"The Hanged Man" interpretations......

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Dec 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

jakyle	26 Dec 2002
Just curious as to some of your views/opinions on this card...I haven't gotten it in a reading for myself,but I did "find It." Hard to explain,but I saw symbols of it...Kinda scary....The noose image,or something similar......What are your(Not what the books say)takes on this card?

Trogon	26 Dec 2002
Actually Jakyle... I'm not certain how much my personal interpretaions on The Hanged Man really differ from "the books" as this is where, at least in the beginning, much of my learning came from. However, I have developed a few personal feelings on the card. Much of how I interpret The Hanged Man is based on the thought of the "new outlook on things" concept. The person either needs to develop a new way of looking at the situation in question, or she/he has found this new outlook. They may have need of, or be heading for, or already had an epiphany of some sort. Along this same line is the opening up of a bogged down situation - the new outlook brings an end to stagnation. Things are looking up. The Hanged Man in the Röhrig Tarot has his hair just barely touching the water above which he hangs - this led me to realize that the card can also represent the beginnings of enlightenment. On the negative side (when reversed, if you use reversals); The Hanged Man can represent the person being "hung up" on themselves, their own ego. They may not be able to free themselves from the rut they're in. A failure to listen their own inner voice of reason and wisdom, denying what their own conscience might be trying to tell them. Hope this has been of some assistance...

bec	26 Dec 2002
12 - the hanged man: The Hanged Man is the major dividing the physical and psychic world. He has learned all the rules and teachings and now has free willingly hanged him self for deeper understanding on his own possibilities and potentials. In order to gain wisdom and insight, to learn the truth, it might take a lot of pain, physically and emotionally. The truth is not always the nicest to hear, though to gain full prosperity in life, it is necessary to face it and learn how to deal with it. The Hanged Man reversed is about hanging your self for others, maybe you are sacrificing you own health, wisdom or even life happiness to keep everybody else pleased. Or it could be that you only feel it that way, like a martyr that wants to get hanged because of the good deeds you have done, though maybe they are or have been for egoistical reasons and there for you are not receiving the appreciation you feel entitled to get. The reversed Hanged Man could be reminding you that you need grounding and action, do not just hang there and feel miserable, do something about it. Do not feel sorry for your self, make a difference, a change in your life that will make you happy. blessings anja

temperlyne	26 Dec 2002
To me the hanged man represents accepting the situation you find yourself in. Somehow you keep making the same mistakes and find yourseld somewhat 'stuck'. This time it is not enough to wait for the wheel of fortune to start spinning up again because the reason you're not getting any further is because you yourself have not evolved. Accept the fact that you are stuck and try to see why, understand the mistakes you are making over and over again and be prepared to let go of past routines. When you understand your actions and know your position and can accept that change must come from within; then you will be released. Don't fight the situations when you do not fully understand your position and own actions. Let go of everything and feel yourself hanging from the tree of life, feel that you are part of that tree and understand that suffering will give you insights if you can only detatch from it.

wavebreaker	26 Dec 2002
To me, the Hanged Man often means: letting go, being passive for a change, not acting right away, but waiting and seeing how the situation around you evolves. Because sometimes it's not a good idea to act right away, but it's better to stay inactive and observe for a while and wait for the right time to act. BTW: here's a previous thread on the Hanged Man that will probably give you even more ideas.

tarotbear	26 Dec 2002
According to Meewah's calculations, my year card (that ends on my birthday in May) is the Hanged Man, which I have been living with for the past seven months. It is a trial! Being in suspension in which nothing seems to move forward, no matter what you want. That is the essence of the card. A card of change brought about by inertia. The Hanged Man hangs between heaven and earth; he is being given a rare opportrunity in the 'change cards' - he is being offered a change in point of view. He is actually allowed this to see what is different, and is actually allowed to make some choices - something the Death or Tower cards cannot do. However, even with making conscious decisons, he must still wait (in suspense-literally) for the change to happen. If you have been following the saga of my book (still waiting to hear from acquistions, now that it was seen by an occult editor, and my editor changed companies and turned it over to someone else), you will understand the meaning of 'waiting'. My card for next year is Death, you realize.

