Tarot Card Comparisons: The Thoth Tarot- key 12-The Hanged Man (or Dying God) & The SpellCaster's Tarot- Key 12- Hanged Man.

The Thoth-HANGED MAN- key 12, and the SpellCaster's Tarot-Key12- Handed man, display a curious image of  Severity and the implications are very different from the previous paths that connect the Personality and the Higher Self; Severity, because this is the Path of Mem (meaning-Water) that connects  Hod (Splendor) and Geburah (Severity) on the Pillar of Severity. Here, the Soul, limits its expression to time/Space, rather than the limitless expansion of the Photon Core of the Galaxy.

The Hebrew word-MEM, shown on the bottom left of the Thoth Card, means-water which is one of the three Maternals, and implies a Baptism in Maternal Waters, as the other two : The Path of Shin (Art) is a baptism in Fire, and The Path of Aleph-The Fool, is a baptism in Air. Of all these three Baptisms, the Baptism in Water (Unconsciousness/Consciousness) is the central and pivotal  experience of the entire Qabalistic Tree of Life.

Unconsciousness, is the Alchemical First Principle, also  called the Thinking Principle  and is refereed to the physical image of Water because it is alike water in wave motion, and fluid flow. It is the Mind of your soul, who we often know as "intuition". Self-Consciousness, is the Soul's creation, done by immersing it's Psyche in the Material World of Malkuth.

The lowest expression of the First Principle, is first found, by the upward traveling initiate, as the Astral Fluid that is drawn down the Path of the Universe into Yesod, the Foundation Sephiroth. This Thinking Principle, the Astral Fluid, is found  as the Stable Intelligence, by virtue of consistency,  in all Sephiroth and Paths as it underlies everything that is. 

Pointing downward. Hence, the Spirit is "drowned" in the Maternal Waters where upon, perceiving itself as a Soul, as an intrinsic and inseparably part of the One Consciousness.

Carl Jung, who coined the phrase. Collective Unconscious , describe this Water of Mem as a "...boundless expanse full of unprecedented uncertainty, with apparently no inside and no outside, no above and no below, no here and no there, no mine and no thine, no good and no bad.". To him the First Principle of the Alchemists was also described as Water, as he states, "It is the world of water, where all life floats in suspension: where the realm of the sympathetic system, the soul of everything living begins; where I am individually this and that; where I experience the other in myself and the other-than-myself experiences me.....the collective conscious is anything but an encapsulated personal system; it is sheer objectivity, as wide as the world and open to all the world."  In more mundane words, the objective world is a simulation of the subjective Spirit.

I would highly recommend that the initiate reads the works of Carl Jung, on the Universal Collective Unconscious, thus gaining a modern understanding of the ancient wisdom. To put it another way, in the state of  consciousness of which the Unconscious is the "first state", we are "always  the subject that has an  object", a reality that is totally turned around in the Universal Collective Unconscious where, we are "the object of every subject", as stated by Carl Jung.

In other words, our subjective Self,I AM becomes objective Self, Me, when immersed in the Maternal Waters on the Path of Mem. THE HANGED MAN is where the invisible becomes visible.

The initiate knows that we must move constantly upward (upward is inward in Qabalah) on the Paths of the Tree of Life, for only through the hindsight gained by going to a higher Sephiroth, can we experience an understanding of the qualities of the lower Sephiroth.

The Path of Mem, leads to Geburah (Severity) which is directly above Tiphareth (Beauty); Geburah is the Fiery or Active part of the Higher Self and is shown as Red in color; the color of Mars. This further illustrates the point that Geburah is the fiery-blood- energy on the Pillar of Water below Binah. In the Thoth Tarot card of the HANGED MAN, the Womb of Binah is where the hanging figure's foot is held; from the oval of the Egyptian Ankh, which is the cross like symbol ( also called the Tau cross) of both Divine Androgyny and Infinity.

