A Game Of Thrones Tarot, Pt. 2

SPOILER ALERT: This article presupposes that you have read A Game Of Thrones/watched through the first season of A Game Of Thrones. I will make efforts not to spoil anything past that. (Though I will likely write a separate article that incorporates the entirety of the story thus far.)

 

Let's do this...

V The Hierophant - The Mormonts

“Hierophant” is an ancient Greek term, “a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy.” Essentially, a High Priest. Other decks refer to the archetype as The Pope. Mystics have assigned this card to the second sign of the zodiac, Taurus, the Bull, which is designated as Fixed Earth.

This is always a trickier card to allocate, because high position in a religious order is not necessarily one of the things that springs to mind with Taurus. It brings to mind large, simple creatures who just want to feel good and continue existing. Being “Fixed Earth” means a pronounced focus on the necessities of life: food, shelter, stability, sex. Taurus is about providing for itself and its family, finding a position where they can stay the course, and maintaining optimal levels of comfort. It’s a cow, an elephant, a field-plowing ox. Not really a priest.

But, if you recall the story of St. Peter, the first Pope, he was told by Christ “You are the rock upon which I will build my church.” A strong institution needs a firm foundation, a resourceful manager who enjoys keeping peace and order. Also, the people need someone that can tell them how it is...not in lofty theory or prosaic ideals. They need a salt-of-the-Earth person who can translate platitudes into utility, someone that can help bridge the gap between knowledge and wisdom. Essentially, the firm, guiding hand of a guru.

In A Game Of Thrones,The Mormonts seem best suited to this function. Jeor Mormont, “The Old Bear,” is something of a Battle Pope. The Night’s Watch is not a religious order, but they do take sacred vows of brotherhood which involve relinquishing the right to marry or own land, and wherein a brother’s previous life - sins included - is washed away, and they begin anew after taking the black.

Jeor is in the business of managing a gigantic chunk of Fixed Earth, the wall that separates the civilized world from the land of Winter, wites, and wildlings. While life at The Wall could hardly be described as “comfortable,” he has worked his way into the most reputable position available, with the most comfortable quarters available. He even keeps a few animal friends around his chambers. He provides a strong foundation for the Night’s Watch, and acts as a guiding force for Jon Snow, a new brother and fellow Northman in whom he sees much promise.

Meanwhile, Jeor’s son, Jorah, exemplifies a few of this archetype’s negative traits. Taurus is ruled by Venus, the planet of love. Just as it operates with material possessions, Taurus seeks out the most valuable “stuff” in love, and Jorah Mormont is always willing to ruin himself for a pretty face. In order to provide a life of finery for his wife, he first nearly bankrupted his family, then turned to crime, selling slaves to the Tyroshi. This was discovered and reported to Eddard Stark, Warden of The North, and Jorah was given the choice of death or taking the black with his father. Instead, he took his wife and fled for warmer climates. He became a sellsword to keep them living well, but she left him anyway. In this case, the Taurean compulsion for love beat out its preference for stability.

However, Jorah has since become “the rock” upon which Daenerys Targaryen will build her Khalasar. He has become a teacher to her regarding the ways of the Dothraki and the world, a much-needed fellow Westerosi in a strange land who was able to translate many of their mysterious customs. He’s also told her much about Westeros, a land she scarcely remembers. The television series plays up this “guru” side of Jorah, as he tries to teach a Dothraki warrior about the value of a knight’s armor and straight, heavy blade. He demonstrates this value later on when Qotho attempts to stop Mirri Maz Duur from bewitching Khal Drogo.

The bear is a big, heavy, solid animal, ferocious when threatened, but mostly concerned with creature comforts. It is a fitting Taurean symbol for House Mormont, whose bodies are hulking and thick, and whose house words are simple: “Here We Stand.”

Though he is not a major character, nor a good fit for the Papal airs of this archetype, I did want to give a quick shout-out to Gendry, Robert’s bastard son, who is so Taurean that he made himself a kick-ass bull helm, which he treasures above all else.

VI  The Lovers - Jaime & Cersei Lannister

The Lovers card is traditionally given to Gemini, The Twins. Jaime & Cersei are incestuous twins. Lay-up!

The Lovers card is often misunderstood. One would think that it primarily indicates romance, and in fact, it can sometimes mean hopping into bed with someone. However, if you look at the Rider-Waite Lovers, it seems to be an image of Adam and Eve, freshly created. They seem a little freaked out. They have never encountered anything like one other, though they are carved from the same substance. They are one thing that has become two.

