Vertigo Tarot

8/16/2019 Vertigo Tarot

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2/210

T H

E

v E R T

•

I

G o

T

R o T

•

I

U S T

R TED

B Y

D V E

I l I c ~ E n

TEXT

Y

R ACHEL

P LLACK

i n T R 0 e E 0 B V

n

E j L G A i

n

A

n


3/210

1EnErTE KAHn -

Pre

sident : Editor-in-Chier

+

PAUL

LE

v n - Executi,'e Vice Pres ident : Publisher

+

KAREn BE

RGE

R - fHwcuti \'e Editor - Ven igo

+

SHAR o n KAlTUAH - Pro ject Edi tor

+

A LisA

KwiTII

EY - Text t:ditor + J

OE

O RLAnD O -

Vice

President - Creati\'e Director +

BRU

CE IJRlsTOw

-

Vice Pres

id

ent

-

Sales

M:trketing

+

PATR Ic K CALo o n -

Vice

Pr

esident

-

Finance

Operations

+

T E

RR

I C

Unnin

G

HArh

-

Mana

ging Editor

+

C HAnTAL o Au ln i s -

Vice

President -

Bu

s

iness

Affai rs

+

L

iLLiAn

LAs s0 n -

Vice Pre

siden t Gene ral

Cou

n

se

l + SEYIlI OUR

l 11i

l ES - Vice

Presid ent - Associ:l tc Pu blishe r

+

Bo u ROlAKi s - Executi ve

Dir

ec

tor

-

Pr

oduct

io

n

Cove r and publi c

u i

o n de s ign b)' t

)a \

'e Mc Kran , Th ank s to Ne il Jonr s anti Ca thy Pe t

er

s @ Th e

De s ign

Umbrella

, Wr l

nen by Rachrl

Poilld;

and ilIU

SITated by D Ve McKean , I

nIT

o

tluclion

by Ne il

Ga i man ,

tH

VER-tlco t AR-O' publi s ht,tl b)' DC Comi c s. Cop)'

ri

ght 0 199 ; ll C

Co

mic s. Al l

Right s Re se rve d . En i c mA

is

a trademark of

Peter

Milli gan and [)un can t'egretlo . V u '.., i co and

all o lh er charac ter s , [he di s l inc lh' e l ikent'ss es the reof and related i nd icia are tn t l emnk s of DC

Comi

cs

, S AIlD m An c ha

racter

s

crealI'd

b)' Neil

(i

a

iman

, Sam Keith , Mike I)ri nge

nberg

.

ti

mO

tH

v

H

Ullt[

R-

and

t n

Il

l(s o r

mA

G i c

cr

ealI' d by Neil Gaiman

and

John Bollon . [ Il IG JIl A

c reated by Pe t

er

Milli ga n and Duno n

Fegredo

. tHE VER-t ic o t AR-Ot is a DC Comi CS limi[ed

edi

ti

on

r

etail

p r

oduct. lI ardco

v

cr and

V [ R.. t i

co

t AR..O I

card

s are no t s

old

s

epa ra tc l

y.

Of.

Com i

cs

, 1

32S

Avenue of Ihe

Amer

i

ca

s ,

Ne

.... York ,

NY

10019 . A dh' is i o n

of Warnt

' r

Bro

s , - A Time

Wa r ner En t e

rt

ainment , Compall)' .

lI

a rd c

over

I(' X[ pr int

ed anti

b o

und

in Ca

nada

.


4/210

t BLE

O F o nt nts

I nt

R pl>v

c t io n to t H E VeRt iGO t AR Pt

tH

E

O R A ~ A t 1 A

The fool

..

P21

The

M

agidaJI

. p,u, The Il

igh

Priestess . p 25, The

Empress

. 27,

The F.mperor p

29

The lIiero

phan

lP31 The l.cNen. p11, The (lariot.p35,

Slrength

.

p 37, The Ilennll..p39. The Wheel

of

Fortune...p 41, J

UStia

.p 6 ,

The

Han

ged

Man

.p

45

,

Death

. ,47,

Temperance.p

49

,

Th

e

Dail .

p

51

,

The

Tav.'ef

.

p

53,

1be fJ.ar• p55, TheMoon.P

57

. The Sun

.

p59, Judgmenl.p6/, The'l'orkl. p63.

t HE

mln oR...

A

R,C

Anll

w

Co

Swords

Pen

tac

l

es

tH

E COv RS C IlRj S

l<

Knights

Quee

ns

Kings

,A l) l

n GS

page

8

page

64

page 68

page

78

,88

,98

page l

OS

page

110

page

114

page 1

18

page 122

page 126


5/210


6/210

Shuffie the cards

. ay

them

out.

Thrn them

over.

Find a place

0 begin

. Let s sec ...

The year was

19

85

,

and

I

think

we

ll

felt

a

se

nse

of anticlima.x of (he kind

we

shall probabl

y

not

see again

until

2

002

, and I

didn

t

know vel) mu

ch about the Tarot.

I

was

in

Birminghanl

,

England

,

which

is

an

odd

place

for

an}thin

g

to begin

;

after

all

,

Birnlingham

is

one

of

my least

favorite citie

s

in the

world. I

like the people well

e

nou

gh:

but it was in Birnlingham

,

several years befo

re

this,

that

the madman tried to s

tmngle

me; it

was

on

arrivi

ng in Birmingham on

this 1985 trip that I d

ste

pped over the knifed bod

y

at the top of th

e

escalator

,

comin

g mit

of

N

ew

S

treet

Station

.

It

s a

rare trill to

Birnlingham

that

docsn·t

have

a small dis

ast

er connecled

with it. t was

September, and (

was attending the Briti

sh t

antasy Convention

,

and

I

had with

me a s

mall hardba

ck

copy of Sal

v

ador Doli s Tarot

I

was going to intervi

ew

the author of

the t

ex

t

that accompanied the

Tarot.

The author was a ladynamed

Rachel

PoUack: tall , fey, huskyand elegant.

Pick out the card

for

Rachel: the Priestess, perhap

s,

or the Empress.

t was

at

that same convention that I met Alan Moore. He showed me Xeroxes of the

first

four issues

of

a

comi

c

he was doing with

Dave

Gibbon

s,

called WATCHM EN,

and I

was

s

tunned

. (got

Alan to

show

me

what

ac

omic script

looked like , an action that was, in

retro

spe

ct

, going to have many

ramifi

cations

for my

future.

Lay down

a c

ard for Alan.

S

till

s

omewhere

in the

Major Arcana:

the

Hermit

, or the

Ma

g

ician

.

I

went

,

with Rachel

, from

Birmingham

10 Milford-on-S

ea

, a

little Engli

sh s

ea

side

town with no

distinguis

hing

marks or features ,

for

a

week

-

lon

g w

riters

worksh op. And it \

V dS

there

that

I had my

first Tarot reading (not by Rachel, but a year later, from author Mary Gentle), and it was there that (

learned mo

st of

what

(

know that

made

me

any

kind

of

halfwa

y

decent

writer, and

il was th

e

re that

I

got

to be good friends with Rachel . We had a common

fondn ess

for reallyweird arcana . She was

th

e o

nl

y

other person I d

met

who knew

the details of what happen s

when th

e Messiah comes back (

all

the

Jewish

men have a party in a huge tent and C dt Behemoth and Leviathan) and she knewdetails I d never

heard of (aU

th

e

Jewi

sh women

are out th

e back

doin

g the w

ashing up

and

having

babyboys). She

told

me the coolest necrophilia joke I d excr heard. She read comics, and

we

talked

about

the relation ship

between comics and

th

e Tarot. She

was aJ

so, in company

with

critic John

Clute

and author Gwyneth

Jones , the person from

whom

(learned

the mo

st, about

rC ddin

g and about

writin

g, over the

cours

e of

that week.

Milford ended

.

Rachel returned to Am

sterdanl. I

went home

,

to

my

wif

e and myto

ddler

and mybaby.

And

1985 mo

v

ed

from environment into

memory

.

1986

was

a

year

of odd

coincidenc

es and stntnge

me

e

ting

s. In the s

ummer

of

19

86 I

met

an artist

named

Dave

Mc

Kean

.

(He wa

s s

till

at

art

school

,

but he

wa

s,

no

doubt about

it, an

artist.)

Dave is

, and

wa.

