The Hanged Man — XII

 

Hanging Copper and Amethyst Star Tetrahedron / Merkaba, by scredgeometryheals

Anything that is hanging could be said to be a type of pendant,

early 14c., pendaunt, "loose, hanging part of anything," whether ornamental or useful, from Anglo-French pendaunt (c. 1300), Old French pendant (13c.), noun uses of the present-participle adjective from pendre "to hang," from Latin pendere "to hang," from PIE *(s)pend-, extended form of root *(s)pen- "to draw, stretch, spin." [OE]

So, ornaments are pendants.

XII The Hanged One—Winter Wonderland Tarot, by Joshua Franklin and Aaron Franklin

Here is a pendulous man on a "pendant," hanging on a tree. Ornaments are like fruit in that they are hung from a tree, but what is the fruitfulness of the Hanged Man?

The Hanged Man is called Le Pendu in the Tarot de Marsellies.

The Hanged Man, Tarot de Marsilles: Life in suspension, transition, apathy and dullness, boredom, abandonment, sacrifice, repentance, readjustment, regeneration, improvement, surrender 

He is not just hanging, he is hanging upside-down. He isn't hanged by the neck dead, but he is stuck. He can't do much physically from this position and it isn't comfortable either.

From Norse mythology the hanged man is Odin. Odin, in his quest for knowledge, sacrificed one of his eyes to Mimir's Well, located beneath the World Tree, for a drink of its water of wisdom, he stabbed himself with a spear, and hung himself on the tree, Yggdrasil, where he remained for nine days until he gained the knowledge of the Runes.

Since the runes' native home is the well of Urd with the Norns, and since the runes do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of such fearful insights and abilities, Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, pierced himself with his spear, and peered downward into the shadowy waters below. He forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid, not even a sip of water. And he stared downward, and stared downward, and he called to the runes. —Odin's Discovery of the Runes - Norse Mythology for Smart People

137.

I trow hung on that windy Tree

nine whole days and nights,

stabbed with a spear, offered to Odin,

myself to mine own self given,

high on that Tree of which none hath heard

from what roots it rises to heaven.

138.

None refreshed me ever with food or drink,

I peered right down in the deep;

crying aloud I lifted the Runes

then back I fell from thence.  —Hávamál, The Words of Odin the High One from the Elder Edda, translated by Olive Bray

"Yggdrasil, the Mundane tree", Baxter's Patent Oil Painting, from a plate included in the English translation of the Prose Edda by Oluf Oulufsen Bagge (1847)

Because of this, the World Tree is called Yggdrasil, which some translate as meaning "Odin's horse," Ygg(r) meaning "the Terrible One[as in One who evokes Awe]" (a name for Odin) + drasill "horse, steed," metaphorically meaning "gallows," from the idea of the gallows being "the horse of the hanged," so let us say instead here that the "gallows," galgi in Old Norse, is the "drasill ["possibly" from PIE *dʰer- "to hold, support"] of the hanga [Old Norse hengja/hanga "to be suspended"]. And it would make even morse sense to translate drasill as steed, rather than "horse" and say "steed of the hanged," since steed is from the same root as Old English stod [and stud (n.2) is reconstructed to be from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make to be firm," with derivatives meaning "place or thing that is standing" like a stud (n.1) from

Middle English stode "pillar, prop, post, upright timber used as support," from Proto-Germanic *stud- (source also of Old Norse stoð "staff, stick"[OE]

and saying "pillar" of the hanged makes a lot of sense compared to horse, which is, rather, said to possibly be connected to a root meaning "to run." 

Therefore Odin is associated with the gallows, which in English is from Proto-Germanic *galgon- "pole," from PIE *ghalgh "branch, rod," used in plural for the cross of cruxifixction in Old English. Therefore we could say too, he could be associated with the "fork," as in a "forked stake or post (as a gallows)", crux, or stauros, which all have similar meaning, being wooden devices for the purpose of execution, as discussed in the previous trump Strength. The resolution to "carry one's cross" all the way to to crucifixion or to "hanging" is an act of mental strength or fortitude which leads to the ultimate sacrifice, that of one's own life, in exchange for the greater good. However, hanging in this sense is not specifically death, but rather the suffering endured before death. Death, which is the next card on the fool's/hero's journey, card XIII, can result from hanging for a prolonged period of time, but hanging itself (when not done with a noose around the neck), well, . . . it just leaves one hanging, and a lot can go on mentally in that state of suspension. 

We could say in a way that we come into this world, as the hanged man.