To the one who has inwardly traveled the Paths to this point, it is to be noted that the Path of Mem, the HANGED MAN, must be approached very differently than the lower paths. For, here, the mediator becomes the object of one's own meditation. The individual becomes the "other" which was previously the object of pursuit; the "other" now becomes the initiate. Thus it can be said, that the personality meditates in pursuit of the Higher Self, who then becomes or envelopes the Personality of the pursuer creating a Higher Sensual Self....A self often stated as having "Magick Abilities" and/or a Magus.

The Hanged Man symbolizes the savior-god- man or Hanged God of many religions; Odin( hung on a giant Ash tree called Yggdrasil) Jesus on a cross, and Prometheus hung on a mountain (painting by Paul Ruben). The Moon symbolizes-Mensis (Latin), Mona (Mona Lisa is old English for The Moon), month, money, menopause, Menstruation, manna, menat ( amulet) and much more. Showing us that the Moon is about Womb and the regeneration of form. That is why the Violet-reds are primary colors for all living things are "of Mother's blood", as every baby, of every sex, can attest. For, we all are made of "Mother's Blood". 

 

assigned the Hebrew letter Mem  which means Water. Mem is a Maternal letter meaning the Element Water and the Amniotic Fluid of the Womb. This is of no surprise, since the Gnostic believe that the Homo-Sapiens is an GMO evolution of a marine mammal, rather than ape, and that the  Noah's Ark and the Flood is a hierarchic presentation of the facts of life. The Sumerians, believed our "angelic" forefathers, Annunaki (Meaning: "Those who from the Sky came") spliced their DNA with a marine amphibian, which at time was the most intelligent species on the earth.Therefore, depicting the "fish tailed god" Onnaes, who became the Hebrew "Jona", of whale fame.

There are many scientists that also believe the marine mammal theory because of the fact we have more in common with marine mammals than apes. I would suggest you research this, as I am about the Tarot here and not seeking to become an anthropologist.

To continue : The Hanged Man represents the baptism that is also a death. Death being a transformation from one reality to another, as is birth where the Water Mammal, must become a land-mammal and therefore, "dead" to the Sea; a death in one area and birth into another. The symbolism of the Hanged Man is often attributed to Self-Sacrifice without recourse, but this is really and errant idea. In the last Aeon of Osiris, the Hanged Man represented the supreme formula for adept-ship for the figure that is hung is actually the Spirit "drowning"(baptized) in the Astral Fluid, before becoming manifest in form. The Astral, are layers of "light" where  all the Forces and Forms of the "Above Sephira" meet in order to combine in a manifestation as a physical birth in the material world.

To the flesh-o-phobe, this would be the effect  of spiritual purity being sacrifice to fleshy debasement.

To the Spirit, this is the way of transforming from the idea of Self, to an intimate Self-Awareness of experiencing self: from thought to discerning thought-form. Being in the flesh, requires Spirit to become aware of it's thoughts and how they affect the living simply by the reactions of those thoughts in the very living form that "cloaks it". Think ill, be ill, think well be well etc.

 

Idea or visions, in the Aeon of Osiris, were considered more important than the flesh, and the destruction of bodies in the name of idea/visions (Commonly called, "...For the Greater Good") seemed a just cause. In the Aeon of Osiris , it could be said that the foundation of thought was the ruling of definition by the few who enforced definition on the many.

In this new Aeon/ Age of Horus, the idea must "expand and liberate the living from their own self-imposed limits, allowing the Foundation of Love ("Love thy neighbor as thyself') to become the "common mind", a state of Psyche, where union rather than divisionism becomes the conscious foundation of all action.

As shown on the Thoth Devil card, the foundation of Earth intelligence, the "instinctual mind", is built on the foundation of "forget me not", I.e., Fear of rejection. The Soul Psyche is founded on the foundation of "I AM", a fearless statement of Presence.

 Simply stated, the self in manifestation is more important than the ideas forged by  self, no matter how utopian the ideas are. However, the caveat here is that, you must at first love yourself....as you can't give to another what you don't have, thus requiring that above all things you must know yourself as the Soul's most beloved!

