Haindl Tarot
XII - THE HANGED MAN
HEBREW LETTER: MEM, "SEAS"
RUNE: TYR, THE NORSE GOD OF WAR AND LAWS
ASTROLOGY: THE PLANET NEPTUNE
ELEMENT: WATER
Twelve is another number that joins together the male and female polarities. As a numeral, 12 consists of 1, the Magician, and 2, the High Priestess. Twelve = 3 x 4, the Empress times the Emperor.
12 Is the reverse of 21, the final trump; reversal forms one of the basic images of the Hanged Man. In many traditional Tarot decks, a dancing woman on the World (trump 21) strikes the same pose, only right-side-up - like an upside-down Hanged Man. In the Fool's journey to wisdom, the Hanged Man signifies a fundamental stage of sacrifice and reversal.
Many Tarot interpreters see the Hanged Man as a representative of the symbolic sacrifice of a king or God to mark the turning of the year. The death and resurrection of Jesus just after the Spring equinox is the most famous example, but there are many more. In the Haindl Tarot the mythological image of the Hanged Man carries other ideas along with the theme of the renewal of the year. As an older and wiser version of the God Odin, the Hanged Man sacrifices the Emperor's desire to dominate the world around him. He reverses his previous beliefs, and so gives up what other people find important: success, power, pride, the ego's sense of being unique and special and separate from the rest of the universe. He gains understanding, peace, union with the Earth, the joy of life.
The Hebrew letter means "Seas," and by extension, the element of Water. Water is indeed the element indicated by the border, while the planet, Neptune, gets its name from the Roman God of the Sea. We do not see water in the picture, though the rainbow implies it. Nor do we see it in most traditional images of the Hanged Man, though a few modern decks show him suspended over the sea or over a pool. Yet water, as a symbol of dissolution, lies deep in the card's meaning. The ego dissolves itself; the separation from life dissolves.
The Fool has that sense of unity with all things. The Fool knows that he or she is "no-thing," no fixed pattern of behavior. But we cannot stay innocent, the world challenges us, and so we build up a personality, an outward form that enables us to manage our daily lives. In the Chariot we saw the power of that personality - the focused will, the mastery of fear, the ability to confront mortality. There we saw the self, riding on the sea of the unconscious, protected by the boat of intellect and will. In the Hanged Man, however, the self surrenders to the unconscious. In place of separation we find unity; in place of primal fear we find peace. If water forms such an important theme, why do we find a mountain instead of the sea? The answer is that in the Haindl Tarot, surrender becomes possible when we join with the Earth. We can give up the illusion of controlling the world because we know that we belong to all life.
The Rune is T, Tyr, or Tewaz. Most often known as a war God, Tyr was also seen as God of law. Both these things become reversed in the Hanged Man. The aggressive impulse gives way to unity. The laws of nature replace human laws. (Notice how the body forms the international peace symbol, also seen as the Rune for the Tower.) We saw, in the Emperor and the Hierophant, how codes of law can become isolated from natural rhythms. Here we return to those rhythms. The word Tewaz connects linguistically to Zeus, the Sky God of the Greeks. In the Hanged Man, the Sky and the Earth become united through the God's sacrifice. Tyr also represented spiritual discipline. This theme expands in the card's mythological figure, Odin. The shape of the Rune resembles the spear which wounds Odin (and Christ) on the World Tree. It also resembles the World Tree itself.
We have already discussed the card's element, Water. Astrologers see Neptune as a planet of inspiration, as spiritual light emerges from the dark waters of the unconscious. Odin achieved the Runes by sacrificing himself in the dark well at the base of the World Tree. In the Elder Edda (English translation by Paul Taylor and W. H. Auden), Odin says, Wounded I hung on a wind-swept gallows For nine long nights Pierced by a spear, pledged to Odin Offered, myself to myself I looked down: with a loud cry I took up the Runes; from that tree I fell.
In a sense all the previous cards have led up to the Hanged Man. The importance of the masculine recognizing the feminine, of humanity returning to the Earth, of a life based on harmony with Nature, all these themes come to fruition in this magnificent image. Haindl has said he could not have painted this picture in this way as a young man. He would have been more resistant to the idea of surrender. But spiritual surrender does not mean resignation, and certainly not defeat. In his 60s (now 70s), Haindl feels he has learned a basic lesson: The way for humanity, and for the individual, lies in connection, not separation.