Artwork by Ailis O'Reilly, 2014

We enter the world pierced by the wound of separation from our god selves, from the moment the chord it cut we drop into discomfort, sickness, pain, and hardship, and begin learning the language of ruin, from late Old English "act of giving way and falling down," from Latin ruina "a collapse, a rushing down, a tumbling down," which is incarnation upon this Earth, trying to find meaning and make sense of it all before we inevitably die. We, like Odin, desire to know the secret of secrets, i.e., to understand the runes, from Proto-Germanic *runo "a secret, magic sign, runic character." If we purposefully commit ourselves to find meaning and are dedicated in our quest for the highest knowledge and wisdom, somehow in our suspended state of suffering, affixed to this place and time upon the gallows of the World Tree, we learn things that would remain otherwise elusive to both gods and angels. 

Some people associate our view from Earth of the band of the Milky Way in the sky with the concept of the World Tree.

In recent history this view is much less prominent in the human psyche due to light pollution and our modern life style of spending more time indoors, however, in the past this view would have been the cause of much wonder, contemplation, and meditation during its periods of visibility.

It can sometimes be seen as a vast arching dome intersecting with the horizon. It is suspending, or spanning (both from the same PIE root as pendulum and pendulous, *(s)pen "to draw, stretch, spin") the sky. Or we might say the dome is drawn out across the sky like a great dragon or a long long (i.e., Chinese Dragon).

Western Han dynasty tomb mural of a warrior on a (long)dragon, found in Luoyang

Draw being from a spelling alteration of Old English dragan "to draw, to drag, to protract,"with a number of related words in different languages having the meaning "to carry," such as, Old Saxon dragan, Old Frisian drega, draga, and Middle Dutch draghen. 

So there is a common similar meaning shared between something that is drawn and something that is suspended or spans; dragan = "to draw" = *(s)pen

So then, perhaps, we might say the Milky Way plane as seen from Earth is also like another thing that can carry(dragan), namely, a horse, but more specifically, a steed or stud, if the Old Norse etymological origin for drasil (horse), is PIE *dʰer- "to hold, support." So a drasil, which is a *dʰer- "hold" or "support" for a rider, is something that is used "to carry", i.e., dragan. In English we call the animal a "horse," which is of "unknown origin",  however by some it is said to be connected to *kers- meaning "to run"(also source of similar sounding course which is a "run"n.) which would make it similar in meaning to equus "horse"(as in equine), Latin, from PIE *ekwo- "horse," said to be "perhaps" related to *ōku- "swift." So in English the horse is called after being a swift running animal, rather than an animal that holds or carries. 

Neptune's Horses, Walter Crane 1910

Etymologically speaking, then, the term "sawhorse" is a bit confusing since sawhorses are called after horses, presumably, due to their ability to hold and support (like a drasill), rather than for being like a horse in that they run or move swiftly.

For the same reason, the name for the World Tree being "Odin's Drasill," makes more sense when we consider the etymological origin of the Norse word, because trees(and gallows, crux and stauros) are like drasills in that they *dʰer- "hold, support and carry." And the word tree itself is from PIE *drew-o-, suffixed variant from root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast.

It is interesting, then, that one Old English word for "horse" is hengest, as in henchman (14th c. hengestman, later henshman) said to be probably from man + hengest,

Old English hengest "horse, stallion, gelding," from Proto-Germanic *hangistas (source also of Old Frisian hengst, Dutch hengest, German Hengst "stallion") [OE]

And being something that "holds" or "supports," *dʰer-, could be a way to describe the dome of the heavens, and therefore the great branches of the World Tree, the thing that is firm and solid so it can hold and support, is called "Odin's Horse[Drasill]," so in other words, that would be the "hengest / hengst of the hanged," or perhaps we could say the gallows is "Odin's hengst,"or the "hanger of the hanged."

In any case this tree is where the god is hanged in order to gain knowledge like the sagacious long "dragon." Dragon being from 

Greek drakon "serpent, giant seafish," apparently from drak-, strong aorist stem of derkesthai "to see clearly," from PIE *derk- "to see"

The whole point of being the hanged man is to become sagacious like the dragon or long, and one might need to hang for a long time, and long for the time of hanging to be over with.

Long is from a Germanic root said to possibly be from PIE *dlonghos-, which is also the source of such words as Old Persian darga-, Persian dirang, Sanskrit dirghah "long." 

Sometimes things that are long can be difficult, they are dur "difficult, hard," and things that are hard can be hard due to their denseness [like a tree(*deru-) is *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast"]

It is interesting that Odin hangs from, Yggdrasil "Odin's Horse" and an Old English word for "horse, stallion, gelding" is hengest, From a Proto-Germanic root which is also the source of German word for "stallion" Hengst. Therefore, the translation of the tree, Yggdrasil, could be "Odin's Hengst" which is the gallows. And of course another way to describe something that is hanged is to say it is stalled in place (it can't move its place) like a stallion, from Frankish *stal, cognate with Old High German stal "stable." The stallion is placed in a stall to be stable in the stable. So "Odin's Hengst" is where he is stalled for nine days. And learning the runes hinged upon being hung. A hinge, cognate with Middle Dutch henghe "hook, handle," Middle Low German henge "hinge," fixes a thing in place. Which brings us to the Hanged Man in the Spanish decks.