, dark-haired ,

bearded

, pon y- tailed,

\vith

s

harp

eycs and a s

harp

sense of humor. He s

a

gentle

person , very practic

al

, very

funn

y, who doe s not suffer

fool

s,

gladl

y or nthcrwi

se.

Acard

for Dav

e?

That

s a

hard

one. Dave is,

with

o

ut

anydoubt, The

Arti

st,

if

erer

th

e

re wa

s one , in

archetype and reality. Perhaps

Th

e

World

...

We

got

on well, Da ve :Uld I,

and

began to work

tog

e

th

er.


7/210

In

1

986

Ra

che

l

returned

from

Amsterdam

for the

next

Milf

or

d

writers

' workshop,

and

I

brought

a

stol)

'

I

was

working on which

would wind up

being

called Violent C,L

ieSwhen

Dav

e

dr

ew

it.

More Tarot

conversations; a Bill SienkiC'\\icl Supennan pinup in, if memo )'

se

rves, ACTION COMlCi 400 ,

prompted

a

co

n

ve

rsation abou t doing a Tarot of DC Co

mi

q; charJ

cters

.

Ra

c

hel

s

poke

of doing a

Tarot

of

her

own

, w

ith

anis

ts

she admired -

Hill

S

ienki

ew

i

C l

, for

exam

ple

,

or Da

ve

Mc

Kean

. Afew yC'drs

later

shc spoke 10 Davc, bU I nothing cver came of it - her lision wai

too perso nal , and she

eventually

wound up rC'.ui zi ng the only person who

co

uld drJw it was her. (It 's

c

all

ed The

Shining Woman Tarot.)

nip the cards. F

eel

them in your h

an

ds. Sandman turns up in 1988 .

Dave

painLi - or builds - or

photographs

-

th

e

cO\

'

ers

.

Mike Dringenbcrg drC'\v

the

first

Sandman

Tarot ca

rd,

one of th

e illUSlrati

on

s

for

the

text

piece in SAN DMAl'l

#8

,

Ra

c

hel

came

to

England from Amsterdam

w

hilc

I

\Va'i

working

on

the

BOOKS

Of

MAGI

C

imited

series,

and

s

he

helped me

with Madam

e

Xanadu 's four

-

ca

rd reading

in Book 1\m. (We went into

a sm

all Tarot

Suchlike

Esoterica shop

in Camden

,

to

pick out a

card set fo

r me,

and

I found ~ fc

eling

like

I'd

just gone into a record shop with someo ne who , to my surprise, turned out 10 be one of the

Beatl

es,

as

Rac

he

l

modestly admitt

ed her

id

entity

10

the

lady

b

ehin

d the

co

unt

er,

and

signl'tl a

uto

g

raph s.)

I d

es

igned

four

Tarot ca rds

for BOOKS

f MAG IC, w

hi

ch

Sco

tt lIamplon

paint

ed be

autifull

y in

th

e

comic,

and

I discovered the joy of designing

Tarot

card s, a bug whic h bites

and

n

l.,,

·cr quite lets go.

Every

now and

then , p

eop

le

wo

uld

send me le

tters , physically or el

ec

tronic

all

y suggesting

that wc

do a

Sa

ndman

Tarot - some people

would

even list the ir suggcstio ns for char.lcters. rd pass their

sugges

tion

s on, butnotiting came

of

it.

Moments

of convergence and

confluen ce .

Card

s stirred , and

brought

together. E\ cnLi

and

actions

and

people...

Ra

c

hel

wins the

Arthur

C.

Clarke Award fo

r Best SF Nove l of the

Year

(fo r h

er

remarkable

book

Unquenchable re ,

moves

from Amsterdam

to

New

York

S

ial

e, and ,

throu gh

a

se

rie

s

of

o

dd

coincidences

of

her

OW11

, becomes the writer

for

DC 's DOOM

PATROL

, a

title

in Ih e nascent Vertigo line,

s

ucceeding the

irrepla

cC'J

ble Grant Mo

rri

son.

Pe

ople al DC know

that

Rach

el is

an a

ward-

w

innin

g

writer of mythic scie

nc

e

fi

c

li

on. Nobody

know

s

th

at she is a god dess of Tarol.

S

haron

Kattuah , in charge of

gcner.uin

g D

C's own

merchandising progrJm,

is

a

Tarot

rC'Jder ofold -

a

dark

-eyed lady

who

,

dre

ssed appropriately, would not

lo

ok out of place

in

a Roman y caravan . We

met

for the

first

tim

e in

Atlanla

in

19

93 allhe Diamond Di stnb

utors

con fe

renc

e,

where

we

sa

lon high

s

lool

s

and

drank squ a'ihed

fru

it drinks. We

talked

a

bout

Sluff We'd I.o \'e To

Sec

- a s

tatue

ha'ied on

P.

C

rJ.i

g

Ru

ssell

's dra

wing

of

Dream

in

SANDMA

j

i

#50

,

a D

C'J

lh

T e l l p o r J ~

Tatt

oo

,

Ih

c s

il\

'er

ankh

(

wit

h

a long thin Death mi

ni

co

mic in the box) , and

th

en 1mentionl'tl the idea of doing a

Venigo

Tarot...

I did

nol

know

that

Sharon was a Tarot person, although I found out \'ery

quickl

y J cenain ly didn 't

expec

t her

to

go

into

high, dllrk

places

,

and

persuade

some

\'C)' s

kl'plical people

in s

uits that

a Ve

ni

go

Tarot

really

would be

a cool , prJc

ticaJ idea

, and r

C'.tll

y

peoplc honestly would bu

y t.

nut

s

he did

.

(S

he

al

so

made

al

l

th

e

Atlanta

Sugges tions

excep

llhe ankh illio r

C'Jli

ty,

CH n Ih

e De-Jlh T e l l p o r a ~ Tattoos.)


8/210

I menti

oned}o her

that

Ra

chel

wa< an

honest-t

o-good

n

cs'


9/210


10/210

The Tarot

is

an andent tea

c

hin

g

disg

uised

as

a game.

Th

e

Tarot is

a f

ortune-

te

Uing

devi

ce based

on

universa1

symbols.

The

Tar

ot is an art fonn used for fortune te

lling. Th

e

Tar

ot is a g

am

e disguised

as

anci

ent ...

Peopl

e s

tudying th

e

Tarot

love

to

debate its

origin

.

Ilardline rJlionali

sl

< in

si

st that the Tarot

is

nothin

g

mor

e t

han

a

card

gam

e, and

o

nl

ya f

oo

l (

th

e

first

c

ard

in

th

e d

eck

is c

alled

the

Fool) woul

d

fall for

the idea that

it

comes from some secret source. M

os

t people, however,

pr

efer 1 think of secrets.

S

in

ce

th

e l

ate

e

ighteenth

cenlUry

,

man

y s

weepin

g

th

eo

ri

es

h

ave

ari

se

n

regarding

th

e

Tarot'

s

beginnings

(

how fittin

g f

or

a

Tarot

b

a


11/210

•

\

•

•


12/210


13/210


14/210

Thi

s book , Like most others , examines the cards one byone . But once we

ha

ve done all that, we can

take the deck: mix the C'J.rds, and then look at them in a whole new

way

. And new relationships,

new

stori

es

, will s

prin

g

10

life in

front

of u

s.

The great Italian writer Halo Calvino called the Tarot a machin e for telling st

ories.

He described

it this

way

in the afterword to his book 7 e Cas Ie o Crossed Des illies The narf'Jtor of the novel

tell

s how he

and

a gr

oup

of travel

ers

, all unkn own to

eac

h other, find th

emse

lves stranded in a

castle.

A

curse pr

eve

nt

s

any

of

th

em

from

sp

ea

kin

g,

but

a

Tarot

deck

lie

s

at

hand

. Ch

oos

in

g

ce

n:

tin

c

ard

s

and

laying

th

em

down

one by

one

like the panels of a comi

c----e'Jc

h tf'Jveler

tell

s his tale.

Onl

y,

we

do n

ot

ac

tuall

y

learn

what

eac

h traveler

wanted to

say. Inst

ea

d,

we

get

the

narrator's

interpretation of the

pictur

es.

Longtime readers of the Vertigo co mic andman may recognize a resemblance to the andman

story

Worlds

' End. There, too , a group of stranded t

f'J e

lers

tell

stories to each other. There is one

important

difference , however.

