Owl Tarot
And welcome folks, welcome- to another Thoth Trump! I am Owl Tarot, and here we enter the wonderful depth of The Hanged Man! As some of you already know, I decided to start weekly threads about some of the thoughts and interpretations, as they come to me the moment I am writing, of the Trump I am currently studying. It is the third time I undergo this process (of weekly Trump study I mean) because in the previous two I gained further insight about the cards so I decided to follow this process yet again, but with a slightly different twist in it, which is to create weekly threads about the Trump of the week! So, anyone willing and available to provide some thoughts and opinions for me to work and contemplate about would be appreciated! I also hope that the few of my thoughts as of this post and moment help you!
I didn't program the schedule so that The Hanged Man's week would be at the same time with Christmas, and it makes me glad to share some of my opinions about this card as they are now, today! See, The Hanged Man represents in many ways the Mysteries of the Cross and the Crucifixion of Christ as well as the general functions of Tiphareth, Kether's image. So, a very "weird"card in a very special day!
XII- The Hanged Man
Elemental Trump of Water
23rd Path, connecting Geburah to Hod. Hebrew letter: Mem (Water)
Without further ado, let's dive at a card of illusions, created -in a way- to be misinterpreted and be easily seen as the previous Aeon's The Hanged Man and not as the current one's. Crowley played many "tricks" (in my opinion) in Book of Thoth with this Trump and for a very good reason (in my opinion again), so I will split the thread in two. One half will be the card under the interpretation of the previous Aeon, and one of the current Aeon.
Part 1: The Hanged Man as a Trump of self sacrifice:
Crowley makes sure it is clear, that under the current Fiery Lord of the Aeon, Water as regarded in the previous Aeon is not an option. Air is sympathetic with both Fire and Water. But that compromise is no longer an option. The function of the Hanged Man, or any man in general, when regarded as a sacrifice it leads one to illusion. When we regard redemption as an action for which we are in debt and not as a natural marriage between force and form (which is the more accurate definition of redemption when the Sephira we are talking about here, Tiphareth, is meditated upon), we are led to believe that God the Son (Hoor, Osiris, Christ, Dionysus etc) sacrificed himself when he manifested in flesh to offer us a way to contact our HGA. So, viewing this phenomenon as a sacrifice instead of what it really is, leads one to illusion, which is entirely not sympathetic with the Lord of the current Aeon, Heru-Ra-Ha.
Another point about made about the act in question, when it is actually regarded as an act of redemption. The Ankh is reversed in our Trump, which points out more than one things, but under the current prism we are looking at the card, it may imply the denial of life, the sacrifice of oneself. Under the philosophy formed in the Aeon of Osiris, the body and the spirit are enemies, necessary opposites. This, however, couldn't be more away from the perspective of the Aeon we are currently in, where the body and spirit are both regarded as Holy. Also, it might suggest to us the limits our intellect (Hod), when ill utilized, enforces on our power (Geburah), further suggesting us the idea of sacrifice and what the limits of human can be when his intellect works in a negative manner. Our life stops being enjoyable and we become "fixed" in a negative viewpoint of life, which in turn stops the principle of Spirit as presented by the reversed Ankh, To Go. Our Spirit is left to die when we stop our human motion.
Part 2: The Hanged Man as it functions in the new Aeon:
Here, however, we see this card as a card of Union, Love and marriage. At the top of the card we see the light of Kether, set in motion by Love. In this light, our figure is Christ-Hoor-Osiris-Tiphareth as Adepts (because only Adepts have mastered the fifth Principle of the Sphinx, To Go, as seen by the Ankh) connecting the "Highest" (Kether) to the "Lowest" (Malkuth in Assiah as presented by the Snake below). Green (the infuence of Venus) circles also surround his head and his limps. His action is an action of Love.
Our figure is pinned by nails, and nail translates to the Hebrew letter Vau, the Son, the Hierophant. The Hierophant is one of the 4 Kerubs, Taurus, who represents To Will from the four Principles of The Sphinx. This is further suggested by the Snake which binds the left foot of our figure to the Ankh. Snake is a symbol of Chokmah, the Will of God. Those symbols together form "Love is the Law. Love under Will.". There is no sacrifice here. Our figure is "married" to his True Will and all his actions are according to it. He consiously gave up himself for his beloved who is his HGA.
