===========================================
+The fool
She holds a white rose bud
Innocence.
It's a satchel on a stick. Like for travelling. The Fool has carried a bag or a sack on a stick since the earliest of images - it symbolizes that they are embarking on a journey. It can be a physical journey, but is assumed to be a spiritual journey of growth, maturity and enlightenment.
Mystery. That's what she's seeking, and (unbeknownst to her) what she already has. In many of life's quests, we already know all the answers - we just don't know it yet.
Warning. DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! DANGER! Note directions of front feet.
A lot of things. Common sense, the animal kingdom, friends, bystanders... Basically, everyone other than the Fool.
It is. Note that the fool's gaze is on the sun, she is following what she thinks is a path to enlightenment. In addition, note that the Fool may think she knows where she's going and is walking foward confidently, happily and care-free, but look again - she's blind.
Oh, that looks like a looooooong drop.
Heading out into the world for all the wrong reasons.
I wonder if she'll bounce?
It's called a lemnescate. =) In his realm of power, he has no limits.
Exactly. Bre'er Fox, Brother Fox, The Sly Fox. The trickster, the prankster, the wily one. Related to Coyote of Native American mythos.
Or maybe all three.
"End, begin, all the same!" (Dark Crystal)
The head on the table can be the Fool being worked on (I.E. being taught), or it can be the Fool being built, or it could be the Fool being repaired. Or all three. The tongue-sticking-out expression can be the fool's response (I.E. this is yuckky), it could be something he's making the head do, it could be a response to the "learning" process. Or all three. This part is intentionally ambiguous.
They're the symbols I'll be using for the four suits (swords, coins, staves, cups).
Pink. It stands for "a state of grace." Note that in the reverse, it's yellow.
Consider it a pleasant if mischevious smile.
Very intentional. Now he's not Fox or Coyote, he's Loki.
That's exactly what it is. The writing says TORA ASCII ANSI X3.4-1969. The TORA element comes from previous images of this card (such as RWS). It is the "Great Law," the hidden mysteries. She's holding it out and offering it to the fool freely. But, it is ancient knowledge - knowledge the Fool is not prepared to assimilate quite yet (who's going to have a punch-card reader in THAT day and age?). Water in the background - subconscious. Veil - the Veil of the Temple. Two pillars are traditional, they even have names, not important to this explanation. Bottom line - she has what the fool is looking for in card 1 (symbolized by the blue rose at her side), but it's ancient knowledge, and fool isn't ready to assimilate it yet.
And yes, the card is punched in ASCII following ANSI X3.4-1969. It's just too small to see the punches. If you COULD see them, however, you'd see that what's punched is "TORA THE GREAT LAW" - that's all that would fit on one card, after you toss in the required headers for the first-punch card of a series (document header, etc).
Like Prego's secret herbs and spices, you'll just have to trust me that they're in there.
Yes, but only because it's traditional for her to have it. The moon and sun are based on a mis-translation by Waite, but I kept it anyway. Moon at her feet, sun at her head, she is an ancient priestess.
In this set of cards, yes, the blue visor represents characters who see the world clearly (meaning that they are privy to the hidden mysteries, etc). Blue, the color of the sky.
Rest position, nothing significant, it's just the way her face looks. I call that model (which you'll be seeing a lot) a Fembot. And that's just the way I made the lips - very sexy.
By the color of her metal hide. Her hide is blue - the color of the High Priestess' robes in most other cards.
Sun is missing, too. She has no power over heaven or earth.
Yellow = Bad, in this setup. Yellow roses never mean anything good in this setup. Infidelity (both to sworn oaths and in the sexual sense, depending on the situation), pettiness, cowardice, small-mindedness... All based on situation. Basically, yellow rose = bad in this setup.
Red visor/eye means one who sees, but does not see clearly - often, they see what they want to see, like most people do. Very often, all they can see is a world of darkness and evil, they simply cannot see the good things around them. Often, they are simply angry or fearful. Sneaky, conniving and evil characters will see with a red visor.
Think "terminator eyes." Or Cylons.
Hey, baby, you don't need to go on that long, painful journey of self-discovery. Here's some money - go buy yourself something. Money solves all problems, babe. Just ask anyone who doesn't have money - they'll tell you, money is all you need.
Precisely.
Note the stack of punchcards in the picture. And the book, which has a single punchcard laying atop it. This is the information the fool is seeking. But, again, it's ancient data, and the format is limited. But, in this card, we see the fool making an effort, and turning to the only person who might know - the Empress. The Empress represents a lot of things - the Perfect Mother, the Perfect Wife, the Perfect Sister, the Female Protector (notice the shield), the Ultimate Huntress (E.G. Diana/Artemis), the Perfect Woman, the Earth Mother, the Earth Goddess. She is all woman, all women, and all perfection.
No, seriously. That's what The Empress card represents.
Well, needless to say, there ain't no such woman alive today, much less in the far future. So, the Fool has to go to the museum to try to find out what she needs to know.
She's looking at a painting of someone who's been dead a long time.
Earth-mother, Gaia, Diana, etc.
Mystery, again.
