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The Magician & The Wheel of Fortune The Sun Ones & Nines In The Numerical Tarot:The Empress is |
THE EMPRESS & THE HANGED MANThe Empress is taken by many to be the symbol of all that is yin and female. However, elsewhere within this Rider/Waite/Smith vs. Numerical Tarot comparison, and elsewhere on this site, we point out how the number 6 (The Lovers) holds the place of equidistant opposition to that of the Emperor's yang forces.When arranged as two rows of 9 - the Numerical Tarot way - the Empress and the Hanged Man both share the number 3 on the number line. As such, the Empress is seen as the positive embodiment of all that is 3. In symbolizing the number 3 we can observe how she perfectly expresses the abstract idea of a surface or skin around a theoretical model of existence, with her external beauty, her smooth and perfect skin, as well as her association to nature.She also expresses the creative side of an ameliorate number line's 1,2, 3 trinity, with her perfection and grace. While the aspens and wheat around her, symbolize her gentle touch as they sway gracefully in the breeze that caresses her. Her cushions symbolize the comfort of a perfect life. While the palmagranets on her dress symbolize the blood of life contained by her surface skin.At her best, the Empress is a perfect expression of the hand of God, beautiful inside and out. She is a pure and perfect, smooth and sensitive form. At her worst, she becomes too sensitive, too fragile and too obsessed with physical perfection (an impossibility of her finite condition). The Empress has thin skin, in both good and bad ways.The Hanged Man, on the other hand, is the 'Beast' to the 'Beauty' of the Empress. In fact in making the Beauty and the Beast comparison, we could even go so far as to label The Hanged Man as an anti-christ, and symbolize that with the inversion of a crucifix, thus creating the hanged man symbol. A crucifix is a symbol for physical, emotional and spiritual suffering. Suffering occurs when our physical or emotional "skin" is in pain. The Hanged Man represents a trauma to a surface, or the presence of a surface which produces a trauma. He represents a corporeal form that is rough and crudely fashioned - an abomination.Comparison has been made between The Hanged Man and the image of Hell as seen on a fresco in the Basilica of San Petronio, giving me the suggestion that this card was perhaps originally intented to portray extreme pain and suffering. To me, it is a card of pain and suffering whether received or given.In early decks, this card is titled The Traitor. Gertrude Moakley suggested that it might be a representation of a "shame painting" posted on walls of a jail to identify escaped criminals. Criminals, or traitors, are people who are usually hated by the law abiding public.As an act of hatred, Mussolini was hung upside down, after being overthrown.In the bible, a hanged man is cursed by God [Deteronomy 21:22-23].Many identify the structure around The Hanged Man as a gibbet, an instrument for executing the condemned. Sometimes the condemned were drawn and quartered like an animal. This is a card of killing, or being killed. It's a card of hate or being hated. The diametrical opposite of the Empress, who is all about love and being loved.The Empress is the embodiment of love. While the purpose of a gibbet is to encourage public scorn, ridicule and hate. The Empress is about comfort. The Hanged Man is about pain.At his worst, The Hanged Man is everything the Empress isn't. He is ugly and grotesque, crude and uncouth, rough and clumsy, a profane godless beast, perhaps even a killer. At his best he represents a person making a painful sacrifice, a rugged, rustic outdoorsy nature-lover, who lives an acetic life with animals, as an animal. As a person making a painful sacrifice, the image of Judas fits this position. While still a bit severe, the idea of pain and killing are intact, but in a way that indicates a willing... or at least necessary sacrifice.IN THE ISOMORPHIC TAROT DECK, because I choose to illustrate my own subjective sense of bad in the negative deteriortive cards, the Hanged Man is not only not hanging, but is symbolized by a much more savage looking creature, hovering over the bones of his many murdered victims - both animal and human! (see my description of 'death' card for his next 'Feeble Victim'). I title the card Abomination, the Vicious Beast.On the other side, I again forgo the notion of royalty (see Emperor card) and simply think of the good, ameliorate 3 of the Majors as a representation of the most beautiful creature on earth - a Goddess. Or if you prefer, you could substitute an Adonis in this position. I title the card Adoration, the Winsome Beauty.-----NOTE: Go to the DECK section of this site, to learn more about the NAMES and titles of this deck and how they are picked to describe a gridded pattern that utilizes extremes and in-betweens. Each card in this deck is but one possible expression on a spectrum of possibilities. There is a lot more to learn, than what is being shown here. |
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