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MAGICALREALIST

An Unintended(?) Symbol 07/20/2012 12:25 PM CDT

I was looking at the list of item engravings available from the engraving shop on Aesry, and one stood out to me:

>#23 The Hanged Man

Now, I know a little about the Tarot deck, and particularly love the Major Arcana, so I knew there was a fit for Necros in there, but when I wikipedia'd it, I was pleasantly surprised by just how fitting it is as a symbol of the Philosophers...

>"The gallows from which he is suspended forms a Tau cross, while the figure—from the position of the legs—forms a fylfot cross. There is a nimbus about the head of the seeming martyr. It should be noted (1) that the tree of sacrifice is living wood, with leaves thereon; (2) that the face expresses deep entrancement, not suffering; (3) that the figure, as a whole, suggests life in suspension, but life and not death. [...] It has been called falsely a card of martyrdom, a card a of prudence, a card of the Great Work, a card of duty [...] I will say very simply on my own part that it expresses the relation, in one of its aspects, between the Divine and the Universe." (emphasis added)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hanged_Man_(tarot_card)

So I clicked on 'Great Work' and saw this:

>"Eliphas Levi (1810–1875), one of the first modern ceremonial magicians and inspiration for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, discussed the Great Work at length, expanding it from the purely alchemical towards the more spiritual:

>Furthermore, there exists in nature a force which is immeasurably more powerful than steam, and by means of which a single man, who knows how to adapt and direct it, might upset and alter the face of the world. This force was known to the ancients; it consists in a universal agent having equilibrium for its supreme law, while its direction is concerned immediately with the great arcanum of transcendental magic…This agent…is precisely that which the adepts of the middle ages denominated the first matter of the Great Work. The Gnostics represented it as the fiery body of the Holy Spirit; it was the object of adoration in the secret rites of the Sabbath and the Temple, under the hieroglyphic figure of Baphomet or the Androgyne of Mendes.
He further defined it as such:

>The Great Work is, before all things, the creation of man by himself, that is to say, the full and entire conquest of his faculties and his future; it is especially the perfect emancipation of his will.[2]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Work

The actual engraving looks like this:

>the image of a hanged man who gazes blankly at you with lifeless eyes

In my mind, "blankly" and "lifeless eyes" is ambiguous enough to have several meanings, all relevant to the Philosophers.

Needless to say, my Necro got his favorite weapon etched with the symbol.

Let's not even get into the whole "Number 23" issue. :D

“Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said can be said clearly." ~Wittgenstein, 'Tractatus'

MAGICALREALIST

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Re: An Unintended(?) Symbol 07/20/2012 12:58 PM CDT

I will address the inevitable argument that Waite calls the Hanged Man not a symbol of the Great Work:

1. The relevance of the symbol is not wholly dependent on its meaning re: The Great Work

2. Others disagree with Waite, that it is a symbol of the Great Work

3. It's a lot like Armifer saying that the Philosophers would not fool themselves into thinking they are merely misunderstood.

I think both Waite and GM Armifer are describing a matter of "completeness". Philosophers do not see themselves as saints or martyrs, oppressed by a society that should be thankful to them. They are too pragmatic for such delusional grandiosity. They know they have chosen an antisocial path, but in so doing have chosen a "life in suspension". They've given up a "normal" life for a greater purpose -- whether or not that purpose ends with the betterment of all mankind remains to be seen. All guilds in DR see their path, their worldview, as superior to all the others, and every guild leader says as much in the speech given when the character joins that guild. Necromancers are no different.

On some level, it is inevitable that a Philosopher sees himself as misunderstood, though he or she would be foolish to see himself as a victim (or a martyr). On some level, the Hanged Man is a symbol of the Great Work -- and it's certainly a life of sacrifice and lived in suspension toward a greater End.

“Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said can be said clearly." ~Wittgenstein, 'Tractatus'

DragonRealms · Necromancer Ideologies