The above card representing the Hanged Man comes from the Haindl Tarot, a deck which draws on many traditions including the Holy Grail, the Norse Runes and astrology. The concept of the Hanged Man has been an important one for me personally, standing for willingness to suffer for an as-yet-unknown good and in letting go of the past.
Interestingly, it is also a card of significance for my partner Joe (Odin - see later - being his chosen god), and his personal understanding of this archetype has helped me deepen my own. When I came across this particular image, the connection between us seemed even more potently expressed.
The symbols in the card shown are: Mem, seas; Tyr or Tewaz, T, a war or god or god of law; Neptune.
When Joe and I began to live together in 2008, we drew the rune for Tewaz reversed. We faced the emotional and legal aftermaths of my recent divorce. Astrologically, Neptune was moving into my seventh house of relationship.
The image shown here of the Hanged Man is Odin of Scandinavian myth. The rainbow implies water; its colors also correspond on the Hanged Man's body to the chakras, yogic points of energy in the human physique.
Joe is a mythopoetic astrologer, I am an aquatic bodyworker, we have both placed great value of the practice of yoga in our lives - Joe living in an ashram for a number of years and me as a practitioner teacher of Iyengar-based yoga since my 20s. We now share an hermetic life in an old Ozark forest.
In the card here, the Hanged Man's hair seems to merge into the ground like the roots of a tree. On one side shines a crescent moon, symbol of the High Priestess, goddess of mystery. On the other appear Odin's twin ravens, Hugin and Munin, thought and memory.
Ravens signify death and thus bringing information from the 'other world'. On this path, Joe and I have become allies. As writers and dreamers, we attempt through our different lenses of sky and water respectively, to make connections and reveal mysteries.
The Hanged Man is also associated with the Fool whose childlike innocence enables him to step off the cliff without fear. The Fool settles beneath a tree for nine days, intent on finding his spiritual self. On the ninth day, with no conscious thought of why, he climbs up and dangles upside down like a child.
He hangs between the mundane world and the spiritual world, able to see both. He hangs, weightless as if underwater, observing, absorbing, seeing. In another version, after nine days of hanging, Odin sees some runes or coins (of knowledge) on the ground below and comes down to retrieve them.
The Hanged Man is about suspension between physical and mystical worlds: a time of trial or meditation. Neptune is the planet of spirituality, dreams, psychic abilities, and the Hanged Man is afloat in these. Such moments don't last, and they require a sacrifice.
The sacrifice may be of a belief or perspective, a wish, dream, hope, money, time or even selfhood. In my recent divorce, big sacrifices were demanded of me. One thing is certain, once you have been the Hanged Man you never see things quite the same.
This archetype is also 12, the opposite of the World card, 21. With the World card you go infinitely out. With the Hanged Man, you go infinitely in. Interestingly, Joe and I also share a twelfth house Sun which requires retreat and reflection from each of us. Hence, perhaps, our life in the forest together.
But, like the Hanged Man, we are eventually required to emerge and share our coins ...
Some of these insights were found here - a great site for further study.
For a reflection on the Hanged Man in relation to my practice of aquatic bodywork see Pristine waters; murky depths.
Joe is a mythopoetic astrologer, I am an aquatic bodyworker, we have both placed great value of the practice of yoga in our lives - Joe living in an ashram for a number of years and me as a practitioner teacher of Iyengar-based yoga since my 20s. We now share an hermetic life in an old Ozark forest.
In the card here, the Hanged Man's hair seems to merge into the ground like the roots of a tree. On one side shines a crescent moon, symbol of the High Priestess, goddess of mystery. On the other appear Odin's twin ravens, Hugin and Munin, thought and memory.
Ravens signify death and thus bringing information from the 'other world'. On this path, Joe and I have become allies. As writers and dreamers, we attempt through our different lenses of sky and water respectively, to make connections and reveal mysteries.
The Hanged Man is also associated with the Fool whose childlike innocence enables him to step off the cliff without fear. The Fool settles beneath a tree for nine days, intent on finding his spiritual self. On the ninth day, with no conscious thought of why, he climbs up and dangles upside down like a child.
He hangs between the mundane world and the spiritual world, able to see both. He hangs, weightless as if underwater, observing, absorbing, seeing. In another version, after nine days of hanging, Odin sees some runes or coins (of knowledge) on the ground below and comes down to retrieve them.
The Hanged Man is about suspension between physical and mystical worlds: a time of trial or meditation. Neptune is the planet of spirituality, dreams, psychic abilities, and the Hanged Man is afloat in these. Such moments don't last, and they require a sacrifice.
The sacrifice may be of a belief or perspective, a wish, dream, hope, money, time or even selfhood. In my recent divorce, big sacrifices were demanded of me. One thing is certain, once you have been the Hanged Man you never see things quite the same.
This archetype is also 12, the opposite of the World card, 21. With the World card you go infinitely out. With the Hanged Man, you go infinitely in. Interestingly, Joe and I also share a twelfth house Sun which requires retreat and reflection from each of us. Hence, perhaps, our life in the forest together.
But, like the Hanged Man, we are eventually required to emerge and share our coins ...
Some of these insights were found here - a great site for further study.
For a reflection on the Hanged Man in relation to my practice of aquatic bodywork see Pristine waters; murky depths.
