The Hanged Man

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The Hanged Man

The Hanged man is one of the most recognizable Tarot cards, if not the most recognizable. He represents shifts in perspective and transformation through pause, self-sacrifice and reflection.

The shift in perspective may involve changing the way you see success and altering your goals. It may entail going against the majority view yet knowing that you are correct because you see things differently.

One of the most interesting meanings of the hanged man is sacrifice. Many descriptions do not really show how this works (as it does not just mean allowing change to roll over you). It involves;

• Approaching an unsurmountable life trial that blocks the way forward.
• Sacrificing one’s old self through attempting the trial and failing.
• Emerging through the trial as a new-self. This new-self is capable of passing the previously unsurmountable trial with ease.

This occurs because the trial is the truest and strongest form of learning; think differently, fail differently, but use that failure to uniquely win.

This sacrifice or self-martyrdom involves a death-rebirth akin to a snake shedding its old skin and appearing young again. The new skin allows growth, and this growth allows passing the trial. It is not something forced on the hanged man through circumstance; he wants this to happen and has paused to prepare for it.

Further, although he hangs upside down, the hanged man is not uncomfortable; he faces his death serenely. He hangs not from dead wood but a living tree; he will cheat death because life literally supports him. He also has a halo, signifying a higher state of being that will allow a rebirth.

He is unafraid because like the High Priestess, he holds the secret to immortality, but this is a different kind of immortality that comes from a different place. The hanged man knows what it is to be mortal and is pushed towards death simply by the process of being alive. But he cheats death by making his death a rebirth as a new, more powerful entity.

There are many archetypes that follow this twice-born resurrected motif, but the oldest one known to Western culture is Dionysus.

Dionysus

Dionysus is the god of wine and a fertility (particularly virility and sex). As he is a resurrected god and knows what it is to die, he took pity on humans for their mortality and hard, short lives, giving them wine so they could at least enjoy themselves.

He is also associated with religious ecstasy, trance states and pleasure, and the Dionysian cult incorporated at least some of them in its rites. So, Dionysus is a god very familiar with altered states and seeing the world through a different and more colorful perspective.

Dionysus is strongly associated with performance and dance. The happy-sad masks seen in some theatres are actually Dionysian masks. Many early theatres were purely religious, and masked ‘mystery plays’ were common in Europe well into the middle ages. Perhaps Hollywood is just one big temple of Dionysus (given many of the Dionysian pleasures are said to be common there…).

On the downside, he is also the god of madness. Brilliance and madness are very close siblings.

The Orphic tradition goes further, making Dionysus a key archetype, creating a large cult of Dionysus in ancient times.

The Orphic tradition has Dionysus as the son and heir of Zeus, but the young Dionysus is taken by the Gods’ enemies, the Titans, and cut up and eaten. The Titans are destroyed and burnt to ashes for this crime. Dionysus is resurrected and humankind appears from the ashes. Thus mankind has aspects of both the Titans and The Divine within them.

Dionysus has a special relationship with humankind as we were created as part of his resurrection and from his body. Our salvation lies in following his resurrection and understanding death through it. The hanged man as Dionysus is symbolic of this sacrifice and resurrection.

Note a key difference between the Dionysian resurrection myth and other resurrection myths; the Dionysian myth is free of human sin, and Dionysus wants us to enjoy the material world to the fullest whilst minimizing suffering. Life is already hard as it is, so enjoy the best parts!

As mentioned above, Dionysus is the God of pleasure, or in Greek hēdonē, which is where hedonism comes from, making Dionysus the God of Hedonism.

Life is already hard as it is, so enjoy the best parts!

If you are metaphorically stuck upside down on a tree, see the trial as a precursor to a different kind of success through growth and transformation. It will make you better and you will pass through it stronger and then enjoy life fuller with the new understanding.

Large trials you encounter in life give you more of an insight into immortality than any amount of dusty old scrolls of knowledge, because they give you an understanding of death-rebirth, and this alone can propel you towards the divine.

Description and Symbology

Although there appears to be very little going on in the Hanged Man, the symbology of Dionysus as the Hanged Man makes it profound yet simple; trials and tribulations are often just pauses that ferment future success, happiness, and pleasures because the trials you pass through make you stronger.