Additionally, we may consult the original title for the card in the 15th Century, which was “Marriage.” It originally featured a man in the center with a woman on either side of him, pulling on either arm. One woman was decked out in sultry colorful elegance, her hair adorned with swollen berries. This woman was meant to represent Earthly pleasures. The other woman was very simply dressed in a pure white robe, and was meant to represent a divine path, and the man was meant to choose between the two. Remember, the Trump cards originally went in  an ascending order that was meant to be a sort of “holiness ranking.” Therefore, this choice was considered higher than the Papacy, as The Pope is still a figure of earthly power. (One need only look at the corrupt history of some of history’s Popes to know that’s true - leading armies and bedding women, and many other things you aren’t supposed to do as a man of the cloth.)

Mawwage.

So ultimately, the card is about moral choices, and about what happens when you run into your dark opposite.

Those of you who have only seen the first season or read the first book may not see how this applies to Jaime and Cersei. They are pretty much the mustache-twirling, irredeemable assholes of the beginning of the series. However, they are together for the first book - they are unified, and have been for a long time. They’ve protected each other, had children together, and have generally been within an arm’s reach of each other for most of their lives. With Jaime now captured by the Starks, they’re separated. Now that they’re apart, they’re going to get a good, hard look at each other, and you may be surprised at how they react.

Future events aside, you do see these themes manifest in their actions a bit already. The pair catches a lot of flack for doing what they consider to be the right thing. For example, Jamie was confronted with a serious moral choice in his duty of a member of the Kingsguard. He was sworn to defend Mad Aerys, but his betrayal of that vow saved countless lives. He will bear the disgrace of the act for his entire life, yet he considers murdering Aerys to be the greatest thing he’s ever done for the world. Similarly, you can hate her all day for what she did to Robert, but Cersei knew that he was a terrible king and an even worse husband. She’s not a complete monster: she offered Eddard the choice to walk away from King’s Landing, and she even made Joffrey agree to spare his life contingent on his confession. If you want a reason to hate her, hate her because she raised such a shit kid. 

Gemini is Mutable Air, “Mutable” meaning that it carries out the end of the process, and “Air” referring to ideas, communications, and skills. While both of these characters have clever minds and silver tongues, I want to focus primarily on the concept of skills and strengths.

Gemini-heavy folks tend to boast a wide (but not deep) skill-set, Jacks-of-All trade who know a little bit about everything. They take a pre-existing idea (Air), and with little effort, wrap their clever little brains around it quite quickly...but in many cases, they do not develop this natural gift into a deeper mastery. We see emanations of this in the Lannister twins. While Jaime is renowned for his swordplay, he’s hardly infallible, and for all of his swagger, I think that few would claim him to be the most skilled swordsman in Westeros. (Lord Eddard fought on completely equal ground with him in the middle of Season One. I don’t believe that fight takes place in the books, but there are other, future instances one could cite.) Similarly, Cersei considers herself a real regent and a political tactician of the highest order. Littlefinger and Varys snicker about this behind her back, moving her about like a pawn.

        Littlefinger is laughing his head off at this. "Oh shit, she just said, 'You win or you die!' She thinks she's a genius!"

Jaime’s now in a place where he’ll have plenty of time to sit still and examine himself. And as we’ve already seen, with Jaime gone, Cersei’s doing the “I’m looking for my missing piece” dance with their cousin, Lancel Lannister. We’ll see how these two Lovers’ relationship mutates now that they’re doing the LDR thing.  

VII The Chariot - Robb Stark

It falls on Robb to be the convergent point to which many different kinds of strength come together...it’s his duty to take these forces, which have given themselves over to him, and hammer the raw material into an armored conveyance to ride toward his goal. Robb is the figure inside of The Chariot, which he intends to be the means of his sisters’ rescue and his father’s vengeance.

This card illustrates the myth of the “self-made man.” While there is a princely figure steering the chariot, it has been constructed from an array of differing elements. In many decks, there are lunar themes and symbols present, such as the crescent moon pauldrons that the central figure wears in the Rider-Waite deck...this is indicative of family and foundation. Robb owes just about everything to being born scion to the most powerful Northern family. He relies on his ties to them for strength, but as the eldest son, also pledges himself to marshall, control, and direct this strength as his father would want him to do. The Chariot is given to Cancer, the most familial and nurturing sign of the zodiac, and this is reason. Cancer stays close to the emotional source, the thing it wants to guard the most. Although Robb has left Winterfell, he has remained at the core of the Northern army’s strength. (He also seems to take his mother everywhere that he goes, and Cancer is the biggest Momma's Boy of the 12 signs.) 

Cancer is also somewhat fickle and impulsive, however, and may find new emotional involvements out of habit and need for comfort. These new loves have to be incorporated into the main chassis of the vehicle somehow, or it’ll be like trying to drive two cars at once. This will come up for Robb soon...and although this card is all about “full speed ahead,” a juggernaut aimed at an obstacle, it also speaks toward a lot of internal conflict, a lot of checking and balancing among the disparate pieces of the vehicle that one has to attend to even while speeding along. We get a glimpse of this in the first season when Robb has to put the Greatjon Umber in his place.

