Le Pendu

A lot of people say, doesn't life get you down sometimes? Well, to be completely honest, yes, it does. Being stuck here, having to fight for a chance to work my ass off, yes, it does wear a little thin at times. But then again, I begin to think, it's all about what you have to fight for. That's why I put this funky little picture up here- it's a Tarot card, taken from the Fenestra deck (not that that matters, I just liked the art-deco feel of this particular version.) At any rate, as the card shows, the common theme is a man hanging from a tree by one foot. What the hell, you're probably thinking- can he get down, who put him there, and to what end? Well, this card is commonly said to represent Odin, the Norse god of wisdom. The tree on which he hangs is called Yggasdril, translated as the Tree of Life. No one really made him hang there- rather his rationale is to gain wisdom by sacrifice. He says at one point in an epic poem:

I know that I hung on a windy tree

nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run

Long story short, he is enduring all this for the sake of wisdom. Hence the meaning of this particular card, (remember, Tarot cards are used for divinatory purposes, among other things) which is that sometimes to reap a reward or realize a gain, first we must sacrifice. In some cases, the sacrifice is a part of ourselves. Perhaps not a really necessary or good one, but rather one that by losing, we become the stronger for. That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger, as they say. Odin gained a great deal of wisdom from his ordeal, and although there may not be much call to hang on a giant ash tree for nine days, the principle is still largely the same. We can take what life gives us and do the best we can with it, or not. The choice is up to us, whether or not to be beaten down by the world. Clearly, we don't get much say in the burdens we have to bear, but how we bear them depends on us. This doesn't make it any more comforting, but in my own case, just leaves me with more resolve. I won't let whatever forces are arrayed against me win. If it kills me, well, I will have died fighting, and not given up. There's another meaning to this card, too- that sometimes the sacrifice is too great- true, we can gain from it, but sometimes we need a reality check. Don't throw away your life for a lost cause- rather, rethinking strategy sometimes becomes the order of the day. At any rate, whatever happens from here, the fight goes on, and you're never beaten until you don't get back up again.