Sacred Texts Tarot Tarot Reading Index Previous Next
THE HANGED MAN.
THE HANGED MAN.
12. ל
12th Hebrew letter (Lamed).
ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TWELFTH CARD OF THE TAROT.
Hieroglyphically the Lamed designates the arm, and therefore it is connected with anything that stretches, that raises, that unfolds like the arm, and has become the sign of expansive movement. It is applied to all ideas of extension, of occupation, of possession. As a last sign, it is the image of the power derived from elevation.
Divine expansion in humanity is produced by the
prophets and revelation, and this inspires the idea of the revealed law. But the revelation of the law involve punishment for him who violates it, or elevation for him who understands it; and here we find the ideas of punishment, of violent death, voluntary or involuntary.
The Lamed, a simple letter, astronomically corresponds with the zodiacal sign of the Balance.
TWELFTH CARD OF THE TAROT.
The Hanged Man.
A man hanging by one foot to a gibbet, resting upon two trees, each bearing six branches, which have been cut off.
The man's hands are tied behind his back, and the fold of his arms forms the base of a reversed triangle, of which his head forms the point. His eyes are open and his fair hair floats upon the wind. His right leg crosses his left and so forms a cross.
This young man is again the Juggler whose transformations we have already followed in the 1st, 6th, and 7th arcana.
Like the sun placed in the midst of the signs of the Zodiac (six on each side, the lopped branches), our young hero is again suspended between two decisions, from which will spring, no longer his physical future, as in the 6th arcanum, but his spiritual future.
The 12th arcanum fills the centre between the 6th arcanum (Wisdom) and the 15th (Fatality). These arcana represent the two women of the 6th arcanum, regarded in the spiritual sense.
This Hanged Man serves for an example to the presumptuous,
and his position indicates discipline, the absolute submission which the human owes to the Divine.
Considered alchemically, the Hanged Man shows the sign of personality.
In the hermetic grade of the Rosy-Cross (18th degree of the Freemasonry of Scotland) one of the signs of recognition consists in crossing the legs like those of the Hanged Man. It is needless to say that the origin and meaning of this sign is quite unknown to the Freemasons.
The twelfth card of the Tarot represents Equilibrist Power. It neutralizes the oppositions of the tenth and eleventh cards.
1. Equilibrium of Necessity and Liberty--
CHARITY.--Grace.
(Preserving power of Love.)
2. Equilibrium of Power and Courage. Reflex of Prudence--
ACQUIRED EXPERIENCE.
(Knowledge.)
3. Equilibrium of the potential Manifestation (10), and of reflected Life (11). Reflex of the astral Fluid.
EQUILIBRIST FORCE.
12. ל
The Hanged Man.
|
AFFINITIES |
SIGNIFICATIONS |
|
Primitive Hieroglyphic: The Arm outstretched Astronomy: The Balance Month: September Hebrew Letter: Lamed (Simple) |
CHARITY Grace __________ ACQUIRED EXPERIENCE (Knowledge) |
|
OBSERVATIONS |
EQUILIBRIST FORCE |
Modifying force is the last term of the 2nd septenary. By it the Astral will realize itself to pass into the physical, from the world of preservation and reception (2nd septenary) into the world of transformation (3rd septenary).
