Meaning of Day of the Shadow in the Gypsy Tarot
Card no. 12
Among the Gypsy people, the Day of the Shadow marks the passage from the deep darkness to the light of life on earth. More concretely, it signals the end of winter, the most gruelling season for nomads, and the beginning of summer, far milder when you live on the road. And because the Gypsies are deeply devout, they celebrate this Day of the Shadow at Easter, just before the worship of the Green George. On that day, they hang from a tree a straw scarecrow dressed up as a woman, meant to embody the abstinence and the sterility observed throughout the winter.
The rope from which the effigy is hanged is always red, this time to embody the mating and the vitality so dear to spring. The hanged figure is then struck with heavy blows of sticks by every member of the clan, then burned on a small pyre. That is the moment of the return of the light.
❤️ Depiction of the Day of the Shadow ❤️
The card therefore places us before a straw effigy, hanged from a tree branch at the end of a red rope. It is dressed up as a woman, wearing eccentric and highly colourful clothes that remain the hallmark of the Gypsy people.
On the ground, beneath its feet swaying in the wind, lie dozens of pieces of wood ready to be used to feed the future hearth. All around are various birds such as an owl and her young, symbolising luck, and a cuckoo, embodying ill fortune.
🙂 Meaning of the Day of the Shadow upright 🙂
Just like the Hanged Man card in the Tarot of Marseille, this one invites you to meditation in order to find yourself again. It therefore places you before your own conscience, during a period of retreat that you will carry out alone, so as to take the best possible stock of your situation. Not that events are serious or that there is any danger, but you simply need to concentrate to the utmost in order to make the decisions that are required, so that the situation does not stagnate for too long.
Your state of mind will be open to every possibility, and every area of life may be concerned. So whether you have to settle a professional matter or a more emotional matter of conscience, it is by concentrating with your inner Faith that you will find the right solutions. You may also have to make a few sacrifices, but nothing that could genuinely trouble you.
🙃 Meaning of the Day of the Shadow reversed 🙃
You are definitely not in great shape these days, and it can even be said that your health is faltering. Physically, but mentally too, which worries those around you. You are therefore in total unproductiveness, and you find it hard to take pleasure in carrying out the everyday things in your daily life. You will have to see a doctor, because it would be risky to remain in this fragile state any longer.
You certainly need some rest, but also a treatment or at the very least a real course of vitamins to get you back on track. Make the most of your convalescence to regain your strength, and to take stock of your current situation, which must be put right as quickly as possible.
Meaning of the 22 cards of the Gypsy Tarot
SOMMAIRE