Legend: The hanged man/ Castle perilous

snowy25

A difficoult card because the hanged men are realy hanged.

From the place where Gareth stands he can see many hanged men on trees.
Nothing like Odin who hang for nine days and nine nights in the tree by a spear.
Where is the selfsecrefice?
Where is the meditating man?

It looks like the card is drawn to make us look in ourselves rather then at those men hangin dead in the trees.
We see this card.
In this card it's the querrents way to look at this forrest and make the choice.
Would you walk thru this forest knowing what path lies before you?
I would pause for a minute or so asking myself what I was doing there.
And what happened to those before me hanging there...
Gasping for breath...
Rethinking my actions forgetting my actions or plans for a moment.
Mabey this was the first intention of the image.
This I don't know.
I do know it makes you stop for a moment and rethink a lot of things.
For a moment just doing nothing or to run away, what can one do?

And in life you have to go on after this.
So it's time to start thinking and after this moment is over to do the things you'll have to do.

No more thoughts... a silence...
 

WalesWoman

This is another one of those cards that is hard to look at, I know I see it and sort of want to keep right on going by and barely register it in my mind.

Somewhere I posted a big thing on this card, but can't seem to find it, so I'll try to do it again.

The trees all around this castle are all dead ones, with lichens and mosses growing on them...parasites that need death to flourish. These knights I couldn't decide if they were defenders of this castle or were trying to take it back from those who had stolen it. If they are defenders then my thoughts were that, the foundations of this castle are unclear, covered with mist and shadows. Trying to defend and support the unsupportable, that they couldn't let go of the old and outworn ideas and became hungup by them.

I noticed that there is a horn hanging from a branch near the red tent, which made me think of Judgement trumpeting her call for change, issuing a challenge, in a sense drawing the defenders from behind those walls, our defensive reaction to threats is to rush in there and defend them, if they are all wrong...we end up like those knights, hung up on them, on dead wood, on things that have no more life in them. Darn, I wish I could find that post, I had it so much more together. Wonder if it's in "Cards You had trouble with"???

Usually Hanged man is about sacrifice, but in this case it's a sacrifice of life in order to hold on to something that just is not worth supporting anymore. Or so I feel, whatever is opposing our beliefs is stronger. I also see that red tent as desires of a temporary nature, it's a mission to call out that change is needed, that it's a lost cause to continue to defend this dark, insubstantial place. It think it's more about realizing what we do to block our growth by clinging to the past without seeing it is an illusion, defending our right to be wrong to the death rather than going with the flow or surrendering in order for life to happen, to continue, to grow. By hanging onto what blocks us, there is only death and the things that thrive on it.

Boy is that dark!
 

Lyones

Originally posted by Snowy
A difficoult card because the hanged men are realy hanged. ...
Would you walk thru this forest knowing what path lies before you?
I would pause for a minute or so asking myself what I was doing there.

It is a very difficult card to come to terms with, and I'm sure that Gareth felt the same way when he was sent on his mission to rescue Lyones and was faced with this.

Ironside had captured Lyones and held her captive in his castle. 40 knights tried to rescue her and failed, they were strung in the trees as a warning, till Gareth was sent by Arthur to rescue her. Ironside and Gareth fought for a whole day, and by evening they were tired.

Lyones was standing at the window, and realising the sacrifice he was making to rescue her, she curtsied to Gareth. This acknowledgement gave him the strength and courage to overcome Ironside, who begged for mercy. Gareth said that he would grant it, if Lyones forgave Ironside.

They listened to Ironside's story about how he'd fallen in love with a lady who believed her brother had been killed either by Lancelot or Gawain, and that the only way to win her love would be to avenge her by destroying the Knights of the Round Table. He repented, Lyones pardoned him and Ironside pledged allegiance to Arthur.

The knights had sacrificed themselves, perhaps Lyones had seen enough death and did not want to see any more, and in sparing Ironside's life, made a sacrifice of her own rather than continuing the feud.

In most cases, I see the Hanged Man as being something that will pass, the restriction and sacrifice as something that can be endured, with this card, it seems that life is being wasted, that time is frozen, and that the noble cause is not worth the effort. However, there were a few good things that came about ... I think of Ironside as being a fairly powerful man, who would have given his land and his men to Arthur when swearing his allegiance to him, it put an end to the knights being killed, and also we see Gareth and Lyones together in the Lovers card.

Originally posted by WalesWoman
By hanging onto what blocks us, there is only death and the things that thrive on it.

Boy is that dark!

It is a very dark card, but very thought provoking.
 

WalesWoman

I hope you can see the details...
 

Attachments

  • Legends 12 Hanged Man.gif
    Legends 12 Hanged Man.gif
    41.6 KB · Views: 363