poopsie
Description in the booklet: "I am looking at my past. A warrior is carrying a wounded and naked friend away from the battlefield, after the battle."
The Etruscan Hanged Man is quite unique and different from the usual RWS decks. The theme of this card is sourced from the Francois vase c.575BC which had earliest depiction of Ajax in Attic art. In most RWS cards, we have the Hanged Man hanging upside down either on a cross or a raised wooden platform or scaffold.
The Etruscan Hanged Man is totally different - instead of hanging from wood, a human carries another human.
It will help to understand a little Greek mythology, the Iliad to appreciate the details of the card. A review by Cerulean in the AT states: " In the Etruscan Tarot, Ajax is the lighter-skinned warrior and carries the black, wounded figure of Achilles. Note the Greco-Roman convention of having women of lighter hue than the males is followed in the Etruscan Tarot cards." In this card, the most striking figure is the body of Achilles which is jet black in color. In the Etruscan decks, I notice that male figures are depicted in varied shades of brown ... the Fool, Magician, Emperor and other males are shown with tan or light brown skin. Brutes as seen in the Strength card are shown as almost caramel or dark brown. However, Achilles in the Hanged Man is shown as black, which may signify "being dead". However, our card description states that Achilles may simply be wounded.
In the Francois vase, Ajax walks toward the East carrying Achilles whose head and torso also face the east. In the Card, Ajax walks toward the west. I will use this as my final integration at the end.
We need to understand a bit of the two major characters of this card - Ajax and Achilles. I got this brief highlight from www.mrsconnery.com in an article offering a discourse about Ajax, which may have also been partly lifted from wikipedia:
"In Homer’s Iliad, Ajax is described as a warrior of great stature, having a colossal frame and the strongest of all the Achaians. Known as the “bulwark of the Mycenaeans,” he was trained by the centaur Chiron, who was also tutor to Achilles (Ajax’s cousin and dear friend). He was described as vicious, fearless, strong and powerful but also with a very high level of combat intelligence. In Book 15, Hector leads the Trojans into the Greek camp and attacks the ships. Ajax, wielding an enormous spear as a weapon and leaping from ship to ship, holds off the Trojan armies virtually single-handedly (this is just one example of his many super-human feats during the Trojan War). Sadly, Ajax is the only major character either Trojan or Greek who does not receive personal assistance from any of the gods who take part in the battles.
Despite his mighty prowess, Ajax (the poor guy) always gets the short end of the stick. He doesn’t get assistance from the Olympian gods (Athena is so cruel!), he doesn’t get Achilles’ armor even though HE was his good (best?) friend AND the one to save his dead body from the battlefield scavengers (stupid Odysseus and and eloquent way with words), and he couldn’t stand the shame of it all to the point that he, “conquered by his own sorrow,” committed suicide by falling on his sword."
It is best to discuss the details of Ajax' suicide in the next card on XIII Death where he is again the character, but this time alone.
Now, let's turn to Achilles, the most famous of Greek heroes. www.en.wikipedia.org has this description:
"In Greek mythology, Achilles (Ancient Greek: Ἀχιλλεύς, Akhilleus, pronounced [akʰillěu̯s]) was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.
Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy. (no wonder they chose Brad Pitt for this role)
Later legends (beginning with a poem by Statius in the 1st century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel. As he died because of a small wound on his heel, the term Achilles' heel has come to mean a person's principal weakness."
