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The Gold Foil Tarot- Key 12-The Hanged Man
The Tarot of the Old Path-The Lone Man
Key 12 is full of meaning for the Occultist (Studier of the Hidden) and the Qabalist (Receiver). This card refers to the reversal of thought, which is seen in the "Mirror" of reflected and coagulated light that we call "the World". The Occultist knows that the enlighten multitude have reversed the thought of I Am by seeking outside, what is only truthful, and hidden inside. All existence is dependent on Cosmic Law, and not manmade rules. Another meaning for this key-12 is to Suspend the Mind, something the Yogis, call Samadhi, a word with no equivalent in English; However, it is an exalted mental state that the aspirant becomes upon entry into the Divine Consciousness of Pure Being and/or the Divine Creative, where one becomes the one meditated on, instead of the meditator. Here there is a reverse of consciousness, where the subject becomes the object, as one looks down from the Astral of the Universal Collective Unconscious to the awake consciousness.
This is the logical consequence of enlightenment, where one is in a psychological state of believing that what they thought themselves to be, is totally lost and/or sacrificed to a greater principle. Hence, this card represents an action of the Greater Self. The Son/Sun has resolved the dualities of male and female creating within himself the perfect balance of Mother and Father, (The Divine Hermaphrodite) which means sacrificing all vestiges of the personal self. In Tarot, the Hanged Man is but one aspect of the Perfected and/or Greater Self; other aspects are represented as the Magician (Magus), by the Lover (s) and the Sun.
In more modern Western Hermetic- Qabalistic Tarot, the Universal Element assigned to this card is the Hebrew letter- Mem, which is water and is the "first mirror" and/or "Self-Reflection" of the I AM. In Water, images are reflected in reverse, (as they come from Air-Intellect) an idea carried out by the Key 12, symbolizing reflected Life, of Life in image, of Life taken by the forms of "occult" water and/or Cosmic Substance (Mother Binah's amniotic fluid), often known to Qabalists as the "Great Sea of Mother Binah"-the Creatrix and to Carl Jung as the Universal Collective Unconsciousness.
I have already mentioned that the Hanged Man represents "Suspended Mind", the occultist that invented the TAROT, knew that man and mind come from the same Sanskrit root word-Manas. The title also refers to the utter dependance of human personality upon Cosmic Life.
The Art of the Rider-Waite-Smith-Key 12 and shown Golden in the Gold foil, features the human figure hanging from a Tau (T) cross made of living wood which symbolizes the Cosmic Life. The Cherub is pointing out that his foot is unbound bringing wisdom to the hanged man and advises him that the time to act is now.
The development of this Tarot image has changed slowly over time. At first the hanged man was illustrated as holding bags of silver (as shown in the Lone Man), as if he represented Judas, relating to Gothic Humanism and alluded to "virtues". Hence, this card at first represented "avarice". Later, this "hung by one foot" became the image of punishment given to a knight who has displayed dishonesty or cowardice. Then in the 18th and 19th century, Tarot commentators linked this card's meaning to the "Dying gods" and/or gods hung in a tree (such as Odin/Christ etc.) and subsequently resurrected.
The Hanged Man of Tarot- displays a crown chakra of light (-energy centers of light)- and/or a halo, with the figures foot rooted in the upper (Unconscious) center. This implies that this condition results from interactive waves of thought and experience (The body gives thought/information, in-form-action, which is experience) that happens between the conscious and unconscious, brought about by the use the Kundalini force, represented by the coiled serpentine rope that is wrapped around the RWS/Gold Foil figures foot. Kundalini is best described as the Cosmic Sex Force (maker of stars), a Serpentine flow of Electric and Magnetic energy from which all things are created and destroyed.
Janet and Stewart Farrar.
Neptune-Water.
The legs of the Hanged figure, form the sign of Jupiter, the benevolent god. So, there is a subtle meaning here of "mercy", that is also the 4th Sephiroth of Chesed, on the Tree of Life. Hence, there is a reference to the practical fact that true peace comes from within. This Hanged One/Man has found their inner Zen in what seems like an unusual placement of the Tree. However, we are "upside down" on this world, as our "feet" are rooted in the Celestial Realms of Akasha, and our intelligence/Head is being projected to the World of Malkuth/Earth, through the avatar we call our human form. Hence, "upside down". The Hanged Man and/or Lone Man is simply at peace and relaxed.
As seen, the Tarot of the Old Path, names key 12, The Lone Man, while key 12 in the Golden Tarot Deck he is named the Hanged Man. Both names are appropriate in a card that depicts self-sacrifice.
The Lone Man is dressed as a jester, whose colors represent the four elements, yellow for air, red for fire, blue for water and green for earth. In Medieval society, the jester was the inversion of the king's image, and considered the sacrificial victim or "the king's whipping boy".
The unbound foot he is hanging from implies self-sacrifice, a giving up of something for something of greater value, and not pious martyrdom. There really is no loss here. What is being sacrificed is narrow vision, survival thinking, misconceptions brought on by the illusions of the physical world. Since the physical world is a world of Reflected Light, it is like a mirror and thinking that what you are seeing is the "true image" is a reversal, or upside-down thinking. All Images consist of 99.6% space, so what you are seeing is extraordinarily little of what is there. In the Real World of Spirit-Consciousness, the "I's" have it, not the eyes have it. We see only what we think we are and therefore, what we think the world is becomes a transformation of our self-identity. Because of the survival mind of earth animal and/or brain, we fear rejection and the unknown, which is all backward, upside down seeing. Thus, the Lone Man is the unconventional thinking person who realizes their own potential for mental and spiritual evolution, while seeing the Oneness in all things.
