By Sarah Taylor
It’s a funny thing when you get three major arcana cards. There is a quality of elusiveness — of not quite being able to grasp and hold the energy. There’s big stuff happening, of that there is little doubt. Yet it can often seem as if it is happening where you can hear it, and you can definitely sense it. But you can’t see it.
The Hanged Man, Strength and The Chariot from the Röhrig Tarot deck, by Carl-W. Röhrig. Click on the image for a larger version.
That’s because we are solely in the world of archetype.
There is no day-to-day card to anchor it into an action, a person, a situation, a particular thought. This is soul stuff we’re talking about. Have you tried to look at a soul recently? Did you manage to see it? Thought not.
With three major arcana cards, you are in the world of Plato’s Cave: seeing the moving shadows of something reflected on the walls in front of you, and needing to shift and look from another perspective if you are to understand that you are a part of the action, even if you feel you are not.
Yes. You are a part of the action, even if you feel you are not.
The best way to anchor into the cards is by way of the card that signifies what you are moving away from — because it is a part of your recent experience. Once you know that feeling, you then have the opportunity to follow that fine, tenuous, yet kevlar-strong thread into the current card (at center) and the one you are moving toward (at right).
What you are moving from is a time of suspension. This would have been a palpable feeling of not being able to move as freely as you would have liked, to express yourself as openly as you might have preferred, to make decisions as authoritatively as you may have been used to. The Hanged Man depicts the archetypal moment of crucifixion, where you are ‘sacrificed’ for a higher purpose — and you had a hand in this higher purpose even if that isn’t immediately discernible.
The Hanged Man is the moment of surrender to powers that are greater than you, but it is in the service of an expansion of your concept of yourself. It is, in short, a meeting with the Self — that part of you that is submerged in the waters of the unconscious, which you glimpse when you are upended and your head dips into its world, even for moments, to witness what lies underneath.
Like Neptune, the planet with which this card is associated, it can feel dream-like, other-worldly, as if things are not quite happening in a way you can fully grasp. That’s because the unconscious communicates in a different language: through metaphor, through dreams, through synchronicity. It isn’t rational, it cannot be measured, and, like the waters beneath the figure of The Hanged Man, it is frequently unfathomable. All as it should be.
And now you have returned. Card VIII in the major arcana, Strength, has a very different quality altogether. Where The Hanged Man is water, Strength is fire. Where The Hanged Man is surrender to circumstances and to the emergence of a different state of seeing, Strength is the integration of another state — that of the instinctual, animal, sexual — into waking consciousness.
So, whether you can see it or not, maybe you can feel that something has changed. There is a different beast roaming inside you, and this one purrs, growls, roars. There is fierceness, but it is held by a maturity and a sense of yourself that heretofore had eluded you. This fierceness is not vicious or aggressive; it is wild. It is the wildness of the wild soul when it is free to express itself, unfettered.
Look at the face of the lion in the card; look at the woman. They are one and the same. There is animal power that knows itself; there is joy in the sensation of being naked and yet protected by that power. It doesn’t seek to conquer but simply to express the ecstasy of being exactly what it is.
And it is going to take you places; or something is coming to take you places. The difference between those two statements is negligible: it is you who has called forth the driver who sits at the wheel, engine revving, a star clearly visible on its visor.
Coming up is the opportunity for a new beginning after a time of the necessary frustration of your plans so that you could gather the pearls of wisdom you were lacking. Right now, you are in a moment of reunion. Don’t be too quick to jump in and drive off — that vehicle isn’t going anywhere. It is yours, after all. This meeting, right here and right now, is an important one; it is where you remember a part of yourself. It is the very fuel that gets you going. Feel the warmth licking you, and the heat rising — two sensations that refuse to remain behind the scenes. In them, you find the path forward.
Rrrrwaoarrr!
Astrology/Elemental correspondences: The Hanged Man (Neptune), Strength (Leo), The Chariot (Cancer)
If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free tarot spread generator using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread. This article explains how to use the spread.
