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Only The Dead Are Resurrected
🕑 Added 2019-08-02 01:47:25 +0000 UTCDear Insane Children,
I'm finally back at my keyboard and trying to get caught up on several days of unanswered emails and overflowing to-do lists.
Omri "bumped" a particular email thread regarding Tarot Cards and sent me down a rabbit hole of symbology and narrative. I thought you might like to chime in as I know many of you are experts on these topics.
Omri wrote, " "the Fool" he is the first card, numbered 0. He really fits into the realm of Denial, we should find him around a cliff. in gameplay as the fool is always near a cliff.
I don't know what to do with the dogs but i thought of 2-5 dogs with him and him with a reversible head, the character is the symbol of new beginnings and endings. His symbol is a flower with a harlequin hat, i merged those in. somehow the flowers should turn weaponized.
An initial sketch but i feel this is a good direction. I imagine that if we can break him apart and Him- Getting merged back automatically... he can look wonderful. he can have 3 dog heads with tons of teeth with dog speed and with two extra long arms etc. we can merge these "parts" together so wrong it can be wonderful.
He is the beginning and he is the end, that's his literally his symbolism. "
To which I replied, "
The Fool
The beginning and the end... if you look at our outline for Asylum you'll see where we begin and end isn't in Denial. It's in a state called Slumber. As I've described during several of our livestreams and design sessions... Slumber is the state you're in when you drive to work and have no idea how you got there. It's the state we live in while thinking we're in reality, in control, and aware of the direction we're heading... when in fact we're lying to ourselves and the people around us.
It's Slumber that we're in as we walk towards that cliff (Chaos).
Once Slumber has led us over the cliff we're forced into Denial. Denial is the state of telling ourselves that, "Hey, dammit! I WAS AWARE OF WHAT I WAS DOING!!!!" when, in truth, we were not.
So... The Fool is the perfect representative of Slumber.
Before you resist this interpretation... remember when you asked me, "Why the hell is The Moon in Denial??"
I finally remember.
It's because The Moon represents illusion. Such as "Another reading of the Moon card is the existence of illusion. Some hidden truth must be discovered, for what you are seeing now may just be a trick of the light. You must search for the hidden forces that must be unraveled."
That's why I put the Moon above Denial. Hur dur. I knew there was a reason! :P
Back to The Fool...
If we're going to use this card for Slumber - and I think we should - then the character portrayed should be Alice in her Circus Outfit. She is the fool - the one who walked over the cliff into Denial. Those dogs... surely they should be Cheshire Cats? In most of the cards there's only one dog - and he appears to be warning The Fool of the dangers along the path ahead. Wouldn't be better... Alice walking towards the cliff dressed in the Circus Outfit with the Cheshire Cat behind (but being The Cat he's not really bothering to warn her...) - If you want someone who looks like he cares then insert the Rabbit (white, plush, or other). If you want some symbolism with that...
The rabbit as well as the hare have been associated with moon deities and may signify rebirth or resurrection.
Which might suggest that our rabbit is actively LEADING Alice towards the cliff because he knows that she must face Chaos if she's going to grow and transform."
“We have two lives... the life we learn with and the life we live after that. Suffering is what brings us towards happiness.”
Your Turn
Let us know in the comments below your thoughts on this exchange and the representation of these narrative elements in the symbolism of Tarot. Right direction? Wrong direction? Or perhaps you've got a creative twist to share?
From Shanghai in The Moon,
-American
Comments
Angel Ellis
I am loving the symbolism and imagery i get with Alice in her clown outfit/white plush there to lead her off the cliff .
I really like this idea of the white rabbit as a symbol of 'the fool' for Alice!
I'm so excited for this Tarot deck idea. I've always used the fool to mean beginnings and excitement and a bit of nativety. Death card usually speaks to me as the feeling of ends or a more knowledgeable beginning (a circle). Death taking the fool away might be closer to the imagery I use in my practice. But I'm always so protective of the fool. I keep going back and forth if I would like to see Alice have her own card or if I would like her to be scattered throughout the cards' art to show her journey. If I had to choose Alice as a card it would be either the moon or the strength card. I also don't use the reversed idea in my practice. I see my cards as holding all types of different meanings that don't depend on which way they are placed. Anyway, however the Alice tarot deck pans out it will be beautiful and I'm so grateful that this might be something I can incorporate into my own self care journey.
I love the tarot idea so much!!
Sarah Heist
I love that you, American, as the genius that you are- still say things like "hur dur" in reference to your own thought processes. Love the tarot. Love the placement of the fool at the start of the game- perhaps then at the end of the game we can see the fool pop up around a corner and wave- we see him and hear his jingle hat as one of the last audio/visual clips of the entire game.
Kazuka
Will these be available as collectables in the game? That'd be pretty cool. Maybe something that Alice and her sister collected when they were little? And will this come to a certain platform or limited to only one?
I'm on the edge of my seat for these cards!!!
Alice + Tarot = Amazing!! I love the whole idea!
Does this mean we're potentially getting an "Alice" tarot deck? *hint hint.*
Morgan LeFay Dethen
Alice would be The Fool. The tarot actually tells the tale of a person’s journey, that starts as the person being The Fool. They are going into the unknown as shown by walking off a cliff without looking. They move onto become The Magician where they have the power of knowledge can creativity but must move forward to the High Priestess and so on until the become The World. Each card is part of this path that is Alice’s journey with that Alice would be The Fool. Now the white rabbit would be perfect as the dog at her feet.
Could each Tarot enemy actually be a version of Alice in a sort of disguise?? Like Alice never really realizes its herself until the end of the battle when the mask is removed and once again she is looking into her own eyes.
Chaussette
I don't know anything about Tarot but that sketch is really beautiful <3 I love that character in the middle
I'm surprised no one has said anything. I love the idea of Tarot, especially in that design. I think the Rabbit would be the fool, but only as an opinion based on personal thoughts of all of Alice's legacy. Sometimes I view Alice like a white rabbit. But then sometimes she's a black rabbit. Not sure why but I always have. For the Fool card, I would want a design for the White Rabbit maybe to symbolize Alice early on, and the way she follows the White rabbit... sign of yin and yang to me, and still mean 'Fool'. Just ranting sorry. I love the idea.
