3rd Question: Are there any stories that seem to go with particular cards?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Dec 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Sara	22 Dec 2002
What about groups of cards? Which stories are most important for you, what do they mean to you? How did you come to associate a story with a particular card? A book? Personal meditation on the cards? I was going to wait on this question, it's the one I'm personally most interested in, though, so I'm asking it now. :D Looking for things like the Journey of the Fool/Magician/Hero, how many of you associate one or more of those stories with it, and what it means in particular to you. Other stories? Personal stories? Have fun with this one. Sara

Trish	22 Dec 2002
I think every deck has its own particular story or stories. Some of them can even be intentional, like in my Cat People deck. The Majors and each of the different suits are supposed to be part of separate 'kingdoms'. And the explanations of each of the cards in the little booklet has a sort of individual story for each of the cards. It's pretty interesting. :D And even a person's individual interpretation of a card is a story in itself. ;)

Alex	22 Dec 2002
up to IX-THE HERMIT with life itself. From birth to old age. Then whatever, followed by Death. What comes after The Death is more "spiritual" as I see it. Many stories spiritualists tell about life after Death follow more or less the Fool's Journey after Death. The suit of Swords is 1) the story of my marriage 2) The story of my divorce, I'm up to the 5 of Swords right now of number 2. You might wanna look into the Mythic deck for more stories. Alex. Quote: Originally posted by Sara Looking for things like the Journey of the Fool/Magician/Hero, how many of you associate one or more of those stories with it, and what it means in particular to you. Other stories? Personal stories?

Trogon	23 Dec 2002
Hmmm... There are books and stories which have been written by others, some which I've only heard of and some that I've read. But it appears that you're asking about what stories float around in my own head when I look at a card or group of cards. Is this right? So... proceeding on that thought; The Tarot, for me, is chock full of stories... yes. But many of them seem to lie at a subconscious level for me and it takes a fair bit of effort of will to bring them out. While I enjoy story telling, I frequently find it difficult to easily put the story together. Then again, sometimes it will just pop to mind. ;) Sometimes they are allegory or just fantasy, then again, sometimes they are rooted in historical occurances or my own personal experiences. Occasionally they are based on things I've read in a book or some other source. Most of the time these stories are pretty short... something along the lines of "oh... this is what is happening here... probably brought about by this general chain of events..." These are almost always linked (in my mind) to how I interpret the cards. An example of this would be the 10 of Pentacles (RWS deck) ... It always puts me in mind of a family reunion I went to when I was younger. This was supposedly a big get together to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday... but everyone was so busy talking with one another or even going off and doing other things that very few people bothered to visit much with granddad. I have fleshed this out in my mind more from time to time... A story which I now associate with Death in the Röhrig deck is one which was written by someone else. Lilliana posted a link to it several months ago; http://www.tarotbox.com/ladydeath.html But yes, just about every Tarot card has at least a little bit of a story to it in my mind. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is why I so much prefer a deck with fully illustrated Minor Arcana as opposed to simple "pip" cards (such as the Marseilles). That's just my preference.

jamesriouxctm	23 Dec 2002
Sara, My belief is that you can look at the entire Tarot - all 78 cards - as one long story, with characters and plot, twists and turns worthy of a great epic. And I am in fact in the process of writing a book in 78 chapters, based on the imagery of the Rider-Waite deck, which follows a single character (the Fool) on his adventures and travels through life. Originally I intended this set of stories as a teaching tool and as entertainment for kids, though it took on an aura of personal exploration for a while since, for one reason another, the track of my own life seemed to be running parallel to that of the Fool... but that is a story for another day. If anyone's interested in this "Fool's Journey" that I've been writing for the past two years or so, I'd be glad to tell you more.