Turn the picture around. Notice how the figure seems to fly, like the resurrected Christ ascending to the heavens. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the painting of Christ over the tomb very closely resembles the Hanged Man turned around. The outstretched arms of the Haindl figure teach a similar lesson to the open arms of the Hermit. True surrender brings ecstasy and power. He does not submit to a jealous divinity demanding obedience. Instead, he gives himself to life.
This card forms the second part of a trilogy: the Chariot, the Hanged Man, the Star: 7, 12, 17 (12 is halfway between 7 and 17). As the middle point the Hanged Man is separated from each of the others by the number five, a symbol, as we have seen, of spiritual teachings ( the Hierophant) and the Goddess (the pentacle). the Chariot signifies mastery over life. With its imagery of power and totem animals, the Chariot suggested shamanism. Here in the Hanged Man we will see Odin, often described as the archetypal shaman. Yet here, Odin - the young god who strode away from the tree - returns to Erda, the Earth. And in the Star, we see the Erda, or Gaia, renewing herself. If only these three cards remained, the Haindl Tarot still would make its statement.
The Hanged Man's hair seems to merge into the ground, like the roots of a tree. He not only hangs suspended from a branch, but has become the tree himself. We have already compared this Odin/Zeus with the young version in the Emperor. There, the Sky God denied his Earth origin by leaving the tree that mirrored his body. Here he returns, allowing his body to mirror a tree. The imagery also recalls the Magician's dark treelike shadow. That conflict - between consciousness and unity with nature -becomes resolved here by the Hanged Man's deliberate giving of himself. A stigmata of light appears in the right hand, the side of consciousness, while the left hand remains dark.
The rainbow goes through the whole picture, coloring the trees and the man, though not the hill. The rainbow derives from a trip Hermann and Erica Haindl made to Ireland. Rainbows there appear in sharp definitions of color. Seeing this, Haindl realized that the order of the colors exactly matches the chakras. In the yogic system, each of the seven chakras radiates a particular color, from red at the root, the base of the spine, to violet for the crown of the head. The order of these colors matches the rainbow - but only when the body is reversed, as in the Hanged Man or in the yoga posture of standing on one's head.
The landscape forms the body of the Goddess lying on her back. The two side mounds become her breasts, the central hill her pregnant belly, with the bushes at the bottom even suggesting pubic hair. To some, this may seem obscene or even blasphemous. We have all grown up in a culture based on a transcendent God, detached from the world. This God, declaring His jealousy, forbids the making of any images. How then could we see the land as the Goddess's body? But in other cultures people have done exactly this. In such places as Crete or Malta, temples were built to align with some natural image of a female body. Twin mountains became holy as the Goddess's breasts. Caves became sites of rituals because they form an entrance to Her womb. At Silbury, England, prehistoric people built an entire hill to represent the Goddess's pregnant belly. For if the Earth is the Mother, a living being, should we not expect to see Her actual form? And should that form not mark Her places of sacred power?
In the trump we do not see Erda's head. In place of it we find Odin, hanging from a symbol of the Empress. On one side shines a crescent Moon, signifying the High Priestess, Goddess of Mystery. On the other appear Odin's twin ravens, Hugin and Munin (Thought and Memory). According to myth these birds flew about the world, returning with news to their master. But ravens also signify death. Black, they eat dead meat. And so, the news they bring is not simply gossip, but information of the "other world.” Some historians believe that Odinism (or Asatru, the worship of the Aesir) derived from an older shamanic tradition. Shamans could heal the living because they traveled in the land of the dead. Odin and the birds look ahead to the next card, Death.
The black ravens match the black "pubic hair" at the bottom, uniting Earth and Sky. Odin, the Sky God, gives himself to the Earth. The Lakota see black as the color of inspiration for, like Neptune's water, black represents the darkness that gives way to light. The Goddess religion sees three realms linked to the triple Goddess: the Sky (the Virgin), the Earth (the Mother), and the Underworld (the Crone). In many patriarchal traditions the Sky and the Underworld (Death) belonged to male deities, but the Earth remained female. Even under monotheism we refer to "Mother Nature." In Odin's submission the three become one.
The myth describes Odin as voluntarily sacrificing himself. Pierced with his own spear he hangs on the tree. Though we may think of this as "obviously" referring to Christ, most historians accept that Odin's sacrifice predates the introduction of Christianity to Germany and Scandinavia.
We can also see certain connections between the Runes and Tarot in this story. Odin does not hang upside down, but otherwise he matches the twelfth trump. In the Edda Odin describes a twelfth Rune: I know a twelfth; if a tree bear A man hanged in a halter I can carve and stain strong Runes That will cause the corpse to speak Reply to whatever I ask.
