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In researching the Great Beyond, I started to notice some familiar archetypes emerging, so I started making notes. Here is the result: a list of correspondences between the Major Arcana of the Tarot and the planes of the Great Beyond:
00 The Fool: The Pathfinder
The Fool is a special trump representing the "querent" on their journey. The Fool represents a person who is a blank slate; they have potential but may be unaware of the danger they are risking. I associate this with the adventurer, the pathfinder, or the planewalker, initially starting their journey into the Great Beyond.
01 The Magician: The Ethereal Plane
Just as the Magician is the first of the major arcana, and is associated with beginnings, the Ethereal Plane is often the first plane beyond the Material that a new planeswalker visits.
02 The High Priestess: The Elemental Plane of Water
The High Priestess and the element of Water are both associated with intuition, wisdom, spirituality, and initiation.
03 The Empress: The Elemental Plane of Air
The Empress and the element of Air are both associated with intellect, thought, and ideas.
04 The Emperor: The Elemental Plane of Earth
The Emperor and the element of Earth are both associated with authority, structure, and control.
05 The Hierophant: Nirvana
The Hierophant is associated with teaching, kindness, blessings, and protection. The benevolence of the Hierophant matches with the purity and comfort of the Outer Plane of Neutral Good beings.
06 The Lovers: Elysium
The Lovers are associated with romantic love, fulfillment, and satisfaction, but also with the concept of surrender -- a relinquishment of control to passion that matches this Chaotic Good plane and its feylike residents.
07 The Chariot: Axis
The Chariot represents, among other things, the concentration and determination needed in order to accomplish tasks, against the chaos of distractions and sloth. This rigid, steady focus of attention and ambition corresponds to the central hub of Law and Order in the cosmos.
08 Justice: Heaven
Order, tempered with benevolence, is the heart of Justice, which represents fairness, impartiality, and balance. This arcana can also represent the consequences of bad or poorly-chosen deeds.
09 The Hermit: The Dead Vault
Rovagug sits in eternal solitude within the Vault, contemplating the destruction he intends to rain on creation upon his escape. The Hermit generally does not represent imprisonment so much as meditation, but the parallel is striking.
10 The Wheel of Fortune: The Maelstrom
The Wheel represents twists of fate and unexpected change, neatly matching the eternal twisting and changing of the Cerulean Void.
11 Strength: The Elemental Plane of Fire
The Strength trump represents courage, resolution and willpower, traits that are often associated with the element of Fire.
12 The Hanged Man: The Abyss
The revelations that the Hanged Man gains from his excruciating punishment and altered perceptions are rarely pleasant; to paraphrase the classic, the Abyss gazes also into him.
13 Death: The Boneyard
The Death arcana represents ending, transformation, and closure, which petitioners find in the Courts of Pharasma.
14 Temperance: The Astral Plane
This arcana represents harmony and balance, just the Astral Plane sits at the balance of the forces of the Outer Planes.
15 The Devil: Hell
The Devil tempts mortals with the pleasures of the flesh, encouraging addiction and obsession; but ultimately allows mortals to make their own choices.
16 The Tower: Abaddon
The Tower represents loss and the breakdown of false preconceptions; Abaddon's endless hunger and darkness is a stark truth of the Great Beyond that many find horrific.
17 The Star: The Dimension of Time
The Star represents hope, possibility, and the potential of the future, and often depicts a stream being poured out by a goddess; the Dimension of Time is a stream in which we are carried to that future.
18 The Moon: The Dimension of Dreams
The Moon arcana represents mystery, secrets, dreams and madness, all originating from this strange quasi-plane.
19 The Sun: The Positive Energy Plane
The arcana represents glory, triumph, and discovery; that which is hidden is revealed by its light. Inverted, it represents darkness, corresponding to the qlippothic Negative Energy Plane.
20 Judgment: The First World
This card represents rebirth, resurrection, forgiveness, and new beginnings, just as the First World is said to resemble a newly born world, full of life. Inverted, it corresponds to the qlippothic Shadow plane: a universe worn out, drained of energy and life for eternity.
21 The World: The Material Planes
Finally, the Pathfinder's journey returns to the beginning of the cycle, but now stronger and wiser (and higher level, presumably). This arcana represents successful conclusion, wholeness, and perfection.
For your consideration.
In researching the Great Beyond, I started to notice some familiar archetypes emerging, so I started making notes. Here is the result: a list of correspondences between the Major Arcana of the Tarot and the planes of the Great Beyond:
** spoiler omitted **...
That's one of the coolest posts I've ever seen here.
Ever since playing Persona 3 & 4 (PS2 games) I've been into ideas on how you could tie in Tarot ideas to a fantasy RPG setting. I'm hoping to do a variant rule system someday for a homebrew campaign based on channeling the different Tarot themes (for lack of a better word), which would define your "class".
But that's neither here nor there. As a big fan of the Great Beyond & the Tarot (though I'm not a practitioner per se), you did a great job of tying them together. Thanks, man.
Nicely done.
Now the Harrow deck. :)
Bravo sir, bravo. :D
When I work on a book, or even just release some material online for free, what flatters me the most isn't someone saying they like the material, it's when someone takes that material and makes something awesome of their own with it - response fiction, new monsters, new locations, or really cool twists like linking the planes to the major arcana.
I like. I like this a lot. Thank you :)
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Bravo sir, bravo. :D
When I work on a book, or even just release some material online for free, what flatters me the most isn't someone saying they like the material, it's when someone takes that material and makes something awesome of their own with it - response fiction, new monsters, new locations, or really cool twists like linking the planes to the major arcana.
I like. I like this a lot. Thank you :)
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Well done and highly thoughtful of you. You have an interesting interpretation of the Major Arcana. +1. Because the majors have multiple meaning and are connected to many symbols I would take a different route. For example The Hierophant I would correspond to Axis as The Hierophant also reprsents our adherence to laws, society, tradition, norms, and organizations. The Empress I would flip with the Elemental plane of earth as she is also a symbol of practicality, stability, and motherly common sense. The Emperor would make a fine elemental plane of fire as he is concerned with ambition, leadership and power. I surprised you would include Abaddon considering it is the plane which wishes to end all planes including itself. The Tower even though it represents destruction it also offers the chance to build newer stronger foundations, I would see it as an extension of the Maelstrom.
(a) I'm not really a Tarot guy.
(b) I was stretching things to fit. A lot. I dragged in some of the minor planes like the Dead Vault because there were extra cards without planes.
(c) These cards apparently have such complex meanings that they can often represent several different things simultaneously.
(d) In most cases the cards I associated with evil planes are not meant to be bad cards. The Hanged Man is my favorite card (and the name of my LiveJournal), so I felt sad assigning it to the Abysss.
Neato!