Purple = Maternal/Paternal Love. Perfect Mother, again - just in front of the rose is exactly what the Fool is looking for.
No. What's significant is that it's merely a painting. Again, the information is limited. Not for want of the Empress trying to give it, but simply because nobody is truly that perfect. In the card's image, the Empress is just a painting - there's only so much data the Fool can glean. In real life, any Empress we come across is always going to be less than perfect. Momma can't be there to bandage every boo-boo, someday, you have to grow up and live your own life.
Very traditional. Empress as the Ultimate Female Protector. Momma defends her babies to the death. The Queen fights for her kingdom to the last breath. Etc.
Cool, ain't it? It's not supposed to be exactly clear what the fool is looking at. The frustration level of seeing something we can aaaaaalmost identify helps us empathize with the Fool's quest at this point. She can aaaaalmost get what she needs from the Empress, but the Empress simply isn't perfect - she can't give all the answers. Momma just can't answer every question, sometimes you have to grow up and find out the answers for yourself.
Both. Same thing - motherly love trying to help.
Whoever she was, she was young, she was too perfect to be human, and she died a long time ago.
Chalk her up as "calm."
This is the direct opposite of the Empress, the Perfect Mother, Perfect Wife, etc, etc, ad nauseum. Now, we see Kali, the Black Mother who Eats Her Young. <crash of thunder, spooky music>
Assume that the fool is NOT following the 'reversed' cards, things will make a lot more sense. There is no "anti-fool."
Kali has nothing for you but death. She is insanity and hatred personified. She loves her children so much, she kills them and eats them. Raw.
See previous note about raw baby munchies. Note that Kali, though called the Black Mother, is never portrayed in imagery as being black - she's always shown as being blue-skinned.
Kali destroys things. It's her bag, man. She's hip to that whole Total Entropic Heat Death of the Universe thang, man.
Pretty much, yes. Kali herself is not a symbol of anti-femminine, but ultimate negative feminine.
A closer translation (and one that I was shooting for) is "Thus shall you go to the stars." And the statue is holding a rocket, and below him, there are no people. Bada-bing, bada-boom, man's dreams realized throught the perfect leadership of the Emperor.
Like the Empress represented the perfect woman (perfect in every way), the Emperor represents the perfect man. The perfect father, the ultimate provider, the ultimate leader, the ultimate mentor, the ultimate advisor, the unconquerable king, the master warrior, etc, etc, etc. The biggest element, however, is ***DECISIVE*** The Emperor is full of manly, testosterone-fuelled decisiveness and assertiveness. He's the MAN, baby.
Yes, a rose was too small to be seen, that statue is BIG.
Nah, just a pedestrian. The Emperor, again, can't help much. And again, this is because nobody is really that perfect. Notice our emperor, though powerful and having guided man to the stars, is today just a statue. Not much info you can get from a statue, no matter how wonderful the person it honors may have been. The Fool can learn something from the Emperor, but in the end, they have to continue on their quest by themselves.
Color him indecisive and fearful. The opposite of the previous card, the indecisive and fearful emperor spells doom for those who follow him - either as a king, or as the leader of a family. Indecision leads to destruction.
Fear.
The indecisive rarely succeed.
Or, the way I intended it to mean, "Thus shall you go to Hell."
Don't think "anti-fool." There is no Bizarro-Fool following a convoluted path of self-destruction. They'd never make it off of card zero.
Could be, yes, but doesn't have to be. The basic symbology is "pope and cardinals" or "high priest and followers." This is the card of learning to follow tradition and social mores, the card of Organized Religion (note caps), the card of Conformity and Obedience to Authority.
He's purple because originally, a hierophant (which was a kind of priest of the Ancient Greeks) wore purple robes. I'm trying to get away from saying "This Is The Pope" because: 1) he isn't the pope, he's the Hierophant, the ultimate moral, traditional and religious leader in a symbolic sense. 2) I don't feel comfortable with saying "this is The Pope," giving him papal regalia (like the triple crown), and so on. Somehow, that just strikes me as... I don't know. Possibly insulting to any Catholics in the audience? Not sure. It just rubs me wrong, somehow. I know that this card in many MANY older decks really WAS the pope, but here, he's not.
In this deck, he's the hierophant, a symbol of ultimate spiritual and moral authority and leadership. He could be the pope, yes. He could also be just a local minister in a small baptist church. Or maybe the Dali Lama. Etcetera.
Blue eyes - this is a good person, knows the Hidden Mysteries, etc.
However, the Fool can't learn what they need to know from the Hierophant, either. Note that both he and the High Priestess have the same knowledge - behind both them is the same city, the same waters of the subconscious. Yet, the pillars to his side, though similar to those of the High Priestess, are not the same, and they have their own rules. The veil behind him is not easily seen through, nor is it easily passed. This is Organized Religion, this is the Tradition Handed Down For Generations That Must Not Change. It isn't easy - and though the end result would get the fool where they want to go, this isn't the path they are going to take.
Hello, I'm the Reverend Jim Jones - welcome to Jonestown! I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay. We'll be having grape koolaide for lunch.