Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Kreative-Dragon

So, just saw the Trailer for the new Sherlock movie, and my excitement for seeing Tarot cards in the trailer took hold of me so strongly I don't even recognize Noomi Rapace as the Tarot reader.

So how is this going to work boys and girls? Has Guy done his homework, or are we going to overplay and twist the Tarot lore, or is it even going to have a large part (couple of 'card' references in the trailer)
AND, is the Church going to complain this time? Or keep their head?
 

Queen of Disks

It's got the tarot reader and Robert Downey Jr in drag. :heart: :D I might actually go see this in the theater! :thumbsup:
 

Kreative-Dragon

:p I know QoD, this looks so good.
Noomi is kind of into this stuff, so hopefully she steered it into a workable direction.
 

Storm82

what deck is she using ?
 

The crowned one

Oswald Wirth’s tarot. The original.
 

Freddie

Looks great and That deck is a special one for me. Loved the first Robert Downey Jr Sherlock film from a few years back. My son will be begging to go...hope the cute bulldog is back in it.



Freddie
 

Mycroft

The Oswald Wirth connection seems to be set up in the first film. At one point as Holmes is looking through the book which gives Lord Blackwood (now there's a name to conjure with) his power, the image on the left is given a nice full frame close-up;

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/476/001vuc.jpg

It's a variant on the 'Sigil of Baphomet' from the 1897 book 'La Clef de la Magie Noire', by French nobleman and occultist Stanislas de Guaita. The interesting thing about this design is that it was the inspiration for the Oswald Wirth Baphomet design created in 1930 which is shown on the right. Even more interesting is that Wirth was de Guaita’s secretary and assistant, and may even have created the original engraving.

Also in the first film, Holmes gives us a Crowleyesque 'Hanged Man' while Blackwood opts for a more traditional interpretation;

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/2897/002stv.jpg

There's also the fact that Oswald Wirth's card 15 - Le Diable, follows Eliphas Levi's Baphomet, and has on the right arm the word “solve” while on the left arm is the word “coagula.” This of course forms one of the dictums of Alchemy, and in Latin: 'Solve et Coagula' is 'Separate, and join together' (or 'dissolve and coagulate').

To me, this isn't a million miles away from Holmes' famous axiom; "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Given Conan-Doyle's lifelong fascination for all things magical, mystical and spiritual, I can't help but wonder if there are more layers to the Sherlock Holmes stories than first meets the (private) eyes.