In Spanish the Hangged man is El Colgado, from colgar "to hang," which comes from Latin collocare "to place / put; station; post; position," from prefix com "with" + locare "to place." So El Colgado would be the person who is "with a place (specifically)" which would be similar in idea to Le Pendu in that something hanging is "suspended" in place (in loco) and able to be located.

Dalí Tarot

Being fixed in place can make a person a bit loco after a while. How did Odin fare for those nine days hanging? Did he appear completely sane or did he come off as a bit of a colgado (9.b. "a nutter;" another use of the word)? You know? How does someone with any brains do that? 

The Hanged Man (Scarecrow), Halloween Tarot, art by Kipling West, 

"Be patient with limbo, suspended judgment, and postponed plans. Turn yourself upside down to effect change. Follow your own beliefs." by Karin Lee

[Are those Odin's Ravens, Hugin and Munin there at the top?]

Who purposely injures and hangs himself for love of knowledge or wisdom? Odín estaba colgado para las Runas, that is, Odin must have been enamorado "crazy in love" with learning the secret of the Runes.

Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,

Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend

More than cool reason ever comprehends.

The lunatic, the lover and the poet

Are of imagination all compact:

One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,

That is, madman: the lover, all as frantic,

Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:

The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling,

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;

And as imagination bodies forth 

The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen

Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing

A local habitation and a name. 

— Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

 The Hangged Man XII, Shadowscapes Tarot, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

And he would have appeared just plane colgado in his "Eureka" moment, as he said, "crying aloud [æpandi "shrieking"] I lifted the Runes then fell from thence." I don't want to name any names, but lots of people have been called "crazy" for being excited (Nudy-Butt Archimedes, Rebel Yell Howard Dean, Couch Jumping Tom Cruise). The latter of those were figuratively hanged for their antics, and the former was actually killed.

After the Romas successfully captured the city in 212 B.C., Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier after he allegedly told the soldier, "Don't disturb my circles"—a reference to a series of figures Archemedes had outlined in the sand. Who was Archemedes, NOVA, pbs.org

So we could say Archimedes was literally killed for being loopy, i.e., drawing "loops." And that which is similar to a circle or loop is a bend. We might describe Odin as being a bit bent. He was bent on learning the secret of the Runes. The Hanged Man is traditionally shown bent or with one leg bent at and angle. And to be hanged is to be bent low or humbled, like another god man who hung on a gallows,

The Roman gallows was the cross, and, in the older translations of the Bible, gallows was used to describe the cross upon which Jesus was crucified (Ulfilas uses the term galga in his Gothic Testament. —gallows, Brittanica.com 

Cruxifixction - A Strasburgian painter possibly Hermann Schadeberg, [Some bent men on gallows]

When you are hanging you certainly have time to reflect "to think deeply or carefully,"or mirer "look at oneself," and one particular instrument of reflection (literally a "bending back") is a mirror. The word for mirror in ancient Egypt was [ˁnḫ ] ankh (a metal mirror), the same as the ankh hieroglyph which can be described as "a tau cross with an oval loop on top."

Egyptian Ankh Mirror Case, From Valley of the Kings, by Kenneth Garret

The top of the cross is bent like an anga "hook," PIE root *ang-/*ank- "to bend."

So we might say that another hung god(dess), Inanna, who was hung on a hook in the underworld, was hung on an "ang/ank" of sorts. [also discussed in Strength XI]

In Aleister Cowley's tarot deck the Hanged Man is literally hanging from (or hooked onto) an ankh and his foot is put in place (collocare ) at a very strict angle.

Alistar Cowley Thoth Tarot

The symbol that we know as an ankh was used both as a symbol and a hieroglyph in ancient Egypt. Ankh has the meaning of "life," but also, life, in a broad sense, such as the concept of eternal life, and the idea of a vivifying agent that causes one to be alive. It was often shown being held or carried in the had of gods/goddesses and pharaohs, sometimes being offered to another individual. 

