The Hanged Man is the archetype of the Prisoner or of the Prison or of the Victim. He stands for stagnation, for being gridlocked, for being passive and in the mercy of an oppressive situation; he can mean illness and abandonment. The positive side of the Hanged Man is that forced deadlocks, illnesses and abandonment can lead to completely new views - even new world outlooks. Many people tell that just before their change of life to the good they experienced an extremely painful phase of deadlock, of stagnation. So the Hanged Man can mean that it is necessary to "turn round", to "turn upside down" - to radically change one's views and ways of living. Else we will remain hanging, being caught and suffering.