The hanged man tarot card is just like an onion, with multiple layers of meaning and intent. Many tarot scholars have debated the subtle differences in meaning that can be found in this card over the course of the centuries.
Upright keywords: Letting go, sacrifice, inner wisdom, and challenges
Reversed keywords: Helplessness, being stuck in a dead-end, and selfishness
Astrologically, the Hanged Man card is associated with the planet Neptune.
The main figure in the Hanged Man card is, as the name implies, a man hanging down from a branch. But contrary to the traditional image that comes to mind when you try to think about a Hanged Man (you most likely imagine a thick rope around the neck, used as a form of punitive justice in many medieval or American Western movies), here the character is hanging upside down, tied by one ankle (usually the right foot) with his other leg crossing the first one perpendicularly. In most decks, this character also has a bright halo around his head.
As mentioned above, the meaning of the Hanged Man card has been heavily debated throughout the centuries among tarot readers and scholars of the occult. However, the main two elements that are often brought forth are wisdom and sacrifice.
It is often implied that the Hanged Man card does not represent the victim of punitive justice, but a seeker of wisdom who deliberately hanged himself to acquire knowledge, wisdom, or clarity, like Odin deliberately hanging himself from the world tree Yggdrasil to acquire knowledge of the runes. In another interpretation, the hanging is also deliberate, but the result of selfless sacrifice, a way to solve a dispute by deliberately suffering someone else’s penance or punishment.
Regardless, this is a very introspective card, and usually a trigger for some greater enlightenment represented by the halo around the Hanged Man’s head.
The number 12 card of the Major Arcana, the Hanged Man, represents the sacrifices you need to make for love and relationship. When was the last time you spent time looking into the depths of your relationship or your beliefs about relationships (whether you are in one or not)? This card involves understanding the sacrifices necessary for a long-lasting partnership.
If you are single, this card will ask you to address your “singleness” as a state of being and question what it means in particular for you to be single at this time in your life. Is your single status necessary for some reason, are your beliefs about how relationships should work a healthy or unhealthy cause of your singleness?
If you are in a relationship, this card encourages you to step outside the normal flow. Question your current relationship to see what sacrifices have been made and what will be needed to keep it safe and enduring. Disengage from the day-to-day and step back to assess what the relationship means to you now, in the past, and what you hope it will be in the future. Are you truly happy, or just going through a habit mistaken for happiness, but really comfortable complacency?
Career includes school and education, necessary work not on your career path, and your actual career path. Regardless of your stage, the Hanged Man represents soul-searching about your life’s purpose. This purpose secures your value and helps you be productive in society.
If you are a student and draw this card, reevaluate your course of study. Dig deep to confirm your choice. You might conclude you are on the right path. However, you might discover your passion has waned and need to change direction.
If you are working but not in a career, this card questions if your work is useful or becoming obsolete. Meaningful work helps society without needing to “save the world.” We need to feel our work has value.
If you are on a career path, this card pushes you to question your purpose and devotion. Rarely do our relationships and careers persist with happy consistency. Doubts often arise, and this card helps determine if they reinforce your career love or indicate stagnation.
The Hanged Man card is far less positive when reversed. It doesn’t necessarily mean bad things are coming for the Querent. However, it highlights their negative outlook and selfishness in their current actions. While not strictly bad, it indicates the Querent is not on the right side of any argument or struggle in the reading.
Reversed, this card can indicate feeling helpless about the relationship, as if you are “being hung out to dry.” It may also reveal that one of you is behaving selfishly or narcissistically, harming the partnership. Additionally, it suggests that making a sacrifice won’t bring long-term benefit, meaning you are “sacrificing for nothing.”
When this card appears reversed in a question about work or career, then you want to make sure you are not being set up as the “sacrificial lamb” or the scapegoat regarding something to do with your work or career. You probably need to establish some new boundaries to avoid being taken advantage of. Your sacrifices for your job are “in vain” and you are wasting your time, not building credit.
This card holds an age-old lesson, echoing the famous “Hero’s Journey” found in various myths and used in many Hollywood movies. After experiencing themselves and the world, seeing the great tapestry, and humbly discovering their ultimate place in it, the Fool now faces their first great obstacles.
Finding the inner strength to confront these obstacles defines those with the potential to be fully awake and proactive in life. The first great trial usually challenges the Fool to let go of something that matters to them. They must learn to go with the flow when needed, instead of always pushing their will onto the world. Every former lesson turns upside down, like the figure in the iconography. Ultimately, the Fool must understand that this is another step on the same path of enlightenment.
Complex and layered, the Hanged Man card offers great wisdom and knowledge. It teaches a valuable lesson and reveals hidden solutions through deliberate self-sacrifice. Losing something to gain something greater highlights the latter’s value in retrospect. This helps you find your place in the greater scheme of things.
The Mythic Tarot (1986)
The Haindl Tarot (1990)
Osho Zen Tarot (1995)
Law of Attraction Tarot (2011)
Spellcaster Tarot (2016)
Ostara Tarot (2017)
Do this meditation session in complete silence, possibly in the dark. Imagine yourself letting go of everything irrelevant to the problem. Clear your mind of any stray thoughts. Picture yourself hanging upside down from a tree. Look at your problem from various angles and points of view, opening options and understanding that were not readily apparent.
If the solution is not immediately clear, consider how things might change if you deliberately sacrificed something relevant to the problem. This might open doors leading to its ultimate conclusion and solution.
