Tarot of the Sidhe - The Hanged Man

papercutbliss

A link to the image: http://images.elfwood.com/art/w/i/willowsmum/hanged_mantarotsmall.jpg

I first really studied this card in a "gender of baby" reading...

Here, the great glyph is the portal to a mysterious indigo abyss... spirals vibrate in the center of it... their energy symbolic of life and its forward journey; I liken this to the power of a woman’s womb... where life begins and evolves, where it takes root, sprouts, and blooms. Even visually, the abyss reminds me of the uterus.

The Hanged Man and a baby share similar experiences: HM must leave the world he knows behind, the melancholy blue that surrounds the abyss (this is cognizance of what is familiar, as well as the sadness of letting it go); This sacrifice is required in order to obtain all the knowledge and understanding that awaits him in the new realm of perspective. A baby’s birth coincides with this process... expulsion from the placidness of its mother’s womb after 9 mos, falling headfirst into a world that is frighteningly foreign to him, but in both cases, there’s no room for trepidation because this life change is forced, mandatory to reach the next stage of being. The Hanged Man must temporarily become the Fool... like a newborn baby, detached from a previous existence... and dive into the unknown, where evolvement will occur by connecting with the mysteries in and about him.

Alternatively, I see the Hanged Man (the baby) as having just exited the “Abyss of Patience and Growth” (the womb), and he must now release himself from the tree branch (the umbilical cord) he’s hung up on to start living with his new set of eyes...

More thoughts?
 

Kissa

Hi papercutbliss,

I have quite a different take on the card. When I first looked through the cards (I always check if a new deck is complete), it is one that stroke me as so bloody incredibly unique and different from others HM and well-thought :)

I love the fact that I (the watcher) am lying on the ground and I see the HM above me: look! He's almost stepping on my face! I am in the ground (buried?) and I see this gorgeous universe bursting out with life and colors, the purple sky spinning above me.
I am tiny, vulnerable, silent and helpless (or immobile by choice? hiding? waiting? am I a seed?) and Life is all around me, busy, spinning. I am the one whose point of view is reversed, I am the Hanged Woman: usually we humans watch down on tree roots and grass now they are at my level and everything else is above me.

I really get the idea of "taking a break, some time-out, reassessing my priorities, letting go" as I watch this powerful card!

I don't know the deck well enough yet but I think Emily Carding's Hanged Man is just as bloody clever as her Elder (trad. Hierophant/Pope). I suspect there might be a lot more bloody clever cards in that lady's deck.

K