The Aeon of Horus, is the age where the Hu (god) man (mind) realizes it is the "golden child of the Divine Creative", a Spiritual Sacrament, and becomes the Christ/Buddha consciousness on Earth; uniting the Above and the Below. That union of above and below,is seen in the Thoth-Hanged Man, whose foot is connected to the Ankh (symbolized in the West as the Rosy Cross) which is a combination of  Goddess- God/Womb and Phallus, and is known as a symbol for eternal universe in a sigil of Mankind (head- arms and torso). The ancients knew that if it was made manifest, it was a truth, because Creation made it.  Ideas are not a truth, unless they can become "made manifest" by the Power of Creation and/or the ability to do work.

In a more personal note; you exist because you're supposed to! The judgment of you has already been made by The Divine Creative, who obviously approve your manifestation!  In other words, the obviousness of your presence proves you are worthy of  being! This kind of thinking doesn't bode well for those who wish to "rule you", so dividing you from your "good" by a religion made of flesh hating rules, will pervert the Sacrament of "Will to be" and will assure your enslavement. The Hanged Man illustrates that being born into the World is a baptism, not a trial to prove your worth!

The Thoth Hanged Man presents a special meaning to the adept, the legs are crossed so the right leg forms a right angle to the left leg, the arms are stretched out at an angle of 60 degrees, so as to form an equilateral triangle. The symbol thus presented is that of the Triangle surmounted by the Cross which represents the descent of light, into mater,  in order to redeem it from the fear based animal mind to Photon Mind of the Divine Creative! I AM Love must become aware of itself "as being"! The process of redemption continues in the symbology of the green disks terminating at the head and limbs, representing the influence of Venus which is the planetary symbol of love, grace and beauty. You may note, that the Central Sephiroth on the Tree of Life, is called  both Beauty and the Christ Conscious/The Son/Sun. The Hang Man represents the redeeming value of baptizing idea in flesh, so that it may Live and "Know itself"!

This card association represents the High Androgynous Self and/or The Divine Creative. The Moon represents the Feminine-magnetic- sub-conscious and the Hanged Man represents the Masculine-electric- reasoning conscious; their perfect union producing the Super-conscious. To the Greeks, the sub-conscious was known as Aphrodite and the masculine reasoning conscious as Hermes,; together they are know as the Divine Hermaphrodite.

gathered from Meditating/skrying on The Moon and The Hanged Man: Clairvoyance- the art of "clear-seeing" which is the ability to see beyond the veils imposed by the physical eyes or time-space. Oneiromancy- the ability to see through dreams---such as an Oracle and/or Oracular -sight.

The Hanged Man represents a state of consciousness that recognizes a need for a pattern break; where we recognize that we need to change our mental posture, a kind of reverse thinking, in order to get out of a mental rut that is "Baffling" us.  The image is a metaphor for "upside down" thinking, as Baffling, was a medieval practice of hanging a debtor or thief by one foot from a scaffolding.

The SpellCaster's Tarot- key 12-Hanged Man, has represents 2  primary themes, transition and suspension.  Here, surrounded by runes, on the life tree, the hanged man reminds us that we transcend the body by going inward. Even though the outside world can harm us, the inner world of the Psyche, goes beyond all harm. We are really a Psyche, and not bound to the fears, or time of flesh. As previously stated by me, we all need the sense of  vulnerability that flesh gives us, for as immortal Spirit, we cannot develop the personal characteristics of generosity, empath, sympathy, intimacy, personal love, courage, valour, etc., that being vulnerable gives us. As a Photonic Psyche, radiating from the Photon Sun of the Galactic Core, we can never experience harm, and therefore develop the courage to "damn the torpedoes and go full speed ahead".  An intimate god, is much more needed in the realm of flesh, than an Infinite and Immortal God, who feels nothing for it's creations. However, an intimate god, who is bound by the fears of the survival mind, is a degenerate creator, who destroys all that is unknown or feared. In Qabalah, this is not sanctioned, as it is known that if it exists, it is supposed to!