Artists and storytellers often portray Odin as a wandering magician, wearing a floppy hat with a brim that curves down over one eye. This resembles the traditional image of the Tarot Magician, a conjuror who wears a hat with a brim curved to form the infinity sign, -.
As the Emperor, Odin strode away from nature and from history. Now he returns, but the way back includes suffering. In the myth not only does he hang in pain from his wound, but he also must sacrifice an eye to Mimir, the God of the well of wisdom. He has looked outward; to reach inner wisdom he literally must put out an eye.
That harsh version actually appears in the Father of Cups. The Hanged Man shows no such agony, only a peaceful reversal, for he has learned not to resist the power of the Earth. An image of suffering does appear in the Major Arcana, in the wounded swan of the Fool. The old man on this card, so different from the young, arrogant Emperor, symbolizes humanity's ancientness, which includes its history of pain, stupidity, and destruction, but now finally its wisdom.
In the patriarchal tradition of Scandinavia Odin sacrifices himself to himself; the male God recognizes no outside power. The Haindl Tarot reverses this. Odin gives himself to Erda. In returning to the Earth, he shows us humanity finding its way back to harmony with the natural world. He does not become an innocent child-Fool. Instead, he comes as a seeker of truth. The World Tree, called Yggdrasil, does not only hold the physical planet (called Middle Earth in Scandinavian cosmology). It holds the nine worlds, reaching from Asgard, the home of the Gods, to Helheim, the world of the dead. The "ecology" of the Hanged Man recognizes that as spiritual beings we live in all these worlds, not just the middle, but Above and Below.
DIVINATORY MEANINGS
The meanings for the Hanged Man emphasize the idea of attachment. We become so certain of the basic realities in our lives that nothing can shake us. This may mean an attachment to nature, or to a moral principle, or some important purpose in life. It can also indicate a deep spiritual awareness.
The image of the tree suggests an attachment to something greater than day-to-day problems. If a person feels blown about by outside influences, then meditation with the Hanged Man can often have an anchoring effect. Imagine your body literally on a tree, one whose roots sink deep into the Earth and whose branches reach into the stars. However weak you may feel as an individual, attachment to this tree makes you unshakeable. To help you visualize this, you might try standing on one leg, with the arms out. The point of this imagery is to gain a sense of yourself as part of something greater. This does not mean sacrificing your individuality. The Hanged Man remains himself. In my own experience I have found the Hanged Man a great help during times when I have felt myself weak or overly influenced by people or situations. If the Hanged Man comes up in a reading, it tells you to seek such an attachment, or that such a feeling already exists, giving you confidence and peace.
The Hanged Man signifies independence from social or family pressure. It shows a person at ease with him- or herself, immune to fashionable ideas or manipulation. It tells you not to battle against other people's opinions or demands on you. Recognize that they can do what they like, they cannot shake you. The card advises you to recognize your own strength.
With the Fool the Hanged Man advises action based on your own values and intuition. With various other cards, such as the High Priestess, it might indicate stillness, waiting for the proper moment. Again, this waiting may require ignoring other people's demands to do something, to make a decision.
Some people emphasize a more negative view of the Hanged Man. They describe it as a "hang up," a delay of some kind or a psychological block. Or else they emphasize the idea of sacrifice. What do you need to give up to achieve your goals? Do you need to sacrifice something real, such as a job that demands too much time and energy? Or do you need to give up some stubborn attitude that stops you from dealing with a changed situation? This last meaning might become emphasized if the card appears with the Wheel of Fortune. Still, in practice I have found it best to emphasize the idea of attachment.
REVERSED
The reversed Hanged Man indicates someone overly influenced by outside ideas. It may refer to a particular person or to people making demands on the subject of the reading. Or it may stress a pressure to conform. Let us say you wish to do something unorthodox or scandalous. The Hanged Man reversed will suggest that you are hesitating because of social attitudes. Maybe you worry what people will say, or you fear looking silly. Remember that the reversed card will show the man standing upright - in other words, normal. Turning the card right side up means reversing yourself to please others.
If the card means sacrificing something to get past your hang ups, then reversed it will suggest holding on. Look at your life and see if there is anything you do not want to give up. If you are reading for someone else, ask him or her to examine this possibility. In its most general sense the Hanged Man reversed will depict a person who does not see any purpose in life beyond his or her immediate situation. If the person feels cut off or weak, the card says to look for that deeper meaning. In terms of the picture, the time has come to return to the Tree.