We see here the function of the figure as a bridge. He connects the fully developed Universe as represented by the black snake at the bottom to the Light of Kether at the top. It is interesting to notice that from his chest and arms is formed an equilevant triangle, and his head is at it's center. The Eye in the Triangle is often used as a symbol of Spiritual Enlightment, and the upright Triangle is a symbol of Fire (Geburah). His legs form a cross above the Triangle, which is the symbol of Golden Dawn. We also have the Triangle and it's center back at Atu X, Fortune, which is the opposite Path on the Tree.
The pool of Shiloam is presented in the New Testament:
Siloam in Greek adds to 1081. Sepher Sephiroth informs us Tiphareth also adds to that number. Also notice that this is from John's Gospel, and John is attributed to the path of this card in Table XXXVI of Liber 777. Liber LXV also has an interesting part about the Sleep of Shiloam:
It may also be noticed that behind the figure's legs is a grid of small squares. Those may suggest to those who are interested in Enochian magick to be the 4 Elemental Watchtowers, which represent various energies making up the Universe. The figure's legs form a cross over the center of the Tablet of Union, which symbolizes the fifth element of Spirit, which binds together the other 4 elements.
From the figure's head spawn forth 18 green rays, connecting it to the serpent of Malkuth. 18 interestingly means "living". The 18th Path of the Tree is the Path of The Chariot.
I think the connection is clearer this way. The figure is a bit pale. Christ was pierced by the Holy Lance on the Cross, and from his wound Water and Blood filled the Holy Grail. The Chariot carries the Holy Grail, which carries within it the Blood of the Saints. So, our figure has offered his Blood to Babalon.
Ten more green rays connect to his hands, adding up to 28. 28 means Unity and Power, interestingly enough.
Looking on the Sephira this Path connects, we have Geburah and Hod. Geburah is a Fiery Sephira representing the Energy, the Power of Man, while Hod emanates it's essense from Chesed, as the Yetziratic text informs us. Geburah, in this card's sense, I think refers more to the decision to "sacrifice" the lesser good for the grater one, to sacrifice the ego for the Union with God. Hod represents the intellect and a Sephira of Form. It is the form giver of our mind, one might say. In this light, I think a way of putting it is to see this connection as the destructive aspect of Geburah "sacrificing" the part of one's intellect which prevents someone from uniting with Babalon. The Virtue assosiated with Hod is Truthfulness, which is pretty interesting considering that this card is highly illusive.
As always, yet another good exercise in itself for me, writing this thread, and I hope it both helps you and motivates you to give me some food for thought! That's some of the things I could say about this card as I see it today of course, I hope you found it nice and not too boring and I'm looking forward to hear some your thoughts as well! Merry Christmas to everybody, and I wish you guys the best! Merry Christmas to the lovely Thoth Tarot itself!!!
I didn't program the schedule so that The Hanged Man's week would be at the same time with Christmas, and it makes me glad to share some of my opinions about this card as they are now, today! See, The Hanged Man represents in many ways the Mysteries of the Cross and the Crucifixion of Christ as well as the general functions of Tiphareth, Kether's image. So, a very "weird"card in a very special day!
XII- The Hanged Man
Elemental Trump of Water
23rd Path, connecting Geburah to Hod. Hebrew letter: Mem (Water)
Book of Thoth said:But water is the element of Illusion; one may regard this symbol n evil legacy from the old Aeon; to use an anatomical analogy, it spiritual vermiform appendix.
Without further ado, let's dive at a card of illusions, created -in a way- to be misinterpreted and be easily seen as the previous Aeon's The Hanged Man and not as the current one's. Crowley played many "tricks" (in my opinion) in Book of Thoth with this Trump and for a very good reason (in my opinion again), so I will split the thread in two. One half will be the card under the interpretation of the previous Aeon, and one of the current Aeon.
Part 1: The Hanged Man as a Trump of self sacrifice:
Book of Thoth said:In the former Aeon, that of Osiris, the element of Air, which is the nature of that Aeon, is not unsympathetic either to Water or to Fire; compromise was a mark of that period. But now, under a Fiery lord of the Aeon, the watery element, so far as water is below the Abyss, is definitely hostile, unless the opposition is the right opposition implied in marriage. But in this card the only question is of the “redemption” of the submerged element, and therefore everything is reversed. This idea of sacrifice is, in the final analysis, a wrong idea.
“I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.”
“Every man and every woman is a star.”