 

Ultimately, the Chariot is not Robb himself, it’s the entire enterprise of the King of The North and His Army. Robb just happens to be in the driver’s seat, which doesn’t mean he won’t have backseat drivers yelling in his ear as he marches on the South.

VIII Strength - Renly & Loras

The Strength card is one of four cards that was originally associated with the four Cardinal Virtues of Christianity. In this case, Courage or Fortitude, referring to the ability to endure and face down the pressures of fear and uncertainty. Its zodiacal association is Leo, the lion, placing focus on egocentricity and sustained charisma. We also see a lion in the card’s traditional imagery...but what is truly strong in the card is not the lion itself, but the woman, a personification of reason, who seems to have tamed the lion and bent it to her will.

And that’s sort of Renly’s story. The youngest of the three Baratheon brothers, his claim to the Iron Throne is kind of bullshit when compared to Robert’s son, Joffrey, and as compared to their brother Stannis. In many ways, it’s a selfish vie for the throne, propelled only by his popularity and personal magnetism. Apparently though, that can lend you a lot of support, as Renly wrangles up quite a number of illustrious banners.

In the HBO series, it’s Loras Tyrell, his best friend and lover, who plays the role of Reason (while grooming Renly’s mane, no less,) and convinces him to take this raw chunk of amiability and use it to accomplish something. He inspires Renly to be brave in the face of adversity, and in fact, out of the two of them, he is literally stronger. As The Knight of Flowers, Loras is the pride of Highgarden, and one of the most skilled knights in Westeros. He takes the attitude of charismatic swagger into the arena, adorning his armor with floral patterns, handing out roses to admiring maidens, and just being an all-around cooch tease.

I should point out that this is a little different from Robb’s role as the head of The Chariot. Although Renly, like most of the significant characters in the series, owes much to his high birthing, he did not fall back on the support of his family when making a play for what he wanted. In fact, that would have been impossible for him, given that Robert’s dead, and that Stannis and his nephew are his enemies. We can also see a difference in the conduct of these armies that speaks to a critical difference in their make-up. Robb and the Northmen hit the ground running. Their steely determination saw them slamming right into the Lannisters once they’d gathered up, without much fanfare or pretense. Renly’s encampment, as we’ll see in the next installment, is a big ol’ army party. His bannerman spend a lot of time drinking, celebrating their new glorious endeavor, and competing to be among Renly’s personal escorts, his “Rainbow Guard.” This is the difference between a force built from familial tragedy and cultural grudge, and one built from an affable man’s ambition.

IX Hermits - Varys The Spider and Ser Barristan Selmy

I know that it’s weird to put these two on the same card. I don’t see them hanging out and sharing a bottle of Dornish wine anytime soon, do you? Even still, they’re both important figures that jibe with this card in their own way. 

While the Neoplatonic idea behind The Chariot and Strength were, respectively, the construction of a godly philosophy (see writings on Merkabah) and the courage to be certain of oneself, The Hermit asks you to take that self-assurance and ditch the rest of society. The Hermit lives alone in a cave for the same reason most mythical hermits and sages did so - they needed to get away from society and ponder the infinite in order to know it better. (There is a character, not introduced until DwD, who pretty much epitomizes this thought...)

Other influences and ideas behind this card: The Hermit is given to Virgo, and as such, represents ideas of purity, order, and perfectionism. Under this thought process, The Hermit also functions as a valuable handyman, an aged sage who shines his light of Reason (Neoplatonists loved some capital R Reason, as you can see) onto the cracks within the structure in order to make proper repairs. He is somewhat put-upon, as he is the only one that knows how to do this, and he may be the only one who realizes the importance of his work.

Lil' Miss Wisdom

Varys and Littlefinger play the same game, but they seem to play it for very different reasons. While Littlefinger’s motivations seem to be one part ambition and two parts twisted obsession, Varys really believes that he does his dirty deeds in service to the peace of the realm.

It’s easy to dismiss him as a two-dimensional baddie at first...he is a hairless eunuch (Virgo’s virginal purity) who reeks of conspiracy. And while this ends up being true, it also belies and distracts from a) his motivations, and b) his skill, as he seems to have a talent for stealth and disguise that would impress Sherlock Holmes, and a network of child spies that would not only put his to shame, but would probably murder them with crossbows. Varys’ “little birds” are reminiscent of both Virgo’s connection to Mercury, the messenger god and planet of information.

Thank you, Google Image Search.