Goddess Isis holding ankh to the nose of Queen Nefertari, tomb wall painting, Nefertari's tomb, Valley of the Queens

Therefore this concept of ankh it is similar in meaning to the meaning of the name of first woman in the book of Genesis, whom we know in English as, Eve, which is said to mean "life" or "living." Which name was transliterated to Latin as Eva, from the Hebrew name for the woman, חוה, transliterated to English as Havvah (hayyah) [among many other spellings], related to hayah "to live." To life! To life! L'chaim! So isnt it interesting if we spell Eve with an ankh [☥ = "life" = Eve], that the thing that the man is hung upon or affixed to is this "mother of the living"? or "mother of life, the woman♀︎? It is both the reason why we are here, i.e., life giving, generative, and at the same time, the implement of our crucifixion [being fixed to the World Tree in this time and space] and cause of [the experience of] death (because whoever is born is destined to die). But is also the reason why we truly see "weid" like God having "knowlege", דעת daath (from yada "to know").

"The Temptation and Fall [Ruin] of Eve", William Blake (Book IX, line 791, illustration Paradise Lost), 1808

"For God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing[i.e., having the lived experience of] good[what is pleasant] and evil[what is adverse]."Gen. 3:5

When Adam and Eve ate the fruit and gained daath "knowledge," they also gained death. But what if we say instead of "eating the fruit," that they"ingested" the "product/produce" hanging on The World Tree [incarnation] which is gnosis.

Pomegranate, photo by Julie O.

"You have eaten the sacred food of the underworld," said Ceres. Now you must return for half of every year to live with Pluto, your husband."

 

Suffering adversity isn't a punishment for receiving the "knowledge of evil" from the tree, suffering adversity is, rather, the consequence, because it IS the knowledge. Therefore it makes sense that suffering can lead towards wisdom (being like God), and so too, that entirely avoiding suffering can hold a person back (they remain in a state of innocence [not + harm/death] which is a type of ignorance "want of knowledge," like Adam and Eve before the fall). 

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Genesis 3:6

But why is it so important to be like God and to be wise? Is it worth it? 

Or is that entirely the wrong question? 

The fact is, as children of God we are destined to attain adulthood and be gods, that is, to be "like God," and not remain forever immature children. There is a time for being a child and a time for attaining or growing into adulthood. And when the child grows in wisdom and knowledge into their adult self, the child self necessarily has to die, which is a kind of evil, or at the very least it is bittersweet.  

The Hanged Chrysalis: caterpillar self dies, so that butterfly self can emerge, photo by Julie O.

But the combination of the adverse(bitter) with the good(sweet) makes life more rich, like dark chocolate and coffee with cream. It also makes one more rich or wealthy in knowledge.

Le Pendu, Le tarot dit de Charles VI, 15th c.

This hanged man looks as if he may be rich. But I'll be hanged if I know what he did to deserve this fate!

Tyet Knot

    Tyet, Amulet, Ancient Egyptian Faience, Amarna

There is some mystery surrounding the origin and meaning of the ancient Egyptian tyet symbol, according to egyptologists. The meaning of the hieroglyph is rendered as "welfare" and "life". Sometimes it is called "the Knot / Buckle / Girdle of Isis," and it indeed looks like a looped and knotted piece of cloth. The arms of the tyet, rather than extending outward like the similar ankh (also with meaning “life”), hang down the sides in a rather relaxed fashion, as a ribbon tied in a long looping bow might do. Definitely very feminine and yin looking in nature. 

The Tyet looks like a draping garment which is reminiscent of the feminine form. Tyets ("life") are feminine in nature. Just as the woman in the garden of Eden was called Eve / Chavvah / Havva ("life").

Red Carnelian Tit / Tyet (Isis knot) amulet, ca. 1550-1275 BCE, The Met

Since the tyet was associated with the goddess and in the later kingdoms with Isis, we have a clue as to in what sense "life" is meant. The feminine association with "life" is the earth goddess, Eve, abundance and bringing forth of life from the fertile earth / ground / adamah*, Gaia, blood, and and life from the womb. 

*"ground / dust / earth / soil," from Hb., adom "to be red"; same as adam; dam "blood"; the creature God made in his own image and likeness was made from the red/blood, i.e., fertile soil.

The Empress, Shaddowscapes tarot, pregnancy, fertility, motherhood, sensuality, nurturing, femininity, nature harmony, art

The symbol is also sometimes connected to or called "the blood of Isis." Some say that the tyet may have been a representation of some sort of menstrual cloth because of its association with red carnelian (dSr "red" in ancient Egyptian similar to dSrw "blood"), menstruation, and usage as protective amulet for pregnancy, but I don't personally think this fits with its origins. If the tyet is associated with fertility and life, and menstruation/pregnancy are also associated with fertility and life, then it is reasonable that the two would be associated. This does not mean that the tyet was originally supposed to be a representation of a menstrual cloth, or even a yoni or womb. I'm more inclined to think that the reference to blood has to do with blood's association with "life" and bringing forth of, and sustaining of life (wellfare). 

