A Stiff Neck, The Hanged Man in Tarot and a New Perspective

Insight--finally! But for how long, how extensive? This will ramble on a bit, just like my thoughts, but don't feel obligated to read. Just gotta get it out.

This image here is of The Hanged Man, the 12th card in the Tarot's Major Arcana. Been coming up a LOT for me lately, like, woo-woo, all the time, what does it mean? Really seem to connect with it I do (now I'm talking like Yoda).

"The Hanged Man appears to encourage us to sacrifice our perspective in order to gain wisdom."
That's what was written. Does it apply to the conflict with my partner? Would such a sacrifice make a difference? How do you sacrifice a perspective? Not obvious, maybe blind.

"Surrender yourself to the situation," it said.
Which situation? Can I do that? Can understand "surrender," but it there benefit? "In doing so, you find that you are able to move on to the next level of enlightenment." Ah, well, sounds great. Enlightenment cool and all.

But very metaphysical, too. Things like:
"It's time to literally turn things on end. In doing so, we will find that our 3rd eye is wide open, and the true universe is revealed."
Again, cool--but skeptical. Can't help it. For real? Don't dash my hopes upon the cruel, craggy rocks of reality. But what is reality, exactly?

So, driving home yesterday, in traffic, neck stiff from stress, at computer all day. I turn my head to the left and right to ease out stress. At right, everything suddenly looked different! Realized I rarely stretch my neck this way. Cars, traffic, streets--it all looked VERY different.

And then it hit me...

My perspective had changed--and that had made all the difference. Sitting in my truck, it all rushed in. The Hanged Man, my shamanic workshops, religion, spirituality, work, consensus reality, my partner--all of it. "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free!" What? Yes, I now understood what "sacrifice your perspective" meant!

Sometimes I can see beyond this mundane world of bills and clocks and responsibilities, see beyond into something more essential, more subtle. Didn't know what to do with it, however. Which goes back to what was written about The Hanged Man:
"We completely absorb the experience, whether or not we can define it."

Can't define it. Still can't. But understand better. In order to live more in that middle place, I must sacrifice the perspective that has carried me thus far in my life. Chuck it! Dump it! Let it go! Once gone, everything will change, maybe make more sense, have more value, more color, more song and more life.

Sacrifice comes with consequences, of course. Must give up one thing to gain another, right? Ok, can do that. Loss is relative, possibly an illusion. Probably. Most assuredly.

I need to sacrifice how I see everything in my life: my partner, my work, home, social standing and image, friends, purpose. Even though I like to think I have done so, I really have not. Not really. Just playing around. Now's the time to get serious. It was also written:

"You have learned your lessons but you are holding yourself back by hanging on to your old ways. The only thing in the way of moving on to the next level of understanding is yourself. Everything that has come before has been leading up to this moment; we are now fully prepared to take the 'first steps' of the journey that will lead us to its completion."

You may not get it, but I get it. Like how this page explains:
"It is as if he's hanging between the mundane and the spiritual, able to see both. It's a dazzling moment, dreamlike yet crystal clear. Connections he never understood before are made, mysteries are revealed. But timeless as this moment of clarity seems, he realizes it will not last. Very soon, he must right himself, and when he does, things will be different. He will have to act on what he's learned."

Yes to all that!

Hanged Man is "about suspension ... You must stop resisting change, and allow yourself to be vulnerable and naive, sacrifice your perspective and begin to gain illumination. Learn to see the world from a viewpoint other than your own."

All makes sense now. Vulnerable and naive? Usually not a good thing. But this is another way of seeing things, another way of being.

Sacrifice.

Surrender.

Let it go.

And act.