Th

e tf'Jvelers in

th

e andman

story

can speak. By using words ,

they

can

make

th

e

ir

stories more precise

(t

hough in

fact

,

lik

e

all

s

torie

s, th

ese

may co

nv ey

messages the

speaker n

eve

r

co

n

sc

iou

sly

int

en

ded

). C

omi

c b

oo

ks h

ave

wo

rd

s. Tarot

ca rd

s

do

not.

The s

ituati

on of calvino 's tra

ve

lers

in

itself resembles a

Tarot

reading. No one can say definiti

ve

ly

just what message a Tarot reading is telling us. We can only point to ce rtain interpretalion

stori s implied by the pictures. Thu

s,

the truth of a Tarot readingdoes n

ot

depend

on

any

absolute

se

t of meaning

s.

Instead ,

we

create that truth ,

through

the play

between

the

pi ctu

res, the facts of

our

lives,

and

the instincts of our imagination

s.

Veni

go too

explores th

e possibilities of story.

Many

of

th

e Ve

rti

go titles have

th

e

ir

roots in mainstrC'JIll

super-h

ero comics

,

with

characters

who so

metimes

go all

the way back

to

co

mics'

so-c

alled

h

Golden

Age of th e '30s and '

405. But ju

st

as Dav

e

McKean's

an

is

mo

re complex and

sophis

ticated than th

e

kind

of

pi

ctur

es

we're u

se

d

to

see

ing

in

s

tandard

comics

,

so Vertigo

ha

s opened

th

e

way

for

contemporary innovative approaches to

fanta


15/210

•


16/210

but

other things wrong, llild sliU other things would b

eco

me co

ve

red over bylocal supers

titi

on. Th e

sages debated oWhatto do and finallycame

up

with

an an

swer. They

would

en

code

their

wisd

om into

pictur

es

, using pr

ec

ise

S}mbol

s

di

sg

uised as

a

ca

rd game.

Th

e uninitiated would

pl

ay

th

e

g.

une,

but

wi

ser peo

pl

e

would

knowto look at

th

e symbol s. And

wh

en

all th

e teac

hin

gs had become l

ost

, or

confused, the card game wo

uld

car ry the true

knowl

edge forwa

rd

, a

vail

a

bl

e for those with the

wi

sdom to know, and to understand .

Th

e

links

be

tw

ee

n

co

mi

c

books

and

m}

1h

,

evc

n re

ligio

n,

are

mu

ch

grea

ter

than

m

any

p

eo

pl

e r

e-

Mi

zc

.

Man

y people s

tud

ying

myth

ol

ogy

or m

ys

ticism might trace their interest back to slIch

"c

osmic

comic book. as Jack Kirbys

New

Gods

or some

of

the earlyversions ofDr

Strange. Man

yof the

Ve

rtigo

titles

have deliberately

min

ed

esot

e

ri

c id

eas

and

images for th

eir

sto

rylines.

For exampl

e,

The

a

m llli is famous for its arcane lore from manyco

untries

.

Th

e writer,

Ne il

Gai

man

, h

as sai

d

that he is nOI

an

eso tericist,

th

at he simply re

ad

s widel

y In

other wo

rd

s, he

do cs

not fo

ll

ow any

id

eo

lo

gy

or system. He foUows stori

cs.

Another

Ve

rtigo writer, Grant Morris

on

, o

ft

en uses esoteric

id

eas

in

his sto

rylin

es. In

parti

cul

ar

, he

borrow

s

ima

ges

and

con

ce

p

ts from

th

e s

am

e

Kabbalah

whi

ch Co urt

de Geb

elin

,

Eliph

as Le

vi

,

an

d

th

e

Ord

er of

th

e Golden Dawn , d

escribed as th

e

sec

ret origin ofTaro

.

Mo

rriso

n h

as,

in fact, used

Tarot car

ds

in a number of his c

omi

cs. We

can

find similar ex

amples

in the work

of

anynumber of

oth

er Verti

go

writers.

The deepest connec tion between

Taro

t and comics may stem from a co

mmon

so

ur

ce ,

thai

of

s

hamani

sm. Probably the old

es

t form of religion , shamanism is a loose term (the actual word

shaman

co

mes from the Tungus p

eo

ple of S

ib

eri

a)

for very direct experiences of ecsta

sy

and

magi

c.

Shamans are found allover the world .

Th

ey go into tran ces and tra

ve

l to the re

alm

s of the

spiri ts, where they get help from the

gods

, battle demons, and return

wi

th speciaJ powers and tools

to h

el

p

th

e

ir

trib

e or

co

mmunit

y.

Oft

en, s

haman

s w

ill

u

se

various d

ev

i

ces

for

di

v

in

a

ti

on.

Man

yp

eo

pl e believe

that

esoteric systems and tea

chin

gs

ori

ginallybegin \vith shamanic ecstasy. The

resemblan ces

ar

e strong. Like shamanism, esoteric religion stresses direct encounte

rs wi

th God.

Je

wi sh mys

tici

sm, for e

xampl

e, is

fill

ed

with

t

echniques for

j

ourn

e

yin

g

to th

e

pal

aces

of

As an outgrowth of the

es

oteric tradition , Ta

rot

teach

es

us to followour own path to salvation. II

begins with a Magician, shows images of death and re

birth

, and moves throu

gh

the darkness

of

the

unc

on

scious to the light of revelation . In short, it giv

es

us a blueprint for o

ur ow

nshamanic journeys.

What is heretical, and dan

ge

rous,

about

the Tarot is the

impli

ed

id

ea that we don't need pri

est'

to

int

er

ce

de bet

ween

us

and

divin

e

ex

pe

ri

en

ce.

In

rece

nt

years, a

whol

e

f".m

ge of comi

cs

have drawn

on

shamanic traditions and

im

ages.

Th

ese

ha

ve includ

ed Vertigo titles as

well

as

wo

re conventiona1 s

up

er-hero

es

.

Th

e shaman

ic

conn

ec

tion ,

ho

weve

r, goes much

deep

er than a se ri es of storylin

es

. The s

haman

dresses

in

elaborate

cos

tum

es

.

He travels to other

worlds.

He gains

mira

c

ulou

s powers, sometimes b

ase

d on the qualities

of

ani

mal

s. Using

hi

s

powe

rs

and

magical w

eapon

s, he fig

ht

s

mon

st

ers

a

nd

malevole

nt

beings

with

equallyfearsome

powers

. He

furth

er uses his powers to help and prot

ec

t

th

e c

ommuni ty

of

ordina

ry

human

s. Does all this so

und familiar

?

I

am

not suggesting

an

yhistoric

co

nnections betw een

tribal

s

haman

s and super-he

ro

c

omi

c books.

In

ste

ad

,

it

see

ms

to

me

th

at s

om

e of

th

e

sa

me

hum

an

impul

ses

h

ave

gi

ve

n

ri

se

to

both

cre

ati

ons,

that

some of

th

e pe

opl

e w

ho

first broug

ht up th

e idea of

th

e cos

tum

ed hero mayha

ve

been

tappin

g

int

o a kind ofsublimated v

ersio

n of th e energy th at in

oth

er tim

es

and pl

aces

has drawn the shamans

into their trances.

The

Ta ro

t

l l l se

n'e us as a tool for o

ur

own journeying. Maybe we will not make actua1 trance visi

ts

to other world

s,

but we can

let

th

ese s

tran

ge and magic

aJ images tri

gger

our own imagi nati

ons.

Th

e

Tarot

cards car ry a compl

ex

set of symbolic

meanin

gs

fr

om

th

eir

lon

g tradition. f we bring

to th

e

cards

a whole newgroup of

ima

ges, with th eir own collec

tive

history, the effect

can mak

e the journey

d

ee

per

and

mo

re

int

en

se.

15


17/210

T H

E

•

h

A

I

o

R

R C

n

•

•

•

•


18/210

The standard

Tarot

deck

c o n s i l ~ of SC\'cnty-eight c rds sc1 'enty-eight degrees of wisdom , as Charles Willi

ams

called

them in s nove

l

The

Greater

Trumps

The

SC\

·enty·eight

furthe

r br

C'dk down

into two parts ,

the four

suits,

C'Jch

with fo

urt

ee

n

cards (fifty-six in

all) ,

plus the twenty·two

tru

mp

cards. People

using

the Tarot for dil'ination

(r

eadings)

, or simply stud)ing th em fo r their S)moolic mC'dnings, refer

to

the twenty·two a< the Major Arcana,

and

the fifty·six suit cards

as

the

Min

or Arcana. Arcana

mC'Jn

s secrets, so that Major Arcana implies stuets of

greater importan

ce and power.

