Cards that seem to have been designed for the reverse meaning when upright

When has a deck-designer really, really turned the "usual" meaning or energy of a card inside-out? I was talking about one Temperance card here, and it reminded me of another: the Temperance from Dorothy Morrison's Whimsical Tarot. In this card we see Jack and Jill, at the point where "Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after". Hardly the act of Temperance in Action, more a case of two young people who could have done with more Temperance in their physical movements than they had. Temperance-Reversed, in fact.

Are there any other obvious cards in decks you know, where the image seems to show you the opposite of what you understand by the card?


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Talking about music is like dancing about architecture. (Alice Cooper)

LOL, sounds like Jack and Jill should talk to the ferrets in the Temperance card I showed!!!

I think of both the emperor and hierophant as older gentlemen with years of experience and authority. In the Sun and Moon Tarot, they both look like young boys to me. Full of innocence and saucy cheek in taking their elder's place. Like they're just playing at authority and knowledge. I haven't yet figured out how they relate to the meanings I'm used to.

I immediately thought of the Fey's Five of Pents. With the RWS, you see two figures in poor health huddled outside a glowing stained glass window. With the Fey, the "monster" is outside looking at the fey, who are cuddled on a couch next to a fire.

In the Tarot of Transformation, what would normally be titled 'Judgement', is called 'Compassion'... with the keywords 'transcending judgement' underneath.
Hmmmmm......

In the Ancient Tarot of Lombardy (one of my all-time favorite decks!), the Tower is not broken, on fire, or struck by lightning. There are no people falling from it. To me, it seems very sturdy, and quite imposing... so perhaps that reverses the meaning.
But I actually like the card! To me it suggests that the lightning is overdue and won't be long now.. it's cautionary. I imagine that Tower as an unhealthy structure in one's life, that needs to be torn down, before it collapses under its own weight.
I actually find it to be a more disturbing image than the standard Tower card... who knows what's going on inside there, and for how long?

Oh, and I -HATE- this guy. Don't even get me started on him...
I just want to tell him to stop doing a funny little dance, and get back to hanging properly!
Clearly some woodcarver of the Vandenborre Bacchus was copying another deck, and not paying very good attention while doing so.

Rasa said:

Oh, and I -HATE- this guy. Don't even get me started on him...
I just want to tell him to stop doing a funny little dance, and get back to hanging properly!
Clearly some woodcarver of the Vandenborre Bacchus was copying another deck, and not paying very good attention while doing so.

Click to expand...

<laughter>

just don't let him see you laughing.. that will just encourage him.

Bohemian Gothic perhaps for the more usually sunny looking cards e.g. I find the 6 of Cups with two spooky children very chilling.

I like decks that twist the meaning of the cards a little, the Fey was the first deck I got that seemed to do that quite a bit (and that I really clicked with). As well as the 5 of Pents bodhran mentioned, the 5 of Chalices is one of my favourites:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=36306
and here is the card, scroll down LHS http://www.tarotpassages.com/fey-lb.htm

nisaba said:

the Temperance from Dorothy Morrison's Whimsical Tarot. In this card we see Jack and Jill, at the point where "Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after". Hardly the act of Temperance in Action, more a case of two young people who could have done with more Temperance in their physical movements than they had. Temperance-Reversed, in fact.

Are there any other obvious cards in decks you know, where the image seems to show you the opposite of what you understand by the card?

Click to expand...

Found another one myself, and ironically, it's the Temperance again, Temperance fro the Tarot of the Celtic Fairies.

A horrible little earth-spirit, wine in hand and more wine in bloodstream, sits on the back of a peaceful grazing-animal, tormenting it until it bucks and rolls wildly, trying to get it off its back.

Again, an image where Temperance is conspicuous by its absence.


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