Having trouble with the Hanged Man

Always Wondering

9. In the garden of immortal kisses, O thou brilliant One, shine forth! Make Thy mouth an opium-poppy, that one kiss is the key to the infinite sleep and lucid, the sleep of Shi-loh-am.

A garden usually symbolizes a place of cultivated beauty; Oriental poets use it to express a collection of poems or wise sayings. The immortal kisses are the tokens of the operation of “love under will” which is perpetual. The Angel calls upon the Adept to display his brilliance as if the Knowledge and Conversation were a transcendental sacrament beyond that implied in all acts. The opium poppy is a symbol of peace, exaltation, and delight, the giver of sleep, by which is meant the silencing of all possible distractions. The mouth of the Adept, the organ by which he is nourished, expresses his thoughts, and symbolizes his passions; by the kiss of this mouth is meant its surrender to the Angel, the act of marriage, and this is the key to the infinite sleep and lucid. Sleep has been explained above. It is infinite, being freed from the limitations of condition, and lucid as being characterized by pure vision.

Shi-loh-am: the word means peace.

Beautiful. Couldn't quote the symbols.

Thanks for reminding me about this commentary. I caught up on my Speech in the Silence poscasts about a month ago. Listened to the dream work one, and have been dreaming like mad every since. Some of this symbolism is finally making a bit of sense.

AW
 

Zephyros

Thank you for all your insights, I'll work on them tonight and try to achieve my angle. How does the Hanged Man reflect Fortune? Perhaps it would be clearer for me to try to look at it structurally, as that is my first step when studying a card.
 

Aeon418

How does the Hanged Man reflect Fortune?

In some respects the theme is the same but the polarity is flipped. There is still the symbolism of sexual union but this time it is expressed via the 'axle and the wheel' or the point in the circle. The letters that spell Kaph can be substituted for their Greek equivalents, Kappa Phi. Those two letters are the initial of Kteis and Phallos.

On the path of Mem the feminine Water has to accomodate and conform itself to the inrushing masculine Fire. On the Path of Kaph the object is to attain to the still masculine Point within the ever revolving feminine Circle. It's a similar setup, but as you would expect on the opposite side of the Tree the polarity is different.
 

ravenest

A short digression...

After posting about Shiloam I began thinking about the recent Fill/Kill debate. It suddenly dawned on me how appropriate 'fill' is in a line that includes the word, Aum.

Aum! let it fill me!. This suggests the Light of LVX filling the self as the Fire and Water are united on the Path of Mem and the Mystical Marriage is consumated.

Aum! let it kill me! This sounds more like the perspective of the ego that thinks it has to sacrfice itself and reminds me of the old aeon interpretation of the Hanged Man which Crowley aptly calls the Cenotaph of the Dying God.
Oy vey! :rolleyes:

:thumbsup: ... another point for fill
 

Zephyros

Still struggling with this one, but things are beginning to get interesting. I've mulled over it for about a week, and have reached a few conclusions. It is interesting that many Trumps cannot be understood externally, but internally, as in you have to put yourself in its place, and this one is an example. These are just rough, preliminary thoughts, so sorry if they're jumbled.

Well, I seem to find the idea of immobility here, contrasting the opposite path of Kaph, which is all about the machinery of motion. Once I read a book, and it was pretty trashy, but one of the characters said something that came to mind while contemplating this card. He said that while listening to music, he liked to listen to the silence between the notes. I have no idea what that means, but here it seems to fit. As one of the two paths descending from Geburah, I see this path closely connected with Adjustment, adding another element, that of stopping, to the relationship between it and the Fool. As the action of the Fool calls upon it the reaction of Adjustment, it stops, and then transforms into something else. In a way it is like throwing a ball in the air (what goes up must come down). The Fool of your momentum makes it rise, and for a split second the ball stops and then commences its Adjustment-powered descent. The stopping is the Hanged Man.

The passivity of this path recalls, of course, the idea of sacrifice, but still in keeping with the theme of immobility. During gestation the fetus is completely passive to the male forces that make it and the female forces that modify it. Jesus, as the son of god, could have righteously smitten his enemies but instead sacrificed himself, allowing for the rebirth in the form of the resurrection (in Hod).

The idea of motionless motion seems to be implied here, of kundalini, also implied by the snake. Meditation, deep thought and initiation seem relevant here.

"Updated" to Thelema, this path would seem to suggest a form of positive and enjoyable sacrifice rather than the suffering of old. True Will is not merely doing, but being, you are whatever it is you happen to be doing, and so sacrifice yourself to experiencing it fully. "Existence is pure joy," "Also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto me." One must passively submit to one's own will and deity. Of course, one's Will may be to be crucified on the cross, but I suppose that's where Crowley's cenotaph comes into play.
 

Aeon418

As one of the two paths descending from Geburah, I see this path closely connected with Adjustment, adding another element, that of stopping, to the relationship between it and the Fool.