Th

e distinction

between

the two parts of the deck carries through in the card

game.

Charles

Williams

's express

ion

greater trumps derives from

the

ru les of les

tarot

s. [n C'Jch

hand

, one of

the

playe

rs

gel


19/210

subverting the cstaQli.s

hed

order of the detk. We can

call

the

Fool

the hero of the

Tarot

pretisely because he cannot

be

pinned

dO\\ll.

U

elt-J\

els through aU the

other cards.

There

life

archetypal sto

ries as well

as

imagcs ,

Think

of all

the

airy t.ale stories

we r

ead

as c

hildren. Remember how

in so

many

of them the hero , usually the

you

ngest bro ther s i ~ l e r is d

escribed

as a good-for-nothing, asimp l to -

a fool. .

J

ust

as

we can find

a

vast

range of r

eligiO

USand

esO

te

ri

c t

each ings within

t

he structu

re

of

the Major

Arcana

,

so we

also can

find

a wide variety of Sto ries.

The Tarot

writer Mary K Greer has taken the Oedipus sto ry, as laid out in the

pla

ys

of

Sophoc

l

es

,

arid

sh

own how we

can

map

it

onto

the

Major Arcana

, c

ard

by

card.

Others

h

ave

done the

same

wi

th

King Anhur. One of the

sto

ries I have fo llowed through

the

Tarot is

th

at

of

the Greek Goddess Persephone, who

was

kidnapped by the

God

of

De'Jth

, and re

turned 10

the Ii\ing

wo

rld through the struggle of her

moth

er Demeter,

Deml1er is often linked to

the

Empress

,

while

the

Star can represent Persephone. In

Ve

rtigo

, P

ersepho

ne makes an

appearJrice

in

the

ndm ll

s

tory

of t

he Dreamlord'

s

sOn

, O

rpheus.

In t

he

Ve

rtigo Tarot we see hints of her in the

Empress, the card usuallyconnected

to

Demeter.

The

Major Arcana mat

ch

es so man

y

m}th

s and f

airy t.ales for

the

same

rC'JSOns

that it ma

t

ches so many

reli

gious an

d

esot

eric

teachings.

Its

underlying structure comes from deep in the

human

imagination, the same sou rce fo r a1llhose

ditTerent

tales and t

radit

ions.

As

we follow the Vertigo characters through the

II'Jrious

car

ds

,

we

will

see

how these

fi gures too, w

ilh ~ e i r many

different

9lO

ri es,

ma

t

ch the imag

es

and

symbols

of

the

Tarot.

Each

car

d

in

the Major

Arcana

a

cts

in

(a

t l

east)

two wa

ys.

First

,

they

t

C'Jch

us

ind

ivi

dual

l

esso

n

s.

Th

e M

agician

te

ll

s

us something about power and consciousness. The

Devil ex

poses

our

fears and

desires. The Em pr

ess ar

ouses our

passion for life

. But

they also fonn

a

sequence. This

is the

grea

t story

in which

aU the

smal

l

er

,

individual

sto

ries take

•

part

.

.

e is an

overview

of

tnat

great story The Fool (card O)sets

out

on his

journey.

He has to

be

a

fool to give

up a

nonn

allife and venture

into thi

s a n g e r o ~ un

known

world. He encount

ers

the

Magician

(I) and the Hgh Priestess

(2)

. Each of

the

mpossesses

powe

r, bUlthey also

represent

the great

prinCiples

of existence: light and

da

rk, male and

femal

e,

conscious

thou

ght

and the d

eep well

of the unconsciou

s. The

Fool

encounters

n

ature

and society in the

fonn

of the Empress (3) an

d

the

Empero r (4). The

Hierophant (5) attempt

s to

teach him traditional idC'JS

,

but

,

being

a

Fool,

he

falls

in iove

·

in

stC'a

d. lie eme rges

from

his Lo\

ers

(6 )

experience see

mingly

mor

e ma

lur

e and in

charge

of

his li

fe, able to d ~ i v e his own

Chariot (7). But he

knows the

re

are adventures

he s

till

hasn

't ex

perienced.

li

e

finds the

Str

engtb (B) to give

evel)1h

ing up

an

d

become

a H

enni

t

9). Now he seems

to

have

gotten older and

acqUired wisdom, But at heart he remains a Fool. He

sees

a \ ision of his own d

esti

ny

n

the

Wheel

of

Fonune

(10) .

r l e s s l

(another

aspec t

of

the Fo

ol

is

hi

s

wild

c

Ou

....


20/210

We

can 1

C'.l

m a lot about the cards by

com

paring them to the ones above and below them , That is, t

he Magician

,

Strength , and the

Devil

eac h occupy the first position in their IinC5----(:ard . O

ne

,

l-:ight

, and Fifteen . What do th

ese

three

ha

ve in

common?

lIow are

th

ey

diff

eren t? In what

way

does each of

th

em stan a line of development ?

We also

C-Jl

l

compare

cards by their numbers .

Five and fifteen

s

uggest

a relationship.

When we

look at

the

lIierophant

(

High and the [)c..;l

, definite

associations might come to mind

.

In the

Vertigo

Tarot

these

two arc

o

ld

enemics ,

Morpheus and Lucifer. But they

may

be more alike than either one would want to

admit

.Another

nu

mber relationship:

the

number

fifteen

is written as a one and a five. If

we ad

d these

two

we get six. This gives us a connec tion

bem

'een

the

c

j]

and the

lovers ,

Traditio

n

al

ly,

th

e m'Ocar

ds

sign

i

fy

m'o s

ides

of

sexuality

,

'

p

ure

relationships ersus dark

lu

st.

In the

Vertigo

Tarot the con nection becomes

reinforced

when we l

C'drn

that the Lovers

card

shows an angel

from heaven in a lm'e affair with a

demon

from hell.

Another way

people ha, 'e approached the Majo r Arcana is to compare it to othe r symbolic systems. People have

linked the cards to Heb rew l

eiters

, alchemical signs , Runes (the Runes

are

a GennaniSca

ndinalian

alphabet that

wa'> uSl'

weU about the pl

anet

and what

that

S)mbolizes. Fo r instance ,

the planet

Saturn significs

lim

it..

DC'dth

might mC'Jll

reac hing the limits of ou r

ordinary

way of living, while the

World

might

sy

mbolize a t

ra

nscendence of all ou r

limi tations.

The most

inte

r

esting

as

trol

Ogical link in the Venigo Tarot comes bem'cen the lI ierophant and the Devil . Ne

ith

er

one

bears any as

trolOgical

s}

mbol at all.

We al

r

C'.ldy

ha e seen a

connection

between these

twO

cards

from

their

numbers,

their

traditional meanings, and

their Vertigo

characters. Now we can thi

nk

about what it means

that

neither

one is linked to

any

of the

stars an

d

pl

anets.

So far

,

mos

t of

the

ways

we

have looked

at the Maj

or

ArC-JIla co me fr

om their trad itional

s}mbo

lic

im

ages.

But what

mak('S this deck unique is the

source

material

for

the chamc ters

o

th

e pictures. Each card linked

to

a p

anicw

lar

Vertigo character

gains

a

who

le

new

range of

mC'Mlings from that

character's history

and

(I

ualities

. At

the

s

ame time

,

the Venigo

line

a . a whole gi,·

cs

a

special

quality to

th

is pani

cular

T

aro

t

deck.

There is

no

single Venigo style, b

ut

there is a kind of s

hared

Venigo sensibili ty. The qualities invol

ved

include dark

fanta . ', sophisticated charaCte

ri

za

ti

on , a

sense

of

iron

y, and

se

lf-aware \ \ ~ t The Vertigo Tarot brings many of

th

ese

same qua lities to

Tarot

tradition. The pictures themselvcs

arc

phYSically dark.

Th

e cha racters seem to

hal

f emerge

from intcnse blac

knes

s. Often, they arc panially

lit

bysharp golden light. Sometimes the light becomes red , as if

turning

to blood.

