Being able to turn the key....
BrightEye said:
Is the Hanged Man free? What do you think? He is bound to the tree because he wants to be. But then we are bound to the Devil because we want to be and can't let go...
A good question, and I'll agree with the others. The Hanged Man is often shown with hands free, an indication that he can untie himself. This would make him seem like the folk bound to the Devil, they bound themselves willingly, can easily free themselves, but don't.
HOWEVER, there are some important differences between the two:
1)
Selfish vs. Selfless: The Devil folk bound themselves because they don't want to resist their personal desires. As pointed out, if they finally do release themselves, they'll have nothing but experience and bad memories to show for all the time they sacrificed to self-pleasure and addiction. Usually, in fact, thinking only of themselves and their needs, addicts loose everything they have, and make everyone else in their life suffer as well. They'll steal from friends and family. So biding yourself to the devil is often a losing situation for everyone.
The Hanged Man, however, binds himself for
others. In seeking enlightenment or, mythically, magic, the act is done to bring knowledge and wisdom to *EVERYONE*, not just selfishly to the Hanged Man himself. He surrenders his ego, all he is, to do this. If he fails, only he will suffer. If he succeeds, everyone will benefit!
2)
Unaware vs. Awareness: The Devil Folk are not aware (or refuse to be aware) of what they're getting into when they put on those chains. In fact, they are very much deceived (or deceiving themselves) when they put on the chains. They expect to feel only pleasure and happiness, freedom from their problems by attaching themselves to The Devil. And they're very surprised when, slowly but surely, the addiction stops making them happy and starts to make them miserable. This wasn't why they signed on...but now they can't seem to sign off.
The Hanged Man is fully aware of what he's doing, why he's doing it and the ramifications. He
knows what he's about to do isn't going to be a walk in the park. He knows it's not going to be pleasant...it's going to be really uncomfortable and maybe very painful. But it has to be done. And so he does it, eyes open, NO illusions or self-deception of what he's getting into.
3)
Not seeing the Key vs. Seeing the Key: When the Devil Folk finally realize that being chained to the Devil is not doing them any good, and they want to leave, they usually find they can't. They've become dependent, and even if they're holding the key right there in their hands, they can't see it; they have no idea how to escape this addiction.
When the
Hanged Man has achieved his goal (found that knowledge he was after), he can and
does release himself. He goes in with key in hand. He locks that fetter, an throughout the entire ordeal, he know that key is in his hand. He never forgets, never is blind to that fact....Because he bound himself for a higher purpose, because it was a sacrifice for the greater good, because he knew what it entailed and why, he never "forgets" how to release himself. And when he's done, he does, in fact, release himself.
Both of these cards show people who can walk away...but only in the
Hanged Man card is the prisoner expected to walk away when they're finished. With the Devil card, you can *hope* that the people learn to free themselves and walk away, but you have no idea if they will.
