Touchstone Tarot~The Hanged Man

morticia monroe

tarotlyn said:
hmmmm...well...there is such physical inactivity in this image...and his eyes are closed...
suggesting to me that it is a card of contemplation and spiritual awakening
to a higher power to the extent of self sacrifice and possible suffering.

Here he appears to NOT be struggling or fighting his situation at all but now
looks like he has turned inward and so is connecting with the Spirit World
allowing him to make it through this time he is going through.

Maybe turning inwardly will help him overcome any of his own self-centered motives.

Oh, and maybe his nakedness, bareness...leaves him totally open and
vunerable to the world and what it demands of him as he has no control of
putting on more clothes to cover himself and he has no control to untie
himself from the tree. Looks like someone else put him there for how long?
...who knows? maybe until he finds what he is seeking or learning within his
own mind.

I am sure you all will see more... what about the (halo?) object about his head?

As far as wish bones...looks like it...but I think it is more just the branches
showing through the leaves. BUT if it was a wishbone...then maybe he is
wishing that "this would pass."
Click to expand...

I love it, Lyn. I love all your thoughts on this card. Right on the money for me. :)
 

morticia monroe

tarotlyn said:
Oh bodhran...you found the key! That, I think, is it exactly:
"Surrender then you find the illumination and compassion to keep going
and to gladly, or at least willingly, learn whatever lesson there is for you to
learn in this situation.
Click to expand...



I love it too, Bodhran. Most excellent.
 

stargazer

Hi all sorry I’m late,

Love what you’ve all said about the Hanged man so far.

He does remind me of Jesus especially with the halo, it defiantly has a religious feel to it and a feeling of being stuck.

I didn’t really get it until I read your posts, as it’s not the usual depiction.
 

retrokat

I probably should keep my nose out of these threads as I'm really enjoying seeing what other people come up with. But I had to throw in one little thing as I don't think it's been mentioned - the halo was added to make the card a little more RWS-like after feedback from people who reviewed the draft.

I wanted to use a martyr as the central character, and St Sebastian is one of my personal favourites - I also used him in Golden.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hanged_Man_(tarot_card)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Sebastian
 

Quester

I can't add anything to what you have to this card. I also thought it was Jesus. Very withdrawn and so sad looking.
 

minrice

I'm liking him a lot more, what with the descriptions from others in this thread. He just looked so sad and defeated to me. I guess that is the first step to enlightenment though, spiritual/personal growth through suffering.
 

stargazer

minrice said:
I'm liking him a lot more, what with the descriptions from others in this thread. He just looked so sad and defeated to me. I guess that is the first step to enlightenment though, spiritual/personal growth through suffering.
Click to expand...

I agree with you minrice.
Until I read what others had to say, I couldn't see past the suffering.

Hi Kat,
thanks for the input. I sort of hoped you would be here to clear things up for us when we get stuck! Its good to know that you are keeping an eye on us, after all, it is YOUR baby. :D
 

Hedera

I had (have) some problems with this card in this deck as well; I'm not too fond of St Sebastian, for a start.
Well, that is, I don't have a problem with him personally ;), it's just that I've seen so many depictions of him, sometimes very kitchy, in very different contexts.

So I think I'll just pretend he's some random guy with a halo. ;)

Another thing that does bother me is the fact that he's right-side up; I really like that little visual 'jolt' you get from an upside-down Hanged Man.


So - I turned him upside down. :D
I don't read with reversals, and I shuffle in a way that I don't generally get them, so he should be the only card in the deck that's reversed.

I drew him for today's cards yesterday evening, and it worked well!
 

Zezina

The Hanged Man upside-down!

Hedera said:
Another thing that does bother me is the fact that he's right-side up; I really like that little visual 'jolt' you get from an upside-down Hanged Man.


So - I turned him upside down. :D
I don't read with reversals, and I shuffle in a way that I don't generally get them, so he should be the only card in the deck that's reversed.
Click to expand...
How clever of you Hedera, to work out a lateral solution to this problem that I have also been finding jarring with this deck. :THANG
 

Pax

I do see a wishbone! I'm glad minrice brought that up. Looking at the card more closely, I see other things as well. The leaves appear to be in the shape of a bird. Perhaps this is a suggestion of achievable freedom. A see a compass (or is that a second wishbone) formed by the branches. Is this another way of suggesting there are options available? In the bark of the tree behind the Hanged Man, I see an upright stick figure made of the shadows. This makes me think that after I strip away all of the problems of the day, what's left is a person of strength and confidence.
 
Touchstone Tarot ~ The Devil Touchstone Tarot~The Star