AUTHOR’S NOTE: I recently encountered the idea that, when we set out to do a tarot reading, we should crank up our creative imagination by holding in our mind’s eye and contemplating the notion that we can see, hear, touch, taste and smell the object of our divination. (You’ll notice that the “sixth sense” of clairvoyant inquiry is conspicuously absent; this is intended to be a pragmatic rather than a mystical exercise.) I believe it would be best to use only the trumps for a one-card pull that will summarize the overall experience.
I can see adopting this approach, for example, when we are deciding where to go out to eat, or planning to meet someone in whom we have an interest. It could be a good alternative to the usual “What does this person think or feel about me?” because it involves a prearranged get-together, not merely a hoped-for liaison (e.g “How will my date go next week-end?”). Here is a brief sample reading, pulled randomly to answer “What will my involvement in a specific situation be like?”
The Hanged Man as the “big-picture” view of the experience can be read in a couple of ways. At its best it can mean a profound spiritual experience, a surrender or “letting go” into the deep waters of subconscious revelation. But it is seldom at its best in practical terms because it is fraught with perplexity, implying delay or misapprehension with a chance of being “put off” entirely. Something is out-of-sync between the expectation and the reality in the matter such that an agreeable compromise can’t be found or there may be more to it than meets the eye. To use one of my mundane examples, you might not be able to get a table reservation for the time you want at the desired restaurant or the ambiance and service may not be to your liking.
If the question involves meeting another person, that individual may be shy or noncommittal; in extreme cases it may indicate that the other party has a private agenda or concealed motives. It’s also possible the engagement will have to be rescheduled, and it could mean being “stood up” and hanging around waiting for someone who never shows up, or being “hung out to dry” by a dodgy acquaintance who intends to undermine your priorities. (One of the old titles of the card is “The Traitor.”) At any rate, something doesn’t connect and we will most likely feel betrayed; this is the card of Primal Water and its strong emotional undercurrent.
But in all cases I typically see the result of its action (or, more properly, inaction) as sacrificing time and effort rather than as relinquishing anything more substantial, leading to frustration but no real harm. I tend to read it as considerably more favorable when it is reversed since it suggests resurfacing or “rising out of the depths and returning to the light.” In the Thoth card, reversal turns the glyph of Saturn formed by the crossed legs (the “Greater Malefic” in astrology, signifying limitation and restriction) into that of Jupiter (the “Greater Benefic,” a symbol of good fortune and expansion). The outstretched arms that were embracing the Void are now raised in victory.
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 