Éliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic
The Hanged Man in Lévi
Lévi describes a man suspended by one foot, with crossed legs and arms forming a triangle. The tree trunks and crosspiece complete the shape of the Hebrew tau. He reads the figure as an adept bound by commitments and spiritualised, with his feet towards heaven. The triangle surmounted by a cross signifies completion in his alchemical interpretation.
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In the sources
Principal account
InterpretationLévi describes a man suspended by one foot, with crossed legs and arms forming a triangle. The tree trunks and crosspiece complete the shape of the Hebrew tau.
Further detail
InterpretationHe reads the figure as an adept bound by commitments and spiritualised, with his feet towards heaven. The triangle surmounted by a cross signifies completion in his alchemical interpretation.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows Lévi’s argument in Waite’s English translation. The entry follows this particular interpretation of the Tarot figure and is not an instruction for bodily suspension. The correspondences are attributed to this occult synthesis rather than presented as a universal account of every earlier tradition.
Original passages
Source 1
Transcendental Magic
suspended by one footOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Éliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic; active reader leaf 140
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0026-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0026-E001-P0140
- Original scan leaf
- 140
- Recorded leaf number
- 140
- Current Reader position
- 134
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Transcendental Magic
the adept, bound by his engagementsOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Éliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic; active reader leaf 140
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0026-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0026-E001-P0140
- Original scan leaf
- 140
- Recorded leaf number
- 140
- Current Reader position
- 134
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed