View Full Version : More tarot on TV!
Rhiannon
19-09-2002, 09:56
Last night while watching the premiere of Fastlane (Wednesday nights at 9 on Fox) ;) There was a scene in which they used the tarot.
And for all of you dying to know, they even showed the deck VERY close up. It was the RWS deck, the one with the blue plaid backs. The cards drawn were even appropriate to the scenario (which I won't get into right now because it would take too long). The cards pulled were Death, Knight of Swords and Justice.
Very good show overall I thought, funny and fast paced, and NOT afraid to show the tarot and be ACCURATE with it! Woo hoo!
R :)
Faerie Lin
19-09-2002, 10:08
I watched this lastnight too! and thought it was cool they showed the tarot. The guy was a 3 stacks cutter. :D I wanted to see his tarot room longer... looked kinda cool. Did you notice the bead curtain? hehehehe
lin
Originally posted by Rhiannon
The cards pulled were Death,
Is it even possible for Tarot to be read on TV or in the movies without Death showing up?
Rhiannon
19-09-2002, 11:57
Um, no, I don't think it is possible for that to ever happen.... but at least they didn't use the Devil! ;)
R :)
Originally posted by Rhiannon
Um, no, I don't think it is possible for that to ever happen.... but at least they didn't use the Devil! ;)
R :)
Probably saving him for the next episode ...
I have moved this thread to the Talking Tarot forum as it is better suited there.
Thank you
Phoenix
Co-Moderator of Tarot Books
Hi, all!
I think there's going to be something about Tarot cards on the CSI premiere next week. I keep catching the last part of the commercial for it, where Grissom says, "The Death Card" and you see some cards on a table.
Another instance of the Death Card...imagine that!
Peace,
Melvis
:TSTRE
HudsonGray
20-09-2002, 03:37
I just saw the commercial too, it was on tonight--it's the standard Ace of Spades from a regular card pack, not tarot. Unless they have that come in later....not sure. The season opener is next week I think.
did you guys already discuss the use of the Hierophant in the Witchblade this summer (or whatever it was for you a couple of months ago!)
the whole episode was about a guy (bad guy) who used the Hierophant as his "calling card", left it everywhere to show he'd been around. then they end up going to a reader (who is a guy from the Doors!) and he does a reading for the main character. it was rather funny, and an interesting episode. connected it very well to some situations, but i'm not sure how the overall look of tarot and tarot readers came off.
Rhiannon
30-09-2002, 09:23
Yeah, I saw that one, napaea! It was Roger Daltrey from The Who. He was also playing the role of the Devil in that episode (reprising a role from the previous season) so the card reader turned out to be the devil. He did do a CC spread for Sarah, and I think it came out as all majors... can't really remember.
R :)
Thirteen
30-09-2002, 14:02
Let's see, we've already got two:
1) Curtain of beads over the door a MUST
2) Death card inevitable
And I'll add that the Death card is most often a skeleton drawing and is read as "DEATH!"--never rebirth (grumble, grumble, stupid, unimagnative writers....)
Always wanted a curtain of beads m'self....
A third rule: tarot is never read on TV in a well-lit, open, or spacious environment.
Rhiannon
01-10-2002, 09:39
And whoever the reader is, they must wear very flowing garments such as scarves or at least robes of some sort. ;)
R :)
As a side note to that, it seems in Romance novels, the lovers is the inevitable card to turn up. lol
Eyes of Night
02-10-2002, 17:00
Actually, I remembre one episode of Seinfeld when George got a reading because he wanted to go on a vacation (not sure if that's it, it was a while ago). The woman actually looked normal and she was reading in her appartment. She was pregnant and smoking, and Elaine kept bugging her about it, so I think George never got his cards read.
also i believe there was an X-Files episode where a serial killer went to get his cards read. of course the death card showed up here, but the room WAS well lit. actually looked really homey, white room very comfy feeling, and if i remember it right, the reader didn't seem like a TOTAL freak.
oh gosh oh golly, how do we like this with the Death card being found as a clue in all these murders in Washington?! and my mom just finding out i read the Tarot! boy my family will be lighting candles and praying for my soul after this! i wonder how this will influence the clientele of readers???
darnit, I'm a big Who fan and I always forget that Daltrey's an actor. He shows up and I miss it...
also, TV and movie tarot readers must never have allregies or sensitivities of any kind, because their "tarot rooms" are always choked in incense smoke...
napaea, good luck with your family. if they are fairly literary you can try throwing some Joseph Campbell at them and talk about how symbolism serves an important role in society, etc.
