What card am I? (literature clues)- Solved

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Nov 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Diana	02 Nov 2003
Whenever I read this final passage from Primo Levi's book "The Truce", a whole lot of different Tarot cards appear in my mind. But there is one that stands out more than all the others. That's the one you need to guess. It is a dream within a dream, varied in detail, one in substance. I am sitting at a table with my family, or with friends, or at work, or in the green countryside; in short, in a peaceful relaxed environment, apparently without tension or affliction; yet I feel a deep and subtle anguish, the definite sensation of an impending threat. And in fact, as the dream proceeds, slowly or brutally, each time in a different way, everything collapses and disintegrates around me, the scenery, the walls, the people, while the anguish becomes more intense and more precise. Now everything has turned to chaos; I am alone in the centre of a grey and turbid nothing, and now, I know what this thing means, and I also know that I have always known it; I am in the Lager once more, and nothing is true outside the Lager. All the rest was a brief pause, a deception of the senses, a dream; my family, nature in flower, my home. Now this inner dream, this dream of peace, is over, and in the outer dream, which continues, gelid, a well-known voice resounds: a single word, not imperious, brief and subdued. It is the dawn command of Auschwitz, a foreign word, feared and expected: get up, 'Wstawąch.'

Jewel-ry	02 Nov 2003
Hi Diana, Is it the 9 Swords??

Diana	02 Nov 2003
jewel-ry: That's great thinking, but it's not the card I'm thinking of. Of course, it was one of the numerous ones that went through my mind (in fact, one of the first ones). The 9 of Swords reversed (because upright to me, with my Marseilles mind-set would not symbolise this): the solitude and anguish of the mind not being able to let go. The vain search for the elusive light which would illumine the mind, but it stays in darkness. No, it's not the 9 of Swords (reversed).

Mystic Zyl	02 Nov 2003
Well I am thinking Tower. Not becuse of the mentioned dreams but a sense of security being shattered. A wake up call to grim reality.

Nevada	02 Nov 2003
It feels like the Moon card to me. The illusion has dissolved. Nevada34

jmd	02 Nov 2003
I would too say the Moon... so I'll have to suggest another: how about XX Judgement?

lunalafey	02 Nov 2003
I can think of a few(already guessed)- For me it's the Moon formost in my mind as well. must be if 3 of us felt that......Diana?

firemaiden	03 Nov 2003
Judgement -- oops! jmd already said that one... hmm

Diana	03 Nov 2003
The Tower was also a card that came through my mind. But then there was no illumination, no picking up of the pieces. So that image faded quickly. Then the Wheel of Fortune floated into my mind, but it floated out again as well quickly, because with the Wheel is a sense of evolution. Here the spiral seems to just go round and round and nothing progresses. I also thought of Judgement. That terrible wake-up call could have been a final judgement like in the Apocalypse. But yes dear friends and comrades: The Moon it is. Nevada got it first! The Moon. The dreams, the illusions. The madness. The irrational. Losing contact with reality. Losing oneself in the water of one's conscience. The crab that reminds of our archaic nature. The Dark Forces are always there looking for prey. We must be vigilant. Whenever I read the passage of this book, I see Levi's suicide already prepared. No-one can live with a dream like that. With that ghastly wake-up call "'Wstawąch.' It makes my blood run cold. Primo Levi is one of the modern writers who has touched my heart deeply. Over to Nevada! :)

Nevada	03 Nov 2003
I won? Okay, but it will take me a day or so to come back with a clue. I have to think about this, so bear with me. (Of course it could happen sooner, if inspiration strikes. :)) Nevada34

The What card am I? (literature clues)- Solved thread was originally posted on 02 Nov 2003 in the Tarot Games & Fun board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Games & Fun, or read more archived threads.