Gay Tarot - XVI Revelation

[telcontar]

I had this one for a daily draw yesterday and it was the first time, a card from this deck made no sense to me as a daily draw. No revelation came to me the whole day, though I was looking hard, - ok, now, with a little distance I can spot two little ones, but still nothing breathtaking

Anyway, the card is the interesting thing here:

It shows a young man or rather a boy, clothed much in the Intuitives style ( at least, his clothes, too, remind me of the far east), standing in front of his parents, obviously explaining something to them. They sit behind a table, he's standing in front of it. The woman (as I suppose they are is his parents, she must be his mother ,) is in tears and holding a handkerchief to her face, the father, his whole body language speaking of rejection turns a cold shoulder with a stern face. In the background, there is an open window and you can see the dark sky parted by a ragged flash of lightning that is strong enough to throw shadows of the whole scenery to the ground.

It is a strong picture. Like the other majors, The Tower is "translated" into a situation of a gay man's live: the (often) hard moment of coming out to your parents. Opening up and becoming vulnerable, being subkect to their fears, concerns and prejudices. It is a sudden change- probably for the better, towards more authenticity, but you can hardly see this at that moment- blinded by lightning as you are...

 

[Lee]

Also, the revelation is as much a Tower moment, if not more, for the parents, who have no control whatsoever over the situation. In fact this may be the first time when they have to face the fact that their child is an adult who will make their own decisions on how to live their life. The young man at least has the choice of when to "come out" to his parents, or whether to do so at all.

Hopefully this card will inspire gay people to approach this moment with care and with good will and understanding. Also hopefully it will inspire parents (should there be any who would see this deck) to react with compassion and love.

-- Lee

 

[telcontar]

Ah, my view was too narrow again I didn't see the striking parallel to the RW: the TWO people falling from the tower and the two parents in front of this guy! Thanks

I sure wish a lot of parents would get around to seing this deck!

 

[Shade]

Having to makeguesses based upon the description so here goes...

This has me thinking of the traditional Emperor and Empress cards. "Mother" and "Father" have long been keywrds for these and analogis have been made on a nuclear family structured, organized father and a nurturing, protective mother. But what happens when either or both go to far or gain too much control? Many interpret the Emperor as a tyrant or patriarch, old and unfeeling. The Empress usually escapes this assessment but one could easily imagine the "devouring mother" suggested by T.H. White in The Once and Future King. In this card the young man changes the power structure and frees himself from old ways of being (I'm thinking of the man and woman cast out of the blasted tower).

If it's a larger allegory (would that be macrocosm or microcosm... must check on this) it could be seen as homosexuality challenging the notion of the "traditional" family. Conservatives are willing to change constitutions in order to" protect the "sanctity" of marriage from the taint of gay unions but by living openly and being true to ourselves we have won.

Some inerpret the Tower as truth laying waste to falsehood. Here, the truth of the beauty of both queerness and self identity overturns the falsehood of one kind of acceptable relationship.

Damn can't wait till I can actually see the card.

 

[Little Baron]

I also see that this card could have relevance to a lot of situations. The young man, since standing, looks to hold a lot of power. He looks as though he could even be helping to reconsile difficult times between the couple. Maybe the lightening bolt reflects problems for them - maybe they are considering seperation and the young man is reasoning with them and helping them to be able to look at each other again.

Of course, I can see that the 'coming out' situation is most probably prominant here, but I thought it interesting to add a new take. These cards are very strong but open to many interpretation, which makes them accessible to all situations that could arise on a day to day level. He could be, as a silly example, be telling them that he has just crashed his fathers car, hehe.

Strong card. The body language is great. The way that the father seems to not be able to look at the other two - possibly blaming the mother, rejecting the son. The way he holds his arms so tightly. The way the mother holds her hands to her mouth, unable to speak. The way the son clutches his heart as he delivers the truth' extends his hand for a response and tries to explain how he feels.

It would be nice to think that the three on the '8 of Cups' was connected to this card. The loving couple saw farewell to their son as he embarks on a journey that they now understand, respect and accept. I suppose it could be a vision of the future. If the two cards turned up in a spread together, I imagine that that might not be too difficult of a conclusion to come to. I have not read the LWB meaning for the '8' or the 'XVI' card yet ... just wanted to respond with my initial impressions.

Yaboot

 

[Lee]

He could be, as a silly example, be telling them that he has just crashed his fathers car, hehe.

Exactly! If the deck is to be useful as a tarot deck, then the moods and tones shown on the cards must be able to be applied to other situations than the ones specifically illustrated. Of course, if one uses the deck for normal everyday use, the subject of coming out won't be applicable to all or even most questions asked. So hopefully people will be able to, as Yaboot has done in his example, apply the general feeling of the card to other situations.

Strong card. The body language is great. The way that the father seems to not be able to look at the other two - possibly blaming the mother, rejecting the son. The way he holds his arms so tightly. The way the mother holds her hands to her mouth, unable to speak. The way the son clutches his heart as he delivers the truth' extends his hand for a response and tries to explain how he feels.

I quite agree, and Antonella deserves all the credit here. She's created a wonderful drama in a simple image. I think her work is quite masterful.

-- Lee

 

[tarotbear]

As with the self-hatred card - I looked at this trying to figure out what it replaces and then realized the lightening bolt is borrowed from the RWS and said -- OH! the TOWER! yeah - right on image.

You have to realize that I am 50 years old (almost!) and my family does not discuss my homosexuality- considering I lived with a man for ten years! I told my mother about my 'situation' about ten years ago and we were estranged for about two years after I did. I got tired of going home and listening to diatribes about 'I don't want you to be this way!' My parents are 81 years old. According to my mother - my father doesn't know! At this point it is not worth the problems it will cause. My father disowned my little brother for being a jerk - you think he would hesitiate to disown his second son who's gay? No- that moment of revelation that you are gay has destroyed many families and the tower of expectations - that you will get married and produce grandchildren - crashed down faster than ever.

Yes, it is possible that the young man is telling his parents that he wrecked the family car, is flunking out of college, that his girlfriend is pregnant - or that he is HIV+ - but in that moment of revelation the future is forever changed and cannot be reclaimed.

Excellent image, Lee & Antonella.