The Hanged Man

In the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, the Major Arcanum numbered 12. Signifies acceptance, surrender, reversal of path, waiting, sacrifice.

E2 Tarot Cards

Aleister Crowley's description:

Redemption through sacrifice. Enforced sacrifice. Suffering. Ill-dignified: Punishment. Loss. Defeat. Failure. Death.

My thoughts:

The insights provided by this card were very helpful recently when I got stuck. I needed to get on with my life, but I needed to let go of many things I was attached to. One good thing about being in this situation: You notice things, when you're upside down, that you never would have noticed before.

Your description/thoughts/experiences:

One of the Major Arcana in the Tarot deck, The Hanged Man symbolizes sacrifice and rebirth. The Hanged Man is usually depicted as a male figure hanging upside down from an ankh, tree, or T-shaped cross by one leg, the other leg bent to form a triangle.

The hanged man is totally vulnerable, but content. He accepts his destiny - whatever happens, happens, and that's it.

The fact that Madame Sosostris did not find the Hanged Man is, perhaps, significant in that there will be no rebirth, no life after the destruction. Only a wasteland will remain.

(back to The Waste Land)

The Hanged Man is a short story by Francesca Lia Block, detailing the life of Laurel, who has an eating disorder and lots of problems. Strange things happen sometimes that she doesn't understand, and people take interest in her in ways that excite and frighten her. Every chapter in the book is named after a Tarot card (hence the title "The Hanged Man"), and it uses imagery from Tarot sometimes. Much of the book seems slightly surreal and very stream-of-consciousness, and after you finish reading it you're not sure how to explain what it was about. It follows Laurel's thoughts as she thinks about her recently-deceased father and her mother's strange reactions, as Laurel tries to put herself back together after being broken.