His death was described in varied versions: "The death of Achilles, as predicted by Hector with his dying breath, was brought about by Paris with an arrow (to the heel according to Statius). In some versions, the god Apollo guided Paris' arrow. Some retellings also state that Achilles was scaling the gates of Troy and was hit with a poisoned arrow." A second version goes this way: "Another version of Achilles' death is that he fell deeply in love with one of the Trojan princesses, Polyxena. Achilles asks Priam for Polyxena's hand in marriage. Priam is willing because it would mean the end of the war and an alliance with the world's greatest warrior. But while Priam is overseeing the private marriage of Polyxena and Achilles, Paris, who would have to give up Helen if Achilles married his sister, hides in the bushes and shoots Achilles with a divine arrow, killing him." (source: www.en.wikipedia.org)
Let's integrate both characters - Ajax and Achilles. Both are heroes, strong, intelligent, strategic and respected for their craft. They both fight on the same side, together with other heroes. They live life like any other person - although what differentiates them from above the rest is the perception that they are "gifted or blessed with divine favor (the gods) since Ajax was also supposedly a grandson of a god, however, was not helped during the battles he fought. They are both leaders in their own right. Yet, there are still differences between them.
The entire epic of Iliad portrays Achilles as a very angry person - upset at Agamemnon, and later, taking his vengeance on Hector, the Trojan Prince, who killed Achilles' best friend Patroclus. The character is all about heroism, immortality that turned mortal, bravery and invincible, and yet, paradoxically, the gods endow Achilles with a shield to protect him. Why would an "invincible" immortal need a shield? The irony of it all is that although he has total disdain for Agamemnon, he still fights on his side (while praying to the Gods that the Trojans win so that he could eventually leverage on this to show his skills.) It took the death of a friend Patroclus by the hand of a foe to wake him up and start fighting.
Ajax on the other hand is depicted as also a super character, however, often on the "losing side of life" when amidst his peers. He does win battles against the enemies, but when pitted against his peers and colleagues, somehow, he gets to be the loser. In the vase however, he actually does appear to be the winner, the stronger one since he carries the once-invincible but now dying Achilles on his shoulder away from the battlefield. To make matters worse, he loses against Odysseus to win the shield of Achilles, and overcome by sorrow, he takes his life.
What are my thoughts on the Etruscan Hanged Man, then?
When we draw the card, it may be best to think - who are we in life - Achilles who has done quite well in battle, but is often enraged, angry, protected, even insecure (why would we need a shield if we were invincible), reactionary, needing extreme provocation such as the death of a loved one just to wake us up? Add to the list, vengeful, vindictive, cold, and although we may have gotten the better of whoever upsets us, we find ourselves falling prey in the end to a person who is even not worthy of being called a hero (Paris) but who in fact was the major cause of why we are at war to begin with.
Or are we Ajax - not too scarred, heroic, always ready to lend a helping hand, fighting and living life alongside with peers and others, helpful, and yet at the very end of a battle, we give up and "end our life" all because we did not win a simple dispute?
Achilles in our life may be a wake-up call for us to look at how we have lived our life, what has contributed to our present life? What actions, thoughts have led to where we are now, and what have we learned? Are there mindsets we need to start challenging or redirecting, before we repeat the cycle of anger and problems all over again? What do we need to guard against, or why do we need to shield ourselves if we actually see ourselves as able, heroic and invincible?
On the other hand, if we draw the Hanged Man, Achilles may also tell us to take time, allow ourselves to be helped, to let go, because there are others who can carry us during the battle, lay us to rest for awhile, think things through - look at our joys and what have led to these, as well as miseries -- and how do we balance our insights so that we could move forward the moment we become stronger or decide to continue in a more positive direction.
Achilles may be our ego - haunting us? What are the contrasts in our lives that we need to re-align so that we can become whole?
Ajax may be the good side of us-- the one that has always been called upon to support even those we do not feel like supporting. The noble hero who tries to be proactive and overcome obstacles, but perhaps, takes it all in, does not say a word to assert or fight when unfairness exists. In fact, even if he was the only hero not helped by the Gods, he still manages to win and make it across battles. Ajax knows when it is best to fight, and when it is best to retreat. However, in the end, he takes his life. The message we may be getting - why give up now at being good, when we have managed to survive on our own independently, being self reliant and self-propelled, over a simple possibly trivial problem which we can easily overcome?
Ajax may be telling us "Why let the worst in others kill the best in us?
The Etruscan Hanged Man tells us to find time to reflect on whatever our question about life may be -- it calls for us to look at our mental state and review what we have done in the past that has resulted to current consequences.
