The Hanged Man ~ A Study in Martyrdom

12 The Hanged Man

• Keywords: self-sacrifice; martyrdom; selflessness; sainthood

• Archetypes: Jesus; Mother Theresa; Princess Diana; Mary Magdalene; Saints

• Correspondences:

1. Number/3
2. Planet/Neptune
3. Element/Water
4. Astrological Sun Sign/Pisces

• Upright Interpretation: 

This guy is almost too good to be true, they usually are, and the ones who honestly meet this criteria never seem to stay around. Their life is just one episode after another of seeking out a way to enlighten themselves and move up the spiritual ladder. This character is the guy that got away, the one that was too good looking, too accomplished, too self-righteous to be real (but he probably was), you’ll just never know for sure because he’s off chasing causes.

• Reversed Interpretation:

 “Get off your Self-Righteous high horse already!”, you want to tell The Hanged Man when he’s standing on his head. This is the character who isn’t going to do any good deeds unless he’s sure that someone will see him in action. He wants to get credit for all of his Goodness, and he relishes hearing the multitudes sing his praises. He wants you to think he’s spectacular and special, so you won’t ever see the Other Side of him. Vanity and Ego are his brothers.

• Study Questions:

1. What is your first impression of this card?

2. What does this card mean to You?

3. Are there details on this card that especially stand out for you? If so, write them down and explain.

The answers to the next three questions are all about your own personal interpretation of what you see on the card, and how the card makes you feel:

4. How does this card define relationships?

5. How does this card define financial circumstances?

6. How is this card relevant to health issues?

• Affirmations for Meditation:

1. Self-sacrifice has its place.

2. I will do the best I can without sacrificing my own health & security.

3. I will know when to give, and when to withhold.

4. I will learn from past mistakes.

5. I will not judge myself by the standards of others.

A Tarot Reading for The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man ~ The Hierophant; The Moon ®; 8/cups ®

Hanged Man, how did you ever wind up in that tree; how did you ever get to the point of such burdensome self-sacrifice? And now that you’re there, that you’ve found yourself at this point, how do you get out of it?

One reason you’re stuck in this precarious position, dear Hanged Man, is that you tried too hard to conform. You let everyone around you– family, society, friends, peers– lay out the rules of life, the boundaries, the white areas and the black shadows. The only tremendous problem with this, one you apparently didn’t think about, is that Their boundaries may not be Your boundaries. You’ve wound up avoiding all the black areas that would have embraced and taught you, and you’ve stood too long in the white areas that didn’t apply to you and your life, resulting in a terrific burn, as though you were standing under the brilliance of the sun too long. This experience has left you voiceless, tied to standards that you don’t know how to drop at this point. It’s left you with no confidence in yourself, or your ability to break free and think on your own, act on your own. It left you unable to embrace Yourself.

The beautiful Moon, so brilliant in her spiritual aspects, has turned the face of deception upon you. The wonder of it is that this deception, so cunningly placed here by The Moon, works both ways. Since your self-esteem has been eroded, you have come to follow a pattern of submission, and you believe and accept almost everything other people tell you, though their reality and their truth are so often patterned after themselves, or harbor a wickedness that comes with the face of a liar. The other harsh truth of The Moon, dear Hanged Man, is that she often points a beautiful shining accusing finger at the victim of self-deception.

Why are you bound to that tree, Hanged Man? Why can’t you just step down?…You didn’t know when to quit, you didn’t know when to stop trying, or stop Sacrificing Yourself and leave behind poisonous situations and people, leave behind something that was harmful to your spirit. It’s that Hierophant with his hand on all this, the one who demands conformity. And you lost all sense of your own instincts, of your own inner voice. You ignored your spirit guide, or your guardian angel, and you tried to follow the path of least resistance through life, so as not to make any waves, to cause any disruptions, to receive any criticism.

To release yourself from that tree Hanged Man…you need to reclaim Yourself.

Source:

The source for this blog-post is my book

The Ultimate Tarot Guide: for Your Personal Tarot Journey