XII- The Hanged Man, Merry Christmas!

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)

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!!!

Aeon418

Owl Tarot said:
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.

The Hanged Man in the Tarot of Thelema forms the emblem of the upright Triangle surmounted by the Cross. The Cross is Tau. The Triangle is Shin.
Tau(400) + Shin(300) = 700, the value of Nun final - Death.

As it says in the 30th Aethyr:

TEX. said:
For thou wilt find a life which is as Death: or a Death which should be infinite.

This "life which is as Death" appears to be the complete reversal of ordinary mundane life. But this is the veil (Paroketh, PRKTh=700) before the Holy of Holies.

Owl Tarot said:
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.

The Cross formed by the Hanged Man's legs represents the quarternary of man, the four elements. The Triangle indicates the triad of godhead. Taken together this an emblem of the natural man (Tau) elevated by Spirit (Shin).

This is one reason why the Hanged Man reflects the Devil in the Tarot of Thelema. Place the Atu XV above Atu XII and consider the following quote from, The Book of Lies:

Liber CCCXXXIII said:
15
ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΙΕ
THE GUN-BARREL
Mighty and erect is this Will of mine, this Pyramid of fire whose summit is lost in Heaven. Upon it have I burned the corpse of my desires.

Mighty and erect is this Φαλλοσ of my Will. The seed thereof is That which I have borne within me from Eternity; and it is lost within the Body of Our Lady of the Stars.

I am not I; I am but an hollow tube to bring down Fire from Heaven.

Mighty and marvellous is this Weakness, this Heaven which draweth me into Her Womb, this Dome which hideth, which absorbeth, Me.

This is The Night wherein I am lost, the Love through which I am no longer I.

Owl Tarot

Aeon418 said:
The Hanged Man in the Tarot of Thelema forms the emblem of the upright Triangle surmounted by the Cross. The Cross is Tau. The Triangle is Shin.
Tau(400) + Shin(300) = 700, the value of Nun final - Death.

As it says in the 30th Aethyr:

This "life which is as Death" appears to be the complete reversal of ordinary mundane life. But this is the veil (Paroketh, PRKTh=700) before the Holy of Holies.

The Cross formed by the Hanged Man's legs represents the quarternary of man, the four elements. The Triangle indicates the triad of godhead. Taken together this an emblem of the natural man (Tau) elevated by Spirit (Shin).

Well, this is when I was getting at when I broke this post in two parts. About the Hanged Man's legs, I think that the function of the cross the legs form also indicates to the black cross of the Spirit of Enochian Magic. Really interesting about the Triangle, which I didn't really get into so much in itself but presented it under the Mason perspective of the Eye in the Triangle. Also interesting that the Hanged Man forms the Cavarly Cross, which is not only the Cross of the Crucifixion, but also a symbol of Tiphareth and all it's mysteries. Yet another connection with it.

Aeon418 said:
This is one reason why the Hanged Man reflects the Devil in the Tarot of Thelema.

I instictively thought that the Devil, the Hanged Man and Death are connected a long time ago, but now I see this connection in a way that clarifies it far better for me. The Hanged Man is underwater, and Osiris (Death) is also underwater, in the bottom of the sea! What you said about Tau and Shin aids my understanding as well, and the head of The Hanged Man could be seen as an eye (Ayin), the Path of the Devil!

Aeon418

Owl Tarot said:
Liber XV also has an interesting part about the Sleep of Shiloam

I assume you mean Liber LXV. Liber XV is the Gnostic Mass.

Here's Crowley commentary on the verse you quoted.

9. 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.

A garden usually symbolizes a place of cultivated beauty; Oriental poets use it to express a collection of poems or wise sayings. The immortal kisses are the tokens of the operation of “love under will” which is perpetual. The Angel calls upon the Adept to display his brilliance as if the Knowledge and Conversation were a transcendental sacrament beyond that implied in all acts. The opium poppy is a symbol of peace, exaltation, and delight, the giver of sleep, by which is meant the silencing of all possible distractions. The mouth of the Adept, the organ by which he is nourished, expresses his thoughts, and symbolizes his passions; by the kiss of this mouth is meant its surrender to the Angel, the act of marriage, and this is the key to the infinite sleep and lucid. Sleep has been explained above. It is infinite, being freed from the limitations of condition, and lucid as being characterized by pure vision.

Shi-loh-am: the word means peace.

ShLM.

Shin = Fire triangle.
Lamed = Libra.
Mem = Water triangle.

Fire 'balanced' with Water = the Hexagram.

Owl Tarot

Aeon418 said:
I assume you mean Liber LXV. Liber XV is the Gnostic Mass.

You are correct, I apologize. Corrected my opening post as well. In many ways, the Hanged Man for me represents the Hexagram working upon the Pentagram to allow it, by the kiss, to reconnect with the Star of Atu XVII, the 28th Path. 28 is the total ammount of rays which emit from the Hanged Man, 18 connect to the Vesica and 10 to his own arms. Really interesting, I find it to be!

Aeon418

Owl Tarot said:
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.

The Hanged Man's pallor also indicates a more down to earth 'Bloody sacrifice'. The sexual mysteries of O.T.O. are one particular manifestation of this doctrine on a lower level. It is the sacrifice of a male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence mentioned on page 98 of The Book of Thoth.

It also brings to mind the 26th verse of the second chapter of The Book of the Law.

Hadit said:
26. I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring: in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.

26 is of course the Path of Ayin and the Devil.
The Hanged Man's arms, reflecting the horns of the Devil, could represent the forked tongue of a serpent. But the Fire triangle they form also relates to Shin and the Tooth which is the Fang in the language of the Holy Books of Thelema.

