Card of the Week: The Hanged Man

During the Renaissance, a petty thief might be shamed in a public stockade.  A nobleman who broke a business deal might be shamed by being publicly dangled inverted, or even just painted as such.

The Hanged Man card represents a high-level betrayal of trust.  This is one of the most complex cards in the deck.  It could be a sign to question your own motivations to avoid actions that might harm others, or to consider the loyalties of those in your own circle of trust.  When pondering the views of others, be aware that their perspectives and assumptions may be very different from your own.

An inverted Hanged Man is in some ways right-side-up, but is still in an odd predicament with unusual limits and should not act with undue superiority.  Continue to consider actions carefully.

In “This Side of Paradise” the Enterprise visits planet Omicron Ceti III, to investigate the remains of a colony decimated by deadly Berthold rays from its sun.  They find its animal livestock gone, but its human inhabitants alive and well.  McCoy examines the colonists and initially cannot explain their better-than-perfect health.  The colony’s botanist, Leila Kalomi, offers to show Spock their secret, a local plant with healing spores.  But Spock’s mind is also affected, and he abandons his duties to gleefully play on the planet with Leila.  More Enterprise crewmembers fall under spore influence, slowly emptying the ship until only Kirk remains on board.  Kirk discovers that his strong emotions can overpower the spores, and rigs a broadcast to irritate the colonists into fighting.  Once free of spore influence, they agree to return to their duties.