Basic meaning: vision/ reflection; Meanings: The first allusion of this card is to the sacrificed god Odin or the crucified Christ, and finally the legend of the upside down crucifixion of Saint Peter. It is a hanged stone, the rock on which the Church is founded. Also, the card indicates reflection, a face reflecting in water (the phenomenon of a double- which links this card with the card XVIII The Moon), the mystery of baptism and water consecration, the power of visualization, a mirror. Water is awareness. Diving into water means to widen conscience. Contrary to the card X Wheel of Fortune, which closes things into a process, into one flow, in a whirlpool or a spiral, The Hanged Man indicates endless horizons and endless possibilities. In negative interpretation, The Hanged Man is a zombie, a vampire, a drug addict, an ill man, a cripple, the dying, narcissistic person. It indicates loss of consciousness, coma, catatonic state, suffering, pain, etc. If the card XI Passion/ Strength among other things indicates sacrificial rite it is precisely the image of the following Arcana in line- The Hanged Man- the one that is sacrificed, and that, along with Christ, indicates Dionysus, that is-Osiris. In the end, I would add another meaning and that is incubation. The Hanged Man, except for it resembles a vampire or a bat hanging upside down it resembles a larva from which a beautiful and powerful butterfly of conscience or messianic mission will emerge. This card announces the beginning of the process of transformation. According to Spare’s Alphabet of Desire, this card can be connected with creation. Eliphas Levi ascribed this Arcana meaning of the alchemical Great Work. In space cube the card The Hanged Man represents an imagined line which connects the front and the hind, or, the east and the west side by which it connects Arcanas III The Empress, whose basic meaning is imagination (at the east) and X The Wheel of Fortune- understanding of the flow of things (at the west). In Spareian manner, it is disintegration connected by attraction/ desire and passion/ love.
Attributes:
According to the Golden dawn system, the card The Hanged Man is connected to the Hebrew letter mem, whose attribute is the element of water, while in the Christian system attribute of The Hanged Man is the letter lamed. According to Agrippa, Latin letter which corresponds to the element of Water is Q. On The Tree of Life the path that The Hanged Man card represents connects the fifth (Geburah, Mars) and the eighth sephirot (Hod, Mercury). In microcosm it is an imagined line which connects right shoulder with right hip. Basic color of this Arcana is dark blue. The Hanged Man can be linked to the geomantic figure Via whose basic message is „don’t rush”. Oswald Wirth connects this card with Perseus constellation (the one who rescued Andromeda), whose most important stars are Algol and Mirfak.