The Hanged Man - What does he do?

Reading over Thirteen's description of the Hanged Man, the following stood out at me: "On the ninth day, with no conscious thought of why, he climbs a branch and dangles upside down like a child, giving up for a moment, all that he is, wants, knows or cares about." From this, I see his actions as being subconsciously driven and somewhat spontaneous.

Perhaps in addition to what everyone else has said here, the card is also telling you that enhancing your spiritual "discipline" is not something that can entirely be planned or trained for ("discipline" brings to mind repetitive, conscious exercises intended to strengthen some aspect of ourselves). Rather, live in the moment as many here have suggested, and anticipate that some of your "discipline lessons" will happen spontaneously and not in ways that you ever expected (i.e. outside the box).

I think Rede Seeker said it best in our Pearls of Wisdom study group...

Rede Seeker said:

our hanged man is not suffering. He has faith in the process that binds him like this. The world he sees from this perspective has more clarity for him than the other one.

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though I would like to add, that I also see him as an advanced form of the fool, still travelling, just, wiser....

After reading this thread it struck me that the Hanged Man could represent someone who has an unorthodox point of view or does things "ass-backwards." Basically that is what that person is actually like, all the time.. lol

Hooked

First of all - thanks for your answers. It made me think further.

[I must say, I havent' been able to quote all of you in the following, since I started writing last night and have been interrupted several times, and now that I can submit this I see that there is a lot of new answers, that I will read thourougly, but can't quote - but again thanks to you all]

lark said:

..to disipline your spiritual growth you may have to make "willing sacrifices."
And that sacrific maybe to give up your notion of "what' being spiritual is...not to put it in a box, but to let it open up to you as you go along.
[...]
Absorb without a pre-concieved notion of what it should be.

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Now I see that somehow I got this discipline-thing mixed in with it - and that gave me a pre-conceived notion - as mirrored in the way I phrased the question in the first place. Actually I think it's more about solitaire than discipline, as described below.

It occured to me, that the discipline about being spiritual to me lies in the being solitaire, alone, isolated - and not part of a religious community or a church. So it's about finding my own way and finding out what spirituality is. I'm not even sure that I have any idea about spirituality, since I was broght up in a atheistic family, and most of my friends and relatives is quite non-spiritual, or at least so it seems - We do not very often talk about spiritual matters ;o)

Anyway I have to do some some soul searching ...

balenciaga said:

I agree with the sacrificial element. Also, you may need to "sit with it"; meditate on the concept of spirituality.

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... by meditating. Now I'll be metaphorically speaking hanging my head down, trying to imagine how it is to be hanging there. (One of the good things about nursing is that there plenty of time to contemplate, imagining etc, while the baby is falling asleep at the breast)

memries said:

Develop what you already have or know. Struggling to advance is pointless.

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That's exactly how it can be done at this point of my life. And that's something I'll have to accept - there are only few windows of opportunity to do or be anything at all ;o)

Ange said:

This appeals to me cos it's the sort of thing I'd ask and wonder about....total trivia... Oh I love it...

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I always think we shouldn't be too afraid to ask silly questions or have a less serene approach to the cards and characters in the tarot. Sometimes it can give additional valuable information, not gained otherwise - or simply - just fun.


Love, Gazel

I feel he is sacrificing the material for the spirtual realms

Sort of like the hermit hanging upside down in a way

He is playing a waiting game.

Gazel said:

I'm not even sure that I have any idea about spirituality, since I was broght up in a atheistic family, and most of my friends and relatives is quite non-spiritual, or at least so it seems - We do not very often talk about spiritual matters

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Ah. This gives me an interesting possibility of what the Hanged Man may be telling you. Just a thought. You see, there is, often, this mistaken belief that only those who acknowledge a higher power or create a magical ritual can have what people call a numinous experience. A powerful feeling of other energies or mysteries. This is because people who *do* experience such things often write about it happening in a church (with or without others), or while meditating at some holy place, or when they went through some rare, secret ritual in the desert, or converted to a religion.

