The Hanged Man is known as the Spirit of the Mighty Waters and aligned with the Element of Water. Being of Water, the meaning of this card is hard to catch and hold. It represents sacrifice, and willing sacrifice at that.
In mythology, this card is linked to the Nordic god Odin, who willingly allowed himself to be tied to the Great Tree of Knowledge for nine nights and suffered greatly - his reward was the esoteric knowledge of the Runes that were gifted to him for his ordeal.
This reminds us of the ancient ritual of sacrifice of the King in the tree grove. It was sacrifice for the survival of the tribe, and the echoes of this ancient tradition are still recognisable in belief systems today.
There is also the motif of sacrifice of one's current state of consciousness to emerge with a greater consciousness, and this requires that one must die to oneself, or let go of ego concerns in order to emerge in a higher conscious state.
That is all very well, but what does it mean to the person who is looking for happiness in love or struggling to pay the electric bill or who is dreading suffering through another groundhog day at work? If one is honest, then there is a sacrifice at play here.
Clinging to what is known and comfortable always comes at a price, and often that price is sacrifice of one's dreams and hopes. After all it is better the devil you know than one you don't?
So on the other side of the coin is the willingness to sacrifice one's comfort rather than the dream, in order to find the elusive pot at the end of the rainbow - this takes patience, and fortitude and buckets of courage and is not for the faint-hearted.
And here is the deeper Mystery.
Being willing to sacrifice what one has to gain to reach the heart's desire is not enough. You must also let go of the attachment to the result, to be equanimous with what comes to you and to truly be free of the attachment is when you will find real success and peace and happiness.
Image "The Hanged Man" © lulebel.deviantart.com