Ser Selmy, meanwhile, speaks more to the initial idea of seeking godliness...or, in this case, kingliness. He also evokes the Virgo purity themes, which his all-white Kingsguard armor matching his clean-cut features, and his sense of a knight’s proper conduct standing in for all aspects of personality. However, when his new king, Joffrey, “retires him,” it goes against his lifetime of programming. Rather than do as he’s commanded, Barristan The Bold decides that the thing to do is to find the real rulers of this land and work in their service. Saying much more would be a spoiler...all I’ll let slip is that the image of The Hermit from the Rider-Waite reminds me a lot of Selmy the next time we see him.

What Varys does for the order of the realm, Barristan does for the ideals of knighthood and for the vows of the Kingsguard.

X The Wheel of Fortune - Robert Baratheon, Viserys Targaryen, Maester Aemon

Showcasing the caprice of fate, The Wheel of Fortune is derived from the medieval concept of the Rota Fortunae, wherein the goddess of fate randomly hands out greatness or failure with a spin of the wheel. These three men personify a dictum often associated with this concept.

The Wheel is traditionally depicted with three men positioned at different places...one ascending, one at the top of the wheel, and one descending. The caption: "Regno, Regnavi, Sum sine regno, Regnabo," or “I reign, My reign is finished, I shall reign.” All of these men received their good or ill fortune at the whim of fortune, as do we all. But the circumstances in which they met their ends are particularly illustrative of the way that this concept functions. (Aemon’s not dead, of course, but he’s more or less at the end of his life.)

The Rota Fortunae, from the Burana Codex

The card is traditionally given to the planet Jupiter, the planet of talent, expansion, innate gifts, and identity within the collective. Jupiter is what you’re known for, what you’re great at, something that you can teach. As such, at its best, it indicates characters that are tribal leaders and gurus. It can also indicate characters who love excess, and are prone to rowdy, rambunctious waste, and maybe even to sudden fits of anger. Think of the difference between a Buddha-like figure versus a Zeus or Thor-type. 


At its best, it is your favorite uncle who gives you the best presents every year and lets you misbehave when your parents aren’t around. At its worst, it’s the guy at the bar who spills his beer on you, punches you in the eye when you say something about it, and then tells you, “Shit happens,” as you look up at him from the ground.

Robert’s obviously the “I reign” in this equation, and is easily the most fleshed-out of the three. As such, we can see both sides of this archetype manifest in his actions. Ultimately, we’re on his side because Ned’s on his side...he had the good fortune of making friends with the most loyal, honorable guy in Westeros. But as much as he might be fun, Robert does a lot of irresponsible shit. He’s pretty much cleaned out the kingdom’s treasury, forcing reliance on The Lannisters’ gold, he’s littered the countryside with his bastards (expansion and excess), and he’s unwilling to show mercy to Daenerys, even when Ned objects whole-heartedly. He can’t even be bothered to save Sansa’s direwolf, mostly because it’d mean getting more contentious than usual with Cersei. He’s given to those aforementioned fits of sudden anger and he’s grown quite fat due to decades of partying hard...but like most Jupiterian archetypes, he does possess a likability that still shines through, the qualities that allowed him to whip up a rebellious army around himself in the first place.

Speaking of that, Fortune’s hand can clearly be seen in both Robert’s rise and fall. The Rebellion in particular is a whole series of “What If...” comics waiting to happen. “What if Lyanna hadn’t been spirited away by Rhaegar?” “What if they’d lost the Battle of The Bells?” “What if Robert hadn’t finished Rhaegar at The Trident?” “What if Jaime hadn’t killed Mad Aerys,” or “What if The Lannisters hadn’t switched sides?” Any one of these things shifts the story tremendously, and completely changes Robert’s fate in a situation where the odds were stacked heavily against him - The Targaryens had ruled Westeros for hundreds of years, and still had quite a lot of weight behind them. 

Damn you, Google Image Search.

To a lesser extent, we can say the same about Robert’s death...how many times had The Lannisters spiked his wine on similar hunting trips? What would have happened if he’d noticed? What if Ned had been willing to bend his honor in service of his friend and king? These are all pretty major gambles, and although it was an arranged ending, it still looks like a strange twist of fate to the smallfolk. “Battle King Robert Baratheon...killed by a pig.”

Viserys is “I will reign.” Except that he won’t be doing that anytime soon, will he?

Viserys exemplifies many of the negative qualities of this archetype. He has an expectation for luxurious living without the compulsion to work for it. Stingy, cowardly, and spoiled, Viserys is still the product of misfortune. He was born into a line of continent-ruling dragonmasters, only to be born at a time when there were no more dragons and the family was being overrun, deposed and assassinated. If he were the type to count blessings, he’d be thankful that he and his sister escaped to safety. Instead, he expected to be handed a kingdom, unaware that fortune does not have to work that way. Rather than learning arms or strategy or politics, Viserys committed himself to selling off family in order to buy an army. For his sniveling attitude and obsessive conduct, Viserys was killed by Drogo. His death reminds one of another mythical wheel, the Buddhist Wheel of Cyclic Existence, which keeps one in a loop of suffering as a result of bad karma. Viserys was all sorts of bad karma.