Isis was a goddess who was responsible for the resurrection of her husband Osiris (god of fertility, agriculture, the dead, resurrection, life*). Isis along with her sister, Nephtys gathered together the missing and scattered pieces of Osiris' dismembered body. Osiris was then resurrected long enough for Isis to become pregnant with Osiris' son, Horus. Osiris is often associated with and even depicted as the Djed pillar. The djed and tyet are often seen together in artwork. 

[*so similar associations as the earth goddesses, such as Demeter / Ceres, the mother earth goddess, goddess of agriculture, grain, crops, fertility, and her daughter Persephone / Proserpina "Queen of the Underworld/Dead.]

 

Detail of the upper margin of the sarcophagus of the last native Egyptian pharaoh  Nectanebo II (30th dynasty reign, c. 360-343 BCE)

The Djed / Tet pillar was used as a hieroglyph for the spoken word, as well as a symbol and concept in and of itself, it had the meaning "stability, continuity, regeneration". It is commonly said to represent the backbone of Osiris. It is an enigmatic symbol in origin, like the Tyet. When discussing the meaning of the tyet and djed, it is important to note, that they are two of the more ancient of Egyptian symbols which remained popular throughout the duration of the ancient Egyptian culture. The origins of the tyet are much older than many of the representations, descriptions and usage that we have from the later time periods.

The Tjet [Tyet] is thought to date from the Predynastic period and was a popular decorative symbol by the third dynasty (Old Kingdom), often appearing alongside the Ankh and the Djed . . . By the New Kingdom it was associated with Isis perhaps due to to its frequent association with the Djed . . . Thus the Djed may have represented the masculine power, while the Tjet represented the feminine power. . . Ancient Egypt Online/Tjet(Tyet), ancientegyptonline.co.uk

Ancient Egypt was rich in symbolism. Not only was the language written with an hieroglyphic system that is pictorial, but the religious iconography and every day use of amulets contained copious amounts of archetypal information available to the unread masses as well as to the scholars. Here the saying was never more true, "A picture says a thousand words." Considering that hieroglyphic written language wasn't in usage until c. 3200 BC and the origin of the Tyet and Djed were sometime during the Predynastic period, the words tyet and djed were spoken words before they were written phonetically.

One idea regarding the origin of the word tjt [one common transliteration of Egyptian hieroglyphic word, or also t_t], known as tyet, could be that it might have originated as a form of the word dd, i.e., djed, but with the feminine ending -t. This is just some freeform speculation, but not without some logical basis.

The word for this so called "Knot of Isis" is rendered in English sometimes as tyet, tjet, tiet, tet, tit, tet, that, thet. I have seen it pronounced with a long I, as tie-et, or with a long E, as teet. Since we must transliterate and transcribe the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic language, which was written without vowels, linguists only speculate as to how the words were pronounced. So we have many different spellings and pronunciations in English of the possible pronunciations of the ancient Egyptian words. Often in transcriptions from Egyptian hieroglyphs to English, either a t or a d are used to spell the same word, such as tuat or duat, meaning “underworld” depending on who is doing the translation and what system they are using. 

The name of the god Thoth, for example, is also sometimes written as Djehuti, Tehuti, Techu, Tetu, and has equally wildly varied pronunciations. And djed, the so called Pillar of Osiris, is sometimes written as tet. 

(Thoth and Horus supporting djed pillar) Mummy Case of Nespanetjerenpere [detail], 22nd- early 25th Dynasty, c. 945-712 BCE, Brooklyn Museum, NYC

This confusion arises because, not only do we not know how the words sounded when spoken by a person during this ancient period, when people try to pronounce even the same words, or try to translate words there is much variation in accent and vowel usage. . . you say tomato, I say tomato . . . And there are sounds made in certain languages that other languages do not have and are hard for non natives speakers to pronounce. . . So, for example, tell an English speaking person to write a word as they hear it spoken you will get different spellings. Is the Hebrew word written as, Eve (from the Greek) in English translations of the bible, Havvah / Hawwah, or Chavvah / Chawwah? And good luck if the person who is doing the translation speaks yet another language and hears the word third, forth or fifth hand. When trying to understand the story of history we are forever playing a vast game of "telephone" but with many more factors involved even, so, given the fact that the tyet is a very ancient symbol which may have been spoken before it was ever written, it is not surprising if something akin to djed-et, or tet-et, morphed into tyet or tit.