The Etruscan Hanged Man is quite unique and different from the usual RWS decks. The theme of this card is sourced from the Francois vase c.575BC which had earliest depiction of Ajax in Attic art. In most RWS cards, we have the Hanged Man hanging upside down either on a cross or a raised wooden platform or scaffold.
The Etruscan Hanged Man is totally different - instead of hanging from wood, a human carries another human.
It will help to understand a little Greek mythology, the Iliad to appreciate the details of the card. A review by Cerulean in the AT states: " In the Etruscan Tarot, Ajax is the lighter-skinned warrior and carries the black, wounded figure of Achilles. Note the Greco-Roman convention of having women of lighter hue than the males is followed in the Etruscan Tarot cards." In this card, the most striking figure is the body of Achilles which is jet black in color. In the Etruscan decks, I notice that male figures are depicted in varied shades of brown ... the Fool, Magician, Emperor and other males are shown with tan or light brown skin. Brutes as seen in the Strength card are shown as almost caramel or dark brown. However, Achilles in the Hanged Man is shown as black, which may signify "being dead". However, our card description states that Achilles may simply be wounded.
In the Francois vase, Ajax walks toward the East carrying Achilles whose head and torso also face the east. In the Card, Ajax walks toward the west. I will use this as my final integration at the end.
We need to understand a bit of the two major characters of this card - Ajax and Achilles. I got this brief highlight from www.mrsconnery.com in an article offering a discourse about Ajax, which may have also been partly lifted from wikipedia:
"In Homer’s Iliad, Ajax is described as a warrior of great stature, having a colossal frame and the strongest of all the Achaians. Known as the “bulwark of the Mycenaeans,” he was trained by the centaur Chiron, who was also tutor to Achilles (Ajax’s cousin and dear friend). He was described as vicious, fearless, strong and powerful but also with a very high level of combat intelligence. In Book 15, Hector leads the Trojans into the Greek camp and attacks the ships. Ajax, wielding an enormous spear as a weapon and leaping from ship to ship, holds off the Trojan armies virtually single-handedly (this is just one example of his many super-human feats during the Trojan War). Sadly, Ajax is the only major character either Trojan or Greek who does not receive personal assistance from any of the gods who take part in the battles.
Despite his mighty prowess, Ajax (the poor guy) always gets the short end of the stick. He doesn’t get assistance from the Olympian gods (Athena is so cruel!), he doesn’t get Achilles’ armor even though HE was his good (best?) friend AND the one to save his dead body from the battlefield scavengers (stupid Odysseus and and eloquent way with words), and he couldn’t stand the shame of it all to the point that he, “conquered by his own sorrow,” committed suicide by falling on his sword."
It is best to discuss the details of Ajax' suicide in the next card on XIII Death where he is again the character, but this time alone.
Now, let's turn to Achilles, the most famous of Greek heroes. www.en.wikipedia.org has this description:
"In Greek mythology, Achilles (Ancient Greek: Ἀχιλλεύς, Akhilleus, pronounced [akʰillěu̯s]) was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.
Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy. (no wonder they chose Brad Pitt for this role)
Later legends (beginning with a poem by Statius in the 1st century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel. As he died because of a small wound on his heel, the term Achilles' heel has come to mean a person's principal weakness."
His death was described in varied versions: "The death of Achilles, as predicted by Hector with his dying breath, was brought about by Paris with an arrow (to the heel according to Statius). In some versions, the god Apollo guided Paris' arrow. Some retellings also state that Achilles was scaling the gates of Troy and was hit with a poisoned arrow." A second version goes this way: "Another version of Achilles' death is that he fell deeply in love with one of the Trojan princesses, Polyxena. Achilles asks Priam for Polyxena's hand in marriage. Priam is willing because it would mean the end of the war and an alliance with the world's greatest warrior. But while Priam is overseeing the private marriage of Polyxena and Achilles, Paris, who would have to give up Helen if Achilles married his sister, hides in the bushes and shoots Achilles with a divine arrow, killing him." (source: www.en.wikipedia.org)
Let's integrate both characters - Ajax and Achilles. Both are heroes, strong, intelligent, strategic and respected for their craft. They both fight on the same side, together with other heroes. They live life like any other person - although what differentiates them from above the rest is the perception that they are "gifted or blessed with divine favor (the gods) since Ajax was also supposedly a grandson of a god, however, was not helped during the battles he fought. They are both leaders in their own right. Yet, there are still differences between them.
