By Kaye Webster from Kansas City, MO
Many are familiar with the image of a tarot card, whether it be in the hands of a witch, carnival psychic, or merely a curious soul interested in the art of divination. Tarot decks come in various designs and aesthetics, and contain 78 cards. The 56 trump cards are divided into four suits: Swords, Pentacles, Cups, and Wands. There are also 22 Major Arcana cards, which include some of the most well known tarot-related images such as The Lovers or The Tower.
For this article, I have redesigned 10 of the Major Arcana cards under the theme of TCU campus life, bringing the TCU experience into tarot whilst staying loyal to the cards’ meanings. Keep reading to find out more!
The Freshman
The Fool card represents new beginnings and embarking on a journey. It is a leap of faith as a new phase begins, much like the journey of a freshman entering college and striking out on their own for the first time.
The Quarterback
The Magician card represents resourcefulness, power, inspired action, knowledge, and inner guidance. He creates his desired circumstances, much like a football player who runs that final play to win the game.
The Library
The High Priestess card represents intuition, sacred knowledge, and the subconscious mind. It is the dual nature of life: the positive and the negative, the light and the dark, the good and the evil, all of which are present in the histories and fictions contained in the Mary Couts Burnett Library.
The Showgirl
The Empress card represents femininity, beauty, nature, and abundance. She also represents the ability to support the people around you. Creativity and mutual support are a must for any sort of team, but especially for talented dancers like the Showgirls.
The Chancellor
The Emperor card represents authority, responsibility, intelligence and structure – a leader who governs wisely and wants the best for everyone. These are the characteristics we should expect of a leader such as the Chancellor.
The Chapel
The Hierophant Card, sometimes called The Pope, is a figure of authority and power, representing spiritual wisdom, religious belief, leadership, traditions, and institutions. The diverse religious community at TCU is important to the overall campus community because, like the card suggests, people take comfort in knowing where they fit into the world and having a community that helps them achieve their goals.
The Frog
The Chariot card represents opposing forces, willpower, resolving conflict, and travel. What better way to sum up Superfrog? The mascot is always present when TCU teams face off against opposing forces, encouraging their will to win.
The Study Session
The Hermit represents self reflection, introspection, inner wisdom, and being alone. Alone is certainly how students may feel tucked away in a corner during a late, caffeine-fueled study session. When the stress is spiking and the stakes are high, it is a good idea to take a moment for self-evaluation. Take care of yourself, and trust that you will pull through even the most stressful of finals weeks.
The Grades
The Justice card represents rectification, decisions, balance, and cause and effect. There is no greater example of cause and effect for students than checking the gradebook, and we all know that we must make good decisions and balance our time well in order to get those A’s we want!
The Graduation
Never fear, the Death card is not as daunting as it sounds. This card symbolizes the ending of an era in the name of transformation. Remember, all good things must come to an end, including your time here at TCU, and it’s okay to mourn this particular ending. Change is a natural part of life, and this card suggests a grand caterpillar-to-butterfly type of metamorphosis. So congrats, Class of 2022, you did it!