The Hanged Man XII

"Let not the waters thou journeyest wet thee, and being come to shore, plant thou the vine and rejoice without shame" Aleister Crowley.

Colour: Blue
Element: Water
Herb: Sage

Hebrew: MEM - is the archetype of the maternal creative principle. Women or femininity, all that which is fruitful and creative. An image of passive actions.

Rune: TIWAZ - stability and the ordering force. Self sacrifice. The world column. The Rune of socio-religious law (justice and duty). Troth, trust, justice in the face of hardships. Victory for wisdom. Ethics practiced are rewarded. Be methodical.

* This is an interesting card which has been open to many different interpretations and correspondences. Shall we explore the images on thiss card further??

I always think that the Hanged man points to a situation where you are at a stalemate, or you have a choice to make and you can't decide one way or the other - hence your sort of left hanging there.
Sometimes I find this a hard card to interpret because it looks like the Hanging Man is a sort of sacrifice, maybe warning you not to let yourself become a victim or caught in a situation that you have no control over. (This is also how 'Tarot as your Companion' - Banzhaf' describes this card - sacrifice/Victim)

lately

I rediscover the hanged man card in a new way. I mean something along the line of the Odyseus Sirens myth. I see the Hanged man suspended from the ankh tied to it in the same way the odyseus was tied to his ship mast' allowing him to explore experience the abyss [where the big snakes of transformation sleep]. he is tied so he could not fall. his hands are pinned so he could not act. this is the odyseus way to hear the song of the abyss without falling into it .....

I think of a an astronaut "spacewalk" , or a bunjee jumper or a cliff slider as examples to this situation. The german philosopher Adorno said that in this myth the capitalist structure is shown.

In this myth Odyseus plugs his crew's ears with wax so they can continue to row without being tempted into the abyss by the sirens, he himself was tied to a mast' unable to move but able to hear. Adorno says about it that this is the situation in capitalism. the workers have their ears pluged and they can row while the owner of the ship is tied to a mast [of his capital] unable to do and dependent on his workers' but can enjoy the music of the sirens [the good things in life], as long as he is tied up to his capital [money estate factories]. The same is the case here. "the final glance" in the ultimate jorney of "know thyself", comes in the form of looking down the abyss.....

This is not possible for a jesus without the angry mob. This is why he asks GD to forgive them....Then he get his share of a glance [GD why have you forsaken me...]. This is the highest and the deepest look awailable in life even beyond the veil of light....
it is a climax situation where things are played out "on a big time level" [messiah, chosen one redeemer level]. All die. but only a chosen few get crucified.

kaz