The whole idea of sacrifice is a misconception of nature, and these texts of the Book of the Law are the answer to it.
Crowley makes sure it is clear, that under the current Fiery Lord of the Aeon, Water as regarded in the previous Aeon is not an option. Air is sympathetic with both Fire and Water. But that compromise is no longer an option. The function of the Hanged Man, or any man in general, when regarded as a sacrifice it leads one to illusion. When we regard redemption as an action for which we are in debt and not as a natural marriage between force and form (which is the more accurate definition of redemption when the Sephira we are talking about here, Tiphareth, is meditated upon), we are led to believe that God the Son (Hoor, Osiris, Christ, Dionysus etc) sacrificed himself when he manifested in flesh to offer us a way to contact our HGA. So, viewing this phenomenon as a sacrifice instead of what it really is, leads one to illusion, which is entirely not sympathetic with the Lord of the current Aeon, Heru-Ra-Ha.
Liber AL said:“Pity not the fallen! I never knew them. I am not for them. I console not: I hate the consoled and the consoler.”
Book of Thoth said:Redemption is a bad word; it implies a debt. For every star possesses boundless wealth; the only proper way to deal with the ignorant is to bring them to the knowledge of their starry heritage. To do this, it is necessary to behave as must be done in order to get on good terms with animals and children: to treat them with absolute respect; even; in a certain sense, with worship.
Another point about made about the act in question, when it is actually regarded as an act of redemption. The Ankh is reversed in our Trump, which points out more than one things, but under the current prism we are looking at the card, it may imply the denial of life, the sacrifice of oneself. Under the philosophy formed in the Aeon of Osiris, the body and the spirit are enemies, necessary opposites. This, however, couldn't be more away from the perspective of the Aeon we are currently in, where the body and spirit are both regarded as Holy. Also, it might suggest to us the limits our intellect (Hod), when ill utilized, enforces on our power (Geburah), further suggesting us the idea of sacrifice and what the limits of human can be when his intellect works in a negative manner. Our life stops being enjoyable and we become "fixed" in a negative viewpoint of life, which in turn stops the principle of Spirit as presented by the reversed Ankh, To Go. Our Spirit is left to die when we stop our human motion.
Part 2: The Hanged Man as it functions in the new Aeon:
Book of Thoth said:It is notable that there is an apparent increase of darkness and solidity in proportion as the redeeming element manifests itself; but the colour of green is the colour of Venus, of the hope that lies in love. That depends upon the formulation of the Rose and Cross, of the annihilation of the self in the Beloved, the condition of progress. In this inferior darkness of death, the serpent of new life begins to stir.
But now, under a Fiery lord of the Aeon, the watery element, so far as water is below the Abyss, is definitely hostile, unless the opposition is the right opposition implied in marriage.
Here, however, we see this card as a card of Union, Love and marriage. At the top of the card we see the light of Kether, set in motion by Love. In this light, our figure is Christ-Hoor-Osiris-Tiphareth as Adepts (because only Adepts have mastered the fifth Principle of the Sphinx, To Go, as seen by the Ankh) connecting the "Highest" (Kether) to the "Lowest" (Malkuth in Assiah as presented by the Snake below). Green (the infuence of Venus) circles also surround his head and his limps. His action is an action of Love.
Our figure is pinned by nails, and nail translates to the Hebrew letter Vau, the Son, the Hierophant. The Hierophant is one of the 4 Kerubs, Taurus, who represents To Will from the four Principles of The Sphinx. This is further suggested by the Snake which binds the left foot of our figure to the Ankh. Snake is a symbol of Chokmah, the Will of God. Those symbols together form "Love is the Law. Love under Will.". There is no sacrifice here. Our figure is "married" to his True Will and all his actions are according to it. He consiously gave up himself for his beloved who is his HGA.
Book of Thoth said:Yet the card in itself is essentially a glyph of Water; Mem is one of the three great Mother Letters, and its value is 40, the might of Tetragrammaton fully developed by Malkuth, the symbol of the Universe under the Demiourgos. Moreover, Water is peculiarly the Mother Letter, for both Shin and Aleph (the other two) represent masculine ideas; and, in Nature, Homo Sapiens is a marine mammal, and our intra-uterine existence is passed in the Amniotic Fluid. The legend of Noah, the Ark and the Flood, is no more than a hieratic presentation of the facts of life. It is then to Water that the Adepts have always looked for the continuation (in some sense or other) and to the prolongation and perhaps renovation of life.
