The Tarot of Eli 2, LLC: The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot- Key 12-The Hanged Man & The Manara Erotic Tarot - Key 12-The Punishment.

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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, (Before Latin became the Patriarchies official language) 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 , 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 awake conscious and unconscious, brought about by the use the Kundalini force, represented by the coiled serpentine rope that is wrapped around the RWS 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. Something that must be avoided by the untrained.

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.

The Erotic Tarot-Key 12-Punishment shows a different twist on self-sacrifice, that the traditional "Hanged Man". Spanking, as punishment, is as old as history. It is often shown as sexual erotica and is even shown in the Karma Sutra. These feelings are occurring in the context of sex and as such are sexual feelings. Please don’t ask me why they occur because the explanation has been debated by no less an authority than Jung and Freud. This type of sexual feeling seems to predate even written history, and once writing did occur it has been the subject of texts and passages in every following century. Sexual behavior is considered acceptable if it does not do any actual harm to the individuals involved. Here is an image of total surrender.

Since being a "hanged man" in sexual erotica has a different meaning than the medieval act of baffling and self-sacrifice, Milo Manara had to use his artistic wits to produce a reasonable card, that showed sacrifice, ordeal, punishment, pain, surrender, and a contrasting form of opinion.

Manara assigned Neptune to this card which would change the meaning. Here things are more about being Nebulous, impressionistic and inspiration.

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 RWS -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.

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. and Thoth 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 "what I am"), 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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