Sara	23 Dec 2002
Interesting replies, everyone. Thanks. Trogon, yes, I am looking for both personal stories and those that seem to be finding their way into the collective perspective on tarot. Your story associated with the 10 of Pentacles is interesting, and one I can identify with. My great grandma just turned 100, for the past many years we have had huge get togethers on her birthday, I think the turn out for them is greater than the family reunions. But people don't really spend that much time with her at them. Sometimes I feel sort of sad about it. It is an interesting association. Oh, and the individual who wrote the story "Lady Death," I know her. Winter Wren was actually in some of my art classes. I believe she graduated this last semester. She is a very interesting person to know. Jamesriouxctm, I would love to hear more about your story of the "Fool's Journey," and your perceptions on the stories of the deck as a whole. Your story sounds intriguing. Sara

paradoxx	25 Dec 2002
The 3 of swords is a conspiricy card, someone has been backstabbed or left out of the loop. heart ache, intelllectual control over the emotions. Domination. Thats about it on all decks except a few that assoicate it with discord and chaos, although destruction of some kind is almost always depicted

Liliana	26 Dec 2002
I often do the opposite of associating a card to a story, I associate a story to a card. Or sometimes Ill just see something to remind me of a card. Of course now that someone is asking for one I cant think of any I made lol. I guess theres a few Christian ones I could share. The story of Mary Magdalene in the gnostic gospels associates with the High Priiestess, as she was described as know the most intimate secrets of Christ. The story of the Virgin Mary becoming pregnant with Christ I associate with the Empress. The Hanged Man has been associated with Christs Crucifixtion, but Ive also associated with the Judas hanging himself. I associate the crucifixtion with the 10 of sords. The story of the 3 Magi following the Star to Bethlehem portrays the sense of hope in the star card nicely. The Tarot of the Saints deck has Saints and Biblical stories assigned to all the cards. :THP

Kiama	27 Dec 2002
Often when I read the cards for others, I find it easier to tell them stories which are very well-known, in order to get meaning across. The most common one I use is the biblical one of the man who built his house upon the sand, which I use for the Tower... In this story, there are two men building houses. One builds his house upon sand, and one builds his on rock. The one that built his house upon the sand got swept away when the waves swpet away the sand from beneath it. whilst the house built on rock stayed where it was, because it had firm foundations. Often when the Wheel of Fortune comes up, I tell a story about the Sphinx's famous riddle, but mostly I remember stories from my childhood, or myths, when they fals into my mind suddenly whilst reading. Which is why I cannot remember many off the top of my head! The Whimsical Tarot actually uses stories from fairytales and nursery rhymes to illustrate it's cards, which is a wonderful idea, and it's a great deck. Kiama

Sara	30 Dec 2002
These are related to the original one of this thread, so thought I'd ask it on the same thread. Are there any stories you relate to particular symbolic aspects of the cards, such as numeric? What about stories that just seem to go with the tarot and not neccessarily other spiritual systems that have been overlaid on top of it? Have fun. Looking foreward to your responses. Sara

Cerulean	31 Dec 2002
I liked these questions and think people should save them for getting to know their decks. Storytelling tarot trumps are a fun topic... My favorite light deck at the moment is the Romeo and Juliet by Luigi Scapini. I was intrigued with looking at its Wheel of Fortune card. Temperance also, which seems to be an angel or womanly figure... In a Marseilles-based or a Visconti-style deck, Fortune's Wheel might have a womanly figure in the middle and two figures on the side, usually a seated figure on top and a crawling figure on the bottom. The Romeo and Juliet Wheel sample card can be seen if you scroll down to the second range of cards in Mark Filpas' review. http: //www.spiritone.com/~filipas/Masquerade/Reviews/giulnew.html In this instance, it was King Lear and his truthful daughter Cordelia was shown at the still hub of the wheel: others who are on the wheel that is in back of her will go up and around in a fateful turn, and she will remain upright, constant and true to herself. I don't know if it was a waterwheel or a gambling game or fable that inspired the original symbolisms. Over time, the Golden Dawn assigned a sphinx on top of the Wheel... Scapini did a twist to the story scenes of King Lear and has Cordelia as Temperance. Her forgiving heart and flask of spiritual truth is giving sustenance to her mad father in need---and she seems to be an angelic presence or a spiritual one. The card is pictured on the lower right in the link below. http://www.trigono.com/tarots/TA02TAGR.htm While I'm not saying this is a personal story right now, I like having learned about the background. I feel richer for studying these tarot cards and doing searches on these characters of the theatre. It almost makes me feel like I'm studying a new storytelling form and learning a new language... Mari H.

