The Hanged ManTarot card meaning
The Hanged Man is card 12 of the Major Arcana. In tarot it means surrender, new angle and pause. As a yes or no answer, it says not yet.
Nothing moves until you stop pushing. The Hanged Man hangs willingly, the pause is the point. Seen upside down, the problem may not be a problem at all.
In a yes or no reading: Not yet clear · yes or no tarot →
- Arcana
- Major Arcana
- Astrology
- Water
- Number
- 12 · 12 → 3
What the card shows
A man hangs upside down from a living tree, tied by one ankle, the other leg bent into a crossed shape. His hands are behind his back and his face is completely at peace, with a soft light around his head. No one is holding him there. The card shows a pause chosen on purpose, and the strange clarity that arrives when the world is viewed the other way up.
The Hanged Man reversed
The sacrifice stopped meaning anything, you're just stuck. Reversed, the Hanged Man names stalling dressed as patience, and asks what you're actually waiting for.
How to read a reversed card →The Hanged Man in love
In love, the Hanged Man is the wait you did not choose: someone who will not decide, a relationship on hold, a feeling that neither moves forward nor leaves. The calm face of the figure is the clue. The card says there is nothing to push right now, and that if you look at the situation upside down, what seemed like sacrifice may be the time you needed to see it.
Is The Hanged Man a yes or a no?
The Hanged Man answers not yet clear, and says so upside down with a calm face. What you ask is on hold, and the hold is part of the answer. Nothing gets settled by pushing now. If you can wait and look at the situation the other way up, the yes or the no shows up on its own, from another angle.
The Hanged Man and its neighbours in the arc
| Card | Keyword | Element | Yes or no |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justice | truth | Major Arcana | Not yet clear |
| The Hanged Man | surrender | Major Arcana | Not yet clear |
| Death | ending | Major Arcana | No |
| The Hermit | solitude | Major Arcana | Not yet clear |
Cards that often appear with it
- Justice
The card before it in the major arc
- Death
The card after it in the major arc
- The Hermit
Its mirror from the other end of the arc
- Ace of Cups
The ace that speaks its element at street level
Number and correspondence
In the deck's old correspondences, The Hanged Man belongs to Water.
Will this card find you tonight?
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