Tarot vs. Last Chronicles

Post by **Nerdanel** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 10:03 pm

I don't even really believe in that stuff, but I made a tarot reading for the Last chronicles anyway (from Linden's POV). If you believe in tarot you may wish to skip this topic as spoilerish. I promise I didn't cheat with the cards.

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I got the following cards in the Celtic Cross spread:

1. Ten of Swords
2. King of Cups
3. Seven of Wands
4. Three of Swords
5. The Chariot
6. The Hermit
7. The High Priestess
8. Three of Wands
9. The Sun
10. Queen of Swords

What I think this means:

The heart of the matter is Lord Foul's evil plan (Ten of Swords). It is opposed by the forces of good (King of Cups). In the story Linden is a figure of "feminine" mystical power (The High Priestess) and exhibits leadership (Three of Wands). The abduction of Jeremiah has broken Linden's heart (Three of Swords), but she has many allies (Seven of Wands) and thinks she is going to win and kick Lord Foul's behind (The Chariot). Instead, she is in for a period of introspection and searching (The Hermit). The course of the story will be turned by a sudden and powerful positive influence or insight (The Sun). In the end Linden will have learned much and become a stronger person (Queen of Swords).

Looking back at the four especially important Major Arcana cards in this reading, there is a significant mismatch between what Linden thinks will happen and what actually will happen. We also see that Linden will remain a very important person. The sudden turn for good will have the power of reversing a seemingly hopeless situation.

Please take with as much salt as you want to.

(Edited for grammar.)

Post by **Warmark** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 10:44 pm

Cool, it will be interesting to see what the preditions turn out like.

Post by **The Laughing Man** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 11:32 pm

thats cool!

can you do a reading on the likelyhood that Jay will finish ROTE? and the rest of the series? heh.

Post by **The Laughing Man** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:10 am

will jay finish ROTE?

The card represents the critical factor for the issue at hand.

Page of Swords, when reversed:

The dark essence of air behaving as earth, such as a sandstorm:
The approach of an unexpected challenge,
met with muddled thought and unjust action.
A person filled with a destructive appetite for all matters of mind and logic.
Voyeurism, espionage, and misguided witch hunts.
The use of clever argument and eloquent speech to mask the truth.

Post by **Nerdanel** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:33 pm

Here is the reading for Jay. My question was "What are the influences surrounding Jay finishing the Last Chronicles?" You are not supposed to ask yes or no questions in tarot. You may also notice that I'm not using the optional reversed cards in my readings.

1. Page of Wands
2. Knight of Swords
3. Four of Swords
4. The Star
5. The Fool
6. The Empress
7. The Hanged Man
8. Knight of Pentacles
9. Ten of Pentacles
10. Seven of Pentacles
(In the Celtic Cross again)

In short: I think Jay will succeed!

I think a part of Jay wants to read the books, defeat the challenge, and enjoy the new experience (Page of Wands) but another part of him (Knight of Swords) doesn't want to for some reason I can't understand being a bookworm myself, but which probably include that part of his personality not being into any fiction books in the first place.

He had a chance to read the book in a reasonable time but this has now gone (The Star). He feels like a fool (The Fool) and powerless to fulfill his dreams (The Hanged Man) but the loving Kevin's Watch community (The Empress - watch all of those Major Arcana!) has not abandoned him and sees him as solid and diligent in his stubborn continuance (Knight of Pentacles). Even though Jay is indeed taking his time (Four of Swords), his work will pay of very handsomely (Ten of Pentacles) and in the end he will be able to look back and admire his accomplishment (Seven of Pentacles)

Post by **wayfriend** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:27 pm

Nerdanel wrote:You may also notice that I'm not using the optional reversed cards in my readings. .... In short: I think Jay will succeed!

Well, forgive me, but wouldn't anyone succeed at anything if you take out all the baddie cards?

... he said, completely taking this too seriously.

Post by **Nerdanel** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 6:06 pm

There are upright "baddie cards" too, in addition to cards that would have provided an uncertain conclusion. Seven of Pentacles, the one in which a man admires the fruits of his labors, is among the most clear cards in the deck for this particular question as the final card.

Jay really wouldn't have liked to get something like The Devil or Nine of Swords or Seven of Swords in that position. Getting something like Ten of Cups would have been positive in the sense that even if Jay never got the books read he wouldn't feel too bad about it.

I'm still somewhat a newbie to tarot. Tarot is actually surprisingly easy as long as you have a good deck with pictures on every card to aid the memory and have learned the basics, but I don't want to complicate it with reversed cards at the moment.

Post by **matrixman** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 1:12 am

My mom was briefly into tarot cards years ago. I recall trying my own hand at tarot readings a few times. It was fun at first, but tarot held limited value for me personally.

On the other hand, since tarot and fantasy both deal with magic symbolism, I think the two complement each other. Not that I'm expecting Linden at some point in the Last Chrons to be actually visiting some fortune teller--or at least, not any earthly kind we know.

Maybe the Mahdoubt? She seems good at speaking riddles and giving out vague hints.