Shuffle | Corrine Kenner's Tarot Blog

Did you enjoy Cyndi Lauper in Bones Season 5 Premiere?

So far, the voting in this online poll is practically unanimous: the “Bones” audience loved Cyndi Lauper as a tarot reader.

Cast your vote here.

If you haven’t seen the program yet, it’s here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/95846/bones-harbingers-in-a-fountain.

The " Mad Men " Tarot Reading

Mad Men's Anna (Melinda Page Hamilton) reads cards for Don Draper (Jon Hamm).

My sister Claudine is obsessed with the Mad Men series -- so when a recent episode featured a tarot card reading, she twittered me for information about the cards. "Don and a plot point via tarot cards," she wrote. "Corrine, I need your insight now!"

Well, get in line, Claudine. Get in line.

 

Actually, I didn't understand her twitter, so I ignored her. Later, she clarified, with a link to the show's website:

Set in 1960s New York, the sexy, stylized and provocative AMC drama Mad Men follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an ego-driven world where key players make an art of the sell.  

She also did a little research on her own, and came up with the following analyses of Don's tarot reading.

But first, let me throw in a little tarot trivia. The woman in the photo seems to be holding a Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck. The cards have the familiar blue-plaid "tarotee" backs we're all used to seeing -- but this version of the deck wasn't available until U.S. Games started distributing it in 1971. As early as 1968, the Mad Men characters could have had a reading with the same card images, but they would probably be using a Albano-Waite deck with white backs. Before that, they would have been stuck with Zolar's Astrological Tarot, or an old, rare copy of the original deck from the early 20th century. (If you, too, are oddly fascinated by the backside of tarot, you can see historical images on Holly Voley's site, here.) Okay, on to the fun stuff: other bloggers' interpretations of the spread:

Don Draper's Tarot Reading by Brandon Burt

The reading itself was sparse--only two of the cards were actually mentioned in dialog--but if you rewind and pause at just the right moment (about the 44-minute mark), it's possible to make out the entire Celtic Cross spread. The show's writers are notorious sticklers for detail, leaving nothing to chance. Those Tarot cards must have been carefully chosen, which means the writers either deliberately chose them to provide clues about future events in the series--or they deliberately chose them not to for some reason. And that would be no fun for the writers who, after all, hold Draper's fate in their hands. So here's my take on Don Draper's cards:

[Mad Men] In the latest episode of Mad Men, Don Draper gets his cards read by somebody whose identity I'm not at liberty to disclose for fear of violating the unbreakable social rule about "spoilers."

 

At the center of the spread is THE SUN, reversed, crossed by the EIGHT OF CUPS. This represents Draper's central conflict--his life to this point has brought him only superficial happiness, and he feels the need to turn away, abandoning his life's work and starting over again.

 

Above and below are JUDGMENT and the PAGE OF PENTACLES: He is on the verge of a profound rebirth--"resurrection" as it was put in the show--and is beginning to take the first practical steps toward changing his life.

 

In Draper's immediate past is the THREE OF CUPS, reversed, possibly representing that the sybaritic fuckfest he enjoyed in the previous episode may have been fun, but was not of lasting value or importance. His immediate future--the FIVE OF SWORDS--looks very troubling indeed: discord, conflict, dishonor, self-interest. Doesn't look like he and Betty will be making up anytime soon (excluding the possibility of hot, hot, angry grudge sex); there may be a divorce, and it will be ugly.

 

As mentioned in dialog, at the bottom of the "staff," Don himself is represented by THE WORLD card, probably the most fortunate card in the deck. He's got all the resources he needs at his disposal, and the universe is conspiring for his success. However, the NINE OF WANDS indicates that those around him are on the defensive and may not give up without a fight.

 

THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE may represent his fear that all his chickens are coming home to roost--he knows he's deceived all those around him, and has exhausted himself spending so much energy just trying to ensure that nobody finds out about his past. But he's ready for a dramatic life transformation, remember--which is likely to happen very quickly considering the EIGHT OF WANDS in the final-outcome position. (Actually, since there's only one more episode left in the season, it'll have to happen pretty damn fast!)

 

My guess? Draper's redemption will have something to do with cars, and he and Betty will not get back together. Still, it's hard to imagine the series continuing into a third season with Draper living the good life in California--I doubt a spinoff is in the works so some complication will arise that will force him back into a false and tragic existence in New York--just what we love to see.

 

(Come to think of it, the entire opening title sequence, depicting a man falling out of a tall building, is reminiscent of THE TOWER card.)

Here's another blogger's interpretation:

Tarot Reading!

Did I mention that I read tarot cards? The problem is that there are many different types of Celtic Cross (the spread Anne is using) and they each have different meanings for the card positions. However, the story is generally clear. We start with Don as the Sun. But what Anne fails to mention is that he's a reversed Sun. The Sun is about youth and reason, optimism and a new day. What struck me most about this episode was how boyish and kidlike Don was with Anne in the past. Sunny and optimistic. Now he's the reversed Sun, a man who is confused, dark, pessimistic. What's getting in his way, "Crossing him" is the 8 of Cups. This is a card about leaving behind what you know, even what you love, to follow after dreams or illusions. Clearly, Don's usual practice of leaving the past behind is not an asset right now. It's keeping him from being the best he can be. Below, the root of the situation, is the Page of Pentacles. Which is what Don used to be. A hardworking young man striving for money and security. That's not enough now, however. Above, as Anne points out, is Judgment, which is not only about resurrection, but wiping the slate clean. You have to face the past and come to terms with it. That is what "crowns" Don, what is in his best interest. Behind him is the three of Wands reversed. The three of wands is a man waiting to see if his hard work will pay off. Clearly, just recently, Don has felt that all his hard work has not paid off, or brought him something back rather than good. Ahead is the five of swords. Uh-oh. Not good. He's going to get into a fight he can't win. Up the "staff" part of the Celtic cross we start with the World, which is, as Anne said, about having the whole world at your command. This is a wise person, a knowledgeable person. A traveler. He can make his home anywhere, and he can make his living at anything. Above that we have the 9 of Wands, which is about a lone soldier holding the fort against enemies. I suspect from this and the five of swords that Don will be the lone hold out against the merger. This is likely his "environment." Above that we have the wheel of fortune. As we've already seen, fortunes are changing. Some rise like Peggy, some fall like Pete. There are ups and downs for everyone. Don both hopes and fears for a change in fortune. The outcome? The 8 of Wands. Things are going to move very fast, and Don is going to find himself in a new position, possibly going up in position and responsibility.

