Vampires on The Fool’s Journey

Vampires and tarot are an alluring combination that promises prophecy and insight without skirting around the darker aspects of life. However, the intrigue of the vampire’s journey through the Major Arcana runs deeper than shadows. When this archetype enters the tarot, it is running a fool’s gauntlet with the sun. As vampire mythology opposes our sun-centred universe, exploring these decks can reveal aspects and meanings that may have been overlooked. Here, we join the vampire as it undertakes The Fool’s journey through the major arcana of three tarot decks.

The Rider-Waite Tarot has inspired the imagery of many decks since its creation in 1910, including those with darker themes. The symbols and meanings of the Rider Waite Tarot are based on the teachings of The Golden Dawn, a magical society of which Arthur Edward Waite was a prominent member. As the name suggests, The Golden Dawn was a magical order of the sun. Humanity’s reverence for the sun is evidenced by the strength of its gods including Apollo (Greek), Lugh (Celtic), Mithra (Persian), Ra (Egyptian) and Sol (Roman/Norse). In tarot tradition, The Sun card represents success, courage, glory and ambition. For vampires, the sun is a source of fear and destruction and a revealer of weakness. Here, we look at what happens to myth and meaning when Dracula and his counterparts enter the realm of Tarot.

In his book, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Waite describes the major arcana as being concerned with ‘divine dealings.’ Let’s follow the vampire symbolism as it journeys through these 22 cards of higher intention in a selection of vampire-themed decks.

Introducing the Vampire Tarot

The Vampires Tarot of the Eternal Night by Davide Corsi with images by Patrizia Nati, published in 2009 by Lo Scarabeo. The author’s introduction to this deck states that it pays “homage to the wonderful horror literature of the 19th century.” The images are set in “distant times, in fantastic and mysterious places, where darkness becomes the essential element.” This deck depicts the vampire in many forms including man, woman dog and demon. The set follows traditional RWS meanings.

Gothic Tarot of Vampires by Riccardo Minetti with artwork by Emiliano Mammucari, published in 2003 by Lo Scarabeo. The creator introduces us to this deck with the metaphor that is “understood as the symbolic parallel between Vampire and Man.” Minetti explores the metaphor and makes several parallels (eg. The vampire’s thirst with the insatiable greed of man) to aid in our interpretation of the cards. The creator states that while the vampire reflects the dark side of man, it “also possesses a strong and radiant side in which human nature is reflected.” This deck also refers to the RWS meanings of the Major Arcana and traces the vampire’s journey through the trumps from innocence, to damnation, to peace in “a transposition of the path of growth of each human being during his or her existence.” The images are depicted in the modern world as Minnetti felt a nineteenth-century setting would “soften the messages.” He also declares a desire to go beyond a superficial stereotype of vampires and place the focus of the artwork on his subject’s spiritual aspects.

The Vampire Tarot created and illustrated by Nathalie Hertz, published in 2000 by US Games. Hertz adheres to the Rider-Waite imagery and traces the journey of the vampire from The Fool with “a bat who kills with no regard for eternal life” to The World where the vampire’s “bloody teeth symbolize time and eternal life.”

The Bohemian Gothic Tarot designed by Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov, first edition published in 2007 by Magic Realist Press. The creators introduce this deck as offering “deeper insights and perceptions about the darker, hidden workings of the subconscious, and the power that horror has to both frighten and attract us.” Technically, this is not a vampire deck, but a deck that has vampires.  I’ve included it here because it’s one of my favourites. The cards of the major arcana are not number but otherwise, this deck aligns itself with the RWS.

Vampires and The Major Arcana

Laying the Major Arcana of the vampire decks out side by side with the Rider Waite, revealed recurring and contrasting imagery. While some cards were merely a darker portrayal of their Rider-Waite counterpart, others were truer to vampire law in their interpretation of the traditional tarot meaning.

The Rider-Waite presents The Fool as a youth at the outset of their journey. The traditional meaning of the card is initiation and beginnings. The Fool of The Vampire Tarot contrasts the imagery of the Rider-Waite Tarot, focusing on the unrefined and beastly beginning of the vampiric journey. Here we are presented with a bat-like form unleashed on its journey to revel in destruction with no regard for the consequences or the afterlife.

The Gothic Tarot of Vampires depicts The Fool more literally as the initiate. We see our hero before his transformation from man into beast begins. Minetti’s interpretation stresses the meaning of the card as innocence: “before things happen. Potential for all things. Realization of none.”

