Notice how Crowley in his Tarot deck drew both the Hanged Man’s and the Emperor’s legs crossed in the same angle.
Notice also the angle of the ruling scepter the Emperor holds, as well as the angle of the Hanged Man’s arms. Notice also the ball the emperor holds, the sphere with a cross on it. Notice that the Hanged Man has the Ankh with the serpent around it, the ankh being another symbol for the sphere with a cross on it. What is the idea being expressed here? I have some clues I will share.
This is the famous scene of Mithras slaying the bull. David Ulansey has recently indicated this is a star map, of all things! The figures correspond to the constellations in the sky overhead back in the first century B.C. Notice the two figures on either side of the bull! Their legs are crossed as in the Tarot cards. David Ulansey says these demonstrate they represent the famous cross formed by the zodiac and the celestial equator, at the intersection point which is the equinox! (Appendix 1 of his book "The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries"). He says the torchbearers represent the equinox. Now the Hanged man has a glow around his head, representing the intelligence, which was associated with fire in the early Greek times. Another hint that our Tarot is astronomical is this:
This figure David Ulansey says is the key to the celestial gates. His key in his hand may very well open those gates! This is the famous idea behind the Egyptian Wepwawet sign, which means "Opener of the ways." Wepwawet always preceded the Kings as they traveled to the sky, which one region was Orion according to the lineup of the pyramids in Bauval'’ study, ""he Orion Mystery.""The Kings were pointed to regions of the sky to go and inhabit as stars. Notice the angle of his pole as with the Emperor in the Tarot card. This sign is that of precession! This may very well be an astronomical hint of what is trying to be depicted in both the Mithraic mysteries and in the Tarot cards, not to mention alchemy as well.
The lion figure here is the guardian of the outermost regions of the Zodiac, the place of fire. Plato in the "Phaedrus" mentions this as well, this outermost region of fire. This lion represents the concepts of boundary and boundary guardian to the celestial. Hekate was also associated with the key to the boundaries of the outermost regions of outerspace.
Another clue that he is the boundary guardian is the entertwining snake around him. The snake represents the World Soul. Origen in his "Contra Celsum" indicated the snake meant the world soul which was placed in the center of the cosmos and also wrapped around the outside. The Pistas Sophia says the snake wrapped around the cosmos and was circled back on himself with his tail in his mouth. He surrounded the whole world. The boundary of the universe was the snake.
It is interesting that the Aztec Calendar astronomy stone in Mesoamerica also has two huge serpents circling around its perimeter as well. Now note this idea from Alchemy:
Here we have an intertwined snake on the cross on the sphere, which cross and sphere represents the famous cross formed by the zodiac and the celestial equator, at the intersection point which is the equinox. The snake represents the outer boundary of the cosmos, among otehr associations. This alchemical symbol could very well be an astronomical symbol of the same type we see in the Mithraic mysteries and on the Tarot cards! There are many alchemical signs of the sphere with the cross on them. Here is another:
This sphere with a cross on it also represented divine kingship, and our emperor in the Tarot cards holds this very ball in his hand as the divine king of the universe, ruling all within the boundaries of the outer cosmos as well as what is on earth. He is the divine Christ ruler figure of the cosmos while here on earth. This is the ancient sacral kingship idea found throughout the ancient world. John Major Jenkins in his new book "Galactic Alignment," noted that a study on the Cathedrals in France and Medieval Europe were laid out as astronomical maps of the universe! The factors which played a role in their construction, orientation, and elegant carvings (depicting astronomical aspects such as eclipses, conjunctions, equinoxes and precession, were in fact, TAROT and ALCHEMY! So with that hint, I fished around a little and found now there are also hints from the ancient Mithraic mysteries as well. Jenkins also noted that the sphere with a cross on it represents the Galactic Center of our galaxy! With this in mind, we now see the serious implications of Crowley's putting the Ankh sign with the serpent surrounding it on the Hanged Man card. The Ankh was the Egyptian way of indicating the Galactic center of our galaxy, among other things this fascinating symbol represented.
The Tarot may very well be telling us about astronomical situations in our own day that we have only recently become aware of, such as the Galactic alignment with the rest of the galaxy, which will occur, according to John Major Jenkins, in Dec 23, 2012. We have about 10 years left before this once in only 26,000 year alignment will occur.
The Hermetic doctrine of "As Above, So Below," was never better displayed than right here under our noses with the Tarot, and now alchemy may very well be included. Hence the Hanged Man’s vital importance. It is more than passing interest to note that L. W. de Laurence, "The Illustrated Key To The Tarot," p. 62 said that the Hanged Man "expresses the relation, in one of its aspects, between the Divine and the Universe."
Interestingly also is Eden Gray’s comments on the Hanged Man, "Here we also have associations with Hercules and his twelve labors through the 12 signs of the zodiac… then the lower forces of the signs of the Zodiac will have been transmuted into the higher, uplifting powers of each sign." (A Complete Guide to the Tarot," p. 42.) i.e., we now see the association of the Tarot with astronomy in new and developing ways that are truly intriguing. Crowley in his "Book of Thoth," p. 12, says the Tarot is specifically identified with the Qabalah Tree of Life, which itself is a map of the universe.
So we can see there may very well be an astronomical component to the Tarot cards we have not yet begun to appreciate or fathom. Not in a general way, but specifically as pointing our minds to the precession, the galactic center alignment, the eclipses and celestial mechanics of our astronomy today. It is in the symbols. We just have to read them correctly. It is an exciting time for studying the astronomical associations of the Tarot. Many more notes on this coming later....