Liber LXV said:
52. There was also an humming-bird that spake unto the horned cerastes, and prayed him for poison. And the great snake of Khem the Holy One, the royal Uræus serpent, answered him and said:
53. I sailed over the sky of Nu in the car called Millions-of-Years, and I saw not any creature upon Seb that was equal to me. The venom of my fang is the inheritance of my father, and of my father's father; and how shall I give it unto thee? Live thou and thy children as I and my fathers have lived, even unto an hundred millions of generations, and it may be that the mercy of the Mighty Ones may bestow upon thy children a drop of the poison of eld.
54. Then the humming-bird was afflicted in his spirit, and he flew unto the flowers, and it was as if naught had been spoken between them. Yet in a little while a serpent struck him that he died.
55. But an Ibis that meditated upon the bank of Nile the beautiful god listened and heard. And he laid aside his Ibis ways, and became as a serpent, saying Peradventure in an hundred millions of millions of generations of my children, they shall attain to a drop of the poison of the fang of the Exalted One.
56. And behold! ere the moon waxed thrice he became an Uræus serpent, and the poison of the fang was established in him and his seed even for ever and for ever.

The final verse number is significant. 5=6, 5+6=11, and 56-NV.

Aeon418

An observation....

Turn the Hanged Man card upside down. Now have a really good look at his face. Notice something odd about it? That nose looks like a beak to me. And where are his eyes? Are they closed, or pecked out?

Liber CCXX. III:49-54. said:
49. I am in a secret fourfold word, the blasphemy against all gods of men.
50. Curse them! Curse them! Curse them!
51. With my Hawk’s head I peck at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon the cross.
52. I flap my wings in the face of Mohammed & blind him.
53. With my claws I tear out the flesh of the Indian and the Buddhist, Mongol and Din.
54. Bahlasti! Ompehda! I spit on your crapulous creeds.

Are the arms spread out like wings? Could the fingers be the claws? Or maybe the nails?

The letter Mem spelt in full, MIM = 90 = Tzaddi, the Fishhook of Salvation who pulls the Fish - Nun/Serpent, out of the Water, Mem. Horus.

Liber Tzaddi said:
0. In the name of the Lord of Initiation, Amen.
1. I fly and I alight as an hawk: of mother-of-emerald are my mighty-sweeping wings.
2. I swoop down upon the black earth; and it gladdens into green at my coming.
3. Children of Earth! rejoice! rejoice exceedingly; for your salvation is at hand.
4. The end of sorrow is come; I will ravish you away into mine unutterable joy.
5. I will kiss you, and bring you to the bridal: I will spread a feast before you in the house of happiness.

The Kiss that is the surreneder to the Holy Guardian Angel via Peh, the Mouth, is also the Opening of the Eye - Ayin, The Devil.

Zephyros

I've always found this card interesting. As Owl Tarot mentioned, this one is one of the most deceptive, one can always find deeper facets, just like a pool of water. On the surface there is the "traditional" Hanged Man, will all the connotations that go with it. One level down there is the whole cenotaph of Osiris thing, and this elicits a certain revulsion, I must admit.

Deeper, however, if we work under the assumption that this card simply must have something to do with Will, there is an interesting tantric aspect to this card, having to do with the suspension of animation or even ejaculation in a ritualistic way. This would make sense also in that the path descends to Hod, the lower mother, inaction tied to incubation in an interesting way which would seem contrary at first.

Being opposite Fortune on the Tree, the Hanged Man would seem to suggest the stillness inherent in motion, the silence between musical notes, as it were.

Aeon418

Zombie apocalypse!

closrapexa said:
One level down there is the whole cenotaph of Osiris thing, and this elicits a certain revulsion, I must admit.

Another aspect of the Cenotaph that may elicit revulsion is that the body and mind of the Master of the Temple are the 'Empty Tomb' that is left below the Abyss after the crossing is achieved. The tomb is empty because the god resides elsewhere using the body and mind as a vehicle for his Will. The inverted ankh on the card is the sandal strap of the Master.

Their sandals were the pure light, and they have taken them from their feet and cast them down through the abyss, for this Aethyr is holy ground.

It's a different spin on the walking dead. :laugh:

Owl Tarot

Aeon418 said:
Another aspect of the Cenotaph that may elicit revulsion is that the body and mind of the Master of the Temple are the 'Empty Tomb' that is left below the Abyss after the crossing is achieved. The tomb is empty because the god resides elsewhere using the body and mind as a vehicle for his Will. The inverted ankh on the card is the sandal strap of the Master.

Interestingly enough, I recall a nice quotation from The Angel and the Abyss you posted once I studied and found really helpful:

Gunther said:
As an insignia of the True Master of the Temple, he represents those Saints who have poured the last drop of their blood into the Cup of Babalon, who have relinquished all that they were, and sit as nameless pyramids of dust in the City of Night. The Tomb is empty of name and form, for those who entered therein have given All. The water of the Great Sea from which he hangs suspended is Blood, the water of Life.

Such beautiful card this is.

closrapexa said:
if we work under the assumption that this card simply must have something to do with Will

Interestingly enough I find this assumption to be really the case here. Liber 777 in Table XX attibutes Horus to the 5th Path-Geburah and I think this may reveal why the cards connecting to Geburah are all, in a way or another, involved with the Grail. Table XLI also connects the Cup as the Magical Weapon of the 23rd Path.

XII- The Hanged Man, Merry Christmas!

Owl Tarot

Aeon418

Owl Tarot

Aeon418

Owl Tarot

Aeon418

Aeon418

Zephyros

Aeon418

Owl Tarot