Lovelace
09-10-2002, 23:01
My roommate is a big My So-Called Life fan, and told me once that the tarot showed up in an episode. She even showed me a transcript of it - sheer nonsense, saying something about how the World is all about the masks we wear. Come again? I think it was someone's wacky mom doing the reading. Personally, I'm a fan of Dead Alive when it comes to tarot in movies.
HudsonGray
10-10-2002, 14:51
They used tarot very effectively on several episodes of the Roswell series, it was pivotal in two of the episodes, but I think tarot showed up in 4 or 5 different episodes during the 3 years it was on tv.
Old decks have shown up in Buffy episodes (as well as a Rider Waite deck that Willow had & used around Tara). And a hand made deck was used in the first season when Drusilla did a reading about Angel--NICE deck from the 4 cards we were able to see, but not the standard tarot.
X-Files had that tarot/psychic episode called 'Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose' (very nicely done too).
I don't watch Charmed, but I know they've had decks used there.
You know, I don't think tarot was ever used on Star Trek or Babylon 5. Bummer!
i saw an episode of that mystery show "Monk" and they had a tarot card as a clue to a murder. I don't really remember the significance of finding the card; it was cut in half with jagged edges (it wasn't the Death card, darn i forget what it was! i think it was the Tower) and they found the other half in some goofy bar. so it didn't seem horribly tied to the show, just found it as a clue to where a suspect might be.
by the way; thanks Qolus! i'm breaking my mom in slowly! :)
Hudson: i LOVED Roswell, but don't remember the tarot episodes at all...can you give me a little of the storyline?
HudsonGray
17-10-2002, 15:14
The Roswell show had Maria going to the tarot reader that her mom uses. There were 3 different episodes where she went, one she was alone, one she was dragging her best friend along, and one where all four of them (the couples) went.
That last one was where the reader sent the others all out of the room except for Michael & put down the Lovers card, explained that it was important in his life for his entire future, then gave him the card & told him that in the next evening he'd know what she was talking about. This was one of the last episodes, he was on his motorcycle at night, pulled the card out, looked at it & changed his mind about running away, dropped the card on the road and went back & saved the group from this gunman who was going to kill Max & the gang during a school event. (last episode? second last episode?).
Anyway, I had most of the series on tape till my sister borrowed them & her kids taped over the episodes............ They do NOT get my Babylon 5 tapes!
HudsonGray
17-10-2002, 15:23
Napaea, check this one out!
The URL has tv shows & movies which had tarot decks used, even lists the decks (if known).
http://www.tarottotes.com/item.asp?IID=43
They only list one of the Roswell episodes though, but do have several Buffy episodes listed.
wavebreaker
20-10-2002, 16:13
Tonight's episode of Monarch of the Glen on the BBC showed a tarot reading.
The spread was: the Fool, the Wheel of Fortune, the Emperor and (yep, there it is again!) Death...
The reader didn't give an explanation for the Death card, they only showed the querent being very shocked about it and thinking it meant her husband was going to die. She then ran home and was just in time to save her husband from being electrocuted while trying to fix the wiring... *sigh*
I didn't recognise the deck. The back was very much like the black and blue checkered back of the Rider-Waite, only this one was black and red. The Death card showed a skeleton and the Emperor card a man dressed in purple. Does this sound familiar to anyone??
Edited to add: It must have been the Tarot of the Witches (http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/tarotwitches/index.html).
Originally posted by tarotlady
Tonight's episode of Monarch of the Glen on the BBC showed a tarot reading.
The spread was: the Fool, the Wheel of Fortune, the Emperor and (yep, there it is again!) Death...
The reader didn't give an explanation for the Death card, they only showed the querent being very shocked about it and thinking it meant her husband was going to die. She then ran home and was just in time to save her husband from being electrocuted while trying to fix the wiring... *sigh*
I am soooo annoyed now! I was gonna watch Monarch, but then they said it was a spooky Halloween special,so I thought nah, Midsomer Murders instead... Turns out tat Midsomer showed a deck of cards, but I didn'tget to see what cards or which deck. Wish I'd turned to Monarch of the Glen now... :(
Kiama
wavebreaker
21-10-2002, 06:49
Originally posted by Kiama
I am soooo annoyed now! I was gonna watch Monarch, but then they said it was a spooky Halloween specialThere wasn't anything spooky about it really. Lexie though there was a ghost at Glenbogle, but it turned out there was a perfectly normal explanation for all the "strange" things that were happening.
