Gloranthan Tarot Cards

From: Ashley Munday <Ashley.Munday_at_liffe.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 10:40:50 -0000


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.


End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #313


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