Another featu re runni ng through th

ese

car

ds

(Minor as well as M

ajor

) is t

he

use of tex

t. We

have seen h

ow

one

differe nce between the sequent

ial

pict

uT('S'O

fTarot and tho

se

of comics is the fact

that

comics have words and Tarot

car

ds

do

not.

In

m:m

yof these

pictures

,

(}J\"

e McKean

has

a

dd

ed fragments of l

etters

or linL

S

of type. In

almost

every

case, th e surrounding images obscure the actual wo rds,

making

the

text

u

nreadable.

The

effect

emphasizcs the

ca

rd

s' mystery

and the

inabili

ty

to pin

th

em down to slx'cific mC'JIling

s.

The Venigo

sens

ibility

also c

om

es through

in

the cho ice of charac t

ers to match

t

he

panicul ar trump ca

nI

s.

Wh

ile

in some cases

th

e ch

araLler

and t

he

c-ard fi t perfectly-most obviously, the use of OrC'.un '5 older

sis

ter, DC'dth ,

for

th

e card of

ne-dt

h

often

the m'O

eem like

extr

eme

opposites.

For the

a

ll-powe

rful

Empe

ror, who

in

most

decks

sits rigidlyon his throne , we find

th

e Geek, a li 'ing r.tg

doll

,

who

can hardly sit upright. Fo r the ,mgel of Tempcrance,

majc

st ic in his ca lm and moderation, we sec Delirium , tota lly swept up in her own intemperate natur

e.

These mismatches arc not

jusl

pe

r.

·

ersc.

By

undercutting

the tr.lditional

trump figures

, the Venigo Tarot allows

us

to

Sl'C them in a

new

way, in much the same

way

thaI Venigo comics show

us

fanta >),

fro

ma

new

perspective . They

sub\ en the standard images in or

de

r to

give

them

fresh life

.

The various Venigo

charac ters

do something else for the C-.lTds as well. They give them a

new

life, the life of t

heir

own

storicl. When wc look at the lI ieropham we c

an

think of all the s}ll1bolism associated with the card . We can

think well of thc ' lrious

tmd

ilions of high pricsts, from

tribal

elders to pop

cs.

B

ut

now we also can think of

M

orphcus.

the Lord of

Dream

s, of all his talcs, of the magical

wo

rlds of the

IJ

rt'anl ing, and of all our own

dr

C'lms

and f a n l l ~ i e s insp

ir

ed byr

C'd

ding SlIIulmrlll The Major Mc;m,L,

reposi

tory of so manyt .. lditions, has ope ned itself

oncc

morc

,

abso

r

bing

and

adap

ti

ng

a

whole

new

m)1

hol

ogy

.


21/210


22/210

THE FOOL--JOHNCONSTANTINE,

from HEII.BLAZER

(U

ranus)

Think

of the

Major Arcana

as a co

mi

c-

book story.

After

all

,

it is told in pictures.

Like the

bes

t

comic

books, the Major Arca

na begins with

a h

ero

, a

wild

outsider withs

trange

powers . He is a l

one

m

ystery man

, i

hi

s

nose

at

the

u

ni

verse , l

oo

kin

g

for

adve

nt

ure.

Eventuall

y,

he

confront hi

s deepest fears

an

d

weaknesses

.

He

will

go beyond

his

needs to encounter the wonder and strangeness of existen

ce

. I

redi

sco\

'cr the childlike freedom which has always been

hi

s driving

Finally, hc will return as

some

thing greater than he

him

self cou ld

predicted.

And

yct, he w

Hl

r

emai

n himse

lf

,

...ith

h

is

own rebellious .

the story

of

th

c

Maj

or Arcana,

and thc Fool is its

h

ero.

t is also the story ofJohn Constantine: thc cynic who cannot resist

hclp , thc outsider who baules against all auth

ority

, even including

th

e Devil. The Foo

l

s

most

important is

hi

s number, O.

outside

the seq

u

encc

of

all

th

e o

th

er cards,

with

th

e

ir set ,II,

Ges.

Fool remains

free because he

s

nothing , no thin

g.

He does

any

hi

erarc

hical position

. J

ohn Cons

tantine h

as no

.

followers .

Hi

s r

efusal

to

se

ttle

down costs

him his

his friends. Constantine and the Tarot Fool

are

trickst

ers, ge

lling

int

o and out of trouble

f

or

the experience.

Th

e most famous

image of

the Fool sh

ows

a

m

an about

10 step off a

cliff.

A

dog

or a

ca

t

besi

de him,

and

he

holds

a

flowe

r i

Her

e, Ihe

sun

beco mes a

kind of

exp losion,

th

e flowers ha\'e wilted, and the

animal

has

become askeleton penetrating his

body.

We are seei

ng

the dark

s

id

e

of the

Fool,

the pri

ce he pays

for

placing fret


23/210


24/210

THE MAGICIAN-

TIM

HUNTER,

from

BOOKS OF

MAGIC (

Mercury)

Traditionally

, the Fool shows a child or

youth

, while the

Magician depicts

an all-powerful

adept. In

this Tarot, the

Fool

is

one of

the

mo

st powerful magicians

in

comics,

whil

e the

Magician shows

a y

oung man who has

just

begun his studies. Just

as

the Fool showed us the

price

of

eternal innocence

,

so

this

Magician

gives

us the fearsomeness of taking

on

responsibi lity.

In

th

e

original

four-part

Books

of Magic,

TIm

Hunter

did

nOl seek out magical

training.

The

archetypal world

had 10 lu

re him

away

from his ordinary reality.

The

Magician

begins the numbered

cards

. If

the Major Arcana represents the Fool

's

journey,

the

Magician

is the first thing the Fool

encoun

le rs.

Tr'J.ditionally

, he symboli zes the

acti\

'e

principle. We

associate

thi

s principle

with ligh

t,

action

, \\ill, cre'dtivity,

consciousness

and

ma

sc

ulinity (th

ough

nol

nece

ss

arily n

a woman

can embody the

Magician

, and in fact, each of us experiences

th

ese

qualities at different

times in our

lives) . Here , the

light

shines

in

Tim

's face and

reflects off

hi

s

glasses--

t

he

classic

image of

the

nerd.

Behind the glamor

of magic

(or anycre-.lti\·e

activity) lies

a l

ot of

hard

work. The

book

in

fron

of his

forehead

s

uggests

all the tedious study it takes to

become

g .

The

Tarot Magician

often

is depicted

standing

with one

arm

pointing a

magic

wand up

10

hC .l\ Cll and

th

e o

th

er channe

lin

g the energy dOWllIO

the

h.

Cre-d

live

energy

does

not come from in

side

ourse

l

ves

, but m

oves through

s. Vrtually

all

writers and arti

s

ts williell yo

u

Ihal

when

Ihe work

goes we

ll

,

it sec

s to come from

and they

just

se

t

it down

on

paper

or

canv-JS

.

TIm Hunter epC'dl'i Ih

e

famous

gest

ure here,

but Wit

h a certain h

esitancy

,

or

sh

yness

,

as

if

awed

b

th

e

power invoh

'

l'li.

John

Co

nstantine

has

the knowledge but

not the

responsib

il

ity

10

ccome Ihe

Magician

.

Whatever

he touches he d

es

lroys.

Tim

lIunler will

take

the r

es

p

lO

si

bility

to s

tudy and

dC\

'

clop

himse lf.

BUI

because he can focus

the

energy

aroun

him,

he

may become

far

more dangerou

s

than Co

nstantine

e\'Cf

co

uld be

.

OivinalOry meanings--Power

,

knowl

ed ,

cfC .lt

i

vity.

A

se

n

se

of

lif

e as

magical

,

when

eve

th

in

g goes

ri

ght.

Rcve rsed

--

Weakness or su pr

ess

ed energy.

Alternatively, the need

to usc

wer

responsibly.

23


25/210


26/210

TIlE IIIGH PRIESTESS··

MAD H TIIE, from Df ATH: TIlE

HIGH

COST OF

LIVING (The Moon)

The

Tarot Hi

gh Priestcs.


27/210

·,

,


28/210

TIlE EMPIlliSS--T1TANIA,

QUEEN

Of. nm FAlRlliS,

from

BOOKS

OF MAGI

C

(Venu

s)

The

High

Priestess sig

nified the m

ysteriou

s

depth

s

of

femininity. The Empress represents female passion,

in

all its

aspecls--sexuality, fertilit y, motherhood.