Teal	26 Dec 2002
Some tarot decks have a little bit different depiction of the Hanged Man. In the Ancestral Path, it shows a child in utero in the head down birth position. To me, this indicates the suspension in time right before a new phase of life/spirit begins. The more traditional meaning, though, is the guy hanging upside down by one foot, and I read that as meaning being in limbo involving spiritual contemplation--------either the need to take this time or that the person has been in this state. The Haindl deck shows the man hanging upside down by one foot from a symbol found on the staff of the High Priestess (I think that's the one) but his hair is touching the earth. If you look closely, you see that the mound of earth his hair is touching resembles the pregnant belly of a woman, and in the further distance on either side are two smaller hills that resemble breasts, while in the foreground, the dark mass that initially looks like some shrubbery then resembles pubic hair. It looks as though the hanged man is suspended alright, but also becoming part of the earth via his hair touching it, and then there's the pregnancy indication with the earth, so it still indicates to me the spiritual rebirth is about to begin.

zorya	26 Dec 2002
the hanged man can represent a sacrifice of one's ego, letting go of ego concerns. it can mean a need to release those habits and patterns that restrict and limit us. it can be a state of non-judgement, a state of "bearing witness", a releasing of fear, anger, a state of just "being". ...or it can simply represent the need to look at things from a new angle or point of view.

JC	26 Dec 2002
I tend to relate cards to other things, and create mental guideposts that I follow according to circumstance and intuition. Here are my relations for the Hanged Man: Neptune: sacrifices, psychic ability, mysticism, dreams, higher spiritual forces, unrealistic expectations, martyr complexes, the subconscious, genuine compassion, being in limbo, hidden resources, hidden problems, dissolution of boundaries, social repsonsibilty, idealism, addiction, creative ability, impressionable, romaticism, reclusion. #3: Expression, socialization, creation and joy in living Like I said, the exact emphasis depends on the question, cards around it and my intuition. If I had to sum up the HM, I would say it's about having the choice of sacrificing a part of yourself to create something for the greater good of all or withdrawing into your own little world.

Dark Inquisitor	26 Dec 2002
A couple of other meanings for the hanged man that have come up in my readings are : Upright- a criminal, someone recently released from prison, or someone caught or revealed by their own actions. If a legal matter, a conviction. Reversed- the martyr, someone who is sort of volunteering for the hard time they are having, or who is pressed into the martyr role by the bullying of others.

dangerdork	27 Dec 2002
Another alternative / variant meaning I've seen recently: Something you've been dreading for a long time finally happens, and in retrospect, it wasn't so bad after all...

sagitarian	27 Dec 2002
I find that the hanged man comes up as accepting your fate. That you've made your decisions and you've already acted, now it's time to wait for the outcome and accept it wether it be good or ill. That you feel good about the choices you made (or should) and that you did indeed make the "right" choice. Often the hanged man is shown as a man hanging by a rope tied in a noose. However, usually he's smiling or at least have a look of contentment on his face. This tells me that he put himself there, and can get up and leave whenever he wants to. That there is another "choice" that he can still make to manipulate the situation. But if he's content, why not just hang out and see what's to come? depending on the placement of the card and the surrounding cards. If the card comes up as a final outcome, then it's basically saying that he/she isn't meant to know what the "outcome" is. That you'll just have to wait and see.

