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"Alan Watts called it the backwards law: thrash to stay afloat and you sink; relax and you float. Grasp at security and you feel less secure. Chase peace and the chasing is the war. The harder you hold on, the more you lose the thing you’re holding. The tarot painted this law centuries ago and called it The Hanged Man. Everyone reads him as punishment. Look again: serene, haloed, upside down by choice, and above all not struggling. He let go, the world turned over, and in the turning he finally saw clearly. Not stuck. Floating. Whatever you’re gripping today, try loosening the hand, just a little. Not giving up: letting go. The difference is the difference between drowning and floating. This teaching runs through the whole of my book, Die Before You Die: the Major Arcana as one long lesson in letting the grasping self go."
~Lieselle
"Alan Watts called it the backwards law: thrash to stay afloat and you sink; relax and you float. Grasp at security and you feel less secure. Chase peace and the chasing is the war. The harder you hold on, the more you lose the thing you’re holding. The tarot painted this law centuries ago and called it The Hanged Man. Everyone reads him as punishment. Look again: serene, haloed, upside down by choice, and above all not struggling. He let go, the world turned over, and in the turning he finally saw clearly. Not stuck. Floating. Whatever you’re gripping today, try loosening the hand, just a little. Not giving up: letting go. The difference is the difference between drowning and floating. This teaching runs through the whole of my book, Die Before You Die: the Major Arcana as one long lesson in letting the grasping self go."
~Lieselle