Maester Aemon’s sort of a stand-in for all the Targaryens who bought it when Robert’s people kicked the doors in, thus “I have reigned.” As far as he knows, and as far as most people know, the history books have closed on the Targaryen line, and he helped to close them. Much earlier in his long life, after forging his maester’s chain, Aemon was offered the Iron Throne after his father’s death. However, rather than make a grab for glory and power, Aemon refused the throne, as he’d already pledged his life to service as a maester. This showcases the generous and enlightened nature of this archetype, as well as a misfortune in disguise - after his little brother Aegon (“Egg”) took the throne, Aemon was wise enough to know that family enemies would try to use him against his brother. To prevent this, he accepted a life amongst the members of the Night’s Watch.

Maester Aemon is a guru, a constant source of help and inspiration for a group of very troubled men. While the Lord Commander would truly be the “chief” position in the Night’s Watch, Maester Aemon is afforded nearly the same amount of reverence and respect, if not more. He is their teacher and spiritual leader, and is a good example of fortune putting someone where they are needed most.  

TO BE CONTINUED...


And incidentally, the rest of these comics are total gold.

Re-postin'. For Winterfell! 

A Game Of Thrones Tarot, Pt. 1

SPOILER ALERT: This article presupposes that you have read A Game Of Thrones/watched through the first season of A Game Of Thrones. I will make efforts not to spoil anything past that. (Though I will likely write a separate article that incorporates the entirety of the story thus far.)  

And now, a little mood music...

Words Are Wind - An Introduction That You Will Probably Skip

I’ve been meaning to write this article since around 2008 or 2009, whenever I finally caved to  my friends’ recommendations and dove into A Game of Thrones, the first novel in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire saga. As you may have noticed, I have a bit of a compulsion when it comes to rooting out the underlying archetypal patterns in...well, just about anything that I really like. I find this to be a really useful set of tools in gaining a deeper understanding with regard to the characters and the world - just like in real life.

So, what’s prevented me from tackling this subject long ago? One factor is this: ideally, the Tarot should loosely represent a story. Stories have endings, and this story has a few novels to go before it reaches its conclusion (and the more pessimistic of our lot have speculated that this day will never come.) But basically, a character that I believed to be a crystal clear representation of “The Magician” at the beginning of the story might be better allocated to “The Tower” after two subsequent books of strife and hardship. The main deterrent, though,  has been the sheer SCOPE of it. The world is so vast, the characters so numerous, and of course, it only grows further as the series progresses. By the time we get to A Dance With Dragons, there’s enough material to make five different Tarot decks.

All of this considered, I decided that the best way to proceed would be to confine this article to Season One, the real A Game Of Thrones. This works on a few levels - one, while a character’s allocation might change from book to book, this is fitting, as many of us transition between roles in our every day lives. So while you might feel like someone you know is “The Hermit” in your life, they may completely come out of their shell a year later and become “The Sun.”. It’s a matter of perspective. Works the same way in fiction, or at least in as sprawling a tale as this. There’s also the matter of deaths and replacements...we all know Martin has no qualms killing off a major character, and it may come to be that, looking at the story a few books down the line, an archetype left uninhabited by the death of a major character may find a perfect replacement later on. I will address this a bit further as I go through each on the major arcana in more detail.

GoT + Tarot = Metal.

A Game Of Trumps

A quick word about Tarot...a lot of people believe that the origin of Tarot cards are draped in secrecy, and that they may have roots that trace back to the Ancient Egyptians. But no one knows for sure, because they are SUPER mysterious!

Yeah...this is not actually the case. Tarot comes from a 15th Century Italian card game called Tarocchi. It’s still played regularly in some parts of Europe. The reason that people associate Tarot with Egypt is because Victorian English mystics had a serious fascination with all things Egyptian, and considered its culture to be the font of all mysticism, and went around retroactively assigning pre-existing traditions back to Egypt willy-nilly.

The deck is actually very similar to a normal Poker deck - there are four suits of cards, each numbering 2-10. Each has an Ace and a set of Face/Court Cards. (Slight difference here...whereas normal decks use King, Queen, Jack, the Tarot decks generally have some arrangement of four figures...most commonly known as Knight, Queen, King, and Page, the same archetypes are sometimes notated as Knight, Queen, Prince, and Princess.) 

The Viscoti-Sforza is one of the oldest surviving Tarot decks, dating back to the 15th century. The Tarot of Marseilles and the Rider-Waite (which was illustrated by Pamela Coleman-Smith, and thus should be known as the Colman-Waite deck, really,) set the standard for the appearance and format for Tarot decks to come.

