Faerie Tarot: The Hanged Man

In this card, we have a faerie tied by one foot to a tree branch. He is suspended upside down over a strawberry on the ground that is just out of his reach. There is also a robin perched on the branch eyeing the same strawberry with great interest.

This is a clever variation of a monkey trap. A monkey trap typically consists of a container with a small opening and a treat inside. The container is tied to a stake. A monkey investigating the container will discover the treat and will reach inside to grab it. However, once the monkey grabs the treat, the monkey will be unable to pull its fist out. If the monkey drops the treat, the monkey will be able to remove its hand from the container and get away. The monkey's own greed traps it and the hunter will soon be along to collect the monkey.

In The Hanged Man, the suspended faerie could free himself by reaching up to his tied foot and untying it. But if he does that, the robin will swoop down and eat the strawberry that the faerie lusts for. The faerie's greed for the strawberry keeps him tied. This card demonstrates that sometimes the lesser prize needs to be sacrificed in order to gain the greater prize. The faerie needs to let go of the strawberry so he can free himself. Once free, he will easily be able to find other strawberries.

The border of this card shows strawberries alternating with white daisies. To me, the strawberries signify greed, while the daisies signify the opposite quality of purity of intent.

This Hanged Man is a bit different than in most RWS decks. There is no calm surrender or serene waiting but the fairy is trying really hard to reach something.
This card shows very intense and goal directed intent.

At first I thought that the bird is just an interested spectator. I had to read the LWB to get it that the bird may also be after the berry!
(The bird actually looks big enough to eat the fairy as well!)

To me strawberries mean summer, warmth, sunshine, Mother Nature, childhood summers and all that. I do not connect them with greed as such.

If you loved strawberry shortcake as much as I do, the connection with greed would be obvious .

LOL.. I see what you mean.
In that case I´d have to associate just about every berry and fruit with greed. Actually just about anything with a lot of sugar or/and butter added to it..

Very interesting thoughts on this card, especially the association with the monkey trap. I'm not sure I'd have seen that if it weren't mentioned here. I'm in the odd position of hating strawberries. I don't know why. Perhaps I'm allergic to them and my body knows that. At any rate, it adds an odd reaction to the faerie's desire to reach it. So much focused effort on something that's not even going to be good. It reminds me of times that I've gotten caught up in excitement about something, only to be disappointed upon attaining it.

It will be interesting to see how that affects my reading of this card over time.