What's Your Favorite Tarot Card?

[Shalot]

Go here for your free tarot reading

http://www.cprs.co.uk/tarot/crosstriangle.php3


Mine is the Hermit:

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n25/Shalot_bucket/thehermit.jpg

[Lily Adams]

When I was in 6th grade I was really into Tarot cards. I had this friend and we'd mess around with 'em and predict people's futures and whatnot in my History/Math class I remember.

We had nicknames based on the cards in our two-person club. I was the High Priestess and he was The Fool.

I seriously don't remember what they all mean anymore, but I must say the drawings are really pretty. I think I still have my set around here somewhere...

I know this sounds morbid, (I kind of am morbid, though. :p) but I know I like the picture for Death. It's really neat...the one with Death riding a horse.

[amalia1985]

The Lovers.

[Riesa]

the hanged man

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/RiesaRiesa/12HangedMan.jpg


The Fool settles beneath a tree, intent on finding his spiritual self. There he stays for nine days, without eating, barely moving. People pass by him, animals, clouds, the wind, the rain, the stars, sun and moon. On the ninth day, with no conscious thought of why, he climbs a branch and dangles upside down like a child, giving up for a moment, all that he is, wants, knows or cares about. Coins fall from his pockets and as he gazes down on them - seeing them not as money but only as round bits of metal - everything suddenly changes perspective. It is as if he's hanging between the mundane world and the spiritual world, able to see both. It is a dazzling moment, dreamlike yet crystal clear. Connections he never understood before are made, mysteries are revealed.

But timeless as this moment of clarity seems, he realizes that it will not last. Very soon, he must right himself, and when he does, things will be different. He will have to act on what he's learned. For now, however, he just hangs, weightless as if underwater, observing, absorbing, seeing. http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/basics/hangedman.shtml

[Bakiryu]

The fool.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o104/stsware/ar00.jpg

[Shalot]

Geez, I can't believe this thread died :lol:

Seriously, though. Tarot Cards are very cool. The pictures are fascinating. I remember back in the day when I was a kid with my little Tarot Deck and my favorite cards then were the Moon (that's supposedly my card), the Lovers, the Tower, the Hermit, the Star, and the World, and I liked the eight of swords also, but mostly my favorites where the ones in the major arcana.

My mom had some book on Catholicism and there was a picture of Jesus surrounded by a circle of stars and it struck me how similar that image was to the last card of the major Arcana, which is the World and I drew some major conclusion back then about the meaning of life from that. Anyway, the invitation is open to any tarot enthusiasts who want to share their insights.

:) Or not!

[karo]

Hey! I've just come across this thread. I'm very much interested in the Tarot. My favourite card is the Queen of Swords, (I can identify with her) and sometimes use her as a significator (card to represent oneself) when I do a spread. I'm not keen to read for others, because the cards are SO open to interpretation, and because of the stong temptation (it's only natural) to make what one has been told into a self-fullfilling prophesy (not that that's always a bad thing). I'm sceptical whether or not the cards can, or even should, realistically used for divination, but there's no doubt in my mind about the deep symbology and the wisdom represented in the Tarot.

[stlukesguild]

I've never really been at all interested in the notions of reading my (or anyone's) future) or interpreting the symbolism of the Tarot... however I did become interested in them while reading Italo Calvino's The Castle of Crossed Destinies. Calvino is known for basing his work upon external structures and chance. In the case of this book, the author attempted to unveil all the possible stories contained within the Tarot deck by responding to the cards visually... as pictures. The chance fall of the cards would dictate the unfolding of the narrative. The resulting book preserves but two of the possible narratives created in response to the chance order of the cards. In one instance the author utilized reproductions of the elegant, aristocratic Renaissance tarot hand-painted by Bonifacio Bembo for the Dukes of Milan, and currently housed between the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo and the Pierpont-Morgan Library in New York:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/t-vis.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/bembo1.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/Death-small.jpg

The second of Calvino's narratives was based upon the cruder, printed Tarot of the type often found in France and commonly referred to as the Marseilles Tarot:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/13LeMort.png

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/12LePendv.png

As a visual artist I was certainly fascinated with the imagery of many of the Tarot cards... especially the images of Death, the Hanged Man, the Magician, etc... and I was (and still am) quite drawn to the idea of creating a suite of imagery built upon the Tarot. The card that continues to make the largest impact upon me, however, is undoubtedly The Tower:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/16LeMaisonDiev.png

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/16_Major_Tower.jpg

Looking upon this image of the great tower reaching to the heavens that has been stricken down... and the figure falling from the heights I cannot but think immediately of the theme of the Tower of Babel... of max Beckmann's painting, Falling Man...

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/153.jpg

and of course, of the disturbing images of the destruction of the World Trade Center:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/wtc1.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/trade_narrowweb__300x4780.jpg

Having lived across the Hudson for a couple of years... nearly in the shadow of these buildings... and having taken the PATH train into the WTC station on a weekly basis, I cannot but help feel a certain connection with the image of the burning tower:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k255/Stlukesguild/001P--DavidinNewYorksm.jpg

[Shalot]

stlukesguild that was amazing!

[karo]

That was really interesting, stlukesguild. Thanks for the Calvino reference. I'll check it out. Sounds very inspiring. I think the parallel between the Tower image in the tarot, the fall of Babel and the 9/11 attacks is very clear. The tower, like all tarot images, is symbolic in a universal way. Falling, collapsing structures, be they great or small, real or metaphorical are dreadful to behold. I'd say it's (for obvious reasons) a deep seated fear in us. The tower image brings this out very clearly.

[BibliophileTRJ]

Have had my cards read a number of times. (A close friend was fanatical about it) This card turned up in EVERY SINGLE spread.

http://www.learntarot.com/bigjpgs/maj10.jpg

The Wheel of Fortune is one of the few cards in the major arcana that does not have a human figure as a focal point. This is because its center is above the realm of man - in the higher levels (clouds) where the destinies of all are woven together in the tapestry of life. The tarot recognizes that each person sets his own path in life, but is also subject to the larger cycles that include him. We experience chance events that appear to be accidents although they are part of the great plan.

In readings, the Wheel of Fortune can indicate a vision or realization that strikes with great force. If you've been struggling with a problem or tough situation, this card can signal that you will find the answer if you stand back and view everything from a larger perspective.

The Wheel of Fortune also represents unexpected encounters and twists of fate. You can't predict surprises; you can only be aware when one is circling around. Indeed, Card 10 often suggests wheel-like actions - changes in direction, repeating cycles and rapid movement. When the energy of the Wheel arrives, you will feel life speed up. You are caught in a cyclone that may deposit you anywhere. "Round and round and round she goes, and where she stops, nobody knows."


This sounds a lot like my life..... even though I don't put much stock (if any) in this sort of mystical hooey.