HudsonGray	31 Dec 2002
How wide range are you talking about 'stories'? Do you mean the Fool's Journey/Magician's Journey, or personal stories about the cards, or personal meditations on them, or books written with the theme of a card as a plot, or stories with tarot in them, or particular artist's interpretations on the decks they designed, or ??? I'm not sure I understand the original question.

Sara	01 Jan 2003
HudsonGray, I'm kind of referring to all of these. Trying toask as wide a ranging question as possible, in order to fry everybody's brain. }) Actually, though I'm interested in all of them, I am particularly interested in the particular narratives which have built up around the traditional tarot (In my mind those that spring out of the Waite-Smith tradition and the Marsielles traditions, to others it may have a different meaning). That includes the Fool's/Magician's Journey, and perhaps the stories that seem to be embedded in individual cards. But yes, I am also interested in personal stories, too. I'm interested in how these interrelate to one another and their importance to people. Thanks for asking. Sometimes (even most of the time) when I ask a question I'm not sure how clear or unclear I'm being, any feedback is helpful. I'm trying to leave them as open-ended as possible. So, does this help? Sara

HudsonGray	01 Jan 2003
Ok (LOL) Here's a meditation I did on the Death card in the Robin Wood deck. I read the description for the card in both the little white book & the paperback that Robin Wood did on her deck, thought about the meanings & why she drew what she did (that was covered in her book), then looked at the card till I had it memorized visually. Putting the card to the side, I grounded & centered, and started a visualized meditation where you relax completely, call the image of the card up in front of you in all the detail you can, and make it large like a doorway. Then you enter IN to the card. What you're supposed to do is talk to the people & animals there, walk around, look at the environment in 360 degrees (including the side you can't see) and learn from that what the card is all about. The Death card in her deck shows a hooded, robed figure standing in the woods with a scythe in one hand & a banner with a rose on it above him. I entered the card on one of the woodland trails (which I recognised from hiking trails at the Audubon park on the north side of the city....interesting). Found the trial I needed and walked down it. It was a fall day, no wind. I could hear birds. I came upon the Death figure who was smoking a cigarette & hurridly put it out when he saw me, grabbed his scythe & flag & stood in the position the card had shown. I asked him what he thought of the meaning of the Death card (he shrugged, said it was pretty explanatory from the book) and found that he wasn't much help. I pointed to his flag & said I recognised what the rose & black color was for, and the paths with stones in them showing that the journey wouldn't be all smooth sailing & that I knew he blocked the other path, could I see down that? He said no. Right then there was the sound of hundreds of little kids feet & a whole flock of yellow butterflies rushed past (they made the foot sounds even though they were flying), zipping past and on down the alternate pathway. Butterflies stood for freedom to make choices, so I figured I had that. No.......my mind wanted to really drill it in for me. I heard MORE running feet & down the pathway comes this group of about a dozen little Scottsmen about a foot tall, shouting "Freedom! Freedom' like the stupid spoof of the Mel Gibson movie that they do on the Conan O'Brien Show. The little guys all run by in kilts and go around the bend, except for the last one who stops, turns around, lifts his kilt & waggles his whatsis at me! It was the first time I ever broke out laughing out loud while in meditation. Sure set the meaning into my mind too! Giving your mind free reign when doing card meditation can lead to some really unusual connections. Some of the other majors were just as funny, the Chariot reversed meaning was like a scene out of 'Cops' meets the SCA......... but the driver deserved it, he was so stuck up that he wouldn't talk to me while he was driving.

Khatruman	01 Jan 2003
I am not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I used the Fool's Journey of the Major Arcana as a plot line for a novel I am writing. Since my character is going on a personal journey, I used the Fool's Journey idea to sketch out the plot. I tried to rebel against the journey, but in many ways, by rebelling against the conventions, I fell into the true spirit of it. It was a marvelous journey and tapped into my deeper creativity in marvelous ways. Peace!

The 3rd Question: Are there any stories that seem to go with particular cards? thread was originally posted on 22 Dec 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.