What you are viewing here is the final, completed stage, of a spiritual "work-in-progress". Our ancient teachers felt that even though a hanged man isn't a particularly inspiring or uplifting characterization, its message of transformation is definitely the absolute core centerpiece of the entire 22 card Arcana.

The Hanged Man is the 12th card of the Major Arcana and is intended to be a true-to-life portrayal of one who has fallen from grace, but has voluntarily agreed to work off his karma (by means of corrected choice, action and new direction) as he or she gradually reinstates their stature through right living. The Hanged Man is really you and I when we stray from God's game plan and purse our own interests over those of Divine Will. We simply cannot tread on the rules of Spirit and expect to get away with it.

I am sure that most who view this depiction for the first time will ask... "just what sort of heinous crime did this felon commit? Did he perpetrate a crime against society or God ? Is he a murderer? Why else would he be hog-tied by his ankle to a cross with hands bound behind his back... right?" Well, actually the reply is, he's committed no crime against society or God, but against himself ! He's the personal ego within each of us that has willfully and stubbornly pursued the satisfactions of our off-center passions and emotionally oriented appetites and desires. Whether through excesses of alcohol, food, sex or egotism, it is our warped and willful acts of defiant resistance, self destructive actions and negative thoughts that have consistently produced discordant consequences, real life miseries and irreconcilable problems.

This is really a very fascinating card because of its paradoxical appearance and message. According to Carl Jung the Hanged Man is not suffering at all, but is instead very joyful that he's made a choice to release and discontinue his old ways of sin and degradation. You can see that in his face and the spiritual halo surrounding his head... no sign of pain or stress, just tranquility. He has finally taken his life in his own hands and is now willing to sacrifice and release his old ways so that he may totally transform and become healthy, whole and sanctified. For years, so many of us have wanted to break the chains of our addictions and compulsions, but continually fall from our towers of good intention, as we slip back into our old ways. However, at some point in your life, if our desire is resolute enough (and pain/suffering finally threaten rational sanity) we will be willing to follow in the footsteps of The Hanged Man toward total renewal through sacrifice and the release of the old and destructive ways.

In his teachings on the tarot, Jung explains that The Hanged Man has shifted his rational reasoning center or mental control of life from the directing consciousness of the ego to the cosmic matrix and universality of his subconscious mind. He explains that this process is a leap of faith for us all, but that without this assertion or choice, access to the healing and corrective powers of the Divine would be impossible. Jung's words were "By descending into the unconscious, the conscious mind puts itself in a perilous position, for in doing so it is apparently extinguishing itself." He contends that even though we view this as a fearful unknown, one must have the courage to let go of all he or she has learned and practiced by releasing the controls of the intellect in exchange for inclusion into the womb of the Divine healing forces of the Universe.

The inverted position of The Hanged Man is intended to illustrate his willingness to see and experience life from a totally different (reversed) perspective. Through this posture he becomes attuned to his Higher Self and begins an intensive process of meditation on all aspects of the Divine. His Spirit or Higher Self becomes his shepherd and his guide. His every thought and action are now motivated and initiated by his Spirit (not his ego) and he begins to "walk in the path of righteousness". Slowly, but surely, he finds (just as we will find) that the negative and disruptive conditions of mind, body and emotions begin to clarify and he experiences a healing. He then begins to understand and experience the perfection of life and living.

Finally, it's important for us all to know that our voluntary shift in consciousness from personal ego control to Divine guidance and control will virtually remake and rebuild our physical (cellular) bodies. It's the alchemical process I mentioned in The JUSTICE Card. Our bodies will become radiant crystal-like beacons as we continue to meditate (this is important) and allow Spirit to guide our lives. Through our new mental attitudes and images we will actually change the molecular structure of each physical cell, each organ and our entire (complete) etheric body. Primarily the change or transmutation starts in the bloodstream, the lymph glands and the nerves. Our new mental images affect and modify the nerve fluids which then affect and change the blood chemistry. By choosing our foods carefully, eliminating food excesses and controlling our sex life, we impose truer mental imagery/patterns on the cells of the entire body and feed our blood with the regenerative nutrients it requires to reconstitute. Be courageous... choose transformation and become The Hanged Man.

copyright 2003-2004, Joe Ivory, all rights reserved