There are examples like this especially in the early dynasties, of male Egyptian deities having female counterparts with the same name feminized, such as Amun [jmn] / Amunet [jmnt], both meaning "the Hidden One". Nu / Naunet, meaning "primordial waters". Kekui / Kekuit, "primordial darkness". Allso the ancient Egyptian word for “wife, woman” is hmt, from hm “incarnation”, with the -t ending. This is interesting because hm is like the English pronoun for a male, "him", so woman, then, is him-et. This is also similar to the words male and female, man and woman, and as in the book of Genesis, from the Hebrew, is [ish] / issa [ishshah] "man/woman".

Then ha'adam (the man) said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called issah (woman), because she was taken out of ish (man)." Genesis 2:23

The Djed had the meaning of stability, and with stability we have security, and security is welfare and life, that is, Tyet. 

Detail of the outermost golden shrine of Tutankhamun, 18th dynasty, Valley of the Kings. Egyptian Museum, Cairo

The Djed and Tyet were both often represented with similar pillar like trunks, and associated with the masculine (god / Osiris) and feminine (goddess / Isis) principles.

What if tyet was actually tet-et, but was then contracted by usage? This does happen sometimes, such as with the word "messenger" in English.

[messenger] With unetymological -n- inserted by c. 1300 for no apparent reason except that people liked to say it that way. . . [OE]

The Djed first appeared in the Predynastic period (c. 6000-3150 BC). It was thought to be made originally with stalks or sheaves of reeds. When grain or stalks are ready to be harvested, they are cut and tied, so my question is, "Did the tyet tie it? Did the tyet make the pillar tight?" Namely, were the stalks which made the djed / tet fastened by something which was then called tyet or tet-et? In this case the tyet securing the stalks under the heads is literally a neck tie/necktie [which is fitting considering that tyet amulets were usually placed on the neck of the deceased, therefore were neck tyets. Perhaps placed at the neck because the neck is where the spine/backbone connects with the head?]. In this way the Djed and Tyet would have been the cause of the stability of the pillar together.


    Sheaves of Reeds like Pillars

A knot/tie secures, and is for security. Single stalks alone are not stable like a pillar without being tied in bunches. In this way the union of the masculine and feminine, and the equal importance of each is apparent.

It is true that the two are not depicted as part of the same single structure in the images shown above (however, sometimes the Djed is depicted combined with the Ankh as below), but this doesn't necessarily mean that they were never used in rituals in this way, i.e., as some sort of combined djed/tyet pillar.

Isis and Nepthys with djed, ankh, sun disk, raised arms, from Book of the Dead of Ani, British Museum, London, facsimile 1890; original c. 1300 BCE

There is a long tradition of pillars being used in fertility rituals, often decorated / tied with ribbons / cloth, such as May Poles. We can not have fecudity without both the masculine and feminine present, and at some point joined.

Raising of the Maypole, similar to the raising of the Djed. Djed Adorned with Tyet?

In the Predynastic Period[*before it was even associated with Osiris] it [the djed] may have originally been a representation of a fertility pole upon which sheaves of grain were suspended at festivals. This pole may have been a feature of early fertility rituals which eventually came to be associated with the god who made the land fertile [*firstly Ptah, later assumed by Atum, Sokar and Osiris]. . . the Djed Pillar festival was held annually at which an actual djed pillar was built and raised by the local priesthood on the first day of the harvest season. Raising the pillar may have originally symbolized the grains raising from the earth, but in time came to represent the god Osiris returning from the dead. -Ancient History Encyclopedia https://www.ancient.eu/Djed/

The Djed, meaning “stability," is only stable (and not scattered like Osiris' body) because Isis “knit/tied" Osiris back together after he was killed. She was the cause of “life”, and of his “welfare". 

The tyet symbol was used as a funerary amulet to protect the deceased in the journey to the afterlife.

You possess your blood, Isis, you possess your power. Isis, you possess your magic, Isis. The amulet is protection for this Great One, which will drive off anyone who would perform a criminal act against him. - Spell 156, Book of the Dead

In this way it is fitting that the symbol[tyet] would be represented as separate from the backbone of the god, for they were in fact separated by death, and Osiris did not fare well until he was reunited by his wife and his welfare restored. So too, when one is in death the "life" represented by the tyet would offer support, and enable stability. 

This goddess figurine is from Predynastic Egypt (6000-3100 BC). Figurines such as this were often used as mortuary objects. Paleolithic goddess images are often depicted as mother goddess figurines, shown and pregnant, with full figures, or sometimes like this, with raised arms as in the example below.


Female Figurine, Predynastic Egypt (6000-3150 BCE), by Brooklyn Museum 

Here the goddess is tall and pillarlike. 

