caridwen
Can anyone tell me why this Hanged Man is pinned up whereas most are free to leave at anytime? Is this because of Jesus who was nailed to a cross? Yet even Jesus sacrificed himself for 'our sins'...I'm a little confused.
Unwilling Hanged Man?
Aeon418
Crowley never explains it, so it's a bit of a mystery. But it is interesting that there are 3 nails. The nail is Vau in the Hebrew alphabet. Three Vau's is VVV. Convert that to numbers and you get 666. 
It may be Crowley's way of purifying this card, which he says is an evil legacy from the last Aeon and is little more than a cenotaph in this Aeon.
It may be Crowley's way of purifying this card, which he says is an evil legacy from the last Aeon and is little more than a cenotaph in this Aeon.caridwen
Aeon418 said:Crowley never explains it, so it's a bit of a mystery. But it is interesting that there are 3 nails. The nail is Vau in the Hebrew alphabet. Three Vau's is VVV. Convert that to numbers and you get 666.
My first thought is an inverted cross is the 'sign of Satan'. I'll do some more digging. Thanks.
Aeon418
That would be an old Aeon interpretation. Upright = good, inverted = bad. The New Aeon embraces relativity, so there is no absolute up or down.caridwen said:
WoodSorrel
I've been thinking maybe the nails are symbolic of being stuck there in that situation. Regardless of how willing one is to put oneself in that position, once you are there you cannot go back-you must see it through, and do what must be done. There is always a moment or two of panic in such a giving over of control, and to attain higher conciousness, one must persevere through this uncertainty and discomfort before the dawn of newness.
The hanged man is also not an easy road, and once you pick up your cross you are 'stuck to it'.
I don't take it as evil.
The hanged man is also not an easy road, and once you pick up your cross you are 'stuck to it'.
I don't take it as evil.
Aeon418
Maybe the nails are needed because he's dead. The Dying god has been at it for nearly 2000 years now. Perhaps he's finally popped his clogs. Hooray!!! 
WolfyJames
I think it represents the death of the Osiris era and pattern of a god or semi-god who has to be sacrified. Jesus is the best known representation of it and he was cruxified. So I guess Crowley made the Hanged Man cruxified to hint at Jesus.
caridwen
WolfyJames said:
It's a possibility but kind of goes against the grain as it were. It gives a different meaning to the Hanged Man which is supposed to be willing sacrifice. The Crucification was a willing surrender but the Hanged Man is usually based on Odin who hung from the World Tree in order to gain the knowledge of the Runes. This card may mean to reference both Odin and Jesus but I don't understand how this Hanged Man can escape. Crowley likes to stir things up in regards to Christianity which is why I thought it could be a reference to Satanism with an inverted cross. This Hanged Man will only escape through physical rather than spiritual death which gives it a different spin entirely. I have also read that Crowley considered the inverted cross a symbol of falling away from Divine Grace.
There are three nails which may reference Neptune's trident and of course, Neptune is the ruling planet of Pisces, another reference to Jesus. Neptune is associated with amongst other things, illusion, confusion and deception; religions, spirituality and mysticism, the mass media, creativity in art and music, drugs, extreme sensitivity, fantasy and imagination, psychic phenomena and altered mental states. It also seems to govern political extremes such as Nationalism and Communism. In medicine Neptune seems particularly associated with the thalamus, the spinal canal, and severe or mysterious illnesses and neuroses.
The Three Nails may also have significance because of reference to the True Cross. According to Socrates Scolasticus, Constantine's aged mother, Saint Helena, discovered the site of Calvary. There, her workers uncovered three crosses, a titulus and three nails, believed to have been from Jesus' crucifixion. To determine which cross might have been used for Jesus, each was brought in turn to a dying woman. She recovered at the touch of the third cross, which was taken as a sign that this was the True Cross
Aeon418
How does it go against the grain? The Christian ideal of vicarious sacrifice is anathema to the ideas behind the Thoth Tarot. It's clearly spelt out in The Book of Thoth.caridwen said:
The whole Jesus myth is based on a faulty premise. Jesus and other related solar deities conform to the dying and resurrected sun model. A model that was proved wrong hundreds of years ago. Unfortunately the superstitious mindset of humanity still clings to it despite all the evidence to the contrary.
The Thoth Tarot doesn't keep it's head in the sand. It embraces the facts of science. The sun is always there. It's apparent death and resurrection is an illusion. In just the same way that the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus was an illusion.
caridwen
Aeon418 said:
It goes against the grain of other the traditional Tarot meaning of the Hanged Man ie that of Willing Sacrifice.
The idea of the willing sacrifice is not only Christian, it is also related to Odin and other myths that predate Christianity. The 'vicarious sacrifice of Jesus may be an illusion but it's meaning is not which is why the myth endures. Birth, Death and Rebirth are part of the cycle of life.
