The Sacred Pause of The Hanged Man

Not all progress is movement. Some of it is surrender.

Each month, we draw a tarot card at Wild Raven’s Nest to serve as a collective guidepost, something to reflect on as we move through the unique energies of the season.

For June, the card that stepped forward is The Hanged Man.

This card tends to make people pause, literally and figuratively. It’s not dramatic or flashy. It doesn’t predict disaster or triumph. What it does offer is far more subtle: a complete shift in perspective. And it often arrives at the moment we need it most, even if we don’t realize it yet.

What Does The Hanged Man Mean?

Traditionally, The Hanged Man shows a figure suspended upside-down by one foot, often serene despite the awkward position. In the Light Seer’s Tarot, the author adds a layer of mythic weight by invoking Odin, the Norse god who hung from the World Tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days and nights to receive the runes - the language of wisdom. He wasn’t punished or trapped. He chose to surrender.

This is the heart of the card’s message:

Sometimes the most powerful action you can take… is no action at all.

Themes of The Hanged Man

• Surrender and letting go – not in defeat, but in conscious alignment

• Seeing from a new angle – emotionally, spiritually, or situationally

• Suspension or liminality – the space between what was and what’s next

• Sacrifice for insight – releasing comfort, certainty, or control in exchange for truth

• Trust in timing – acknowledging that progress isn’t always visible

The Hanged Man doesn’t ask you to figure things out. It asks you to stop trying to control them. It invites you to loosen your grip on the mental narratives or plans that may no longer be serving you, and instead allow a deeper kind of knowing to emerge.

When This Card Appears...

You may feel stuck or uncertain. You may feel like you’re waiting for something to move and nothing’s happening. This card reframes that experience. It says: You’re not stuck. You’re realigning.

It’s a call to pause, reflect, and shift how you see the situation. Sometimes, answers arrive when we stop demanding them. Sometimes, healing begins the moment we stop resisting the discomfort and just let ourselves be.

Questions to Reflect On OR pull cards:

• What am I clinging to that’s asking to be released?

• Where can I surrender control and let intuition lead?

• How might a pause serve me instead of hinder me?

• What old patterns or roles am I being invited to shed?

Working With the Hanged Man’s Energy

You don’t have to do anything dramatic to work with this card. In fact, that’s kind of the point. This is a card of inner work, quiet reflection, and conscious surrender.

Some ways to explore its energy this month:

• Meditate or journal in the early morning or twilight; threshold times help unlock new insight.

• Change your physical perspective, lie on the floor, sit in a new spot, or even hang upside down in a yoga swing to spark a shift in awareness.

• Practice intentional stillness—pause before responding, make space between decisions, or take a tech-free walk to reset your mental space.

• Work with herbs or tools for inner vision—try Mugwort, Egyptian Blue Lotus, or Lavender in tea or ritual to enhance introspection.

The Hanged Man isn’t here to slow you down for no reason.
He’s here to offer you a sacred moment to stop, breathe, and listen.

To step back far enough that the next right step reveals itself, not from pressure, but from clarity.

Let yourself hang in the space between knowing and becoming.

You’re not lost. You’re becoming someone who sees differently.

This deck is The Light Seer's Tarot by Chris-Anne a shop favorite! Learn more HERE. 

Shop: The Original Light Seer's Tarot Deck and Tarot for Light Seer's Book