THE HANGED MAN

HOLD ON A MINUTE! BREAK TIME!

TREE OF LIFE DIAGRAM

SEE ANY SIMILARITIES? 

DA DA DA DA REST! DA DA DA DA

If you're no stranger to the Tarot cards, you probably already know that THE HANGED MAN is not a card to be feared, in fact it is a very positive card, a card of spirituality. I liken it to a rest in music. A man is walking along his journey, he stops and hangs himself upside down on a tree to gain further illumination on the spiritual plane. When he is finished he will continue along his journey. By being a living entitiy and hanging himself upside down, he literally represents life being suspended while the illumination takes place. 

ILLUMINATION- (Merrium-Webster dictionary) 

The action of illuminating or state of being illuminated as in-

A. Spiritual or intellectual enlightenment 

B. Lighting up or lighting effects

C. Decoration by the art of illuminating 

The Golden Dawn correspondence for the card is water and it's name is The Spirit Of The Mighty Waters. In this context, the card represents a kind of baptism in water. It is a kind of trance-state, or suspended animation. It is a state of meditation which is deeply self-examining. It is a process of self-crucifixion and an essentially intellectual experience that is crucial to anyone desiring to aspire to the higher realms of spirituality. 

When it shows up in a spread, besides all the aforementioned, it can also indicate punishment, loss, and general suffering but all to the betterment of the individual.