But I've been reading up on this a lot lately, and this experience, that wonder, elation, amazement, empowerment, humility, energy, feeling of mystery, connection to the universe, etc. does not need the acknowledgement of deity or magical ritual to be experienced. It can and has happened to many people who come from backgrounds just like yours--and usually it happens when they're not trying. When they aren't chanting or in at a peaceful temple meditating or surrounded by candles gazing up at beautiful glass windows. But, rather (from what I've read) in the middle of traffic jams or a cocktail party, or as their kids laugh and splash through a sprinkler in the backyard, or as they gaze up at the stars from the window of a downtown skyscraper in the middle of a blackout.

I guess what I'm saying is that the Hanged Man may not only be telling you that you that need to go about this search less conventionally, but also that you could be going about it backwards. Instead of searching for a spirituality to help you have a mystical experience, have the mystical experience (open yourself to it)...then decide which spirituality, if any, to follow.

Trust,surrendering ,not a giving up, but an adding to self, acknowledging the acceptance of the ALL.A trust in his own personal power,coupled with faith, and allowing all things to be exactly as they are,and giving into it. no negative judgements, no blame ,forgiveness. Patience. Contentment.
IT used to be a way of hanging all those that weren't of the faith, all others were hanged normally. Generally there were dogs hung with them and a fire lit beneath them making the animals savage and attacking the hanged one ,The idea was so that they would arrive in the other side forever on there heads and attacked by the beasts of hell. It also had the stigma of shame attached. To hang there happily means he has trust in his convictions and faith in his beliefs regardless of what is happening ,no judgement ,forgiveness. Patience.contentment.Faith,Trust.
________
The cigar boss

Thirteen said:

Ah. This gives me an interesting possibility of what the Hanged Man may be telling you. Just a thought. [...]

But I've been reading up on this a lot lately, and this experience, that wonder, elation, amazement, empowerment, humility, energy, feeling of mystery, connection to the universe, etc. does not need the acknowledgement of deity or magical ritual to be experienced. It can and has happened to many people who come from backgrounds just like yours--and usually it happens when they're not trying.

[...]

I guess what I'm saying is that the Hanged Man may not only be telling you that you that need to go about this search less conventionally, but also that you could be going about it backwards. Instead of searching for a spirituality to help you have a mystical experience, have the mystical experience (open yourself to it)...then decide which spirituality, if any, to follow.

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Dear all of you again, and again, thanks for your answers.

This one by you, Thirteen, I did decide to answer to though, since it - with the other things you wrote about Zen - made me see even deeper, the possibility The Hanged Man is given me to develop what I have and know now, as memries put it.

I think your thoughts about a less conventional approach to spiritualism is really interesting, and much about entering a "Zen Zone", in the middle of everything and everyday life. Spiritualism don't really need rituals, I think, like meditation can "just" be focusing on breathing.

So I'll suspense all my "spiritual efforts" and try to enter the zen zone inspired by The Hanged Man.

That being said, it also made me think that always have been spiritually seeking - and that my constant urge to "know" things and learn, is an - albeit intellectual - expression of this.

I guess tarot has been and is some kind of tool on this journey (along with my interest for symbols and jungian psychology). A tool for finding some answers, but not the answer itself. And I still think - as I wrote here about a year ago, I guess in a thread about beliefs and religion, and tarot - that tarot is pointing me to some kind of Gnosis. I just don't know what this Gnosis is ;o)

And although I will continue learning and searching for knowlegde, since that's so much a part of what I am and want, I'll try not to force it or make it a struggle, or confuse knowledge with spirit.

With love,

Gazel.

Best of luck Gazel. May you enjoy your journey. =)

Syrah said:

Best of luck Gazel. May you enjoy your journey. =)

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Thank you Syrah - you too on your tarot journey ;o)