We see a T shaped tree, where T comes from the letter Tau, associated with both life and resurrection in Greek. The tree is in a vineyard and bears grapes. Upon this tree we see the God Dionysus.

Although he is in a potentially uncomfortable and hazardous position, he seems serene. A mask falls from his face. His face has a halo around it, and a strange light shines on him; strange because it seems to come from the ground rather than the sky.

Finally, Dionysus has his arms outstretched and palms out in a symbol of giving rather than surrender.

Card Symbol

The Card symbol is the delta, the first letter of ‘Dionysus’. It is also deeply symbolic spiritually, representing change and transformation. It points upwards, suggesting growth and a direction of travel. In mathematics and physics, the delta means ‘change’ or ‘transformation over time’, so a delta preceding any quantity denotes change in the quantity. Spiritually and physically, delta always means the exact same thing.

Vineyard and wine

The hanged man is suspended from a t-shaped tree. Such shaped trees (espalier), are common with fruiting plants especially in vineyards, as the fruit then grows on easy to pick horizontal branches. The tree has grapes on it, confirming a vineyard and wine.

Wine makes you happy, but also gives you a bad head; enjoy both as part of the same journey!

The hanged man’s pose

The hanged man’s pose is not a position of pain, he is actually in a pirouette during a Dionysian dance. This dance denotes victory rather than being trapped, and is seen later in the final victory of the World card.

Halo and liminal light

The hanged man has a halo around his head, signifying that his situation had led to a deeper understanding. He is bathed from a light source, but it comes from below rather than from above. Dionysus, (like Hecate) is a liminal god, and his power comes from the earth and not from the sky. Earth liminal gods are always associated with rebirth and the afterlife

Outstretched arms and sacrifice

The hanged man has his hands out in a symbol of giving rather than pain or confinement. He is giving his old self up; that version of him cannot pass through the current trial. Instead, he has been reborn through the trial itself, and a new, more powerful self will break free and continue. This rebirth will mark a major turning point in the hanged man’s life. He will emerge much stronger.

Falling Dionysian mask

The hanged man sees the world differently from others, giving him different sight and thinking. The mask suggests changes in how the hanged man sees himself, and how he will present himself after the trial. The upright card shows the mask falling from him, revealing his true face to the world. Reversed, the mask falls onto his face, repressing the true self from the world. In either case, the trial may fundamentally change him.

Tips for Readings

The following table shows the upright and reverse meanings for general questions. The last row ('Yes/No') is useful when you are picking a single card to decide a yes or no decision.

Upright

Reversed

Love

You need to look at the relationship from the eyes of the other person to move forward.

Patience and understanding.

Let go of past slights so the relationship can move forward.

Be wary of being taken advantage of; don’t be a martyr to other people’s problems.

Address stagnation in the relationship before it becomes frustration and anger.

Career

Reassess priorities and ‘what winning looks like’.

Suspend moving forward, instead letting things pan out more fully before making your move.

Learn better for next time.

Expect setbacks and lack of progress.

You may be stuck in a rut or experience broken promises.

Patience is key. Assess the situation, sacrificing old assumptions and look for other ways to move forward.

Health

Let go of stresses in your life by reappraising what really matters.

You may need to look at things with new eyes and redefine success.

This may require taking a break to reassess and recoup.

Address any willingness to sacrifice your wellbeing for a greater good.

Slow down and realize you are not someone else’s martyr.

Spiritual

A time to patiently question beliefs and values that may be slowing you down or leading you astray.

Sacrificing parts of your old-self may be necessary.

Address resistance to change or holding on to a previous self that needs to be shed.

The card suggests nurturing a willingness to be more flexible and open.

Wealth

Reassess old habits and spending as they may be causing problems.

The future may require new plans and changed goals, and this is a good time to stop and plan for them.

Look at long held positions and beliefs on finances as they could now be out of date or wrong. Your world may have slowly changed and your plans no longer match it.

Don’t leap to change everything at once; patience is key.