The falling coins show his rejection of the material worldly ideas which are supported by the yellow lilies below, for in the language of flowers, yellow lilies stand for falsehood and deception. The Moth in the foreground, is named the Nonconformist, imply the character of the Soul of the Lone Man.
Lofty thoughts are implied by the far Mountains and the stag in the distance, implies solitude, purity, and elevation.
The Jester's sacrifice has given life to the once dead tree he is suspended from and the crow on the branch is a Native American symbol for the Creator (Trickster) while also standing for the civilizing influence of the material world; the domestication of the Soul cause by social influence (fear of rejection).
Spider woman, is seen here as well as a spider that weaves its web on the tree, expressing creative development while she also builds and destroys, to maintain Universal balance. The planet attributed to this card is Neptune and the element is water.
With similar numerical comparison, the crossed leg of the Hanged Man also equals the number 4 of the emperor. Therefore, they are red, the color of action and fire, the qualities of the sign of Aries and individuality. Also, dressed in blue, the colors of water/intuition/emotion, the hanged man obviously has a deep sense of his own spirituality and/or Prakriti.
On the Gold Foil -Hanged Man the upper garment is blue, representing water (Hebrew Letter-Mem), as well as, the robe of the High Priestess, who symbolizes the "Universal Mind Stuff" which is often called the "Astral Plane" by many in the mysteries. For it is in the Astral Planes of "liquid light" that we begin creating thought into form.
RWS-Key 12-The Hanged Man
In his book, The Tarot, Dr. Paul Foster Case states that "The Head of the Hanged Man is... LVX, in manifestation as the logos" which means that by his White hair, (on the B.O.T.A. Hanged Man) suggests identity with the Emperor and the Hermit. Therefore, s/he is also compared to the Ancient of Days, reflected in the incarnate life of personality. The Roman numerals L, V, and X are respectively, 50, 5, and 10; making their sum 65 which is the Hebrew name for ADNI/Adoni--- Lord. The One Light is now the word made flesh and is also represented by the esoteric Hebrew word, IHSHVH=Yod-Heh-Shin-Vau-Heh and/or Yehoshua, because Jesus was named after the Hebrew Hero Yoshua (Joshua). This may be only important to the student that has had considerable advancement along the path of "Above all things, know thyself".
Therefore, mundanely, this is a human-soul reflection-turned-upside-down, inverted, and contrary to the way we view most people. In Qabalah, an "upright" person is one who is obedient to the Esoteric Law of Love, which is not the common way of thinking, seeing, or speaking. Hence, Jacob Boehme said, " to walk in all things contrary to the world". For those who don't know, Jacob Boehme was a German philosopher, Christian mystic, and Lutheran Protestant theologian.
Now some people may see this point of view antagonistic, but it is far from it. One need only look at the environment and see that most people are stuck in an emotional self-absorbed quagmire; that most people are in trouble, and that most people can't have a good relationship with themselves or the world. It seems self-evident that common people have put "the cart before the horse" in their practice/experiment in/of Life. This is because the "false ego", is a mind virus that keeps the infested one down; a type of "anti-life" that produces self-destructive tendencies. This false self, once exposed and observed by the awake consciousness of the individual, melts away, as its power depends on being hidden in deception, lies and tricks of imagining and telling the host-individual that it is themselves, and not a parasite who bleeds off their life-force.
The knowledge of the Law of "cause and effect" is self-evident; hence, the miseries affecting most people are the negative results of misuse of the Law "as i think, therefore, I AM". This is not a weakness nor a fault, it is the indoctrination and dogma of the programed brain that is profaned by the program of Patriarchal /Industrial Military Complex-Rulership, where slaves are needed to fulfill the Wealth of the "few who rule the many"; "Self-loathing" and searching for a savior to come and somehow make them "more intelligent" ---is how a slave thinks. Free, upright people know they are the Light of the Word, Images of the Divine Creative, and that we incarcerate or free our own Selves as we Perceive ourselves to be. This is the knowledge behind the axiom of "Above all things, know thyself". Hence, the Hanged Man is also a card that implies a change of perspective.
Some may see a "free choice" as a victory, over the mind virus of the "false ego", but in all instances of wisdom it is "total surrender". For as soon as the truth of Self is realized, total surrender is the only logical and sensible course of action as it is submission of personal consciousness to the direction of the Universal Mind. The Magician/Magus, foreshadows this submission by pointing his wand to the above, "stating Thy Will not My will". Paradoxically, this total submission of personal life to Life Itself, makes us intensely positive in our view of others. For now, we see them as "anothers", i.e., "Everyone I see, is Another way to be me". Anybody who fails to follow this course of "another", will become a human doormat. Once we know ourselves to be vehicles to a power in which there are no insurmountable obstacles; I AM-Spirit-Mind-Body, which is another description of the trinity of "Supreme Being" and or the True Ego.
Therefore, the idea presented by the Hanged Man/One-Key 12, is that mental attitude of "thy will not my will". This attitude comes from the understanding that our will is an elusive mask of words, plastered on our identity by "the false will of outside authority". Only "I AM" is our author. "Me" must become the "Will of the One". Therefore, I (identity) Am (mind) Me (the assumption of Mental Identity), must become One Will and One Way to enact that Will. "I AM", is the Truth, but what I am is an assumption of free will, a will that is only free, when one Knows themselves!
When thrown in a divination, The Hanged Manor Lone Man-Key 12- implies:
- The instinct of sacrifice and devotion.
- Overcoming the ego.
- Changing one's ways.
- Redemption.
- Maturity.
- Finding Wisdom.
- The redemptive absorption (Surrendering to the One Will).
If reversed:
- At a Standstill.
- Being stuck hanging in the air.
- Not seeing any purpose in life.
- Resistance and self-sacrifice.
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