The photo at the top of this post came from the AMC site.

Soap Opera Tarot

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdCjQhF9x58] I kind of liked this clip of a tarot reading on The Young and the Restless. I don't know who these people are, but they've got ... secrets. It looks like they're using the Enchanted Tarot by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber.

Tarot for Teens

My daughter Emily found this automated tarot program on the-n.com -- a young people's website, designed for teenagers who watch Noggin's nighttime lineup.

I actually got a pretty decent reading from the program! My question was about classroom space. I want to do more teaching, but I'm tired of constantly scrambling for meeting space in libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops ... so I asked if I would be able to rent classroom space at a price I like. Here's the answer I received, in the form of screen captures. (I'm pretty sure it's a "yes.") The card images are cute, don't you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Return of Miss Cleo

Now maybe the Miss Cleo decks I bought on eBay will be worth something:

Poker "Brat" Phil Hellmuth to Appear on Surreal Life with Miss Cleo Though VH1 has not made an official announcement on the air date and casting for Season 7 of the popular reality series featuring a group of "has beens", "have beens", "have really beens" and "still ares" (in the case of poker brat Phil Hellmuth), both Phil Hellmuth and Professional Wrestler Randy Savage have announced the casting. "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Dabney Coleman, Nikki McKibbin, Miss Cleo, Carrot Top, and Phil Hellmuth are all slated to appear.

" Stolen " Cards

In the morning, while the kids get ready for school and I do my rounds on the Internet, we watch VH1's Jump Start. This morning, I looked up from reading blogs about the Readers Studio to see tarot cards all over the TV. Freaky, man.

The video for Dashboard Confessional's "Stolen" follows the story of two children who see their future in the cards. It's sweet.

There's also some discussion of the video here, where someone points out that the cards are actually still images from the video, framed by the borders from the Thoth tarot deck.

Reality Psychics

Now you can score your favorite psychics from the comfort of your own home:

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The co-creator of "Friends" is making her first foray into reality television with "Gifted," a Fox pilot set in the world of psychics.

The project, on which Marta Kauffman will serve as an executive producer, will test the skills of people who believe they have psychic abilities -- such as reading Tarot cards and communicating with spirits -- to determine the most gifted one.

"Gifted" stems from Kauffman's genuine curiosity about the paranormal, which became deeper after her parents died. In her purse, she always carries a pendulum used by many to get "yes or no" answers to any question.

"I have always been fascinated about what we can't see and the gifts that people have that enable them to do incredible things," said Kauffman, an admitted reality-TV skeptic. "And I have always wanted to know if there is a way to quantify people's ability."

Kauffman will executive produce with reality veteran J.D. Roth, whose credits include hits "Beauty and the Geek" and "The Biggest Loser." They are scouting locations this week, with production on "Gifted" slated to begin next week.

If the project goes to series, the idea is for a panel of experts to narrow down the field of participants and to have the finalists possibly living under the same roof.

-- Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

I don't know if I'll like this show or not. I'll watch it, of course. I watch everything "psychic," at least once. Even so, I predict that I'll be disappointed. Either they'll set up a bunch of fake tests just to trap the psychics into making mistakes ("No! Grandma's name was Magda, not Martha!"), or they'll round up the most freakish psychics they can find -- like a weathered old woman who eats only turnips and channels an alien god named Biff, or a street reader who dyes his skin green and reads feet. Ack.

Of course, it's reality TV, and that's just the nature of the beast.

In real life, I can't imagine anything more boring than the TV show they would get if they put a group of my "psychic friends" in a house together. To be accurate, they'd have to show us playing Scrabble for excitement, and tempting us into vice by stocking the cabinets with Oreos and Cheetos. Every now and then, somebody's blood sugar would crash and we'd have a brief argument about who gets to nap on the couch. The producers could egg us into doing tarot readings for each other, but they'd be brief; when we get together, the cards are a form of shorthand. "Oh, look," one of us might say. "You've got the Five of Wands." "Oh," someone else would reply. "That explains it."

And then we'd pack up the cards and go look for more cookies.

Goodbye, Bud

Awww ... Calvert DeForest died. He was better known as Larry "Bud" Melman on the David Letterman program.

I actually interviewed him once, back when I was a budding* college reporter and he came to the University of North Dakota for some sort of show. He was an old man even then, and I think he was traveling alone. He asked me for a can of pop.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

*Hah! An hour and a half later, and I just noticed the pun!

High Hopes

I hope it's good.

Because the books are pretty cool.

Video Tarot

Ashley Monroe's video for the song "I Don't Want To" features a tarot card reader using the Goddess Tarot deck. You can see it at CMT.com.