The 'Hanged Woman' in the Year of the Rat

It often happens that when I am off on one train of thought a serendipitously timed intervention occurs. For some reason I was thinking about Trump, trying to put the whole debacle into some archetypal context my brain might better comprehend. The image of the Hanged Man synchronistically flashed into my mind's eye. I'm used to this - it's the way I work, the way I think, the way I make sense of my life. I call it 'image first'. I wrote about it in my thesis as I used it to 'follow' the inherent wisdom of images from my own psyche and their projection onto the outside world. The method is random and chaotic - I forget it probably makes absolutely no sense to anyone else but I try to demonstrate how it works by using real life examples. 

Anyway - I used to read Tarot irregularly for myself so I know a bit about the Hanged Man. Too lazy to find my books I Googled:

'The Hanged Man Tarot card indicates that you are in a situation that you are not happy with. You may be feeling like you are stuck in a rut or trapped in a situation or frame of mind that is not making you happy but you have the power to release yourself. This may involve walking away from the situation or simply changing your perspective on it. The Hanged Man may also signify that you may be facing a dilemma and are unsure of what path to take...... You need to step outside yourself and look at your situation from a different angle. Give yourself time to just relax, stop trying to control things and just let them be, the correct course of action will become clear to you in time.

In a spiritual context, The Hanged Man tells you to be mindful of your attitude to yourself. If you have been engaging negative thinking you need to stop this as it is may affect your outcome as well as how you feel about your life.... If you release old beliefs or negative thoughts that don’t work for you anymore, you will find that whole new spiritual worlds will open up to you and free you up to connect to your higher consciousness'.

Of course I know this stuff, it's a pity I regularly forget to apply it! 

I drew the image above when I was going through my Minotaur phase - dealing with the dark masculine in my own psyche which of course I had, and still do, project onto the world. When I went looking for images for this post I found it again and realised it was perfect - it's the same feeling of frustration and restriction, being 'trapped'. I realised that thinking about Trump, my current predicament and this image were very much related. The common thread is the patriarchy - that brand of toxic masculinity that is responsible for the decisions that are destroying the planet and our species. Just the other day I wanted to scream: why is the patriarchy STILL winning? Patriarchal ideology and its associated behaviours - paternalism, control, domination, disempowerment, aggression - is present and destructive on so many levels, in many different environments and scenarios. And it has indirect links to my present predicament, which I will not be able to expand on here.

So what's happening in my 'real' world?

As I predicted, the Year of the Rat, of which I am one, has started with a bang. Because of events completely out of my control I've temporarily lost my job. Asbestos was found in the education centre ceiling cavity at my place of work. The tests came back and our boss informed us all, just as we had closed the school for the lunch break. I wasn't surprised at the result and of course understood the implications immediately. We all went home. Usually, because I'm a casual, they only have to give me 2 hours notice and my work is cancelled. Several of my colleague lecturers are in the same boat. We were all quite stunned.

My usual boss (who is great) is on leave and his replacement is awesome. She will do everything humanely possible to get things up and running again, and keep me on some kind of reduced wage until things get going again. She has told me several times she doesn't want to lose me. Turning 60 this year, I don't think I'll be overwhelmed with job offers. 

So here I am - the Hanged Woman - suspended, but taking note of the 'simply changing your perspective' advice from Tarot Google. The message is always personal - if you are blaming the patriarchy then you are simply projecting that style of thinking outwards from your own psyche. 'Matriarchal' thinking can be fierce, but it can also be flexible, go around things, apply less force and be smarter with energy, effort and time. 

Ok, so maybe I can use the time and enrol in the Certificate IV in Mental Health study I was going to start in semester 2. Maybe this is an opportunity. Maybe this is a sign that I am going in the right direction. I rang the college and left a message. Or maybe it's just an opportunity for some 'time out' - I am pretty exhausted after doing summer school and sliding straight into the start of the semester. Anyway, I went outside and counted frogs in my pond, and I went surfing on both of the days I should have been at work (I'm an honest employee, so I'll make up my work hours when it's onshore).

Struggling just gets you more entangled.

The Tarot Guide

https://www.thetarotguide.com/the-hanged-man
Image: Author. Pen on paper.