The Hanged Man - More Support for Our Deathly Hallows Theory
Penny picked this up whilst listening to MuggleCast. The Wikipedia entry for The Hanged Man reads:
It is a card of profound but veiled significance. Its symbolism points to divinity, linking it to the death of Christ in Christianity and the stories of Osiris (Egyptian mythology) and Mithras (Roman mythology). In all of these stories, the destruction of self brings life to humanity; on the card, these are symbolized respectively by the hanged man and the living tree from which he swings. Its relationship to the other cards usually involves personal loss for a greater gain.
Recall the game of hangman behind the locked door on JKRowling.com. And there was something about the words hallows and gallows meaning the same thing in days of yore…
January 13th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Just got back from amazon.com and they’ve just posted a RELEASE DATE for HPDH. It’s March 31, 2007. (Hardcover).
It’s still not available for preorder yet but I’m on their alert list for when it is.
January 13th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
[...] Ruth left a comment pointing out that the Amazon search results page lists Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as available March 31, 2007!!! See screenshot below. Not sure if this is the date of publication, or perhaps the date that it will be available to order; the page for Deathly Hallows itself does not appear to be updated, still allowing only email alert signups. [...]
January 26th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Very interesting stuff, I found your prognostication site from the log files of my prognostication site. In which book(s) do we encounter the card, the Hanged Man and the games of hangman? I have some thinking growing up around tarot cards and this is one of them, now I am reminded of reading it but don’t recall in which book.
January 26th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Oh, the wikipedia quote above about the card “the hanged man” misses that card’s point somewhat, well, to give my honest opinion, it is sort of rubbish. Go to aeclectic.net for knowledge of the tarot - they summarize the card:
The Hanged Man, in similar fashion, is a card about suspension, not life or death.
You see the hanged/hanging man is still alive, trapped by a hunters game snare, hanging upside down by his foot. it is more “he left me hanging there” than “hang till he is dead” - more Odin story than Osiris. My shorthand for this card is “life in suspension”