The entire epic of Iliad portrays Achilles as a very angry person - upset at Agamemnon, and later, taking his vengeance on Hector, the Trojan Prince, who killed Achilles' best friend Patroclus. The character is all about heroism, immortality that turned mortal, bravery and invincible, and yet, paradoxically, the gods endow Achilles with a shield to protect him. Why would an "invincible" immortal need a shield? The irony of it all is that although he has total disdain for Agamemnon, he still fights on his side (while praying to the Gods that the Trojans win so that he could eventually leverage on this to show his skills.) It took the death of a friend Patroclus by the hand of a foe to wake him up and start fighting.
Ajax on the other hand is depicted as also a super character, however, often on the "losing side of life" when amidst his peers. He does win battles against the enemies, but when pitted against his peers and colleagues, somehow, he gets to be the loser. In the vase however, he actually does appear to be the winner, the stronger one since he carries the once-invincible but now dying Achilles on his shoulder away from the battlefield. To make matters worse, he loses against Odysseus to win the shield of Achilles, and overcome by sorrow, he takes his life.
What are my thoughts on the Etruscan Hanged Man, then?
When we draw the card, it may be best to think - who are we in life - Achilles who has done quite well in battle, but is often enraged, angry, protected, even insecure (why would we need a shield if we were invincible), reactionary, needing extreme provocation such as the death of a loved one just to wake us up? Add to the list, vengeful, vindictive, cold, and although we may have gotten the better of whoever upsets us, we find ourselves falling prey in the end to a person who is even not worthy of being called a hero (Paris) but who in fact was the major cause of why we are at war to begin with.
Or are we Ajax - not too scarred, heroic, always ready to lend a helping hand, fighting and living life alongside with peers and others, helpful, and yet at the very end of a battle, we give up and "end our life" all because we did not win a simple dispute?
Achilles in our life may be a wake-up call for us to look at how we have lived our life, what has contributed to our present life? What actions, thoughts have led to where we are now, and what have we learned? Are there mindsets we need to start challenging or redirecting, before we repeat the cycle of anger and problems all over again? What do we need to guard against, or why do we need to shield ourselves if we actually see ourselves as able, heroic and invincible?
On the other hand, if we draw the Hanged Man, Achilles may also tell us to take time, allow ourselves to be helped, to let go, because there are others who can carry us during the battle, lay us to rest for awhile, think things through - look at our joys and what have led to these, as well as miseries -- and how do we balance our insights so that we could move forward the moment we become stronger or decide to continue in a more positive direction.
Achilles may be our ego - haunting us? What are the contrasts in our lives that we need to re-align so that we can become whole?
Ajax may be the good side of us-- the one that has always been called upon to support even those we do not feel like supporting. The noble hero who tries to be proactive and overcome obstacles, but perhaps, takes it all in, does not say a word to assert or fight when unfairness exists. In fact, even if he was the only hero not helped by the Gods, he still manages to win and make it across battles. Ajax knows when it is best to fight, and when it is best to retreat. However, in the end, he takes his life. The message we may be getting - why give up now at being good, when we have managed to survive on our own independently, being self reliant and self-propelled, over a simple possibly trivial problem which we can easily overcome?
Ajax may be telling us "Why let the worst in others kill the best in us?
The Etruscan Hanged Man tells us to find time to reflect on whatever our question about life may be -- it calls for us to look at our mental state and review what we have done in the past that has resulted to current consequences.