The Fool begins his journey through the remaining 21 cards of the major arcana with The Magician. The Magician is aware of his physical and moral capabilities and has the will to put them to use. The Rider-Waite depicts a young man with his magical tools including a wand representing his will.

Is the will of man so different to the will of vampire? The interpretation of this card in the Gothic Tarot of Vampires offers an answer: “Seduction – One’s own will over the will of others, rule over the desires of others.” The portrayal of The Magician in this deck breaks from the Rider-Waite imagery and is interpreted from the vampire’s perspective of control over another.

Other cards of note include The Lovers, The Tower, The Chariot and The Sun. In the Rider-Waite Tarot, the man and woman on The Lovers card stand side by side and are the same height – they are presented as equals. Traditionally, The Lovers represents the union of man and woman as well as the union of the masculine and feminine and/or the higher and lower natures of self. Are equality and vampirism mutually exclusive? The Gothic Tarot of Vampires depicts the card in terms of mutual sacrifice and the bonds of blood. The Vampires Tarot of the Eternal Night presents a literal interpretation of the word ‘Lovers’ in what appears to be a position of mutuality. However, the accompanying guidebook gives an interpretation of a “revelation”. The Bohemian Gothic Tarot and The Vampire Tarot depict a more stereotypical pose of submission by the maiden to the bite of her lover.

The Rider-Waite deck presents The Tower card as a structure under attack from forces of nature with lightning striking and earth quaking. The traditional interpretation is a catastrophe or emotional upset that leads to awakening and the opportunity to grow spiritually. For a creature who may seek comfort in a dark, stormy and abandoned castle, the traditional imagery of The Tower does not necessarily present chaos.

The Vampire Tarot and The Vampires Tarot of the Eternal Night reflect the vampire’s ease with chaos with the depiction of a castle surrounded by bats looking rather serene. The Gothic Tarot of Vampires takes the vampire’s perspective. The creator has presented a scenario that would create discomfort for the vampire as well as an opportunity for ongoing self-reflection. Here we see a casket being lowered into a grave.

The Chariot archetype is traditionally about man’s ability to direct his wisdom and will. This is depicted in the Rider-Waite deck in the form of a man in command of a chariot being pulled by two sphinx – one white, one black. While the artwork of the vampire-themed decks under consideration reflects the traditional imagery of a vehicle being drawn by opposing forces, The Vampire Tarot takes the opportunity to depict the ‘vehicle’ as a human host.

In tarot tradition, The Sun card represents success, courage, glory and ambition. But Vitamin D is not on Dracula’s prescription. The sun is a source of fear for vampires and can be fatal, such as for vampires less than 1000 years old in Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire. Thus, this card offers a contrasting perspective for man and vampire.

The Gothic Tarot of Vampires gives an interpretation of The Sun as “truth and clarity.” From this perspective, the creators can step away from any imagery of the sun and we are presented with a figure who is seeking truth at a crossroads beneath the stars. The Vampire Tarot and The Vampires Tarot of the Eternal Night deal with The Sun imagery head-on and present us with figures thrust into the sunlight. There is a striking difference in the posturing of these figures. The Vampires Tarot of the Eternal Night gives the interpretation of The Sun as “a positive force bursts into your life, annihilating all the negative that has oppressed you up to now.” The sunlight is freeing the vampire of its dark existence, but the price of that freedom is death. This figure is shielding itself from the sunlight and does not appear to be embracing its fate. In contrast, The Vampire Tarot depicts a figure rapturous in its sacrifice to the sun in an ecstatic release from torment.

Vampires in the tarot invite us to venture into the dark side of the human psyche. This is eloquently expressed by the creators of The Bohemian Gothic Tarot who present their deck “to explore the shadow sides of life; the wisdom that may lie in a nightmare, dark imagination and the fear of the supernatural.” The combination of the tarot as a tool of self-revelation and the dark aspect of the vampire inspires an exploration of the modern world, with all its greed, desire for control and horror with brutal honesty. It could be argued that the combination brings our inner monster out of the shadows, and we can, perhaps, empathise with these creatures of the dark.

An award-winning psychic, creator, editor and author, Leela J. Williams entered the wonderful world of spiritual publishing in 2000. Avidly curious, she continues to explore philosophy, mythology and spiritual connection. Her creativity, deep thinking and quirky view of the world have made her a sought-after editor, mentor and writer. Her latest work, Maxine Gadd’s Zoologica: The Steampunk Oracle is available from www.Tarotopia.com.au

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