#thrawn's tarot deck

[twilekchiss]

{ Updated July 14th 2023 }

In this series, I am using Tarot as a tool to analyze Thrawn and other Chiss characters from Thrawn: Ascendancy. I've been reading Tarot for more than 15 years. These are only my interpretations. All of the characters have these archetypes within them, as people in real life do. These are simply my association with their roles in the story.

Thrawn - The Hanged Man { Sacrifice & New Perspectives }

Samakro - The Emperor { Authority & Structure }

Thalias - The Empress { Nurturing & Creativity }

Che'ri - The Star { Faith & Hope }

Borika - The Hermit / The High Priestess { Self-discovery & Spiritual Growth / Mystery & Intuition }

Ar'alani - The Chariot { Victory & Willpower }

Thrass - The Sun { Vitality & Warmth }

Wutroow - The Magician { Skill & Resourcefulness }

Lakinda / Ziinda - Justice { Truth & Balance }

Ba'kif - The Tower { Upheaval & Awakening }

Thurfian - The Hierophant / Death { Tradition & Institutions / Endings & Transitions }

Zistalmu - Judgement { Judgement & Purging }

Roscu - The Moon { Illusion & Fear }

Thooraki - Wheel of Fortune { Destiny & Life Cycles }

#grand admiral thrawn #thrawn #mitth'raw'nuruodo #thrawn ascendancy #thrawn's tarot deck #my masterlists #meta thrawn talk #.txt #samakro #thalias #che'ri #borika #ar'alani #thrass #wutroow #lakinda #ziinda #ba'kif #thurfian #zistalmu #roscu #thooraki

[iskelan]

I'm still curious, are you going to draw chiss tarot deck or more likely aren't?

I’ve actually thought of it a few times (and I’ve even seen some dreams about this deck, complete and beautiful), but Tarot is a thing that demands certain respect and clear concept (I take them more seriously then just pictures or playing cards, so I won’t do it random) and symbolism.

So before I even start I have to make a list and understand, what am I doing and why do I place these plots on each card. And more than that it’s tricky to decide - if it’s going to be a Chiss deck, or it’s going to be colorful SW aliens deck, or it’s going to be Thrawn + Art deck, or Thrawn + other Chiss and personalities and the events of their lives. And yes, whether I should mix new canon and EU, or not.

And also a thing - whether to do only major arcana, or minor arcana as well. And - whether to make it a payable fan project to motivate myself by some money, or I don’t deserve anything for my efforts and should do it only for free and for fun.

I don’t say I won’t ever do it, though I don’t promise I will. Who knows. I never thought I was capable to create a Starcraft Tarot deck (can be seen here https://iskelan.tumblr.com/post/171951468572/now-i-can-post-it-here-finally-after-months-of), but now it exists and is even printed, so I am sure capable enough for that. And I do have few ideas and concepts - it’s only about getting enough inspiration to go and develop it in something more clear, and when there is a standing ground - it’s only matter of time and patience to draw the deck.

[shadowsong26x]

Star Wars Tarot Deck!

Because my roommates and I are Certifiable Dorks(tm), we went through the Major Arcana and all four suits of the Minor Arcana and applied Star Wars characters, locations, and events to each and every one.

Behind a cut because this got Long.

Major Arcana

Characters, locations, and events from the entire Saga, including Rogue One

0 - The Fool - ANH!Luke

1 - The Magician - Young/ROTS Obi-Wan with his "Hello There" grin

2 - The High Priestess - ANH!Leia in the white dress we first see her in

3 - The Empress - [NEW 12/25/18] Hera

4 - The Emperor - Admiral Holdo

5 - The Hierophant - Yoda in the Council chamber

6 - The Lovers - Anakin and Padme’s wedding

7 - The Chariot - Senator/Chancellor Palpatine

8 - Strength - ROTJ!Luke

9 - The Hermit - ANH!Obi-Wan

10 - Wheel of Fortune - Lando and Han

11 - Justice - Mon Mothma

12 - The Hanged Man - [NEW 12/25/18] Kallus

13 - Death - Anakin during one of his many cataclysmic changes (of which he has like fifteen)

14 - Temperance - Bail Organa

15 - The Devil - Emperor Palpatine (specifically, Anakin kneels before Darth Sidious)

16 - The Tower - Vader’s fortress on Mustafar

17 - The Star - Rose

18 - The Moon - Thrawn

19 - The Sun - Rey

20 - Judgment - Jyn Erso

21 - The World - Everyone, group shot

Suit of Wands

Characters, events, and locations from the prequel trilogy, including Clone Wars

Ace of Wands - Anakin and Obi-Wan first meet/shake hands in TPM

Two of Wands - Death Star plans from AOTC or Vader, Tarkin, and Palpatine reviewing the partially-built Death Star at the end of ROTS

