major arcana #12: The Hanged (wo)Man

[egypturnash]

edit: removed gender-specific label, added space helmet/halo.

Once upon a time, this card was "The Traitor"; in medieval Italy, traitors were executed by hanging them upside down by one foot. Over time, this became forgotten, and the striking image remained. Occultists found Symbolic Meaning "encoded" in the peculiar posture and linked the card with various rebirth myths, ignoring the imagery of an ignoble execution and substituting a sort of transcendent rising above the body.

Meanwhile, at one point it was common for medieval Italian decks to have the card we know as "Death" be unlabeled. Merely card number 13.

Trials, betrayal, transcendence - and possible death. Literal or metaphorical.

Comments

[ff00ff.livejournal.com]

I don't know peggy, she's got some awful big boobs for a hanged man.

[ixwkir.livejournal.com]

That was my first thought too. XD

I understand the personal symbology and all, but is every card you're drawing going to depict female[ish] characters? Is that a deliberate jab at original decks that have more or less 100% male imagery (especially for major arcana), or just incidental?

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

Pretty much, yeah.

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

That kinda bugged me, so I changed the title.