Rogue Oracle Read Online Free PDF Page A

end of a journey or the hero’s quest.”
    “Like in fairy tales?”
    “Joseph Campbell popularized the idea of the hero’s journey as an eternal theme, populated with archetypes found in every culture. Many scholars believe that the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot also speak to that journey. The Major Arcana begins with the Fool, who passes through trials and wisdom, and finishes with the World.”
    Harry squinted at the card. “That’s a pretty manly looking chick in a dress.”
    Tara laughed. “That’s the Sacred Androgyne, a perfect creature that unites the male and female.”
    “Hm. Hermaphrodites in Tarot. Who knew?”
    “The card is really about union of everything … men, beasts, the four elements.” Tara flipped over the card turned crosswise over it. “This card crosses the question. This represents the obstacles facing the subject of the reading.” The Five of Cups depicted a man staring somberly at spilled chalices of wine. “This is a card of regret. If there’s a single person or group behind these disappearances, I’d hazard a guess that there’s a great deal of regret or grappling with conscience going on.”
    “A guilty hermaphrodite, okay.” Harry fidgeted in his chair.
    “Harry …” she began.
    He raised his hands. “Okay, okay. I’m trying to learn.”
    She plucked up the card above the World. “This crowns the question, represents the subject’s highest aim.” She flipped it over, showed him the Lovers. “Before you make any jokes about hermaphroditic love, this card means more than that. It’s about fusion, union, trust. Could mean that whoever’s behind this is missing some feeling of belonging. Or he or she could literally be missing a lover.” Tara tried to ignore the possibility that her own feelings could be clouding the reading. “The subject may be afraid of being alone.”
    She put the card back on the table without meeting Harry’s eyes, and moved to the card below the World. “This card represents the foundation of the situation.” Tara picked up the card beneath the World. “This goes to underlying motivations, events in the past that are still reaching into the present and influencing the question.” The Tower showed two people falling from a structure hit by lightning. “The Tower is a card of catastrophe, of natural disasters, storms, and general destruction of an old way of life.” Tara’s fingers walked upward to the Lovers card. “In the Tower, we see the Lovers falling to earth. I’m guessing that whoever’s behind your disappearances may have experienced an estrangement in the past, one he or she is still trying to correct.
    “In this reading, we’re seeing three Major Arcana cards in a row: the Lovers, the World, and the Tower. It suggests that the past is strongly affecting the ambitions of the person who’s behind these disappearances.”
    “Especially since whoever’s doing this is dealing in old secrets.”
    “Good point.” Her fingers rested on the card to the right of the World. “This card is behind the questioner, representing the recent past. Here, we have the Nine of Swords. The crying woman sitting up in her bed with nine swords hanging over it represents sleeplessness, worry. Swords represent the element of air, ideas.”
    Tara turned over the last card in the Cross, to the left of the World. “This is the immediate future influence, the Emperor.” The card showed a severe man crowned with laurel leaves, sitting on a throne. “A man involved with the rule of law is going to become involved in the situation. Someone who embodies the Apollo-like ideals of reason.”
    Tara turned to the staff, the row of cards to the right of the Cross. She turned over the bottom card, and her mouth turned down. “This card symbolizes the questioner.” It showed Strength, a woman serenely closing the jaws of a lion. Crimson drops of blood welled over her collarbone, where the lion had clawed her. This was a card Tara had, in the past,