Shadowscapes Study - The Hanged Man XII

From the Shadowscapes Companion book:

"He goes willingly to his fate, unhinges his grip on control, and endures for the sake of the rewards such knowing sacrifice may bring."

"Meaning: Letting go and surrendering to experience and emotional release. Accepting what is, and giving up control. Suspending action. Sacrifice."

The hanged man seems to have the emperor's ankh and the hierophant's holly. The ankh hangs from another branch of the same tree almost as if it's imitating the hanged man's sacrifice.

Two kinds of nature spirits, both tree spirits and winged fairies, linger to keep him company. They seem to be lending moral support.

In shamanism we call this kind of self-imposed ordeal a vision quest. By depriving yourself of your normal places, comforts, and choices, you can focus intently on an important question, and if you are patient an answer will arrive.

The hanged man's hands hold an orb of light. By highlighting the hands, the orb seems to emphasize that he retains the power to act, although he chooses not to. The voluntary nature of his sacrifice is what gives it its power.

I love that Stephanie linked this card with the myth of the god Odin, who in his quest for higher knowledge had to pay a price for his wisdom.

"Odin hung himself upside down upon the World Tree, the gigantic ash Yggdrasil ( a compound meaning "terrible horse"). After nine days of fasting and agony, in which "he made of himself a sacrifice to himself", he "fell screaming" from the tree, having had revealed to him in a flash of insight the secret of the runes."
http://www.octavia.net/vikings/odin.htm

" To drink from the Well of Wisdom, Odin had to sacrifice his eye (which eye he sacrificed is unclear), symbolizing his willingness to gain the knowledge of the past, present and future. As he drank, he saw all the sorrows and troubles that would fall upon men and the gods. He also saw why the sorrow and troubles had to come to men."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odin

I'm surprised that some people may think of this deck as purely 'pretty' but a bit shallow, when in fact it is deeper than it may appear at first sight. Lovely deck which offers some food for thought.

Peregrin said:

The hanged man seems to have the emperor's ankh and the hierophant's holly. The ankh hangs from another branch of the same tree almost as if it's imitating the hanged man's sacrifice.

Click to expand...

shouldn't we consider what the ankh means? as a hieroglyph, it means 'life'.. and here it is depicted hanged from the tree = maybe life is suspended now, on 'pause' button. since in Egypt ankh was mostly shown with the images of gods, maybe it means that the 'spiritual life' is 'on pause' at the moment. the character doesn't seem yet interested in the ankh. and if he wanted to take it, he would have to put in some effort..

he's hanged there for quite some time too: there is a plant growing over him [an ivy?]

i also see a question mark on the thee's bark, right above the branch the man hangs from [maybe the branch he hangs from turned into a question mark under his weight]. but i can't understand why this sign would be there.

all the faes seem curious as for how long will he still hang [in] there..

this is all i see [for now]