Welcome to day six of Tarot Week here at White Rose of Avalon my Darlings! Today’s post is about the Hanged Man card in Tarot. The Hanged Man is the twelfth card of the Major Arcana. The imagery of the Hanged Man tends to be very self-explanatory with a man hanging upside down.
The basic meaning of the card is invoked with the name and imagery alone, this is a card associated with being restrained and often a feeling of stagnation. This energy of suspension and surrender to an outside force is something that can make this card an uncomfortable one for many people. In truth, it is a card of sacrifice in order to gain insight and knowledge. The Hanged Man is very much in line with a dark night of the soul, diving deep into the unconscious to learn treasures. The most obvious mythological association with the Hanged Man is Odin, the All-Father of Norse mythology, who hung from Yggdrasil (the World Tree) for nine days and nights to gain the knowledge of the Runes! In my estimation, Odin’s story is the most iconic example of the energy of the Hanged Man card.
The Hanged Man signals a powerful time of introspection to access internal treasures we may not even know we possess. The Hanged Man’s appearance in a reading is often an indication of a feeling of stagnation that belies the great changes that will occur due to this time of stillness. An excellent way of looking at the Hanged Man card is that the querent is in a chrysalis like a caterpillar, waiting to emerge as a butterfly, as the Hanged Man may be in a period of stillness. However, he is also going through a deep metamorphosis on some level!
My personal favorite Hanged Man card comes from The Sacred Circle Tarot where the card is instead titled Sacrifice and shows a large Corn Dolly hung upside down. This is a truly beautiful image for the card and shows the Hanged Man as truly at one with nature! Here the energy is still one of metamorphosis and change, as the card invokes the imagery of the harvest, a time of reaping what has been sown. This aligns well, as the Hanged Man is there to tell us that each period of stillness, stagnation, and slowly tending to our internal needs, will lead to reaping many benefits!
I hope you have enjoyed this look at the Hanged Man card. What is the most interesting aspect of the Hanged Man card in your opinion? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a beautifully done version of the Hanged Man card. I found the image on https://shop.micahulrich.com/product/limited-edition-run-of-10-the-tarot-of-the-hanged-man-13-x19-watercolor-paper.
Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services! I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon! Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/
Further Reading
- The Only Tarot Book You’ll Ever Need by Skye Alexander
- The Sacred Circle Tarot by Anna Franklin & illustrated by Paul Mason
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