Showing posts with label Odin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Odin. Show all posts

Sunday 16 August 2015

The Hanged Man Is Not Dead


I was talking with a good friend saying that I'd ordered a set of Tarot Cards , even though I really knew nothing about The Tarot. The set I'd ordered is an absolutely beautiful set called The Psychobilly Tarot . If you search google images you can see them here. My friend then told me the meaning of The Hanged Man in the Tarot which I had always assumed meant death. It doesn't , well not in the way we think of it.

Psychobilly Hanged Man
I may be displaying my total ignorance here but here's what the actual meaning of the Hanged Man is.

The Hanged Man on the World Tree


In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil – the world tree – is the home of the universe.

The Aesir Gods live in the top, with elves, humans and ice giants populating the tree as you descend, until you reach the roots where the Norns live.

The Norns are the Norse fates – three sisters who control the destiny of all the creatures in all the worlds. 

They carve runes – symbols of magic and knowledge – into the bark of Yggdrasil, so that their power is carried through all the branches, affecting all the people. 

 Now, the Aesir gods are a curious pantheon, in that they know of a prophecy that fortells their death. 

Odin, King of the Gods, traded one of his eyes to acquire the prophecy and ever since had been searching for ways for undo their doom.

From the top of the world tree, Odin looked down and saw the sisters with their runes and felt the power of the symbols.

Perhaps, here, he might find the answer that would save himself and his people.

Down Odin descended. He asked the sisters to teach him the runes, but sadly they shook their heads. The runes could not be given, but must be earned. 

A sacrifice was required. So with strong ropes and cunning knots, the Norns hung Odin from a branch of Yggdrasil, 

 Each symbol had its own power – there were runes for protection and runes to curse, runes to inspire love and runes to acquire wealth. Runes to heal, and runes to wound. 

ll these runes Odin was now the master of, and he hoped that it would be enough to arm him and his kin against Ragnarok: the end of the world. 

 So the hanged man is Odin , who made a sacrifice (his life) to earn the power of the runes. So it's not a sign of death but a sign of change.

Admitedly not my usual tyme of post but I love Norse Mythology , and thing the Psychobilly Tarot looks amazing and it's and excuse to include a Psychobilly track. Now what should we have...