Ah, thank-you, Sarah! A wonderful reading, involving cards I’ve long not quite understood – this puts so much in perspective for me, confirms my growing sense of my capacity to shape my life. I’ll continue to reflect upon this as I go about the rest of my day.
I was a bit dubious about moving from the instinctive to the ‘shielding’ and ‘distancing’ of the car (not very organic?). Then I remembered a comment by Vanessa Paradis when asked about love in life she said something like ‘Biensûr: c’est notre carburant!’
Thank you Sarah so much for these readings the past few weeks, I thoroughly enjoyed reading them, quite as much as seeing a lovely dress by Vivienne Westwood – that sort of immediate sense feeling heart touch that is quite rare.
Thank you again!
xxxp
Wow. Spot on, as always. Thank you.
You are an amazing Tarot reader, Sarah. I always look forward to reading your posts. For a novice like me, your words and explanations are so helpful and clear. Thank you so much.
So interesting that this Soul reading coincides with Venus heading toward conjunction with Saturn as it completes its sojourn in Scorpio, and Mars conjuncts Pluto. My experience is that the fears and challenges aroused by living into last weekend’s reading could use some Soul guidance by way of reassurance and getting the big picture.
Really beautiful one Sarah, thank you. I awoke form a dream Saturday morning feeling incredible love as a Man/lion softly licking my neck. Immediately I received the image (just as is delicately depicted on the females wrist) of the Strength VIII card in the Rider Waite Tarot deck.
“depicts the archetypal moment of crucifixion, where you are ‘sacrificed’ for a higher purpose — and you had a hand in this higher purpose even if that isn’t immediately discernible”
I would like to share the crystal card reading I drew at the close of the eclipse season. In it’s essence, not unsimilar to your reading Sarah, it is of primary Major Arcana and in illustration to the Uranus Pluto Square and what I read is being held just beyond.
(Left) Fire – Speaks of loss, destruction, of death. A trail by Fire. Old habits, possessions, beliefs and creations that no longer serve you will be swept away in the flames of your own creative force. It’s powers of destruction feed the cycle of rebirth and life, as examples of the legends of the Phoenix and the Dragon.
The Phoenix legend speaks of the power of transformation (Pluto in Capricorn). at the end of it’s life burst into flames and is consumed by the fire. From it’s own ashes the spirit is reborn of a new body, thus the flames making room in your life for the gifts of the universe is bringing into you.
The Dragon legend reveals the power of transmutation, or transfiguration (Uranus in Aries). The destruction that the Dragon caused to the “flocks and countryside”, could not go unpunished. the brave boy took it upon himself (beyond the fear of the action) and faced the dragon in a heroic quest. Slayed, consumed by it’s own inner flames, the cleansing power of the Fire transmuted the dragon’s flesh and bones to treasures of gold and jewels. The ability of Fire to convert one form of energy into an entirely different form..Manifest, rewards for the brave boy. Through invoking and facing the creative force of the Fire within we can purify our energy.
–Second and Third Chakra
(Center) Calcite – Spontaneity – is a high frequency of Fire energy. Joyful creations. Higher and more beautiful expressions of light. The power of prayers (creations) that ‘arise’ the moment, backed by thanksgiving to the universe and Divine. Calling the sacred, open energy of child to come forth. Acts of love on Earth (Mars in Sagittarius and in Capricorn conjunct Pluto)
–Navel Chakra
(Right) Wind – The element that governs the realms of the Spirit and mind. The messenger of Spirit. (Mercury in Libra and Scorpio). Wind a force capable of incredible displays of strength, yet cannot be seen other than by the effects it creates. Trust and faith, the power of our thoughts to create and effect on the physical plane. The breath of Mother Earth. Breath of the Divine, to cleanse and create the highest energetic of change through healing, psychic abilities and telepathic communication over long distances..or even messages from other universes or lifetimes. Intuition and clarity of mind! Connecting with Wind, the breath to the Universal Mind. Connecting with our guides and spirit allies, the non physical realm is the gift arising I read. (Mercury in Sagittarius) The Wind is calling you to listen to its voice within your deepest self.
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Thank you, all, for your comments and insights. Your reading is beautiful, P. Sophia!
~ Sarah