Storylines
OK, here are the storylines I've come up with so far. Some are quite involved and some only have a few cards. I still have a number of cards that I can't place.
Pope Storyline #1
A young woman is taken advantage of by a man of the cloth (the hand coming from the sky represents the divine as does the Pope) (Moon). He continues to live the good life as she is left alone and pregnant, resenting him for what he's done to her. (2 Swords) She has their child baptized in the Church as she continues to hatch a plan of revenge against him. (Knave Chalices) He begins to feel bad for what he's done and wrestles with his conscience. (Hierophant) He seeks forgiveness from God for his sins (Ace Pentacles). While he's asleep, she sneaks into his quarters and poisons his drink. (7 Chalices) One of the bishops(?) comes into his quarters to find him dead, the poisoned drink spilling from the cup that's gripped in his lifeless hand. (King Chalices) She returns to see him laid up in state. (King Pentacles) She decides that she will take his place, to the surprise of the priest who baptized her child. (10 Swords). There's an uproar from the various sectors of the community as she prepares for her first service. (8 Chalices) The townsfolk are ready to run her out of town by force if necessary, but Mona Lisa tries to talk them out of it. (Queen Swords) She wins the ensuing battle (6 Wands) and gives her first service. (High Priestess)
The Farming Family
A father and his young son are working to convert their grain into meal. (Knight Chalices) A few years later, the son goes off into the forest to chop some wood. (Knight Swords) Something happens and the son is killed. (I can't find a card to fill in this part of the story.) Without his son, the father is rather helpless. (2 Wands) The father pours something (blood?) onto the son's grave as his wife and younger son look on. (5 Chalices) The son arises from the dead as his family awaits him with clothes and food. (Judgement)
The Seamstress
An alchemist looks on happily as the smoke clears from the red heart that he's created. (Magician) An old seamstress cuts some fabric (Ace Swords) onto which she sews the red heart. (Temperance)
There has to be more to this story. Who is that dress for? What power does the heart have or give? I don't see any other cards that appear to go with this storyline....
The Young Dandy
A young man gets his palm read. (The Stars). Whatever the palm reader told him causes him to change his appearance to that of a female. (Death) He poses for a portrait while holding a green jewel. (8 Pentacles)
The Tavern
A couple dines at a tavern (6 Swords), while at another table a group of men are drunk/well on their way to getting there. (4 Chalices) A man is withholding wine from a woman at his table (2 Chalices). A fight breaks out between that man and another man, trashing the tavern. (Justice) The tavern owner is left trying to figure out what happened as he's surrounded by the devastation left by the fight. (Emperor)
Destruction
In the night, a man carries a lit torch as he walks toward a house with a light burning in one window. (The Devil) The next morning, what's left of the house is still smoldering, while the female resident of the house looks as if she still doesn't know what hit her. (The Tower)
The Money Bush
A working class man finds a money bush sprouting outside his house. (10 Pentacles). He digs holes throughout his house, burying a coin from the money bush in each hole in the hopes of getting more money bushes to sprout. (Knave Pentacles) At some later point, his increased wealth slows him down as he tries to escape from a charging bull, but he won't let go of the bag that's holding him back. (4 Pentacles)
The Suitors
A number of young men all bearing gifts wait on the street below a second story window. (Lovers) The young woman makes her choice and gives herself to one of the men. (Queen Pentacles) She apparently made the wrong choice as she lays desolate outside her front door as an old woman (her mother?) walks (runs?) away from her, angrily looking back. (3 Chalices)
Pope Storyline #2
The Pope is run out of town by angry townspeople. (5 Wands) He ends up poor and hurt in another town. (Fool) With the Pope gone, all hell breaks loose in the town. (8 Swords) The King crafts his decree, listing his punishment for the townsfolk. (King Swords) He sends his messenger to the town. (Knight Wands) He reads the King's words as the townsmen beg for forgiveness and the church burns in the background, with the inference being that the King decreed a scorched earth policy. (8 Wands) The next morning a woman who appears to have escaped from the town is on her knees facing a desolate forest. (5 Pentacles)
Somehow I think this storyline is supposed to mesh with the other pope storyline, but I can't figure out how.
