When the Hanged Man is REALLY Hanged!

[catboxer]

Yup. They turn it "right side up." I've seen it happen more than once.

That's what Court de Gebelin did the first time he saw a tarot deck. Then he decided that's the way the card should actually appear. So when he produced his own deck, the Hanged Man became a figure standing on one foot with his other leg crossed behind him, and was given the name, "Prudence."

 

[Major Tom]

Yup. They turn it "right side up." I've seen it happen more than once.

It's amazing really, it happens almost every time.

"Prudence."

*singing* "Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play? tooooooddaaaaaayyyyyy?"

You could say the hanged man is about a different perspective on an image of self-sacrifice.

 

[WolfSpirit]

Yup. They turn it "right side up." I've seen it happen more than once.

Hehe that is exactly what I did when I started, shows I am not unique.

And I agree with everyone on the hanged man in the Arthurian...I posted about this in another thread Pet Peeve cards...
I really can't understand why anyone wants to do the hanged man like that.

 

[Macavity]

... a figure standing on one foot with his other leg crossed behind him, and was given the name, "Prudence."

Or as someone remarked of the Marseille version - He looks a bit like Michael Flatley in "Riverdance"

A-diddly-diddly diddly diddly...

Macavity

 

[Khatruman]

Or as someone remarked of the Marseille version - He looks a bit like Michael Flatley in "Riverdance"

A-diddly-diddly diddly diddly...

ROTFL.... Now you are gonna make me chuckle everytime the Hanged Man comes up in a reverse position in a reading!!!

Yes, when I see a hanging hanged man I get the feeling that the deck creator has an incomplete sense of the tarot, and makes me begin to suspect other imagery. I also get that "turn it right side up reaction" when a new person finds that card. Even if the guys hair is hanging down... then it looks like Michael Flatley riverdancing an interpretation of Don King!!

I am also with you, Alissa, on that problem with people not being able to see beyond the hanging man and interpreting death. God forbid that both the Hanged Man and Death appear in the reading... throw in the Devil and the querient will run, screaming and looking like that Flatley/Don King Man Riverdancing in a rapid backwards pedalling motion.


Now for me, another point of contention is the Naked Hanged Man (ala Haindl and the original Rohrig before his diapering) I have a tendency to call this one the Hung Man...

 

[WolfSpirit]

The hanged man reversed (not the naked one ) reminds me Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull...who hid his flute behind his back.

 

[Alissa]

Even if the guys hair is hanging down... then it looks like Michael Flatley riverdancing an interpretation of Don King!!

Yea it does....
Thanks Macavity, and Khat ... I needed that grin.

 

[Logiatrix]

OH, GREAT!

A well-hung Michael Flatley impersonating Don King. Hmmm...
Well, I am officially cured of my panic over this card!
Now, what do I do to keep from busting out laughing during a serious reading?
"...In your near-future, the 'Well-Hung Man' comes up...yes, I know, he looks kinda like that Riverdance guy with Don King's hair--but don't be scared..."

 

[Logiatrix]

I have decided...

...I can't do it.

I guess I'm with everyone here; I can't adjust to a hanging-by-the-neck Hanged Man. So, back into the collection goes the Cagliostro. By the way, the Native American Tarot, another deck I mentioned at the start of this thread, does not depict a dead man as I had initially thought. I read the LWB and learnt more about it--whatta concept!

Anyway, I just wanted to go on record with my progress about this topic, in case someone else comes along with the same issue and questions.

 

[Cerulean]

A caution about the Leonardo Da Vinci

majors, and Citta de Ferarra (the majors which can be seen in the Tarot Jigsaw by Buffalo Games puzzle)

The Leonardo Tarot does actually show the hanged traiter who took part in a gruesome assasination plot against the Medici. Da Vinci chose to sketch the punishment of one of the plotters who killed the younger brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent.

Citta de Ferrara majors also does depict sometimes for historical reasons, some gruesome and literal events that aren't pretty examples of Renaissance depotism...but historically they are accurate. The hanged man is not a hopeful card, but a literal interpretation of a traitor.

Even though the art can be extraordinary or colorful or historical, it doesn't make for the best reading tarots, I agree. I also pause when I see the Hanged Man right side up and sometimes I wonder quite a bit...is it better for that deck to be appropriate for the historical theme...? Or could the designer have chosen something else to get a good point across?

I have to admit the Leonardo is really the only one where I might agree the choice was appropriate.

Best wishes,

Mari H>