At least the tarot reader wasn't some cliche gypsy woman, but a perfectly normal looking lady... ;)
hudson:
(cat is on lap, forgive typos)
i cant believe i only remember one of those tarot episodes! i'm sure i saw the whole series! i loved that show!
i remember the one with michael now that you descrieb it, o i loved that episode!
and i cant' believ you lost the whole series cause of your sister! grrrrrrr! i hate that...maybe it will come out on dvd? we should campaign for it!
I don't know if this has already been mentioned or not, but I found this and I thought it was rather interesting.
I mentioned on the Tarot In Fiction (http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8898) forum that I was curious about Tarot infuence in such cartoons as Card Captors and Yu-Gi-Oh!, and I found this link:
http://www.angelfire.com/anime3/moonanime/cards.html
The cards are very interesting and Tarot-like, don't you think? :D
Briarfoote
03-12-2002, 17:48
OK, I admit to being a Buffy watcher. :D
I have seen a few passing shots of tarot cards in connnection with Willow *sigh* ... oh, sorry ... but they are just passing shots. I never did figure which deck it was. :(
Another tarot in tv moment. The other night I was watching a show called Marshall Law, or something, an Aussie series, I don't normally watch it. Anyway, there was this lawyer who's client was a witch, and she did a tarot reading for the lawyer, using the good ol' Rider Waite Smith. Guess what - neither the Death nor Devil cards came up! ;) Instead they had the Tower (referring to a troubled financial past) and Justice (to indicate that the court case would go well). Nice to see TV writers starting to use other cards on shows :)
Kath
Faerie Lin
12-12-2002, 15:11
Okay found another one!
I'm sitting here bored, baby is sleeping so I decided to watch John Carpenter's Ghost of Mars.
And lo' and behold the 2 guys from the crew on the train are playing some type of game with the Fantastical Tarot Deck! I had to rewind and pause it to make sure (hbo in demand) and yep thats the deck!.
Okay, back to my movie now...
lin
Another one: A rerun episode of Sliders, in which the four characters are dumped into a San Francisco run by sorcerers, occultists and shamans of various sorts. A tarot card reader beckons them into her tent, and lays down a cross-shaped spread of face-down cards. But, annoyingly, the cards are never turned over... the reader simply tells them what they need to do next.
The cards are indistinctly seen, but I thought they seemed to be from one of the Thoth decks.
Very nice decor in the 'gypsy tent', by the way. And naturally there was a bead curtain.
Originally posted by rota
Very nice decor in the 'gypsy tent', by the way. And naturally there was a bead curtain. I've always rather fancied the idea of a beaded curtain... but where to put it??? :D
Originally posted by Alissa
I've always rather fancied the idea of a beaded curtain... but where to put it??? :D
I have one, they're really good for stopping flies from getting into the house.
Love
Sulis xx
lunalafey
25-05-2004, 03:23
Originally posted by rota
Another one: A rerun episode of Sliders, in which the four characters are dumped into a San Francisco run by sorcerers, occultists and shamans of various sorts. A tarot card reader beckons them into her tent, and lays down a cross-shaped spread of face-down cards. But, annoyingly, the cards are never turned over... the reader simply tells them what they need to do next.
The cards are indistinctly seen, but I thought they seemed to be from one of the Thoth decks.
Very nice decor in the 'gypsy tent', by the way. And naturally there was a bead curtain.
LOL--- you saw that one this morning too!!!!
small corrections- I reognised the deck instantly from thier backs
It was the LARGE version of US Games Native American deck.
Two cards where turned over- first the center card- DEATH- lol-
{so far I have always seen the death card in every program with tarot} NOW-- this death card showed the grimm reaper in the same art style- but no such card exists in the NA deck. The second cards turned over was the top card- it was hard to tell, I thought it was 'indolance'- 8 of Cups I believe. {I have 'retired' this deck so it's been a while since I have seen it}....but then I got curious- what does the Death card look like- I had forgotten.
So I get my NA deck out, pull it from the bag- I happen to pull it with the faces up- the top card I see was the card in the show- it's Death-
My deck is so good to me- I did not have to thumb through it at all-
wadeeddy
27-08-2004, 04:17
do you knowa way for getting a dvd about these US Games Native American decks? i would appreciate if you could write to edited to remove personal e-mail addresswith the dvd name
and where to get it
thank you! ed
blackroseivy
27-08-2004, 13:06
I am a huge X-Files fan, also a huge Witchblade fan - I wish it hadn't ended when it did, & *where* is the MOVIE??!! - Well anyway, a couple of years ago, on EBay I won a bunch of PROP-DECKS from Witchblade - as you might imagine, they are RWS... the loose (unwired) ones are unusable because there are a bunch missing, & a bunch of repeats. Oh well! I'm thinking of selling them or something - I *might*, that is! Not sure, they *are* kinda special!
