i am not happy to be alive

When your friend doesn’t watch The Wire..

pen and ink

Being John Malkovich (1999)

The Hanged Man. The Hanged Man (XII) is the twelfth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It depicts a pittura infamante, an image of a man being hung upside-down by one ankle. This method of hanging was a common punishment at the time for traitors in Italy. However, the solemn expression on his face traditionally suggests that he is there by his own accord, and the card is meant to represent self-sacrifice more so than it does corporal punishment or criminality. The significance of the right and left leg is based on the motivation and nature of the sacrifice being undertaken. Torchia’s engraving, showing the man hanging from the right leg would suggest a materialistic sacrifice; but the inverted meaning can indicate the opposite is true; just as with the gold and silver keys for the Temple of Solomon, right becomes left and left becomes right, which means duality. In other interpretations, The Hanged Man is a depiction of the Norse god Odin who hung upside down from the world-tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days in order to attain wisdom. By passing through these nine days of challenge, or nine gates, Odin acquired the runes from the Well of Wyrd, the source and end of all sacred knowledge.

Uehara Konen

The world is turning… upside down.