MythoJogicalty, she is the Goddess of nature and abundance.

She

does not just

rul

e

the

world

,

in

the

way we

think of

th

e

Jewish

or Christian God ruling the

universe

from

outside.

She

is

the world.

S

he

is

the

spiritual power that gives life to

the land

and

its crC .uures.

Titania, queen of

the land

of

Faerie,

expresses Ihi

s

idea of complete identity with her world.

The traditional version of Ihis card s

how

s the Empress sitting

in

a garden ,

wearing

a crown of

stars.

She is identified with

Demeter,

oddess of the

green Eanh. The Venigo card emphasizes

the

Empress

s lush

sensu

ality.

In

stead

of

sil1 ing on a

throne

,

she stands

in

a

universe of

ripe fruit. Her naked breast appears

like

another

offering

.

Unlike

t ~ e

High

Priest

ess

,

she holds

nothing hack. But her face

remains

clouded

,

for we

can

experience her

gifts

, we can taste

her

and live from her,

but we can never re J l ly know

her

.

Around

her h

e-Ad we

see a

kind of cracked halo

,

as if

s

he has descended

from heaven

10

rule

our

imperfect

world. Constellations mO\ C O\ CT her

right eye

, reminding

us that

th

e Empress of nature

rules

the sky

as

well

as

the

Earth. On me le

ft

side of

the

picture

we

sec

two

halves

of a fruit.

The

skin

looks like

an

apple

,

but th

e many

set>ds

s

uggest

a

pomegranate.

If so

,

this suggests

a

new

range

of ideas

. Demeter blighted

the world

when the

Lord of

the Dead kidnapped Demeter s daughter

, P

ersepho ne

.

Perse

phone

returned, but

because

she had eaten a

pomegranate, she must spend part of C\ e 1 year as

queen

of

the

dead.

The Empress is Persephon e as

well as

Demeter, winter

as well

s

ummer.

Divinat0 1 C . u t i n ~ P a s s i o n sensuality, desire.

Mothe

rhood

and nurturin g.

Reversed--Detachment, emotional

distance .

Thinking somcd1in

g through.

27


29/210


30/210

TH

E E

MP

EROR

-

Upl

er

he traditional Em

pe

ror

ca

rd sh

ows

a

powe

rful,

man

si

Oing on

a

thro

ne.

Often

he

hold.i

a sce

pt

er and a

globe

of

e world. He may

wea

r annor under

hi

s imperial

robe

.

As

the

onsort, he brings law and human sociely

to

her

ab

u

ndan

t

natur

e. In a \\ der

nse

, he signifies the ide-.a of structu

re

, incl ud ing

th

e la\\'5 of nature, imlos

ing

rde r on chaos. Becau

se

of his emphasis on law and SOCiety, manypeople him

, a

symbo

l of r

ep

r

ession

.

he

Gce

k is

wo

nd

e

rf

u

ll

y op

posi

te

to

al

l of t

hi

s.

I

ns

t

c-.a

d ofa

rigi

d

fi

gu

re

in

n

nor

an

d

rincely robes ,

he

is a rag doll , brough t 10 life bya


31/210


32/210

THE HlEROPHA

NT

··

MORPHEUS,

from

'i llESA:'l'DMAN

(no

astrological all

ribution)

Th

e lIierophant

used

to be

called The

Pope ,

Some modem

deck. .

nam

e him

th

e

lli

gh

Pri

est,

to

show that where

th

e

IU

gh

Priestess

conceaJ

s

the

inn

er

mysteries

,

the

Hierophanl reveals th

e

ou

ter

truth

s. In

many

ways

,

M

orpheus, also called th

e Sandman,

Dream

,

and

th

e Lord of

Dreams

,

is

the \'

ery imag

e of a

IJi

gh

Pri

es

t. Uk

e a H

gh Pri

est, Morpheu s

docs no

t

so much

act in his

comic

as preside over it. Often, he will n

ot

o'en

appear for several i

ssues,

and yet his presence

pervAdes

the

story. t also is fitting tha t the Hierophant for the

Ve

rtigo Tarot

be

a master of dr

C'JJJls

. Though the various Vertigo

titl

es make

no atte mpt to fonn a single continui

ty

(o r s

tyle)

, many of them

move

in

and ou

t ofa dreamlike s

tate

.

In manyTarot decks, the

lIi

erophant

rcpresenl

i orthodox spirituali ty.

By contrast, Morphe us has seen all religion s come and

go.

He

knows the

mas spcdal dreJJJlS, and so

can lead

us beyond

specific

t

eac

hings to the strJ.Jlgeness and beauty of sacred expe rience. The

word

hierophant actually suits him \'ery

well

, for itlit

dly

means

one who sho

Yi

s sacred things . In Greece,

the

hieroph

an

t presided

O\'er

th

e Greater

M)

'Steries of

[)cmeter

and

Persep

hone (remember

the

Empress) .

Morpheu

s here appears more sensual,

o

'en androg)llous , th

an

we

usually sec him in

his

own book. We sec the darkness of night in

the card

, b

ut

also

s

trJ.Jl

ge

colors

, su

gges

tin

g

the luminous

variety

of dream

s.

He holds up

hi

s

hand

in bless ing, a

ges

ture from

the

standard

imagery foc th

e card.

The wand

he hol

ds

looks at

(lrst

like

the Greek Orthodox

tripl

e

cross

(another

st nd rd Hicrophant

im

age), When

we l

oo

k

closer

we

see th

at

the crosses are wi

n

gs.

Uke

something from a dream thcmseh'cs ,

th

e \\ings sig

nify

the

tran

s(o

nn

ational power of dream s,

O

vinatory

mean i

ngs--

Teac

hings,

traditional idC'd. ,

\\isdom

.

Gaining wisdom

or

knowledge from

d

n.oams..

R

everscd

·-

Unonhodoxy

,

finding

)'o

ur

own

p

ath

.

•

3


33/210

.

-


34/210

TIlE LOVERS--

CHAN TI N

ELLE

AND TANI,

from HELLBL\ZER

(Gemini)

power

.

in

o

ur

Besides le-Jding

us to love,

desire Uberates us from

being

of

our paren ts

(E

mpr

ess and

)en ) or simply

doing

whateo.-er society

te

ll

s

us

(

Hierophant)

.

Sexual

ity

he

lp

s

make

us individuals. We

see

this very strongly in

Vertigo

vers

ion

of

the card .

Tan

i, an

angel

from

h

e-J

\'en, Chantinelle, a d

emon

from hell ··no two

l

overs have

c\'er

defied the

ir

parents

and

society

mor

e

th

an these two.

Partl

y

the

s

tory of

this r

omance deri

ved

from the idC J

that hea\·en and hell are

really

the same, because

th

ey

wieldabsolute

power and us

it to protect

Iheir pmil

eges.

th

ey represe

nt the upper cl

asses, whether they

the

rol

es bad guys. A the s

ame

time , the

embody the

id

ea

of

sex and l

ove overw

helming

all

ideology.

'

ofThe Lovers

depict Ihem

standing

apart, in

a f'Jlher

'

m,mn,,,

.

Here

we

see

th

em

t

ouch

ing

,

and

almost

m

ergi

ng,

th

e

demon

seems to put her hand through her partner 's

body

.

i heads appear

both

inflated and"fragile,

lik

e

eggs

hells.

We

i

th

ink

of

the h

eads as rep rese

nting the abstract

ideas

of

good

and

C\il.

But here a kind of explosion breaks

through

th

ese

shells, m

ergi

ng

them

in lo

ve

and desire.

Si

milar Dashes of

light

appear in the darkne ss around their gro ins.

Both

appear

andro

gyno

us, almost

id

enti

cal

to each

other.

When we

lo

ok

close

,

we

see horns emerging from

th

e h

ea

d on the

righ

t,

and

trun

cated

gol

den

win

gs

from

the s

hould

er blade

of the

one

on the

left

.

The dem

on

's

Divinatory

meanings·- I.ove

, sexu

al

desire,

relationship . May also mean the

oppos

ites.

R

everscd-·Diffi

culties

in

rela

Opposition between

need to

or

sociL1Y

.


35/210


36/210

TilE CHARIOT--THE ENIGMA (Sagiuarius)

Thi

s is the m

ost

abstract of aU the

Major Arcana

images

. t gives us a sense ofsomethingun6nished,

somethi

ng

only partly in the world

.

