THE HANGED MAN

A youth is suspended by one foot from a T-cross of living wood. His arms, folded behind his back, together with his head, form a triangle with the point downward; his legs form a cross.
To an extent, the Hanged Man is still earth-bound, for his foot is attached to the T-cross.

He has attained at least a measure of perfection but not yet the complete freedom symbolized in Key 21, The World.

The initiated man now stands as a responsible co-worker with the Divine.
It is as though during the cycle from 1 to 10 God had held the hand of His child and guided him in carving the model of the man to be.
Now the chisel is left in the hands of the matured youth, and he must create from the materials given him.
He must, like the Hermit, take his part in the world’s redemption.

The sign is the sign of the accomplishment of the Great Work — the overcoming of personality and the transmutation of the lower passions into pure gold.
At the twelfth step we still find the initiate reversed, although ultimately he must stand on his own feet and surmount the cross thus: We see in the Hanged Man the idea of the utter dependency of the human personality on the tree of Cosmic Life. Here we also have associations with Hercules as a symbol of the sun in its passage through the 12 signs of the Zodiac or the 12 labors of Hercules.
He is a compound of god and hero; he represents the 12 steps of initiation through which every man must pass. Then the lower forces of the signs of the Zodiac will have been transmuted into the higher, uplifting powers of each sign.

This card has profound significance, even though much of it is veiled. Man must now accomplish his regeneration for himself consciously and voluntarily.

Divinatory Meaning:
In spiritual matters, wisdom, prophetic power. A pause in one’s life, suspended decisions. Self-surrender leads to the transformation of the personality. Material temptation is conquered.

Reversed:
Arrogance, preoccupation with the ego, resistance to spiritual influences. Absorption in physical matters. Wasted effort. False prophecy.

Dascent Deck