This pottery [below] is from the same time period. It depicts masculine and feminine looking figures atop (next to?) a reed boat (?) with pillar/ladder type structures. There are many examples of pottery from the period with these same motifs repeated. The raised pillar/ladder looking objects are a common feature. It isn't clear what they are depicting but perhaps it is possible they are depicting some sort of bound reed structure, so in that way similar to the djed. From the looks of the images on the pottery it seems possible that the symbolism may not have been completely separate from the notion of the djed pillar and the tyet. 

Naqada II pottery, late predynastic period (3100-2950 BCE)

It doesn't appear that the goddess with raised arms statuettes were popularly produced after this period of time. However, during the period of the Ancient Egyptian Kingdoms, over the next few millennia, various goddesses, including Isis are portrayed with outstretched arms, donning feathered wings.

Seated Isis (her throne crown identifies her) with outstretched winged arms

One of the most intriguing mysteries of prehistoric Egypt is the transition from Paleolithic to Neolithic life, represented by the transformation from hunting and gathering to sedentary farming. We know very little about how and why this exchange occurred. Predynastic Period in Ancient Egypt, ancient.eu

Could there have been a shift over time, as the civilizations moved from the Paleolithic hunter gatherer societies to agricultural societies, in how this divine feminine counterpart was portrayed? As the civilizations of the Mediterranean shifted towards more patriarchal societies, as seen at the time of the ancient Greek civilization and the Roman Empire, the interpretations, representations, and roles of the goddesses would have been adapted or shifted to fit these ideologies over time, and this, not even necessarily consciously.

Here, in this depiction of the raising of the djed, Isis is seen assisting the pharaoh. She is depicted next to the pillar, like the tyet, rather than on top of it or as part of it. At the center is the djed pictured with the Double Plumed crown and sundisk of Amun-Re.


Ancient bass relief showing Pharaoh Seti I[1323-1279 BCE, 19th dynasty] raising the Djed column with Isis. West wall Osiris hall. Temple of Abydos, el Balyana, Egypt

The phallic / yonic attributes of the djed and tyet are also commonly pointed out along with the other symbolism, but this could be a secondary correspondence by nature of the objects. The djed and tyet as symbols are rich in meaning and importance even without any phallic consideration, as they represent the body of the god who dies and is then resurrected, and his wife. The djed is Osiris' backbone, not his boner. The two are by nature representative of the masculine/yang and the feminine / yin respectively (and by masculine and feminine is not meant gendered men and women. Each individual is an expression of both masculine and feminine principle even if engendered in a specific body polarity of male or female); the djed being: erect, hard/stable, straight, possessing copious seed (as stalks), and the tyet: relaxed and receptive looking with what could be considered yonic and womblike shapes. The loop itself is feminine in the sense that it is a hole which can be penetrated. 

However, if we are going to relate the symbols to their phallic meaning, it is powerful symbolism as well. The feminine is penetrated but not injured by the penetration (sexual act), and the feminine bleeds without a wound (menstruation / childbirth), this can be seen as a type of magic which the feminine possesses, whereas, when the masculine is penetrated and bleeds it is injured and dies. 

Christ Crucified (c. 1632) by Diego Valazquez. Museo del Prado, Madrid

When the feminine submits to the masculine it is seeded and able to produce new life. But in order for the masculine to be fruitful, it is necessary that it submits to a kind of death, or actual death.

Truly, truly, I say unto you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth (feminine) and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 

It was only when the masculine, as the son of God, Jesus gave himself / submitted to the cross and died, that he then was raised to new life, and gave life to the world, in the form of being the cause for the resurrection of the many, enabled by their being transformed into and one with God, as the Egyptians trusted in resurrection remembering and identifying with the death and resurrection of Osiris. 

Thus, this submission of the masculine can be seen as a kind of blessing. It is a hard passageway, yet the result is new life / fruitfulness / movement. It is a pathway out of the frozeness of death and hell. Together the masculine and the feminine, in proper balance and union, create a ladder/pillar to heaven. 

It just so happens, however that it is more difficult for the masculine to submit than for the feminine, because the polarity of high is . . . low.

For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain. Job 24:24

This is why it is said of wisdom,

. . . Compared with the light [masculine] she is found to be superior, for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom [feminine], evil does not prevail. Wisdom 7:29-30

This "superiority" seems to be in the sense that when there is movement of the yin / night it moves to light, which is generally pleasant and seen as the good, but when there is movement of the day / yang, it is overcome by the darkness of the cycle which is viewed as adversity or evil. But Jesus, as all men/women/humankind do, submitted to a mater (latin "mother') to be born in to matter (earth). And there is no doubt this is difficult. Yet the benefit we receive from this submission, i.e., being nailed to the wheel of the zodiac in birth, so to speak, is great. 