Three of Wands - Anakin tames the Daughter and the Son on Mortis

Four of Wands - The Team(tm)

Five of Wands - The Senate

Six of Wands - Celebration/victory parade at the end of TPM

Seven of Wands - Palpatine’s “is it my birthday” face from TCW (best viewed during the Deception arc, literally any time he and Anakin are talking and Anakin is not actually looking at him)

Eight of Wands - The Arena on Geonosis

Nine of Wands - Meadow scene on Naboo

Ten of Wands - Padme addresses the Senate in TPM

Page of Wands - Qui-Gon

Knight of Wands - Anakin

Queen of Wands - Padme

King of Wands - Obi-Wan

Suit of Cups

Characters, events, and locations from the original trilogy (and Rebels, in theory, but as of right now we don’t have any Rebels characters/events/locations on this list yet...)

Ace of Cups - Alderaan

Two of Cups - The twins at the end of ESB

Three of Cups - The Trio hugging after Luke comes off his X-Wing at the end of ANH

Four of Cups - Dagobah

Five of Cups - Han in carbonite

Six of Cups - Luke’s first appearance

Seven of Cups - Luke’s vision on Dagobah

Eight of Cups - Lando evacuating Cloud City

Nine of Cups - Medal scene on Yavin

Ten of Cups - Celebration on Endor

Page of Cups - Luke

Knight of Cups - Lando

Queen of Cups - Beru

King of Cups - Leia (at the end of ROTJ)

Suit of Swords

Characters and events strongly associated with lightsabers/lightsber duels

Ace of Swords - Obi-Wan passing along the Heirloom Lightsaber(tm)

Two of Swords - [NEW 12/25/18] Ezra and Kanan and Maul

Three of Swords - Duel of the Fates on Naboo

Four of Swords - Luke building his second lightsaber

Five of Swords - Sidious vs. Maul and Savage

Six of Swords - Ahsoka leaving the Order (or Luke falling off of Cloud City)

Seven of Swords - Ventress and the Nightsisters drug Dooku

Eight of Swords - ROTJ Death Star duel/Luke and Vader

Nine of Swords - Anakin executing Dooku

Ten of Swords - Duel on Mustafar

Page of Swords - Ahsoka

Knight of Swords - Maul

Queen of Swords - Ventress

King of Swords - Mace Windu

Suit of Pentacles

Characters, locations, and events from the sequel trilogy.

Ace of Pentacles - Maz’s Place

Two of Pentacles - TLJ duel in Snoke’s throne room

Three of Pentacles - Poe flying

Four of Pentacles - Poe getting demoted

Five of Pentacles - Kylo Ren and Rey making contact

Six of Pentacles - BB-8

Seven of Pentacles - Rey practicing

Eight of Pentacles - Poe flying toward the cannon/when he calls the assault off

Nine of Pentacles - Luke emerging from the red salt after being bombarded on Crait

Ten of Pentacles - Luke and Leia reuniting or the last shot of TLJ, with everyone on the Falcon

Page of Pentacles - Poe

Knight of Pentacles - Finn

Queen of Pentacles - Rose

King of Pentacles - Maz

#star wars #tarot deck #hi i'm a dork #tigerkat24 #star wars spoilers #sw spoilers #spoilers #tlj spoilers

[twilekchiss]

Part 1: Thrawn

In this series, I am using Tarot as a tool to analyze Thrawn and other Chiss characters from Thrawn: Ascendancy. For the uninitiated, Tarot is traditionally a deck of 78 cards, consisting of twenty-two Major Arcana and fifty-six Minor Arcana (or pip cards). Famously, Tarot is often used in cartomancy, or the use of cards in fortune-telling. However, Tarot is rooted in card games developed in 15th Century Italy, and is still used that way today; beyond that, it can be used as a tool for self-exploration. The cards are read via the heavy symbolism in the card art, drawing from occult traditions (depending on the deck in question).

I am basing my analysis off of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, which is usually the deck you see in movies and TV shows. I have assigned every major character I could think of to a Major Arcana card (two of them have two!); this analysis is not including the Minor Arcana.

Today, we discuss Thrawn as The Hanged Man.

The Hanged Man

Let’s look at the art. (I know, I know. Art analysis. How very Thrawn of me.)

A person is suspended from a cross made of living wood. His clothes are a blue tunic and red tights, a slim brown belt and beige slippers. He hangs by his right ankle, while his other leg is folded, crossed behind his right one. His arms are likewise folded, hands unseen behind his back. Around his head is a golden halo. The card itself is labeled as number twelve.