We see here the function of the figure as a bridge. He connects the fully developed Universe as represented by the black snake at the bottom to the Light of Kether at the top. It is interesting to notice that from his chest and arms is formed an equilevant triangle, and his head is at it's center. The Eye in the Triangle is often used as a symbol of Spiritual Enlightment, and the upright Triangle is a symbol of Fire (Geburah). His legs form a cross above the Triangle, which is the symbol of Golden Dawn. We also have the Triangle and it's center back at Atu X, Fortune, which is the opposite Path on the Tree.
Book of Thoth said:This explains the original attribution of the Atu to Water, and the sound M the return to Eternal Silence, as in the word AUM. This card is therefore specially sacred to the Mystic) and the attitude of the figure is a ritual posture in the Practice called “The Sleep of Shiloam”.
The pool of Shiloam is presented in the New Testament:
John said:As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.*2His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’*3Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.*4We*must work the works of him who sent me**while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.*5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’*6When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,*7saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.*8The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’*9Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’*10But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’*11He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’
Siloam in Greek adds to 1081. Sepher Sephiroth informs us Tiphareth also adds to that number. Also notice that this is from John's Gospel, and John is attributed to the path of this card in Table XXXVI of Liber 777. Liber LXV also has an interesting part about the Sleep of Shiloam:
Liber LXV said:In the garden of immortal kisses, O thou brilliant One, shine forth! Make Thy mouth an opium-poppy, that one kiss is the key to the infinite sleep and lucid, the sleep of Shi-loh-am.
It may also be noticed that behind the figure's legs is a grid of small squares. Those may suggest to those who are interested in Enochian magick to be the 4 Elemental Watchtowers, which represent various energies making up the Universe. The figure's legs form a cross over the center of the Tablet of Union, which symbolizes the fifth element of Spirit, which binds together the other 4 elements.
From the figure's head spawn forth 18 green rays, connecting it to the serpent of Malkuth. 18 interestingly means "living". The 18th Path of the Tree is the Path of The Chariot.
Book of Thoth said:The legend of the Gospels, dealing with the Greater Mysteries of the Lance and the Cup (those of the god Iacchus Iao) as superior to the Lesser Mysteries (those of the God Ion=Noah, and the N-gods in general) in which the Sword slays the god that his head may be offered on a Plate, or Disk, says: And a soldier with a spear pierced his side; and thereforth there came out blood and water. This Wine, collected by the Beloved Disciple and the Virgin-Mother, waiting beneath the Cross or Tree for that purpose, in a Cup or Chalice; this is the Holy Grail or Sangreal (Sangraal) of Monsalvat, the Mountain of Salvation. [Grail (gréal) actually means a dish: O.F. graal, greal, grasal, probably corrupted from late Latin gradale, itself a corrupt form of crater, a bowl.] This Sacrament is exalted in the Zenith in Cancer; see Atu VII.
I think the connection is clearer this way. The figure is a bit pale. Christ was pierced by the Holy Lance on the Cross, and from his wound Water and Blood filled the Holy Grail. The Chariot carries the Holy Grail, which carries within it the Blood of the Saints. So, our figure has offered his Blood to Babalon.
Ten more green rays connect to his hands, adding up to 28. 28 means Unity and Power, interestingly enough.
Looking on the Sephira this Path connects, we have Geburah and Hod. Geburah is a Fiery Sephira representing the Energy, the Power of Man, while Hod emanates it's essense from Chesed, as the Yetziratic text informs us. Geburah, in this card's sense, I think refers more to the decision to "sacrifice" the lesser good for the grater one, to sacrifice the ego for the Union with God. Hod represents the intellect and a Sephira of Form. It is the form giver of our mind, one might say. In this light, I think a way of putting it is to see this connection as the destructive aspect of Geburah "sacrificing" the part of one's intellect which prevents someone from uniting with Babalon. The Virtue assosiated with Hod is Truthfulness, which is pretty interesting considering that this card is highly illusive.
As always, yet another good exercise in itself for me, writing this thread, and I hope it both helps you and motivates you to give me some food for thought! That's some of the things I could say about this card as I see it today of course, I hope you found it nice and not too boring and I'm looking forward to hear some your thoughts as well! Merry Christmas to everybody, and I wish you guys the best! Merry Christmas to the lovely Thoth Tarot itself!!!