THE HANGED MAN

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Basic Tarot Story
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The Fool settles beneath a tree, intent on finding his spiritual self.

There he stays for nine days, without eating, barely moving.

People pass by him, animals, clouds, the wind, the rain,

the stars, sun and moon. On the ninth day, with no conscious

thought of why, he climbs a branch and dangles upside down

like a child, giving up for a moment, all that he is, wants,

knows or cares about. Coins fall from his pockets and

as he gazes down on them - seeing them not as money but

only as round bits of metal - everything suddenly

changes perspective. It is as if he's hanging between

the mundane world and the spiritual world,

able to see both. It is a dazzling moment, dreamlike

yet crystal clear. Connections he never understood

before are made, mysteries are revealed.

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THE HANGED MAN
Basic Card Symbols
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A man hanging by one foot from a

Tau cross - sometimes from a bar or tree.

His free leg is always bent

to form a "4," his face is always peaceful,

never suffering.

Sometimes his hands are bound,

sometimes they dangle.

Sometimes coins fall out of his pockets or hands.

But timeless as this moment of

clarity seems,

he realizes that 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.

For now, however, he just hangs,

weightless as if underwater,

observing, absorbing, seeing.
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Basic Tarot Meaning
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With Neptune (or Water) as its planet,

the Hanged Man is perhaps the most

fascinating card in the deck.

It reflects the story of Odin who offered

himself as a sacrifice

in order to gain knowledge.

Hanging from the world tree, wounded by a spear,

given no bread or mead, he hung for nine days.

On the last day, he saw on the ground runes that

had fallen from the tree, understood their meaning,

and, coming down, scooped them up for his own.

All knowledge is to be found in these runes.

The Hanged Man, in similar fashion,

is a card about suspension, not life or death.

This is a time of trial or meditation, selflessness,

sacrifice, prophecy. The Querent stops resisting;

instead he makes himself vulnerable, sacrifices his

position or opposition, and in doing so, gains illumination.

Answers that eluded him become clear, solutions to

problems are found. He sees the world differently,

has almost mystical insights. This card can also imply

a time when everything just stands still, a time of rest

and reflection before moving on. Things will continue

on in a moment, but for now, they float, timeless.

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Thirteen's Observations

Neptune is spirituality, dreams, psychic abilities,

and the Hanged Man is afloat in these.

He is also 12, the opposite of the World card, 21.

With the World card you go infinitely out.

With the Hanged Man,

you go infinitely in.

This card signifies a time of insight so deep that,

for a moment, nothing but that insight exists.

All Tarot readers have such moments when we see,

with absolute clarity, the whole picture,

the entire message offered by a spread.

The Hanged Man symbolizes such moments of

suspension between physical and mystical worlds.

Such moments don't last, and they usually require

some kind of sacrifice. Sacrifice of a belief or perspective,

a wish, dream, hope, money, time or even selfhood.

In order to gain, you must give. Sometimes you need

to sacrifice cherished positions, open yourself

to other truths, other perspectives in order to

find solutions, in order to bring about change.

One thing is certain, whether the insight

is great or small, spiritual or mundane,

once you have been the Hanged Man

you never see things quite the same.
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From The Aeclectic Tarot

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There was a post up earlier very similar to this,

concerning THE FOOL card of the Tarot.

Check it here:

http://maninthemaze.blogspot.com/2009/09/fool.html
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