The Gothic Tarot by Vargo - XII The Hanged Man

WolfyJames

Well, here is another card I don't like in this deck, The Hanged Man.

I would have liked the card better if it would have been in a cemetary, and this bat creature hanged from a dead tree. But it is not the case here, the bat-like creature is hanged on the border of the card. The bat creature is hanged the same way bats sleep.

That reminds me of the movie "The Lost Boys" where the vampires slept in that position instead of using a coffin. I guess this position makes the vampire remember the bat in him.
 

Umbrae

What color is this guy? A light violet?

A true batman, corpselike, with arms that become batwings – we ask, “Is this his form? Or is he transforming?”

He hangs and fills the card.

We recognize that he surrendered his humanness to become what he is now.

He asks us, “What are you willing to risk? Are you willing to pay the price for your wish?”

This hanged man leaves us with a feeling of un-ease The metaphor seems to pose hard questions
 

WolfyJames

Umbrae said:
he surrendered his humanness to become what he is now

That one is good, letting go of his humanity.
 

silk_selen

a man hung by his toes, without hands.

Arms ending in wings.

As much as many people would love to fly, would they give up their hands in a trade?

This card may leave some things to be desired. But it puts in mind a poem I once knew. It's by Laurence someone or other, can't remember, so I may be remembering the words wrong, but here it goes.

Was it worthwhile to forego our wings to gain these dexterous hands?
Truly they fashion us wonderful things to meet the fancy of man's demands.
Baubles and playthings, and weapons to kill.
But, oh, if it were I, I'd have chosen wings.

There's more to it about butterflies and mountain tops and what not, but the last verse here is what stuck with me. I think that there was a choice made here, as was mentioned already. A choice to give up one way of being to be how he is.

Be it that he hangs from his toes, or that he kept the wings, or that he has no eyes.

Well, that last one may or may not be irrelevant, but I'm going to start a thread about all of the cards in this deck with figures with no eyes, or blank eyes as the case may be.
 

Annwyn

half vampire/half man/half bat/half skeleton.....etc
In the process of decomposing, not much flesh left on his skin.
Definately a transformation going on.

But the wings are open- not crossed x.

To me this speaks of acceptance- wings are open, "bring it on"
I accept the transformation and changes that are so obviously taking place.
 

mercenary30

The Hanged Man

Here we see what many consider to be the classic sleeping position for a vampire. He is in his natural form and at complete rest. No energy is being expended in form or flight. He is in a form of meditative sleep. There are many traditional methods of meditation that propose many benefits to this position. He is not is such a state as to be vulnerable, noises could still easily rouse him from his slumber.

I think this is an even more natural representation of what the Hanged Man means then is traditionally represented. The abilities of the vampire here are copied by humanity, utilizing tools. I wonder if monks learned this from vamps or vice versa?
 

annik

What I don't like about this card is the lack of backgrounds. Here, we don't even have mist or cloud. It is a plain black background.

On the other hand, the character here depict well the concept of the hanged man, even if his face is expressionless.
 

Emeraldgirl

The lack of background in this card really disturbs me. I like the points about what has been sacrificed and what has been gained but the blackness of the card seems to say it was all for nothing. There is nothing but nothingness out there for this creature.
 

seneris

Emeraldgirl said:
The lack of background in this card really disturbs me. I like the points about what has been sacrificed and what has been gained but the blackness of the card seems to say it was all for nothing. There is nothing but nothingness out there for this creature.

Perhaps it could be some kind of warning.
Are you sure that this is what you want? It could have certain consequences.

Be careful what you wish for....