As you see, I have bolded a few points in the description above. These I believe are the key symbols behind this card. Let’s go through them one by one.

Suspended - The main feature, as it were, of the Hanged Man is that he is hanging. More than that, he hangs upside down, giving him a completely different view than the viewer. He is not struggling, but seemingly at peace with this, indicating his consent.

A Cross - Crosses, obviously, are highly associated with the crucifixion of Jesus in Christianity, but also the practice of Roman crucifixion in general, both criminals, and in Christian mythology, saints.

Living Wood - The cross being made of living wood brings to mind the myth of Odin hanging himself from Yggdrasil, the World Tree that connected the Nine Realms. Not only that, but throughout Tarot living wood indicates growth and change (and life in general).

Blue and Red Clothing - Blue symbolizes wisdom, freedom, intuition, and serenity, as well as sometimes loyalty and reliability. Red is the color of blood, of life, of passion, but also danger, sacrifice, and courage. Note that for the card, red is on top and blue is on bottom, but if the Hanged Man was not hanging upside down, they would be reversed.

Hanging by right ankle / Left leg folded and crossed - The right foot is bound, the thing that he is suspended by. But not the left foot. That is curled, but choice, behind the right. Right and left are often associated with *right* and *wrong* – mostly due to archaic thoughts of right handedness vs left handedness. Consider the positions of the legs – the right being at the forefront, and perfectly straight. The left behind, crooked and angled away, leading a different path than the right leg. When a person stands, legs are parallel, ending at the feet both firmly on the ground. Here, the legs end in different places, the right pointing towards the heavens, the left points away from the heavens.

Hands unseen - Are his hands bound, or does he keep them there of his own free will? We cannot tell. Regardless, they are still and idle, the ability to *do* taken away by circumstance or by choice.

Golden Halo - A crown or disc of light, a halo is used to represent holiness on religious figures, but also kings and heroes. Aside from holiness, it can also mean glory and enlightenment.

Number Twelve - This is the twelfth card in the Fool’s Journey, after Justice but before Death. It is the time between, rather a liminal card, where one surrenders to the end that Justice has brought. 

Thrawn is The Hanged Man

So how does this apply to Thrawn? 

I think it's most evident in Lesser Evil. Of course, one thinks of the ending of Lesser Evil, most especially Chapter Twenty-Eight, and Thrawn’s purposeful sacrifice of exile for his actions at Sunrise (and to some extent, through the whole Ascendancy trilogy and arguably the events of Outbound Flight). The exile was willing; he did not fight it, but saw the tactical implications of it. He surrendered to it (point #8), and through that surrender, he found a new way. Through his exile and subsequent service to the Empire, he found a new perspective (point #1). He found freedom, as he was no longer bound to the No Preemptive Strikes law of the Ascendancy. He was labeled a criminal, but also hailed as a hero by others (point #2). Like Odin on the World Tree, he hung himself to gain further knowledge and wisdom (point #3)

This exile, thus surrendering to the Justice of the Syndicure that lead to the Death of his career in the Ascendancy, was all by his consent (point #9) to Ba'kif's idea of it. 

The epilogue, narrated by Thrawn (the only time his POV turns up during the Ascendancy trilogy, even if it's a rehashing of the Prologue of Thrawn 2017), he has this line: "Among these aspirations is the desire that there will be a straight path to those goals." Just as Thrawn muses on paths, the Hanged Man depicts two via the position of his legs, the legs themselves a symbol of movement (point #5). You could ascribe the Straight leg pointing towards the heavens as doing what the Syndicure ruled, and thus Thrawn turned away from that, going along a crooked path instead, his fate sealed through martyrdom.

There's also the fact that Thrawn used a fake surrender to Jixus to ensnare him into a trap (point #6).

But even as we see The Hanged Man in Senior Captain Thrawn's Last Stand, there are other symbols that apply to Thrawn. His incredible patience (a type of surrender), for example, with those willing to learn and grow (like the Living Wood of the cross, point #3). The way he guides Thalias and Samakro to find the answers on their own, giving them information but passively allowing them to form their own conclusions instead of telling them the answer. There's his desire to learn and collect data to find enlightenment (points #4 and #7). Thrawn is more than happy to go with the flow of things to gain insight into his opponents, instead of stubbornly battering it head on, most especially if he can learn from it.

Next up: Samakro as The Emperor

#thrawn #thrawn's tarot deck #meta thrawn talk #mitth'raw'nuruodo #grand admiral thrawn #.txt