditation, more holding steady. Make room for slowness instead of calling it failure, laziness, or doing nothing.
2. Internal growth is emphasized. Some years we make a big splash out on the scene, and some years the work is happening inside. A Hanged Man year is definitely more about what’s going on behind the scenes, perhaps even beyond your conscious awareness. You may decide that you are stagnant or stuck, but it really does help to have a more optimistic perspective that you are resting up for a big push. Sometimes the preparations for a great transformation are subtle or undetectable, like a bulb under the surface of the soil. There is a lot going on in the bulb but it’s hidden nature makes that growth mysterious and unforeseen, until a flower emerges from beneath.
As the year continues towards the completion of The Hanged Man year, try to tend to your inner growth. Make room for downtime, for being still, for behind the scenes preparation to take place. Keep in mind that next year will be ruled by the energy of the Death card, a card of major shifts and transformations. Before we are ready to emerge, transforming from bulb to flower, we need to nourish ourselves in the dark. Or think of it as a caterpillar forming a chrysalis before transforming to a beautiful butterfly. You need the next five month to cocoon yourself, to build up your strength, to be still before your rebirth as something new can be accomplished.
3. Help others and lend a hand. The Hanged Man is often depicted as a martyr, someone who makes personal sacrifices for the good of the collective. This year challenges and frustrates us when we try to get ahead, make personal gains, get our own way without considering the needs of all living things. Remember, I am a strong advocate for self-centered living, making sure your needs are getting met before giving to others to meet their needs. And I don’t believe that doing volunteer work, providing aid to others, or sacrificing for the common good goes against your self-interest. Helping this world thrive is helping yourself thrive.
Try to find ways to give back during the rest of the year. You could do obvious things like volunteer at an animal shelter, food bank, homeless shelter, or neighborhood cleanup. You could also decide on something more personal to you. The important thing is to get in touch with people, animals, or the environment so that you can feel your connection to everyone and everything. You are not an isolated being on this planet, you are part of all that exists. And you exist for a reason, otherwise you would not be here. Keep that knowledge that you have a purpose close to your heart and carry out the year in a state of peaceful togetherness.
What are you, do you have tips or insights from experiencing this year of The Hanged Man? How has this energy manifested in your life? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below! And as always, if you need help getting in touch with your own personal clarity and mission in life, I offer insightful, inspiring, and empowering email tarot readings!
Here I am hiking at the Garden of the Gods in Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois in May of 2017. The image of the rocks above is also from this trip.