The path of Mem is very closely connected with the path of Lamed. An imbalance of the Scales of Adjustment indicates a deviation from the Will of the Angel. The influence of the corrective counter weight is transmitted along the path of Mem into the psyche. This is Karma.

It might also help if you think about the transition from Adeptus Minor 5=6 to Adeptus Major 6=5. The Paths of Mem and Lamed are the two that must worked by the Adeptus Minor in order to make the transition to Geburah with any degree of safety. Can you imagine what would happen if an unbalanced and rebellious little ego-self were suddenly opened to the Absolute Power of Geburah? :bugeyed: Hang on! I can hear that corny line from Spider Man. :laugh:

In the biblical crucifixion story where Jesus is being mocked on the cross, why doesn't he save himself? It sounds like a horrible fudge and a cop-out, but as one's ability to access power increases the scope for using it for self-ish purposes decreases. Not my will, but Thine be done. ;)

Here's a video of someone failing on the path of Mem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjgsnWtBQm0
 

Aeon418

From the essay, One Star in Sight. The Paths of Lamed & Mem.

Aleister Crowley said:
To attain the Grade Adeptus Major, he must accomplish two tasks; the equilibration of himself, especially as to his passions, so that he has no preference for any one course of conduct over another, and the fulfilment of every action by its complement, so that whatever he does leaves him without temptation to wander from the way of his True Will.

Secondly, he must keep silence, while he nails his body to the tree of his creative will, in the shape of that Will, leaving his head and arms to form the symbol of Light, as if to make oath that his every thought, word and deed should express the Light derived from the God with which he has identified his life, his love and his liberty --- symbolised by his heart, his phallus, and his legs.
 

Zephyros

Fascinating Aeon. I usually work on a card a month or two, but with this one it has taken me that long just to begin to understand it.

Aeon418 said:
The path of Mem is very closely connected with the path of Lamed. An imbalance of the Scales of Adjustment indicates a deviation from the Will of the Angel. The influence of the corrective counter weight is transmitted along the path of Mem into the psyche. This is Karma.

This sounds like my ball analogy. I guess what stumped me at first was the card's inherent immobility. If there were a woman on the card, the usual receptiveness, Binah, etc. connotations would come into play, but I'm not used to this male form of stillness. He can't be receptive in the Severity sense, he can only accept, much like the fetus I mentioned. But the fetus doesn't think of it as suffering, it is his Will to exist.

Aeon418 said:
In the biblical crucifixion story where Jesus is being mocked on the cross, why doesn't he save himself? It sounds like a horrible fudge and a cop-out, but as one's ability to access power increases the scope for using it for self-ish purposes decreases. Not my will, but Thine be done.

Use the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack! I think it was DuQuette who wrote about the study of Qabalah that we can have anything we want [using magick] but ultimately discover we want Nothing.

Crowley's comments in the BoT are misleading, as they automatically invite the reader to dislike the card, almost uunaturally. There really isn't anything to dislike, except the ideas taken from it to old Aeon ends. While I can't actively disagree with him, I have to wonder about the tone.

I suppose she is succeeding on the path of Mem. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv-34w8kGPM

Must confess I missed the Spiderman quote though.I'm a Batman guy, myself.
 

Always Wondering

The Can you imagine what would happen if an unbalanced and rebellious little ego-self were suddenly opened to the Absolute Power of Geburah? :bugeyed: Hang on! I can hear that corny line from Spider Man. :laugh:

Holy S#!T Batman.

:laugh:
I don't know the Spidy reference either. And I am rather shocked. My son was a huge Spidy fan.

AW
 

Aeon418

I guess what stumped me at first was the card's inherent immobility. If there were a woman on the card, the usual receptiveness, Binah, etc. connotations would come into play, but I'm not used to this male form of stillness.

Maybe taking another look at the sephira Hod would be useful. Why is the sphere of the rational intellect (symbolically masculine) also attributed to the Cup of elemental water?
Intellect is not a force. It's a form-giver, a vehicle, and a vessel.

Crowley's comments in the BoT are misleading, as they automatically invite the reader to dislike the card, almost uunaturally. There really isn't anything to dislike, except the ideas taken from it to old Aeon ends. While I can't actively disagree with him, I have to wonder about the tone.

Yes but I think Crowley was stuck between a rock and a hard place here. To really 'get' what he is saying about this card you need a different perspective. From the vantage point of K&C the path of Mem looks very different, but until that is achieved you only have the ego's p.o.v. which is flawed and incomplete. I think Crowley is merely trying to warn us that this card (attributed to Water - the element of illusion) is not what we think it is.

Must confess I missed the Spiderman quote though.
"With great power comes great responsibility." It's the closing line of the movie.
I thought it was a rubbish film anyway.

I'm a Batman guy, myself.
The sight of Adam West in tights put me off Batman for life. :laugh:
I prefer Iron Man. :D At least Tony Stark has got a bit of personality. And I wouldn't mind a personal assistant called Pepper Potts either. })