Furthermore, the suits used today are analogous to what is used in the Tarot (Spades = Swords, Hearts = Cups, Clubs = Wands, and Diamonds = Pentacles or Coins.) This corresponds very easily to the traditional Western elements (Spades/Swords = Air, Hearts/Cups = Water, Clubs/Wands = Fire, Diamonds/Pentacles or Coins = Earth.) For more information on the traditional Hermetic elements, check out my Avatar: The Last Airbender article from a few years ago.

Long story short, you can read Tarot with a deck of playing cards. I have done so more than once after a night playing Asshole and Kings and Bullshit Pyramid. The major symbol set you’d be lacking are the Major Arcana, or Trump Cards. This is a fifth suit of cards, all bearing a title, which can defeat or “trump” any normal card. The only card in this this suit that is still included in a regular deck of playing cards is The Fool...except we call it “The Joker.” These Trump Cards come from a Neoplatonic Christian tradition called Triumph Parades, the point of which is that each one is considered closer to Godliness as they ascend. Traditionally, The Fool is the unnumbered Wild Card, because even the wisest of men has been made to look stupid by the ramblings of a fool, and not all “fools” are as stupid as they first appear. Since then, occultists have divided up these 22 cards into representations of the 4 elements, the 7 classical planets, and the 12 zodiacal signs. For more on Tarot history, refer to Robert M. Place’s text, The Tarot: History, Symbolism, & Divination.

One last thing on Tarot, specifically in the way that I came to these allocations: in some cases, there is a character who really just IS the card title...it is their actual title. An example: those familiar with A Clash Of Kings will know of the court jester known as Patchface, who should be “The Fool” for all intents and purposes. In cases like that, I will give them an honorable mention, or try to include them in some way. But overall, I feel the Trumps should highlight the most important characters in the tale. In some cases also, it seemed necessary to collect a few different characters serving the same function on one card. I’ll explain further as I go.

Anyway. On with it! For Winterfell!    

0 The Fool - Tyrion Lannister and Company - Prime Air

If anyone’s occupying the Wild Card slot, it’s our impish friend, Tyrion. The Fool card has been allocated to the element of “Air,” which deals with the intellect, freedom of thought, communication, and identity. The card classically portrays a motley character with his dog at his heels, representative of his instinct, trying to warn him of danger. It’s often read as a beginning to a new journey, the entrance into a new world - a fool knows nothing, and seeks to soak up all the knowledge and experience available. However, because of either their childish mind or appearance, the character is seldom taken seriously. However, as alluded to earlier, this is a powerful card that draws strength from being underestimated, and from the benefit of being generally unfettered by societal expectation and knowledge of the world.

As Tyrion is either regarded as a joke or a monster by most of his family, let alone by the rest of the world, he’s free of certain societal expectations. No one really cares that he goes to whorehouses, that he speaks and behaves in a vulgar fashion...he’s already viewed as an embarrassment and an outcast, so what’s the difference? You almost expect the guy to come home with a sellsword, a whore, and a few tribes of mountain raiders at his back.  

However, he is a Lannister - being of high birth and education, he’s well aware of civilized conventions, and feels free to invoke them or cast them aside at will. For example, he’ll think nothing of ridiculing a court with a heartfelt “confession” of past wrong-doings, but he knows enough about the law of Westeros to save his skin by demanding a trial by combat.

Admittedly, The Fool can often conjur an image of innocence and ignorance...Tyrion reveals this archetype more fully realized by trauma and experience. He recounts a tale of his youth to Bronn, his sellsword, and Shea, his prostitute consort, wherein we get a glimpse of that innocence. For those who don’t remember, this was the story of his romance with a country girl named Tysha, who he fell in love with and married in his youth, and who turned out to be a whore in his father’s employ who was paid to love Tyrion. He was made by his father to watch as a gang of men ravaged her and paid for her services, and then was made to do so himself. Lord Tywin Lannister did this to ensure that Tyrion kept to his station and did not think of doing “normal” things like getting married. The Fool often finds that it is an abomination of nature, and ends up shaking its fist at the sky, raging against its creator for being born. Tyrion’s relationship with his father brings this image to mind.

Tyrion may seem powerless at first glance, but he’ll surprise you - as the series progresses, he’ll continue to out-wit, out-fight, or otherwise maneuver himself around many of the other major characters in the series, and many no-win situations.  


I The Magician - Lord Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish

The Magician is also know as “The Juggler.” Or, “Le Bateleur” or “Il Bagatto” in the French and Italian decks...these terms mean something akin to “Mountebank” or “Huckster,” and are meant to invoke the image of a sleight-of-hand artist. This is very different from the more recent occult representations of this figure, which are more noble and accomplished, portraying a man who has mastered the tools of ceremonial magic.