The Thief
A young and poor child accepts a gold coin from someone. (6 Pentacles) When he doesn't have money, he lives off stolen apples (9 Chalices) until he gets caught. (Empress)
The Magical Child
An old woman performs some kind of magical ritual over the left hand of Mona Lisa. (4 Swords) Years later, she sees Mona Lisa and her child walking through the marketplace. (10 Chalices) A couple of years later, the child is able to levitate the family cat off the ground. (Strength) As a young man, he is able to fly with the help of homemade wings. (Chariot) Many years later, a much older Mona Lisa points to a painting she's just finished of her son, Leonardo da Vinci. (World)
The Bassinet
A baby grasps the forefinger of an obviously wealthy woman. (Knave Wands) The baby is later sleeping in his bassinet as a woman reads a letter by candlelight. (3 Swords)
There must be some connection between these cards and some other storyline. Might the baby in the bassinet be the magical child?
The Attack
Mona Lisa and her child are being threatened by a man with a big stick. (7 Wands) Her attackers flee as she levitates into the air. (5 Swords)
Might her child be the magical child? Might he have gotten his levitation abilities from his mother?
The Bird
A beautiful and rather elegant blue, silver and purple bird rests on Mona Lisa's outstretched arm, offering her a coin. (9 Pentacles). Some time later, that bird is found dead in the forest with a sword thrust into it. (Knave Swords)
The Statue
A young man chisels a statue of a naked young woman out of a piece of marble. (Sun) Some time later, that statue is found in a hidden alcove behind a wall by to men who appear to be surprised to have found it. (9 Wands)
The cards I can't place
- The Wheel - appears to show the change of the seasons from summer to winter
- Hermit - an older man painting a valley scene
- Hanged Man - a puppeteer entertaining children with his two pope marionettes (If there are two separate pope stories, this card could be linking them if the puppeteer is telling the stories of the two popes. Although one of the stories as I've written it is definitely R-rated and therefore shouldn't be told to children that young!
)
- Ace Chalices - a well-off Mona Lisa is in a marketplace
- 6 Chalices - a couple climbs the hillside next to a waterfall
- Queen Chalices - Mona Lisa floats above a small pool of water
- Ace Wands - a young man paints a forest scene
- 3 Wands - a young couple climbs a ladder into the sky
- 4 Wands - performers are on stage doing acrobatics and/or a play
- 10 Wands - an older bearded man kneels on the bank of a body of water, holding his left hand in a "STOP" motion
- Queen Wands - Mona Lisa receives a staff from an arm that appears from within an ornate box that appears within a puff of smoke
- King Wands - we see from the canvas point of view a man painting red wavy lines onto the canvas
- 7 Swords - a cat sees a rat that's busy eating
- 9 Swords - I'm not even sure what I'm seeing. Six people are trapped in a picture frame, looking out at a forest scene. I see faces that express interest, disdain, happiness and shock, so I'm not sure what's going on.
- 2 Pentacles - a well-to-do young woman pulls a medallion out of a box
- 3 Pentacles - an armored guard blocks an old man and his mule from entering a gated compound
- 7 Pentacles - a man sends away a woman and child from a building (I guess this could be part of the tavern storyline. The tavern owner turned away mother and child in need and his karmic justice was that his tavern got trashed.)
- Knight Pentacles - a thief(?) gallops away from a monastery carrying a bag of money while a monk raises his hand in anger at the young man
I still haven't looked at the meanings in the LWB. Maybe I'll get a chance to do that later today.
Looking forward to input from others on my storylines and groupings. Also looking forward to seeing what storylines and groupings other people come up with.
Rodney
Since I won't be using this deck for the Intensive Deck Study (IDS) either, any breakthroughs I don't make before 3/19-22 (I'm starting the IDS somewhere in there) won't be made until after June 19-22, when I can touch other decks again.