Yes/No

Yes through enlightenment via a trial, patience and self-rebirth.

No through stagnation and possible denial and/or failure to notice change.

Reading the Card

The hanged man in this deck is the God Dionysus, the God of wine, ecstasy, hedonism and madness. Problems are there to try you, but sometimes they cause us to forfeit the joys of this life in the pursuit of a next one. Dionysus tells us to enjoy this life; trials are always ahead to cause moments of personal rebirth as a stronger, wiser person, but use that knowledge and strength to look at the here and now with a view to enjoying it, savoring the satisfaction of a journey completed.

Further, you do not have to believe in any deity if your personal rebirths are profound enough, and this is a route to touching the divine without ever spending time with organized belief by rote.

The upright card

The upright Hanged Man card denotes a challenge or trial in life that should be accepted as a part of the ‘cost of living’. By accepting it and more importantly, accepting the changes it will cause, you change yourself.

This process can be made easier by pausing before a difficult challenge or after the initial failure, reflecting on yourself and what parts will cause you to fail, and leaving them behind. You replace them by a new you that can succeed. You will now pass the challenge because you have learned to make yourself impervious to it. Again, you won not by fighting but through changing yourself.

There are two parts to the hanged man in this deck;

• Realize the world and the challenges it throws at you are periods of true growth, and
• Realize a part of yourself for what you truly are, as the trial lies inside of you, and bringing the inner true self out is the solution.

Depending on the question asked of the Tarot deck, one or other may be the real trial ahead, and a strong part of the answer.

The reversal

The reversed Hanged Man denotes meeting a challenge but being inflexible to change.

It can also result from ‘fighting fire with fire'. For example, your challenge pits you against a strong willed and inflexible individual, and you have taken to the battlefield wearing the exact same armor and defenses. Neither party can grow nor learn, resulting in a futile battle that will be long and exhausting.

In either case, your current self cannot pass through this challenge without change, leaving you literally hanging there. This results in stagnation through waiting, and frustration of being left stuck in a situation with no way out.

The reversed card tells you the way forward is to either;

• Accept change that the situation demands, and allow it to change you. This may result in temporary losses, but in the end, the moving forward will yield gains in the long term. Accepting and moving on also puts distance between you and the root cause of the issue. Again, this will seem like a loss initially. But time will take hold and it will become just another blip in your rear-view mirror.
• Accept the situation and step back and pause, learning what you need to beat it and change yourself in the process. This will take time and planning up front, and may seem like you are left hanging there, but the changes you will make are the best kind; learning through a trial. This is true learning as it builds long term character.

Card Design Process

The root idea of the use of Dionysus as the Hanged man was originally decided because the only way a T shaped tree would exist is in a vineyard as an espalier tree, but as the idea was developed further, the archetype seemed to fit completely in all aspects.

The hanged man in most original decks has the bent foot behind the straight one. This is an unusual position; hung upside down it is painful (as per the older version of the Hanged Man, The Traitor). In this deck, the bent foot is in front. This is a much more comfortable position when hanging (as the leg can move freely), but that is not the main reason for the change; it is because the hanged man is actually dancing. Both the Hanged man and World card use the bent-leg in front pose as it is closer to a very common dance move; the ballet pirouette.

The name Dionysus is of unknown origin, but it probably means ‘young Zeus’. If you look closely at the Emperor card, you may see the intentional family resemblance!

The card background was created from photography of trees, manipulated to form a t-shape. Dionysus was created from a mood-board of male ballet dancers, along with a 3D model and AI, then turned upside down. The two were placed together in Photoshop, along with a 3D model of the Dionysian mask.

Final Words

The Hanged Man card represents a period of suspension and surrender, often signifying a need for rethinking perspectives and goals, and accepting new realities before moving forward. It can also mean changing oneself more fundamentally via self-reflection and spiritual rebirth, resulting in a stronger person who is fit to move forward by shedding the old-self and moving forward rejuvenated via a new skin.

The Hanged man represents a completely different and non-conventional way of viewing the divine. The world itself is your teacher rather than any holy book. This works so long as you learn well from its lessons and give yourself up to change, as that is where true growth comes from.

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