Littlefinger’s something in between these two ideas. He’s certainly a society type, and therefore conveys an air of nobility. However, his house is very low on the totem pole, a minor banner-man to House Tully, the lords of the Riverlands, and the wussiest of the major houses. Littlefinger himself grew up as a close friend of the Tully family’s two daughters, and found himself in love with the elder, Catelyn. However, since she’s way above his station, he had no hope of marrying her - she was eventually engaged to Brandon Stark, Ned’s older brother, who Littlefinger foolishly challenged to a duel and who dished out a savage ass-kicking in response. (Brandon, of course, perished at the hands of the Mad King, Aerys, and so Catelyn was instead married to Ned.)

Point is, Littlefinger realized then that he would never be a man of arms and brawn, but that his intellect could be just as sharp as any sword, and ten times as effective at gaining power. And so, like a trickster at a carnival, Littlefinger keeps getting people to step up and play the game, claiming their power, their resources, and their lives. He juggles plots and information, gauging each person by their role and their usefulness.

The Magician has been allocated to the planet Mercury, which is associated with the functions of communication and cognition. In mythology, Mercury (or Hermes) was the messenger god, fleet of foot, quick-witted, and always ready to cook up mischief. He was also the only one who was welcome anywhere - being a messenger meant that he could even go to Hades, a realm where none of the other Olympians were welcome. Due to his low-noble status, Littlefinger seems to enjoy a similar privilege, rubbing elbows with royals in one moment and managing a brothel in the next.

The Norse recognized the Mercurial current in the trickster god, Loki, who schemed and plotted until he brought the world down around him. As the series goes on, and the scope of Littlefinger’s influence becomes clearer, it causes one to wonder if he could be responsible for a similar set of events...

In the Rider-Waite deck, and as is pictured here, The Magician has full use of the four elements (vision, intuition, intellectual analysis, and a grounded sense of priorities,) and is pointing to the sky and the ground, fulfilling the maxim, "As Above, So Below," that prevails in ceremonial magic. This refers to to the concept that proposes that changes made to the symbolic world are reflected back onto the earth, changing the material world. And in a way, that's what Littlefinger does. Nearly all of his work is done by word and symbol, by deception and analysis, and he effects true and significant change in the world of Westeros by doing so.  

Varys, The Spider could also be a possible allocation for this position, though I like him better in another. More on him later...


II The High Priestess - Catelyn Stark

Well, I don’t know where the hell else to stick you, Catelyn.

Catelyn’s a character that really seems to divide fans. I don’t mind her so much, but a lot of people seem to absolutely loathe her. I think this is because a) people LOVE Jon Snow, who she can’t seem to stop riding for being another woman’s son, and b) she’s the ultimate over-bearing mommy, ready to do anything her children need, including run their lives for them.

In other decks, this card is called “The Papesse,” or female Pope. Either title reflects a high level of religious and spiritual understanding. Obviously, Cat isn’t that person. However, this card has been allocated to The Moon, the celestial body associated with emotional identity, family, nurturing, and with wisdom that cannot be understood without experience. In other words, you can read a how-to book about how to rear a child, but it’ll be very different and MUCH less information-dense than the actual experience of raising a child.

Catelyn exemplifies the willingness to sacrifice everything for the family, from fighting off a murderer who was trying to kill Bran, to venturing to King’s Landing to warn her husband of the plot against their house, to capturing Tyrion by raising the strength of her father’s bannermen (an extension of family, a base of power)...whatever complaints one may have about Catelyn, she’s certainly not a shrinking violet.

Kind of a bitch move at the end of the day, but still kind of badass. 

Regarding the “power of experience” factor, this doesn’t come into play in an overt way, but you do see signs of it now and then. For one thing, in the book, she’s the first one to realize that something is terribly wrong when Bronn is fighting Ser Vardis Egan in the duel for Tyrion’s life at the Eyrie. She’s done the circuit, seen a lot of tournaments, and knows what it looks like when someone’s losing a fight - while the rest of the court is laughing at Bronn’s tactic of “running away,” Catelyn recognizes that his movements are deliberate and calculated, and that he’s not worried in the least. This skill-set makes her a valuable adviser to her son Robb in future.

Lunar hurt leaves deep emotional scaring, and it usually takes a wound of that level to drive a person to revenge. Catelyn gives voice to these Lunar needs for retribution when she lays out their priorities to Robb. “First we get the girls back. Then, we kill them all.”

Meanwhile, Catelyn’s sister, Lysa, embodies all of the negative, horrible, Medea-esque qualities of The Moon. Without spoiling too much...you can already see that something’s terribly wrong when a lady’s still breastfeeding her eight year old son...but basically, the dark flip-side of the Moon is a pasture that’s willing to consume its own crops in order to strengthen the soil. Lysa prioritizes her own happiness over any member of her family, and the bond they share means very little at the end of the day.

