Tarot and Physical Appearance: “The Packaging vs. the Content”
AUTHOR’S NOTE: One of the least useful questions I’ve encountered in online discussion groups, after the ubiquitous “What does this person think or feel about me?” is “What will my future lover look like?” Probably because most of its later development occurred in Western Europe, traditional (that is, non-inclusive) tarot is notoriously poor at identifying physical types other than Caucasian (and even then it is inexact), while more inclusive decks may err in the other direction and be too unfocused for this purpose.
When talking about specific individuals, it’s fair to say that heredity and ethnicity have more to say about appearance than any tarot card can reliably portray. In addition, I find the rising sign of natal astrology to be far more precise in this regard. Still, a few generalities can be offered. Fire types are more likely to be hale and hearty; Water people softer and more rounded; those of Air slender and taller than average; and Earth specimens short and sturdy. But I wouldn’t trust the tarot to sort out any of this with a great degree of accuracy. Humanity is too diverse to be pigeonholed in this way, so it becomes an exercise in futility. If someone were to attempt creating a tarot deck that could faithfully address the full range of possibilities, it would either have to be much larger than 78 cards or contain all court cards (which would place it in the realm of Medieval “bestiaries” rather than true tarot).
This is the kind of inquiry that I categorize as “idle curiosity questions.” Very little of substance will be forthcoming from their pursuit, so there is nothing to be gained by even asking them. I think it’s a testament to the recent popularizing of tarot that has turned it into a social-media sensation. To reinvent a metaphor, it has “gone off the shallow end” into inane speculation that makes fortune-tellers look respectable. I typically avoid reading on these subjects since to do so would be a form of pandering to the wishful thinking of the immature and anxious among us. While I won’t go so far as to say that tarot is “sacred” and such use is blasphemous, I do think that trying to assess physical characteristics is more about the “packaging” than about the “content.”
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on June 13, 2024.