Therefore, this card may be seen as a kind of crucifixion of the self-conscious personality to get rid of fear based egoistic patterns that are no longer constructive. On the Thoth Tarot card, the repetitive patterns of rutted thought are represented by the background of squares within squares. The SpellCaster's tarot shows these repetitive rutted thoughts, as belts that encase the Hanged Man.  The left side of the card is dark and the right side of the SpellCaster's card, is sun light. This imagery represents the Watery world of the Astral/Moon, and the Sun/light of Tiphareth/Solar Logos, shinning down into it.

Rather than being a card of baneful potencies, when viewing the Hanged Man we are reminded that our "hang-ups" are preventing our growth and we need to free ourselves from undue self imposed limitations. The reversed cross holding the foot of the Thoth Hanged  man is known as the Egyptian Ankh which is  a symbol of universal life force (Union of Female and Male force) and is an inheritance constantly accessible to us for creative making (a magic term for manifesting).

We often bind our creativity by thinking and doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This is a form of insanity brought on by fear and denial, that rejects our divine inheritance and bleeds us dry of our energy as our life force is constantly being used to repress our own motion. Therefore, in this state of blindness, we feel bound, or nailed in place and can see no way out. The solution is in surrendering to our inner-self, knowing that we weren't created to be anything other that a Divine being and that in us all is a Great Psyche that creates, sees error and corrects it. Faith in oneself is not that hard to do, because we are good enough for The Divine Creative to create as It's Image--we ought to be good enough for ourselves!

To reiterate: The Hanged Man of Qabalistic Tarot, represents the Principle of  Surrender in order to break old habits. The Thoth Path of Mem, THE HANGED MAN- Key 12, has a reverse figure on the card that represents the Higher Self

Much like the reflected image in the mirror, where one is looking at the Real non-reflected image that is now the reversed object of reflection. This is however, a willing suspension, done by an initiate's conscious effort, a type of sacrifice or baptism, where the perspective of "I Am" is cleansed of the illusions of the material world.

of one's individual perspectives to the Greater Self perspective of the Universal Collective Unconscious, the Thoth Deck HANGED MAN is shown in a suspected state of crucifixion that images the myth of the Dying God. (Dionysus. Osiris, Odin, Christ etc.).

have asked why the Hanged Man is crucified on the Left hand Path or one side of the Tree of Life as it would seem logical to have him spanning the Tree. The reasoning behind this one sided nonfiction, is because this is an intellectual experience,  as shown by the legs positioned into the upside down number 4 which is suspended above the Triangle (3) implied by the positioning of the arms. Four is the number of the Emperor

Key-4 of the Thoth Deck Tarot, and represents the Rational qualities of the Mind while 3 is the number of the

Empress, the imaginative qualities of the mind ( also seen in the number 12,1+2=3). The hanged image is just a positioning the rational qualities of the mind over the desire principle.

The HANGED MAN is also a form of  repose, while the WHEEL OF FORTUNE, key 10, is activity, both of which form a balance that is known as the activity and passivity of the ONE THING.

To go even more into the depths of the occult; In Crowley's card of the HANGED MAN, the figure emphasizes the cross-triangle, and is suspended from the Ankh, being attached to this form of the Tau Cross, by a coiled serpent that symbolizes: "The creator and destroyer who operates all change". There is also a lower coiled serpent that represents the effect of the Work of God: As Crowley states in his book of Thoth: : "Through his work a Child is begotten, as shown by the Serpent stirring in the Darkness of the Abyss below him." 

As I have stated before, this is the card that shows the reversal of perspective, where the individual self conscious, reflected in the light of Solar consciousness (reflecting Psyche ), becomes the Universal Identity of the Real Person and/or Soul/Psyche that has manifested  "selves" as individual identities that mimic the maker of things, i.e.,  the Divine Universal Collective Unconscious. This reversal of self binding thoughts, removes the caged-thoughts of indoctrination. Successful skrying of this card will reverse perspective.

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