Is the Hanged Man really dead? And if so, then what?

[Hemera]

I was recently in Italy and was lucky enough to see some really old original Italian tarot cards (16th century) in a museum. Well, I bought a few history books as well and now a few of them tell me something rather disturbing about the Hanged Man.

I have always learned that the Hanged Man is a careless fellow who is looking at the world from a different and new perspective. He isn´t worried and he isn´t in pain and he´s more like dancing really. He is observing, learning and seeing things in a new way. He´s like Odin gaining knowledge. I have always seen the Hanged Man as a rather positive and maybe even a harmless card. It brings surprises in its wake, yes, but not anything *really* bad.

Hm.. Well..I have now read several stories from the time the first tarot cards (Visconti-Sforza) were painted in Italy. Apparently it was customary to hang the bodies after execution exactly like that. For example Antonio Foscarini, Senator of the Venetian Republic was wrongly accused of espionage, arrested and executed on the spot in the year 1622. After he had been strangled to death he was hung by one foot, exactly like our Hanged Man, between the columns of Piazzetta San Marco. This was an old custom and my book lists other similar cases from earlier years. (one source: "The Secrets of the Grand Canal" by Alberto Toso Fei)

So, apparently the people who drew and painted the Hanged Man in tarot and everyone who used the cards knew full well that it was someone who had been executed and hung upside down by one foot like that. The fact that the tarot Hanged Man seems to be alive might have been pointing to a life after death rather than "observing" or "learning" ?

I find this a bit disturbing because it would mean we have *two* Death cards in the deck instead of just one. I know I will see the Hanged Man very differently after this. I may continue to interpret it the old way that we have been taught to... but then again I may not.

 

[WalesWoman]

Maybe then the Hanged Man, really is a Traitor, since that is who he represented until meanings became all about love and light and feeling good. If that is the case then it's the "let this be an example of what happens to those who betray"... the ultimate horrible warning.

 

[nisaba]

I have always learned that the Hanged Man is a careless fellow who is looking at the world from a different and new perspective. He isn´t worried and he isn´t in pain and he´s more like dancing really. He is observing, learning and seeing things in a new way. He´s like Odin gaining knowledge.

<grin> Since the beginning of the 20th Century, maybe.

Apparently it was customary to hang the bodies after execution exactly like that.

Usually for the crime of treason. The traitor, the treasonous one, would be hung by the ankles after execution in a public place (market, city gates, etc) as a warning to others who might be thinking of also conspiring against the local powers. More in continental Europe.

It's interesting - the Tarot of the New Vision, which looks at essentially RW images "back to front" so that you can see what's behind the observer, shows a crowd of people jeering harshly and mockingly at the Hanged Man. Not a respected figure at all.

I find this a bit disturbing because it would mean we have *two* Death cards in the deck instead of just one.

I suspect that, just in Visconti times, the card we now know as The Hermit was called Old Man Time or Father Time (carrying an hourglass instead of a lantern), that back then this card was known as The Traitor. Which brings it in line with Judas-mythology, adding yet more Christian symbolism to an already Christian deck painted in a very church-oriented time.

 

[Le Fanu]

You may not like it but...

traitors and jews were hung by one leg and sometimes with a dog (upside) down so that the dog, crazed and in panic would be wriggling and scratching and attacking the upside down person suspended next to them.

ETA; Interesting thread here. I thought there was another one with more illustrations...

 

[gregory]

I find this a bit disturbing because it would mean we have *two* Death cards in the deck instead of just one. I know I will see the Hanged Man very differently after this. I may continue to interpret it the old way that we have been taught to... but then again I may not.

Not two DEATH cards - DEATH as such is the "creator" of death, if you like - while the Hanged Man would be a very very bad person who copped it - now POWER attached ! - a very different card.

And - after death - if you believe all that stuff - you might do penance which might make you think about things and look at them from a different perspective, repent and - if you believe THAT - start over as a better person ?

 

[Hemera]

<grin> Since the beginning of the 20th Century, maybe.

