Welcome to the third cycle of cards on Arcanalogue! To keep myself from repeating... myself, I'm mixing things up a bit on the site. For starters, I'm going to let my readers appoint the Court cards. When you see blanks to be filled in, that's your signal to start pondering and let me know which card you think the featured subject deserves to become. Are they a Princess (or Page, or whatever), a Prince (Knight, etc.), a Queen, or a King? Do they embody Wands, Cups, Swords, or Coins? Click those labels if you want to look at examples from Arcanalogue for comparison.
Make a case for your decision in the comments, based on whatever you think is relevant. Eventually I'll give the card an official title based on the responses. There are no real right answers, of course -- just really convincing ones!
How's this for a trial run: Last night Lady Gaga turned the already ridiculous MTV Video Music Awards inside out with her costumes. (You can see them all in this gallery...) If you want some additional food for thought, here's a bit of her performance from the show below, and a link to her latest video, for which embedding is (somewhat ironically) disabled.
UPDATE: Looks like I'm coronating her as the Prince of Wands. Lots of interesting arguments contributed to this call, you can read them below in the comments. Thanks, everyone!
Lady Gaga MTV VMA Music Awards 2009 Performance
9.19.2009
And the VMA Goes To: The Prince of Wands!
5.24.2009
The Prince of Wands
1. Seeking after your dreams
2. Person who is active, fierce, and proud
3. Person who is impulsive, unpredictable, and impetuous.
-- David Allen Hulse, The Western Mysteries
3.12.2009
"In The Navy, They Call That Dazzle Camouflage..."
For a school-aged child, there are no greater risks than the ones taken with one's own appearance -- which makes Arlo Weiner's outfits almost Evel Knievel-esque. The eight-year-old puts together snappy original outfits every day that I never would have had the guts to wear into grade-school; looking back, I wish I had been braver and tried harder, but different people have different instincts, and at the time mine was merely "survival."
Arlo is the son of Mad Men creator Matt Weiner, and admits that his father's show has been a huge inspiration to him when it comes to fashion. He's already working like a designer, pulling certain garments apart and putting them together in new ways, chasing the visions that burn in his little eight-year-old brain. "The tie on my neck—that used to be the belt for my bathrobe, but I shortened it and turned it into that," he says in one of the captions. "I put the tie with the jacket because I liked the patterns together."
As a Prince of Wands, Arlo points out that we oughtn't let our fears guide our progress or determine which risks are worth taking. Confidence in one's own perspective, an adventurous spirit and a little bit of optimism can put you so far beyond the range of everyday expectation, the bullies will never even see you coming. In the Navy, they call that Dazzle Camouflage. [Via]
11.11.2008
Prince of Wands
When inspiration strikes, it takes a brave person to follow where it goes. Slovenian Holocaust-survivor Boris Kobe channeled his memories of a Dachau sub-camp into a full Tarot deck, depicting the scenes in a style that's feather-light on the surface and hellishly deep upon meditation. Having completed this artistic record, he apparently did his best to put the matter behind him; the gallery info linked above says: "After the war, Kobe did no more work as far as is known about his camp experiences. He was, however, a major Slovenian architect."
Today, his Prince of Wands shall be ours too. The Princess seemed to be a veritable forest fire of activity, blazing unstoppably in all directions at once, and the Prince is certainly her mate; here we have a champion whose heroism lies not necessarily in huge accomplishments but in his unsinkable spirit and burning passion. A lot of the recklessness we saw in the Princess has been trained out of his system, though he still has an eye for risks and long-shots. He is more than just a warrior or a crown prince -- he is a courier of inspiration, rallying others and setting a standard that's guaranteed to keep the humbler, simpler troops' spirits up as challenges mount.
This card really crackles when applied to creative or career endeavors, especially those that require extra bravery or optimism. It's much harder to give in to your fears of the darkness when you shine with your own light -- and those nearby will be grateful for the illumination as well.
