Coming to Terms with "Bad" Cards
Death. The Tower. The Hanged Man. Ten of Swords. The Devil. Pulling any one of these cards can ignite an instant panic attack and cast a grim fog onto an otherwise pleasant reading, especially if the question at hand has something to do with one’s love life, or any topic that is close to heart.
“What!? My final outcome is The Devil??? NO! How can this be? My relationship is DOOMED!”
Hold the phone.
When seemingly negative or “bad” cards pop up, sometimes it’s best to take a step back and listen to what the card is trying to tell you rather than run away in blind fear and ignore the message. Or, worse yet, to misinterpret the message and have that influence your life in a detrimental way. “Well, I pulled Death so I guess I should walk away from this whole situation now since it’s going to end anyway.” There are positive and negative aspects to every single card, and so it’s important to look at the complete picture which may require a change in perspective (cue The Hanged Man!).
Actually, while we’re on the subject, let’s chat about The Hanged Man, who has over time become a very dear friend of mine.
He had been stalking me in reading after reading – whether readings that I had done for myself or readings that were done for me. I bought a new deck, the Mary El Tarot, and he was the very first card I pulled from it. There he was again in my Celtic cross when I read for myself with the Cosmic Tarot. While I was working with a single Thoth card a day, he showed up. When my Moon Sister did a reading for me with her Renaissance deck, guess who dropped by for a visit? May. June. July. He just would not give it a rest, and my heart sank a little deeper each time I saw him.
I had been viewing him as a failure, as defeat. As stagnation. As no forward progress. As being, “hung up.”
And it’s true, he can represent those things sometimes, depending on the context and the position of the card in a reading. But The Hanged Man has much to teach us and once I decided to stop avoiding him and pay attention to what he had to say to me, I found that I actually started to look forward to his visits. I’d even be slightly disappointed when he didn’t appear in my spreads if you can believe that.
Now. Why on this green earth would I welcome that seemingly ominous figure into my life with open arms? What could he possibly say to me that would allow me to overcome the dread that had filled me whist looking upon his dangling form strung up from a tree?
Well, I’ll tell you what.
To me, The Hanged Man is a very yin card – he is passively hanging, bound at the ankle. There’s no struggle, and in fact sometimes he is even smiling. In the Rider Waite Smith deck he is even surrounded by a halo of sorts. In some variations there’s a river flowing beneath him. In the Cosmic Tarot his hands are together in prayer. The point being, rarely is he depicted in distress. He is at peace with his surroundings and though there might be turmoil, his inner light is his guide rather than the outside world. He knows that whatever chaos might be occurring around him, tranquility can be found within.
He also knows that sometimes inaction is the wisest course. Sure, he can represent being stuck and stagnant, but that isn’t a permanent state as life is ever changing. What’s that saying? The only constant in life is change? There are times when all we can do, or need to do is wait it out – and that’s not always a bad thing. In this way The Hanged Man has taught me to be patient, and persistent. To “hang in there” if you will, and not allow momentary setbacks to rule over the rest of my life. He’s shown me that it’s important to keep my goals in mind and to not give up on them even when things look bleak, or when there isn’t anything I can do to change my immediate situation.
Similarly, another lesson from The Hanged Man is that sacrifices are necessary. Sometimes you need to make sacrifices in order to reach your goal – to put a desire on hold to achieve the result you seek. Trying to lose weight but everyone around you is indulging in some high calorie treats at the office? If you want the weight to come off, you might have to put that craving on hold. Or maybe it’s necessary to make a sacrifice for the greater good by putting your own wants on the back burner and putting the needs of others first. Conversely, The Hanged Man in reverse has also cautioned me against martyrdom, and reminded me that I have to take care of myself before I can take care of anyone else.
And, as I hinted at above, another pearl of wisdom that I gleaned from my friend is that there are times when a change in perspective is needed, when looking at a situation from a different point of view will be of great benefit (I mean he’s hanging upside down after all!).
See? Not so scary.
There are no “bad” cards in tarot – only lessons to be learned and guidance to be received. That doesn’t mean that the next time I pull The Tower I won’t have a knee jerk reaction and instantly bemoan my misfortune, because I probably will. But after I get over the initial shock of that dismal scene, I’m going to take a closer look, open my heart, and listen to what it has to teach me.
The Hanged Man’s lessons resonated with me so much that I went ahead and had him tattooed on my wrist. Yup. I did that. And every time I see him smiling at me, I smile right back.
Link
For further study and comparison on different decks available: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/
