May 4-6, 2017: XII. The Hanged Man
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XII
THE HANGED MAN
(Water)“Thou art the Sun at the hub of my being. Thy Word is the shaft which fills me, to which I conform myself. O, that I might be the still, silent pool that reflects Thee, the veil that reveals Thee.”
MEDITATION COLOR: Deep blue.
HEBREW LETTER: Mem, water, the universal symbol of consciousness per se. Suggests reflection, silence, and serenity. By etymology and ontogeny, M has a cross-cultural affinity with maternity and the sea, including “matter” and the subtler “matrix” of manifestation. The sound m is reminiscent of hushed running water.
CARD NAME: “Man” (from an identically spelled Indo-European root) is a pun on the root men-, meaning, “to think,” from which comes our word “mind.” The words seem closely related in human consciousness, and often are seen associated with each other. Thus, “Hanged Man” is a way of writing “suspended mind.” The key concept of the English word “hang” is “suspended from above,” i.e., dependent on (and pendant from) something higher without support from anything beneath.
ESOTERIC MEANING: The Stable (or Enduring) Consciousness. It is the power of sustenance (or, sustaining power) among all the Sephiroth.
TREE of LIFE: Hod to Geburah. (Links ‘Glory’ and ‘Strength’; or Intellect and Volition. Suspension of the mind, reversal of perspective following Tifereth stage.)
ESOTERIC TITLE: The Spirit of the Mighty Waters
**TANTRIC & ALCHEMICAL SIGNIFICANCE: **Water as a formula of Redemption: Practical formula of the Elixir, elaborated in the three cards that immediately follow.
DIVINATION: Sacrifice, punishment, suffering, loss (all either fatal or voluntary); wisdom, surrender, renunciation. A reversal of circumstances.