Of

the Chariot itself

,

we

see o

nl

y

h

e horse 's head

and th

e

whee

l. Both

have

a rough l

ook,

wi th the horse just outlined. The head

within

the

ouliine

looks partl

y

dissolved

.

t

r

ese

mbl

es

a

fish.

Of the ChariOl

driver

himself, we see only a hand

holding the reins.

The Chariot sometimes bean; the tilie

;

ViClory. t culminates

th

e first group of

seven cards.

To master

(o

r at

least confront

)

those first lessons-osuch

iss

u

es as

nature,

SOCiety

, sexu

ali ty-

allows

us to m

ake us

a place

for ourselves

in the

world

.

But

there are

s

tiU fourteen more cards,

two w

hol

e

levels.

A

nd so

the victory

he

re is incomplete , on ly a beginning.

The Chariot Signifies the power

of

will.

The Enigma controls

the world

ar

ou

nd him

t

hrou

gh

th

e

force

of

his mind. li

e

takes

ove

r

people s personalities and

changes

them int

o

characters

from

an

old

co

mi

c b

ook.

· He takes

over Michael

,

push in

g

Michael s

hidden hom

osexuality

to

emerge

,

so that he and

Michael can

become

JO\-ers. He can even

change

reality itself.

And

ye

t,

there is somethin

g desperate

about

this ca rd .

Some

thing fearful.

Despite all

t

he abstractio

n, the Chariot

driv cr seems about

to im

pose order on

a

fonnl

ess existeflcc.

But

he does

so because he cannot

tolerate a

world he

canno

t

cont

ro

l. In the comic

,

Mi

ch

ae

l

di

scovers

that th

e

Enigma 's need

to

take over

th

e world and remake it

int

o

his own fantasy derives

from m

assh-e

and ahuse

he suffered as a child .

This says somethin

g

abo

ut

th

e

Cha

ri

O

s concept

of

wiU , n

ot

just

for

this deck

but for

all vers

ions of

the

ca

rd

.

D

vi

nato

ry

me-.mings--

WiU

,

great

force

of characte

r.

Su

ccess

,

power.

Rev

ersed--Wcak:eni

ng

will Doubt

,

but also

openness

to sharin

g or

working

with oth

ers.

5


37/210


38/210

~ T R E N G T l

L \ C K

ORO IIO

(Leo)

Streng

th often c o n t r a the

aggressive

will

of

the

Ch

ario

twith a gen

tl

e, m

ore persuasi\

c

kind of power

.

In

the

Olariot

wesaw an absI:r-Jct, y

et very bright

image.

Uerc

we

see a

much

mo

re representational

i

ma

ge.

An

d

yet

,

the

woman

is

da

rk,

very

is distorted,

as

L though

we

see her

she

appears passive

,

Orig inal ly, the ca rd of

clubbing

in

the head of the Nemean

aggr

essive im

age

was changed to

that

of

Hercules

woman

taming a lion. Usually, she holds lion s mouth ,

if persuading

hi

m

not

to

roar. Often

, she

~ ~ gird

le

of flowers

,

extend

ing the

flow

er chain to a wrea th

l

the lion s neck.

With

Bla

ck Orchid ,

we

s

ee

the

world

itself taming the

animal

\i

olence ofhumans. Black Orchid is of

the

plant

wor ld, a defender of the Green

and

its

secrets

. uses the power

of perfume, a \ ery gentle kind of strength indC .>d,

human

s,

and

com

mand

th

em to serve her.

The submerged quality of the card suggt Sl

<

me

co nscious

ne

ss , slow and mysterious,

incomp

r

ehe

nsible

for human

s.

her

n

amesake

,

th

e orchid .

of plant

distant, and

her head like

Instead of taming a single lion and closing his

law

s, she

appears

10

hold back

two

.

fact

, she

holds

37

open the mouth of

a .

side

of i

ts jaw.

human

greed

and

a

holding

battle again

st

thismod

em Tarot

ultima

te

so

luti

on

s

on ly a greater

mys

teries of

o

ur

Divinatory

charActe

r

eyes on

e

ith

er

reaJlytam

e

but

on

ly

igh

t

.

St

r

ength

in

promise

any

happy

endings,

.. of the

of

mor

Feelings


39/210


40/210

TilE

II

E

RMlT--

TIlE PHANTOMSfRAl'i'GER

(Tau ru

s)

Th e

Phantom

St ranger bridges the gap

between

Verti

go

and

th

e

m

ore

tr'Jditionai

··

hero co

mics of the

__

~ e d

char-dcters ,

tb

e

rctli

ncd

mu

ch

did in .

b

ec au

se

his

remoteness

dark >t


41/210


42/210

TilE WHEEl. OF FORT

UNE

--

DFSflNY, from SAN

DMAN

Oupiter)

the Phantom

S

tranger

, s

in

ce thi

s,

th

e

oldes

t

siblings, ' aloof, mysterious

quality.

In fact ,

i remotene

ss

with Black Orchid

as

well ,

giv

ing us a trio r

n ,

same time,

whe

re Black Orchid struggles for

justice

, and the

Phantom

trouble

, Destiny remain s

un

in

vol\

·ed .

Knowing the entire pattern of

anything

?

behind

th

e

Wheel, as if

he himse

lf

sel

it

spinning.

The

.

make it appear tum , hypnotically. They give

off

go lden strands, li ke the

thread

s

cut)

by the

hre

l Fates in Greek m

ythology.

Words spin

ofT

as well within the

written text at bottom of the wheel. In

The

andman Destiny usually

appears

\\ith

containing

all

pas

t

and

future

.

Destin

y's black

h

eadd

r

ess

merges

with th

e

ni

g

ht

stars implies end

of

th e

univer

se , when even

the Endle

ss mu st .

On the left side

Wh

eel

we see

a snake slithering

downwards.

On the right, a

6gure reaches When we look

clo

ser, we can identify it as a bird-headed man. In Tarot

represent the Gods , Se t and Anubis. Set brin

gs

death , while Anubis guides dead

rebirth

in

wo

rld .

Some

people view the

Wheel

of fonune as the

wheel

of .

kanna

.

. gr

cat book

\

cry few

entropy.

abstract

0

The

attributi.on

for

this card

is

Jupiter, the same as

with

the Emperor,

~

w

ith

an

extra as if to

s

ignify

a

higher

l

e\'el. Th

e Emperor mayrepr

esent laws and

but

he

1 u ~ hi

s dest.in

y In Greek

and

Roman myth

, the

all-powerful

Jupiter

Necess

ity

(

Ananke)

.

l : ~ ; ~ ~ : : ~ ~ i

of c

ir

cumstances . l:.\'cnts taking

I

wi

thout

c o n s c i o u ~ c o n t r o l

Reversed

··

Taking hold of your destiny Discov

c

ring the ca

u

ses

behind

events.

41


43/210


44/210

J

UST ICE

-

THE GO LD EN AGE

SANDMAN,

SANDMAN MYSTERYTIlFATER

(lib ,)

The

Golden Age

of

comics (1930

s and

'405)

intnxluced

the idea of

th

esuper-hero.

WeslcyOodds,

theSandman of that period, was one of these costu

med

figures , a c

rimefighter

who

used

a gas gun

10 render

his

enem ies unconsciou s. Wesley Dodds has been brought

trJ.Ck

now

,

in

Vertigo.

He

s

till

fi

ghts

c

rime

,

bUI

now

they

are

more

ofte

n c

rim

es of hate and

prejudi

ce. And even though

he slill u

ses

a gas gun ,

he

is

mor

e realistic

now

,

without

great

powers or

eve

n gr

ea

t muscles. He

ma

y put

evil

to sleep , but

he cann

ot

eradica

te it.

The phl 'dSC sen

se

of justice

appears

al

the upper left , and

near the bollom (tradi tional

Tarot

symbo lism makes much of

the ideas of above and below, the spiritual world and the

wo rld of human expe rience and morality) , In both cases ,

th

e

words

of justice are mostly

cO\'ered

up,

so

that sense

becomes emphasized

.

The Golden

A

ge

San

dman

's

justice

does not depend on laws, but on his own inner

se

nse of

ri

ght and wron

g.

4

Wesley Dodds does no actually like

wha

t

he docs. Ue

would

.-a

th

r live a priV'dte lif

e.

