Hanging in the moment.

The Hanged Man (12)



Some cards are easier to explain than others, some resonate more in a Western, fast paced culture. The Hanged Man is not a card that New Yorkers necessarily want to find, but it is a card they often need. In the hanging moment, in the stillness and suspension, answers become clear. Solutions to problems are found.



The Hanged Man is about insight. Suddenly the pattern will emerge, and you will something truly, clearly. But there was a reason you weren’t seeing clearly before, and sometimes clarity can hurt. Sometimes a really clear insight means there is no going back. I like the alien abduction card as a visual metaphor, because once you know something so extreme, you can never be the same...

Which Cards do I use

Someone recently asked me to mention on my blog which cards I use. I use the standard Rider Waite pack, in every reading, it is one of the most popular packs in the Tarot World and many other packs use it as a starting point for their own images.



The second pack I occassionally use, but always have on me, is far less well known, and is based on Fairy Tales. The Inner Child cards are colorful and delightful, but also full of more familiar images than the tarot. I get a lot of good insight from them.

If you are starting to learn tarot, I would recommend the Rider Waite, as they are the most popular, before bridging out.

Justice is blind...

Justice (11)

Justice is about fairness. The catch cry of ‘it’s not fair’ resonates with us all, and the wise parents response of ‘life isn’t always fair’ comes back. But Justice is about an objective balance which may not seem fair to us anyway, because it is about consequences - you can’t smoke and party without paying with your health, you can’t focus solely on career and ignore your family - all your actions will have consequences. Justice is not about punishment, it’s about adjustment. It not about the law, it’s about natural consequences. And it’s not about compassion, it’s about results.


And, of course, not all of us want to meet the fair and rational results of our actions. Often life has given us special treatment, because of our looks or charm or luck. Justice won’t give us that, and that’s when absolute fairness can feel implacable.



I like the Inner child version of Justice, with King Midas, because it shows two things – be careful what you wish for and a fair and scrupulous consequence can be a painful thing indeed.

Turning the Wheel

The Wheel of Fortune, the 11th card in this Tarot Journey.



Sometimes you just get lucky - you spin the wheel and the right number appears. This is a card of luck - almost always good luck – you are going to get what you want, something unexpected and good is coming your way.



I like the Alice in Wonderland round about, which gives you the giddy feel that good luck can bring.



However the reason I liked the spider web image, which is more sinister than other images out there, is because this is a kind of karmic good luck. So if you have done good, good luck is coming. But if you have done bad, then it’s karmic payoff time… So be kind when you break up, because Karma is a tough love goddess…