When the Hanged Man is REALLY Hanged!

[Sophie]

I've seen the meaning for this card given as someone looking at things from a different angle spiritually. For certain, when a person is going to be hanged to death, they're forced to consider spiritual matters and to suddenly see spiritual things as being very important, whereas they might not have before.

That's the first meaning that comes to me when I look at the Tarot of the Sidhe Hanged Man, because Em has made him so you look at him from above, which gives you the visual experience of new perspective - it's phenomenal, and one of the cards that sold me that deck for life. And yes, when you are upside-down, you see things differently, and when you are forced to hang upside-down, it becomes urgent in all sorts of ways to see things differently. But I think that meaning links up with what SGH was writing above, about becoming a new person through the experience of self-sacrifice.

As you say, dying comes much faster when we hang by the neck - a matter of minutes, as opposed to hours or days when we hang by the foot - so the spiritual emergence would have to come very fast! Unless, of course, the condemned has some time to contemplate before being hanged. (I had trouble writing this last paragraph, because I have frequent flash-backs to being lynched and hanged - not by the foot!).

 

[GlitterNova]

Actually, the original meaning of the card has nothing to do with Waite's inventions - these are later extrapolations to fit his view of the world and of tarot.

The original meaning of the Hanged Man is treason and punishment. Hanging people upside down was a form of punishment in Renaissance Italy, where the tarot originated, and yes, it often does result in death, but not necessarily - it depends how long you are left hanging there.

The Golden Dawn meaning - of self-sacrifice and illumination - came later. It's perfectly defensible - after all, it is often in punishment and pain that we break through spiritually. However, the Hanged Man in Tarot does not, originally, have a spiritual meaning apart from what was projected onto it by later generations, ours included.

That's why showing the hanged man hanging by the neck is defensible - it returns the card to its original meaning of punishment for treason.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but this is something that's been bugging me recently. I did some research on the history of the Hanged Man and discovered what was stated above--that it used to be a literal hanged man, and that public hanging was an oft-used punishment for people who committed treason. Therefore, the card originally referenced punishment for treason or crimes. I was on a website (which unfortunately I can't remember) that basically called the more modern interpretation of the Hanged Man a 'watered down Hermit.' Now, I'm fairly new to tarot, but this seems to be actually kind of true when I think about the meanings I've seen given for these cards. Think about it--sacrifice via removal from society, isolation, spiritual or personal revelations via introspection. The more modern Hanged Man and the Hermit do seem to overlap. What also stands out to me is that the original meaning had the whole theme of publicity--the hanged man was left out to be seen, he was supposed to serve as an example for others. The modern Hanged Man is much more about the private or the inner self.

Anyway, I guess I just wonder what other people think about this change in meaning of the card. Honestly, I have respect for decks that decide to go for the less modern imagery and meaning of the card. Reading about the history of the card, it sort of sounds like the Golden Dawn whitewashed it to some extent. But really, punishment is just a natural potential outcome of Justice. One could view the publicly hanged man as a side of sacrifice, as well. Instead of self sacrifice, it's sacrifice made by a higher party for the greater good of all--the hanged man serves as an example for others to follow, convincing them to follow the rules or laws and promoting order. I can certainly understand how the image of a man hanging by the neck would be off putting, though. Just what sensitive clients want--more cards showing death!

 

[Lynzz]

This card always comes up for me as a delay of some sort. Always. My visa was supposed to be done in 6 weeks but pulled the hanged man when I asked if it would be granted on time. It was delayed for 3 months. There was someone I was seeing and we stopped speaking....I decided to ask where things were headed and simply pulled the hanged man - limbo....delay....we started speaking again eventually over a good number of months so once things seemed more on track, decided to ask again where things were headed (this was a good 6 months later!) and pulled the hanged man....once again he has cut contact and left me in limbo.....can say that I don't like the hanged man too much!