That weird thing my brain keeps going to... Matching IP and Tarot Cards

[Johnny Unusual]

I seriously don't know exactly why my brain does this. I don't have particularly strong knowledge about Tarot reading. I guess I just like categorized symbolism?

Anyway, this might be only for me and no one else, but I just want a thread where I and anyone else can discuss "If you made a pop culture based Tarot deck who/what would be represented by which card?

I'll start with a simple one: the Middle Earth books.

I have no doubt that there are tones of Tolkien decks out there but this is you, without research, trying to figure out which you think would be the best matches.

Reminder, here are the cards in the major arcana.

0	The Fool
1	The Magician
2	The High Priestess
3	The Empress
4	The Emperor
5	The Hierophant
6	The Lovers
7	The Chariot
8	Justice
9	The Hermit
10	Wheel of Fortune
11	Strength
12	The Hanged Man
13	Death
14	Temperance
15	The Devil
16	The Tower
17	The Star
18	The Moon
19	The Sun
20	Judgement
21	The World

We'll crowd source a new concept deck. So who would be strength? Are the lovers Arwen and Aragorn or Gollum and the Ring? Is the Devil Sauron and Smaug Death or vice versa? I also want to hear your reasoning to really make this a conversation. If anything it can be a discussion about how you define the character or the work in your mind.

 

[Büge]

1. The Magician - Gandalf the Grey. Not only is the card a symbol of magic, but also mystery, guidance, and inspiration. As the card is #1, it's the beginning of a journey, so I would say it's Gandalf when he first appears on Bilbo's doorstep.

2. The High Priestess - Galadriel. The card represents intuition, the divine feminine, the future, and the subconscious. Galadriel can see into the hearts of others, and has power of divination, making her a perfect fit for this role.

11. Strength - Sam carrying Frodo up the slope of Mount Doom. The Strength card symbolizes courage and compassion, and Sam is both of those things.

16. The Tower - Gandalf's battle with the Balrog. The Tower is the symbol of sudden change, misery, and unforseen calamity. Losing Gandalf was the first step to the breaking of the Fellowship.

20. Judgement - Judgement, absolution, and second chances. This one is definitely Boromir fighting off the Uruk-Hai.

21. The World - this card represents things like travel and completion of a journey, so I would say this one is Frodo's ship bearing him to the West.

 

[Torzelbaum]

As a computer programmer my mind went the entirely wrong way when I saw IP in the title of this thread.

 

[Zef]

As a computer programmer my mind went the entirely wrong way when I saw IP in the title of this thread.

THE FOOL: 127.0.0.1

 

[Johnny Unusual]

1. The Magician - Gandalf the Grey. Not only is the card a symbol of magic, but also mystery, guidance, and inspiration. As the card is #1, it's the beginning of a journey, so I would say it's Gandalf when he first appears on Bilbo's doorstep.

2. The High Priestess - Galadriel. The card represents intuition, the divine feminine, the future, and the subconscious. Galadriel can see into the hearts of others, and has power of divination, making her a perfect fit for this role.

11. Strength - Sam carrying Frodo up the slope of Mount Doom. The Strength card symbolizes courage and compassion, and Sam is both of those things.

16. The Tower - Gandalf's battle with the Balrog. The Tower is the symbol of sudden change, misery, and unforseen calamity. Losing Gandalf was the first step to the breaking of the Fellowship.

20. Judgement - Judgement, absolution, and second chances. This one is definitely Boromir fighting off the Uruk-Hai.

21. The World - this card represents things like travel and completion of a journey, so I would say this one is Frodo's ship bearing him to the West.

Good choices (I like that the Tower wasn't one of the... uh, Towers. I might have gone with Smaug's gold hoard but yours makes more sense.

0. The Fool - This seems obvious, but I'm going to say Bilbo. The Fool is often representative of a protagonist figure, which makes sense, as many protagonists have things to learn and are often naive. But they are also reckless, meaning Bilbo is sort of a fool forced into his role and lacking many traditional fool traits. The Fool is often a wanderer or a jester or a wild man or "madman"... all traits that actually describe Gandalf more than Bilbo. And that old trickster Gandalf cajoles him in the traditional role, forcing him out of his comfort zone. And the fool can also be used as the "archetype" which is what Bilbo is within the original story.

6. The Lovers - This isn't about the idea that there are homosexual undertones that many people have read into their friendship. Whether you feel the love is platonic or more than that, it is love in some form. Plus, read this description via wikipedia:

In some traditions, the Lovers represent relationships and choices. Its appearance in a spread indicates some decision about an existing relationship, a temptation of the heart, or a choice of potential partners.

Boy does this apply. Heck, the latter twice over: Frodo bringing Gollum on board AND the ring itself.

 

[Becksworth]

As a computer programmer my mind went the entirely wrong way when I saw IP in the title of this thread.

The Tower: HTTP 500 Error

 

[Johnny Unusual]

THE FOOL: 127.0.0.1

The Tower: HTTP 500 Error

I like this game, too.

 

[Mr Bean]

21. The World - Tom Bombadil and Goldberry

If I’m reading this right the world can represent completeness but the inverted world can also be stagnation. Seems right for a pair of ageless beings who are perfectly content being in their own little corner of the world forever and not even the ring has any hold on them. The oneness with the cosmos seems to jive with how Bombadil connects with nature and the world.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

So I want to do this again.

But instead of specific characters, which Nintendo franchises should fill in the Major Arcana (and other arcana if you must). And why?

 

[FelixSH]

That sounds really fun, and I hope I won't forget it, for whenever I get back to my PC.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

A bit of a boring take but I think the Mario series would fit as the magician. The magician is often connected not only to regular type magic but also stage magic. Great, considering that Mario and his cast are often themselves "playing" themselves, an idea which began in Mario 3, where the entire game is a play (not the curtains and flat set fronts you can sometimes hide behind. He represents talent, capability and resourcefulness which not only represents the title character but it is also a series marked by reinvention of it's mechanics. Transformation is a big thing and again, is well-represented by the character and his games.