There is one character - less prominent, but equally pivotal - who might be more fitting in this allocation. That is the witch, Mirri Maz Duur, who was actually a High Priestess for the Lhazareen people. The Moon has always been associated with witches and magic, and here, we have someone who had the emotional and familial core ripped away from her, and who plotted revenge because of it. Khal Drogo destroyed her country, her people, her family, even her god, and she responded by doing whatever was necessary to destroy the Khal and his unborn son. However, being that she is not one of our major players, I felt Catelyn to be a more appropriate choice. 

That's why you aren't supposed to suffer a witch to live.

There is another actual priestess introduced in Season Two, however, that would probably be an even better choice. Melisandre of Asshai is a sorceress and advisor of Stannis Baratheon, and will become a major player in the war for Westeros.

To conclude, the temple depicted in this Rider-Waite version of the High Priestess is the fabled Temple of Solomon. The Priestess herself is privy to all of the initiated mysteries. The black and white pillars in the background labeled "B" and "J" (yeah yeah, get the laugh outta yer system) stand for "Boaz" and "Jachim," the pillars of "Severity" and "Mercy," respectively. A fully realized version of this archetype, able to confidently perch between those two ideals, is really the most appropriate choice for this archetype, which is another reason Catelyn fits. 

III The Empress - Daenerys Targaryen

This was pretty easy. The Empress is the card of earthly pleasures, joys, of compassion and fertility. Its association is with Venus, planet of love and connections. It’s also typically code for “hot, young girl.” Dany is all of those things and more. Better yet, as Khaleesi, she is basically an Empress in title.

Dany’s journey iinitial journey is one of coming to know happiness. Her life up until the events of the first episode saw her dependent on her creepy, maladjusted brother, ferrying them from place to place and begging for their kingdom. The only things that really kept her going were small joys, memories she associated with a moment of peace and happiness here and there - a house by the sea, the feeling of a sea breeze. And so on.

She’s horribly depressed when she’s sold off to Khal Drogo, because he and his world are not things she associated with joyful experience in the least. They’re strange and different, and basically gross her out and frighten her. But gradually, she comes to find great happiness in her marriage and in her new lifestyle...so much so that she recognizes how joyless her previous existence was and treats her brother accordingly for putting her through it. Don't take my word for it...ask the lovely and talented Ms. Clarke...

Compassion is also a big part of the Empress card, and Dany is always the first and last one to fly that flag, no matter how much trouble it has gotten her into. Compassion, both for those weaker and less powerful, and for her enemies, is always factored into Dany’s plan for getting what she wants. We’ll see this more in Season Two, but her treatment of Mirri Maz Durr and her insistence that Khal Drogo stop the camp rapes is the first major indicator of this. She also gives a TON of chances for redemption to her brother, Viserys, only letting up when the situation had spiraled too far out of her control.

Daenerys, Venus, and The Empress all operate under the principle that life is not worth living, and stuff is not worth having (even kingdoms) unless you can enjoy it.

IV The Emperor - Khal Drogo

Pretty sure I'd get the tongue ripped out of my head for making this...

Another easy one. The Emperor’s consort is The Empress. Drogo’s consort is Daenerys. “Khal” is the closest title the Dothraki have to “Emperor.”

The Emperor is associated with the first sign of the zodiac, Aries. Aries is the most overtly martial and combative of the signs, is one of the natural positions of the war-planet, Mars, and is designated as “Cardinal Fire.” “Cardinal” refers to a sudden burst of force, “Fire” in this case meaning ambition, vision, and will. The typical Aries ideal is the action hero, the John McClanes of the world, who show their character in deed rather than in word. This can empower them with the drive to carve their name into the world in big, fiery letters. It can also make them pushy, combative, emotionally-unavailable dicks.

Khal Drogo was a Dothraki who just happened to be the best at killing people and leading armies. As such, he carved out a massive rep, amassed an unstoppable fighting force, and collected a shitload of bells in his braid. He was easily one of the most dynamic and beloved characters in the first book/season, and half the time we had no idea of what he was saying. You didn’t need to - once again, this is a man who ACTS. We see him drop his weapons and kill an armed man with his bare hands. We see him execute Viserys Targaryen in the most brutal and metal way possible (although that’s a bad example, as he had a pretty great line for that.) In the book, not as much in the series, we also see him be very tender and loving with Daenerys, which also speaks a great deal towards his character.

                                                                                                                           

The Emperor is about surveying your weapons, your resources, your options, and then mobilizing them and leading them into battle. Very different from The Empress’ compassion, this archetype is about blazing trails and personal glory. Though it can be done for the accomplishment of some greater work, some higher purpose, it can just be the “I climbed the mountain because it was there” route. That certainly seems to be the case for the great Khal, a goddamn honey badger of a man who retired undefeated in personal combat.             

TO BE CONTINUED...