But he likes what he

s s

'en less. And unlike

mos

t

of

us

,

he can

n

ot

rna

e hi

mse

lf

look

away.

Sigh

t

s the main

attribute

ustice

, In

tmdiUonai

versions, the Goddess ofJu lice stares out at us,

challenging us

to

look hon . tlyat

who

we are.

For

thi

s reason,Justice s

tan

at the exact C('fller

of

th

e

numbered trump

c

ds,

with

te

n ca r

ds

before

, and ten cards

after

.

We

do

not see

the Golden e Sandman

's

eyes.

He himse lf

sees mo

st

cl

Iy fr

om

within his

The persona of the G

Ideo

Age Sandm

an

swallows

hi

s pe

rsonali

ty, d he can

see

only

On)justice

,

Crude

eyes,

Uk

a c

hild 's drawing

,

li

e in

the

sc

ale

s, and b

ow

.

The

force of

Justice

becom

es balanc d by the courage

10

see

....

ilh

th

e eyes of c

hild

.

O

hi nat

0l)' m

C dCli

ngs--H

onCSly,

espL'Cially

th

e

hones

ty

to

look at

you

rse lf. A

p ~ i o n for justice

, A

air outcome

,

espec ially in a lega l iss ue.

Reve rse d--0 is h0 nes ty,

esp

ecial

ly

wit

h yourse lf.

An unfair

out

co

me

or

si

tuation .


45/210


46/210

TIlE fl

N

GED

M ··

SHADE THE

CHANGING

MAN

•

(Nep

tune)

Th

e Han

ged Man

forms one of

the

Tarot s most compelling and mysterious

images. We see

him

here

close

to the

traditional

iconogrdphy, sus

pended

by

one

f

oot,

upsidedown,

from a

tr

ee branch .

The

legs fonn

th

e number

four

,

the n

umbe

r

of the Empero

r, repre

se

nt

ative

of

th

e

inexorable laYis of existence. Usually, the hands go behind

the b

ack

so that the

arms

fonn a

triangle

, but here we see

Shade bound throughout his body.

The most

important

symbol in the traditional card is

the

fac

.

The Hanged Man does not s

uffer

. We see

him

mdianl and joyo s,

for th

e tree

is the

Tree of

Uf

e, and he

has bound himself to

s

piri

u

al

truth

. He hangs upside down be


47/210


48/210

00011-

-DEATH ,

fro SANDMAN and

Di; m

TIlE

IGII

COST

OF

lJVlNG

(

Saturn)

In the majority Tanx decks,DeaIh is the most compelling

ima

ge.

Death, er all, fonns one of the two great mysteries:

where

do we orne from and where do we go? Children ask

their

parents, ere do babies

come

from ? and

What

happens

whenwe die? I ere,

the

card is still striking, but

the

figure of eath

has become ap 'ng, almost

familiar.

Death ,

th

e ch er--Dream's older sister--has

deeply

touched many

Vertigo re-dders. ost Tarot versions, like most

depiction

s in myth ,

show De-dth as m ;terious and terrifying . This Death , however, suggests

intimacy and pia} lness. She is self-assured as well as

pretty

, a kind of

dream

date for yo g men .She is everybody's

friend

while giving up none

of her power.

The

medieval ima

e

of Death

s

howed

a skeleton

in

a

hooded robe

, us

ing

a

scythe to

harv t body parts s

ticking

out

of the ground: hands

, feet,

he-dds. The hea .

wore crowns

, s

ince

the image taug

ht

a democratic

le

sson. Kin gs d e the

same

as

peasants

. Here the

only

bones are the

rib cage sho on the

left

, but the

lesson

remains the same, for Death

in

Vertigo

tr

ts all

of her

clients

with

the

same gentle concern.

Contrary

to ollywood movies

,

eath in

the

Tarot

does not actually

predict an ne

dying. Rather, it s

hows

the

end

, or death, of some

old

way

f

life

which

has grown meaningless. The

card

indicates

a

gre

change, which

may

feel like dying

to

the

person

invo ved. In

the

card, eath holds a blue rose ,

alive

with

uty. Her

famous

ankh rests half buried on

her

body.

Egyptian

icon

, the ankh symbolizes etemallife.

Divinatory

meanings--Release from old

patterns. The end of something that has

be come

burdensome or

meaningless.

Rever

sed--Holding onto

something

even when you

know

it'

s finished. Fear of

change.

47


49/210

8


50/210

TEMPE

RA

NCE -

DEURIUM

from

SANDMAN

Delirium is another of Morpheus's

s

iblings

. However, where Dream ,

Destin

y,

and Death

all stand outside their actions

(tha

t

is , D

e-

uh

does

not

die , Des tiny does

not

cause

anything

to

happ

en)

Delirium

acts

on

herse

lf

,

becoming more wild and fremjed than anyone s

he might

affect

.

De

li rium as Temperance once again sub\'erts the

tr-.uiitional Ta rot S)mbolism and assumpti

on

s. And not

just

because Delirium is so intemperate.

Temperance

in

the

Tarot

is a figure of great power, who

rem

ains always in command

of himse lf.

Delirium 's

power derives from her w

iUingness to

beco

me a

victi

mof her

0y 1I archety

pal

gifts

She i

magines herself

as

weak.

Paradoxically th

at

\'

ery

fan

tasy

gh'

cs

her strength .

She

floods the

world

around with her with deep emotion , swinging

from

intense

joy

to t

ears.

In

her

wC'Jkness

she

all

ows

herself

to

ignore all the restraints most of us

think

of as

normal.

Com

ing

after Death

, and

as th

e cu

lmination

of the second

grou

p

of seven , Temperance

ca

rries the message of

liberation

. Here,

we

see her almost compl

ete

ly bou nd . One promcath'e

breast

shows. We

see

her

eyes

and mouth, bUi lhey appear out of place.

To

be

deliri

ous

is 10

fee

l like your body has come apa

rt

and will

fly off

ilJ all direction

s.

Dream

's family,

the Endless

, may remind us of

th

e

archangels

from

Jewi

sh

and Ch

ris

tian mythology. One

of those archangels,

Mi

chael,

appears on the

traditional card

ofTempcrance. ilere, huge wings

ri

se

up

from

Delirium 's body.

They

look fi

ery

, sui

table

to her wild nature.

And yet, th

ey

hardly seem to belong to her. In facl, they are an illusion

creared

by

the p

resence

t f a l

arge oval

mirror, or looking-glass, standing

behind her.

The usual Tarot T

empe

rance pours wale r calmly from one cup to

an

ot

her (tempe

ran

ce

originally

mean t to mix water with wine, and

thus to prevent drunkenness) .

Delirium

tosses liquid gold from one

gleaming cu p to

the

other. In

con

trast to Ihe medieval

virtue

of

t

empera

nce, which preached moderJtion in al l things,

Delirium

's

power li

es in

excess at all times.

Dvimuory Traditional

te

mpcl '.tn

ce:

calmness

, se lf

po

ss

ession.

Co

ntai

nmen .

e\ e mum. ·cess.

Lo

s

ing all

awareness of self

th

rou

gh

ex

treme

aCi

on

or

emo tion .


51/210

5


52/210

TIlE DEVIL

LUCIFER

,

rom SANDMAN no astrological

att

ribution)

people

who

ow the

traditional

Tarot Devil will recognize the homed

face

, and eve

me chains

in this

picture

.

The

beach chair, howC\'

cr

might

s

trik

e them odd . The image comes from The andman

In

one

of

th

e

stories

,

Lucif

r,

th

e

lord

of

hell

,

decides

10

gel re'I'e

n

ge

on

Morphcu

s

for an

old sli

ght.

In OS I

comics

, this might la

unch

amassive battle. Here , howe',cr,

I.u

c

ifer

h

as

come

10

unde

rstand

that hell

is

above all

s

la

very. And

c\'

cn

though he imself rules over

hord

es of

demons

and s

ufferers

, the position

itself

has

nslaved h

im

as

much

as any

one

elsc.And so , he simply leavcs,

and for

is

last official act he

sends

the keys

to hell to

Morphcus (in

many

T rot decks

the Hi

e

rophant

holds the keys

to

the kingdom of

hea

ve

, putling the

Dre-.un

lord in

charge

of the

und

e

Vertigo Tarot

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