From: Ashley Munday (Ashley.Munday@liffe.com)
Date: Tue 10 Nov 1998 - 12:40:50 EET
Da Baron mentions a few correspondences (pardon the pun) between the
Major Arcana in Earthly Tarot and Gloranthan Gods.
There's a big problem with this lot, namely that a large amount of the
interpretation of Tarot cards depends on the reader. To take a few
specific examples gleaned from the mind of my other half that knows of
such bollocks / wisdom (delete where applicable):
Death: This is usually read as a drastic change, nothing to do with
shuffling forth off this mortal coil. Orlanth the Windy One would be a
better correspondence if you subscribe to him being god of change.
Fool: The fool is someone that learns, goes on journeys of self
discovery. Maybe Orlanth the Warrior (or whatever his latest name is)?
Some renditions of the fool on modern cards have him hanging upside down
from a tree, as did Odin in Norse myth so you could also pick your
favourite knowledge god as well.
Chariot: In the Ryder-Waite deck the Sphinxes are pulling in the
different direction. Because of this, some people read this one as
confusion, sort of get nowhere fast. Mastakos would perhaps not be
appropriate as he goes where he's told (I assume) and is a bit more
decisive.
The Lovers: In the Ryder-Waite deck this pair have a mountain standing
between them and symbolise overcoming barriers. In other decks they're
holding apples symbolising being barred from heaven. Make of that what
you will, perhaps the Uz being burned out of the underworld or even
Umath separating Yelm and Ernalda.
Another thing to remember is that the cards are interpreted differently
depending on where they are in a spread, and, if your reader is into
reversed cards, whether they're upside down or not.
Personally, I reckon if Gloranthan's had something like Tarot, they'd:
(a) Pick their culture's most important myths;
(b) Slap 'em on pieces of paper / card / papyrus / large rocks /
skin of defeated opponent;
(c) Shuffle 'em;
(d) Make up the results as they go along.
That is they'd behave exactly like Tarot readers in our world, but based
on experience, intuition and maybe (at the risk of mentioning that R
word) a Divination spell. You could use some ideas from existing Tarot
decks, but as each Tarot deck is an interpretation of ephemeral ideas,
it'd be better to hack out your deck, based on your understanding of
Glorantha.
Ash
PS: Ash's guide to how to get up a Tarot reader's nose: Riffle shuffle
their cards. The look of sheer horror is something to behold. This is
even more effective with Magic the Addiction players.
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End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #313
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