Sophie-David
18-01-2005, 15:47
I just saw a positive depiction of Tarot, or perhaps playing card divination, on the sci-fi weekly, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda - the only TV that I watch regularly. This is from the January 7/05 episode, #510, "The Test".
The wise alien woman, Trance Gemini (Laura Betram), a role expressing the High Priestess archetype, uses hex shaped cards for divination. The first card is the something of Moons, reversed. This is the first of five cards that are reversed. We don't see the other cards clearly, and Trance doesn't comment on them individually. Then she deals a last card below the others, also reversed. Trance isn't happy with all the reversals, "its not good" - but she doesn't elaborate. But at least there's no Death card. If the reading was indicating blockage, delay, and illusion then it was pretty accurate.
The hero-captain Dylan Hunt (Kevin Sorbo) does take the reading seriously, and the reading takes place quite naturally as if its something Trance would normally do. But I don't remember seeing her use the cards before. The reading took place in the after-hours bar where the crew were hanging out. The episode is described here, but with no mention of the reading:
http://www.andromedatv.com/episodes/season5/epi_510.html
paradoxx
22-07-2005, 19:26
I would hope that Tarot isn't that looked down upon to leave such an important part out of the story review. The revelations of that episode were important in the character development overdrive that the last season did with good tact, being stuck in the backwater of the three galaxys will do that to a character, and their actor.
considering the nature of the last episodes of Andromeda, the reversed sun was a fortelling of the complicated sitautions that Hunt would have to overcome with his abilities and intellect.
and
I was watching a rerun of Deep space nine first season, where Kira had to evacuate an old man from his lunar homestead. His goal was to finish what he started, his fire alter, covered in hexagram tiles, which Kira had to destroy to make her point well known. The Fire Alter was the shape of a flat-pyramid and the destruction immedietly reminded me of the Tower card.
The moon was being transformed into an energy redirect.
I watched an episode of Without a Trace last friday where there was this tarot reader who went missing. I just can't figure out which deck she used since it seemed to be some type of RWS clone but more elaborate and in an oil painting style with more details than the usual RWS.
Why oh why do they always do the same things when there's a tarot reader in tv?
Here's a list of rules I've noticed (in addition to the bead curtain and scarves):
1) the cards are always read on a preferably round table that is covered with several velvet or silk embroidered cloths, the more color and patchwork, the better
2) there's always a dimly lit victorian style lamp hanging low above the table, long fringes on the lamp are compulsory
3) the following items are always found near the reading place or in the house where it is: a skull, voodoo dolls, candles with a printed tarot wheel on them, ritual altar, bloody knives...
4) the death card always shows up and it always literally means death. Also, the devil card signifies a bad person
5) tarot equals satan worship and is always accompanied by weird rituals having to do with blood etc., a tarot reader can't be a christian and the point that these things are against all good and proper must be emphasized
6) a tarot reader's parlour always needs to have atleast one hippie present
7) you cannot mention tarot without the words 'mumbojumbo' uttered in the same sentence or directly afterwards
8) when tarot cards have been read or they are being read, someone always dies
9) one cannot read the cards if one is not psychic
:D
In the movie Hostage (featuring Bruce Willis) there are several tarot cards visible in the young girls room. And guess what. No death card! Gasp! Emphasis is on the tower, which i think is more appropriate.(Is this spelled correctly?)
Glass Owl
09-03-2006, 08:43
Has anyone else seen the movie, "Monster-In-Law"? Near the beginning of the movie, 3 characters are outside with a tarot deck on a table. The scene has something to do with the fact that J-Lo's character is teasing one of her male friends to give her a reading. She says something about a particular card that he picks up but I can't remember what it was. Now I'll have to dig out the movie and watch it again LOL.
--Glass Owl
In the movie Hostage (featuring Bruce Willis) there are several tarot cards visible in the young girls room. And guess what. No death card! Gasp! Emphasis is on the tower, which i think is more appropriate.(Is this spelled correctly?)
If I remember correctly, the cards were very LARGE, almost like magazine page sized...