Umbrae	28 Dec 2002
There was a time when the card was called the Traitor. Seems to me, that at some level – The Hanged Man represents a death of current self, usually for the better. I see it, as a little death – a moment in which the body mind and spirit work together…

Musie	28 Dec 2002
Hi, I am new to the forums here, this thread jumped out at me and I wanted to contribute. From what I have learned through the cards, the hanged man is a card of "self-sacrifice" It could be a physical, emotional or spiritual sacrifice. Giving up one thing in order to gain something better. The Norse God Odin hung upside down on the World Tree for nine days and nights, enduring physical pain in order to gain wisdom of the Runes. Christ hung on the Cross in a painful crucifixion in order to save mankind from their sins. Osiris was locked up in a chest and put in a Tree as well. He had to allow some chaos to enter in the world to create a balance. He is also the Lord of Rebirth from death. In Greek Mythology, Prometheus brought fire to humankind. As punishment, he had to endure torture hanging upside down on a cliff, while eagles plucked at his innards. In my Mythic Deck the Hang Man is Prometheus on the cliff. If you look at a Christmas Tree, you see we hang ornaments on the tree - this goes back to the Northern European custom of hanging offerings of slaughtered animals to their gods. A gift demands a gift. The animals go through a physical self - sacrifice themselves. Even in Celtic Pagan traditions the symbolic corn dolly to represent the god is hung to represent the harvest. At the end of the Summer, the wheat is cut (symbolic of the God) so that it may turn into flour with which to make the bread that allow man to survive in a harsh winter. Cattle and pigs too are slaughtered to allow us to survive. All self sacrifice something for something greater. It is painful process, but you know that it is necessary because it will bring about something good and necessary in the end. In the mundane world, this could be a woman giving up her career to bring up her children. It could be giving up smoking for better health. It could be getting rid of emotional baggage to emerge more spiritually healthy. Mentally, it could mean simply giving up a bad attitude to create a more peaceful situation with friends. All of things are hard to do. Bad habits are so incredibly hard to break. The actual picture of the man hanging upside down is more symbolic I believe because it goes back to the myths. I agree with everyone here :) My two cents *s* Musie

samantha	30 Dec 2002
As soon as I see the Hanged Man I think "Abstinence " ! Usually from all of those negative aspects of life that we , perhaps sub-consciously enjoy (well , the sado-masochistic parts of ourselves !!) So , for me he represents the need to say "Goodbye" to , amongst others: obsessions/ compulsions , fantasy worlds, patterns of behaviour which in the long run do us , and one would imagine others , more harm than good. Occasionally , what has been given up may in itself be good , but sacrificed for the greater good.....thus the message is that something bettter may be around the corner , if you are only prepared to wait , and hope ! But no guarantee with this one .....

Alex	01 Jan 2003
should be something I don't do much. I can't identify myself with that card and I hate it when it shows up because I often don't know how to read it. I has crossed my mind that Jesus was one hanged man. I would like to hear if other have had the same idea. Alex.

HudsonGray	02 Jan 2003
Jesus, in many ways, had things done TO him rather than pulling himself out of the action. I don't think his sacrifice fits the Hanged Man definition as well as Odin does. Odin hung from the tree for a personal reason. Not a sacrifice for all. For me the Hanged Man is a removal of yourself from the problem at hand & a willingness to just stay in the background looking at whatever it is, with new eyes (the upside down position). The Hanged Man is there of his own violation, he can get down any time he wants to (Jesus didn't, Odin could). It's a personal removal from a situation, a taking yourself out of the action for a while. So it's not much of an action card. You're in 'suspense' between decisions. You're 'watching the game' so to speak. The reversal for me has a lot of the negatives of doing this removal from problems. It sometimes means you sit on your duff too long to make a decision & usually the decision is made for you. You become even less interactive, delaying things, not really wanting to look at them. It isn't a card that comes up in readings for me very often. The meditation I did on it was interesting, the HM basically said that for him he couldn't see the forest for the trees, no matter how high he was hung up in the tree tops.

lupo138	02 Jan 2003
the HM is also the card of changes, but slow ones, directed rather inwards. His world is literally upside down, until he changes his view. I can feel why some see it as a card of sacrifice - anyway I never had that meaning in a reading.

The "The Hanged Man" interpretations...... thread was originally posted on 26 Dec 2002 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.