Yes... I must confess I´ve never had much interest in historic decks and I have never realised the cards had very different meanings from the ones we now use with modern decks.
So let it be known that my interest in historic decks started right now -about two minutes ago when I read all these replies to be precise!
So thank you all who have replied -I think

Usually for the crime of treason. The traitor, the treasonous one, would be hung by the ankles after execution

My sources say it was for other crimes as well. At least in Northern Italy they were hung buy just one ankle just like the Hanged Man.

It's interesting - the Tarot of the New Vision, which looks at essentially RW images "back to front" so that you can see what's behind the observer, shows a crowd of people jeering harshly and mockingly at the Hanged Man. Not a respected figure at all.

Oooh interesting! I must go and have a look. Thanks nisaba! That deck is very interesting for various reasons and definitely worth some more study.


ETA: Thank you for the link Le Fanu. I did a search before I posted here but didn´t see that one...

 

[miss-tique]

The Hanged Man always reminded me of the Imagini Infamanti I know from Italy.
They used to hang people like that when executed, preferably against the wall of a really crowded place, so everyone could see the shame of being executed like that.

In big Italian cities like Milan, they used to paint people like that, when they were convicted but nowhere to be found. (so again, the shame on the convicted was considered very important)
They painted a life-size figure on the wall, hanging on one leg, the other crossed (just like the Hanged man) and hands bound on his back. Toghether with a large banner providing the figure with the name of the convicted and the crime he/she (mostly he) has done. This could have been from not paying your taxes to murder etc..

In the Renaissance period they've kinda stopped this Imagini Infamanti because the city walls got quite "crowded" with the paintings so the shame was more on the city than on the convicted people

(ps, sorry for my sometimes veeerryy crooked English, but it's not my mother language so sometimes it's just hard to find the right words for the right nuances)

 

[Bhavana]

The Hanged Man always reminded me of the Imagini Infamanti I know from Italy.
They used to hang people like that when executed, preferably against the wall of a really crowded place, so everyone could see the shame of being executed like that.

In big Italian cities like Milan, they used to paint people like that, when they were convicted but nowhere to be found. (so again, the shame on the convicted was considered very important)
They painted a life-size figure on the wall, hanging on one leg, the other crossed (just like the Hanged man) and hands bound on his back. Toghether with a large banner providing the figure with the name of the convicted and the crime he/she (mostly he) has done. This could have been from not paying your taxes to murder etc..

In the Renaissance period they've kinda stopped this Imagini Infamanti because the city walls got quite "crowded" with the paintings so the shame was more on the city than on the convicted people

(ps, sorry for my sometimes veeerryy crooked English, but it's not my mother language so sometimes it's just hard to find the right words for the right nuances)

your english is great, probably better than a lot of native english speakers I know!

This has been VERY interesting. I am still upset about the hanged dog, though. Off to take another peek at my New Visions deck...

 

[Hemera]

Thank you miss-tique, most interesting!

So..what I´m wondering is if I should change my interpretation of the Hanged Man? How do you interpret it once you know all this?
Have you got different interpretations in store for the 21st century cute Hanged Men versus the old historic Hanged traitor Men? I´m puzzled..

I´m currently using and studying the Ludy Lescot Tarot where the Hanged Man is a handome hunk in some mildly erotic bondage situation. Nothing at all left of the old historical concept.

ETA: So, what do you make of the fact that the Hanged Man looks like he is alive even though he is supposed to be dead?

 

[Bhavana]

ETA: So, what do you make of the fact that the Hanged Man looks like he is alive even though he is supposed to be dead?

I just took a look at my more "traditional" decks (RW, etc) and one could argue about whether or not he looks alive. The eyes being open isn't always the best indicator. After all, people's eyes are open when they are dead...it's only in our recent past with the wonders of the funeral arts that we make sure the eyes are closed and stay that way. In the case of someone being hung by their foot in medieval times, I doubt anyone worried about the eyes being open. The more gruesome and exposed the body, the better.