Even though it is easy for the feminine to be mistreated by abuse of power of the masculine, a woman rightfully possesses the sexual agency to either allow the masculine to penetrate the passage to the womb (place of the fertile blood) or not. She is the gatekeeper of this feminine power, and authority over this allowing of the masculine aspect to merge with the feminine. Thus the feminine is the gatekeeper of the masculine's power to create (without a fertile place to put the seed, no new life). With out this fertile earth, a place for the seed to fall, the masculine cannot have offspring physically/metaphorically/spiritually or otherwise. 

So what can we say when the masculine principle is stuck or not fruitful? Obviously it needs to work with the fertile territory of the feminine principle. This is especially true of logic (masculine) and intuition (feminine). When there is no answer, logic is stuck/not fruitful, then intuitive exploring is necessary to provide new and fertile ground to plant the seeds (ideas) of logic in and see what grows from them. Things become stagnant and stale, i.e., dead when the breath of life is withheld. This is an alchemical principle as well, the sacred marriage of the masculine and feminine elements. It is for this reason that the differences and dignity of these polarities need to be honored. Without them working together the world and everything in it physically and mentally dies, or is good as dead.

Hieronymous Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights[detail], 1490-1510, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Album Cover, Dead Can Dance, photo by Julie O.

The sexual manifestations of male and female are only physical representations of these complex concepts or realities. The All / God is the unity of the yin and yang. God is both masculine and feminine and thus creation reflects this. Nor is any one thing ever purely only masculine or feminine. As the symbolism of the yin and yang shows. They are swirling, and in each other. The yin is in the yang and the yang is in the yin in an unceasing dance. 

Yin/Yang, by Wesley Stupar (my brother), @WesleytheArch

Through physical manifestations of the yin and yang such as a person's sex, we are taught / given example about the notion of the masculine and the feminine; we are taught about God by seeing clear examples of this duality. There are countless examples of yang and yin, but no one thing is purely either male / yang or female / yin. 

God created man (the adam) male and female, as is seen on the level of the work of procreation. For it takes a man and a female biology acting together to make a baby, yet that is just one level of the masculine and feminine principles in action. On other levels individuals are/act in varying degrees of, and manifestations of masculine and feminine. This is what it means to be created both male and female in the image of God. If a man was wholly masculine and a woman wholly feminine, not only is this impossible, they would not contain a complete image of God. 

But . . . getting back to the tyet as a piece of cloth. In that way (and if it was tied on the pillar) it could be called a garment. Garment is "any article of clothing"(reduced from garnement, early 14c.), from the French garnement, from garnir "fit out, provide, adorn", from a Germanic source, from PIE root *wer- (4) “ to cover." And cover means “to protect or defend from harm”, from same PIE root *wer- (4). So to cover is to provide welfare and secure life. The goddess used her power to cover the deceased with her protection, as symbolized by the tyet placed on the neck. 

A length of cloth or chord can be also used as a girdle / belt to secure the clothing upon a body.

Rope Cincture with Tassels

Tiet is translated as “life”, “welfare", so it is interesting that this sounds like diet. A good diet provides for ones welfare. Diet is ultimately from Latin dieta “prescribed way of life," from Greek diaita, originally "way of life, regimine, dwelling". . . Just as the garb/garment of a priest is part of his dieta [prescribed way of life], parts of which resemble a tiet.

Also djed / tet, when pronounced can sound like “jet”. Jet(v.) is "to sprout or spurt forth, shoot out", ultimately from PIE root *ye- "to throw, impel." The djed having to do with agricultural symbolism and growth could be said to be something sprouting forth, and when raised, the djed juts ("jut" from same root as "jet") upward. 

OSIRIS-REx spacecraft launch, Sept. 8, 2016

This jet propulsion rocket spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx is in the shape of a pillar as it takes off, so it is not unlike like Osiris as the djed, aye? Rockets raise us to the heavens. And GUESS WHAT? The OSIRIS-REx's return capsule is set to return to Earth September 24, 2023 [update!], How exciting! Its retrieval (welfare) is dependent upon its parachute to bring it to a soft landing. Parachutes are made out of strong cloth and connected / tied with chords. So, is it Isis, as this cloth tie parachute, who is responsible for OSIRIS-REx's safe return?

Isis Wings Dance Garment, might double as a parachute

As is above, so is below . . .

P.S. Interestingly enough, too, the name for red ochre in ancient Egypt was "ded", dd, so not unlike djed, also dd. If a tyet was ever painted red, it would be dd (ochre) in color, and ochre (dd) is red. The tyet might even be painted with ochre, so it would be literally dd. Ochre red, blood=red. Fertility / life are associated with the red / blood earth, so, perhaps life=Tyet=red=ded=dd=Djed=Tet. 
Ochre is "ded", and without red / blood you're dead.