The Major Arcana and The Hero’s Journey: The Hanged Man, Part II

The Hanged Man is in search of enlightenment. But notice that he’s not having a cup of tea with Great Aunt Ethel. The knowledge he seeks can only be given to him by the gods, or for those with a more secular viewpoint, by his subconscious. This sort of knowledge is available to everyone; all we need to do is ask. It’s attainment is the selling point of the major religions and meditation techniques. The part that they sometimes don’t mention is that to receive the answer, you must go to a place where you can actually hear it, and then you must be very still.

 It isn’t a physical place.
 It exists where the world as we know it and the realm of the “other world” intersect.
 It’s that ethereal, dusky place between the dark and the daylight.
 Psychologist call it “liminal space” and define it as a place where borders meet and soften and become neither one nor the other, a place of transformation.
 Modern day witches and magicians go there whenever they cast a circle. They call it “between the worlds,” and believe that what happens between the worlds changes the worlds.
 It’s where mystics go to pray.

The vesica piscis, the vulva shaped space that is formed when two circles intersect and the circumference of one intersects the center of the other, symbolizes this place.

The Celtic Pagan Sheela-na-gig found over the doors and window of many Irish and British churches may be reminding the people who pass beneath her that they are entering sacred space.

The Christian fish logo that has inspired so many silly bumper stickers is a vesica piscis (piscis is Latin for fish) turned on its side.

Jesus, Mary and many of the saints have been pictured within vesica piscises. Once you understand the symbolism, the meaning of these images becomes clear: “If you seek communion with me, this is the place to find me.”

So how do you get there?

 Fasting will put you there. I know this from experience. I once did a seven-day water only fast for a magical working, and when I cast a circle on the fifth day the quarter entities nearly knocked me over when they came in.

 Mantras and repetitious prayers like the rosary lull the conscious mind and encourage the subconscious to come out and play.

 Drugs like LSD, peyote, mushrooms, and ecstasy can open your mind to an alternate reality.

 Meditation stills the nattering of your conscious mind and lets you feel your connection and oneness with the universe.

 Pain will also take you there.

All of the above are accepted practices of one religion or another and bring the practitioner closer to the divine. They are done alone and involve opening up, being still, and waiting. However, if taken out of a religious context they could be seen as antisocial or aberrant behaviors.

And so the Hanged Man seeks enlightenment alone, suspended upside down by one foot with his hands tied behind his back.