What? I hear you say; but yes. As some of you may know I’m a tarot reader by trade and we’re currently offering a Valentine’s Special over at my tarot site, which yes, used to be housed here.
Given things are a little slow with that right now I decided to do a relationship reading for Sam & Brad the two central characters of the “Too Deep” story which you may have heard me rambling about here and there. You can see the reading here: Demo: Relationship spread. Though I’m going to quote a lot of the written explanation here and explain and analyze it.
The first portion here speaks of healing. This is facing up to facts. In this case that there are wounds from the past that have not been allowed to heal, as well as habits that should have been overcome. You are not weak. You have the strength to face these things. It can also show recovering from illness or accident. Whether it is any or all of these, Judgment shows that you have the strength to face that the past is the past and can be laid to rest. There is a transformation going on a positive one.
The Hermit shows a time of introspection is needed to get this done, a time away from everything and almost everyone. There may be one or two significant people called on to help with this, those who can give you the space you need and the gentle encouragement to work through all these things, but it’s best to be away from the hustle and bustle of normal life and all the craziness that it has entailed in the past, so that you can properly ruminate and work through all the niggling and painful things that you need to.
That portion relates to Sam, and is a bit of ‘duh’ as that’s basically what the story is about, him recuperating, and facing up to the things which happened to him so that not only can he process things and finally heal, but also stick to his health-needed plan to quit drinking, but prove his fidelity to Brad by letting him in.
There are a few things causing conflict here, I believe the Queen actually represents your partner, given the King is already drawn as his signifier. I say this because the court cards are more likely to be people and because of the Ten modifying. This person is successful in business endeavors, and has the eye of an artist. They give their all for jobs and people that they believe in, and strive to ensure everyone and everything they put their faith into will succeed. They’re very practical and down to earth, and they wish to help but in this instance cannot, because of the Ten. The Ten singularly being at the peak of housing and work which can be both good and bad, because you’ve reached the top and get your rewards but you have all the responsibility that brings and have to carry it.
So in this case it is forcing oneself to do all these things and carry all these things by yourself when there is a willing hand to take some of the burden. I can do this. I should be able to do this. I don’t need help. I’ve done this by myself for so long I’m used to it. They’re unwilling or unable to recognize that they have help, willing help, and they no longer have to carry all these things alone. The problem then comes that they run out of energy and get crushed by everything and then are unable to do anything at all. Give over some of your burdens. Trust in those around you to be able to not only understand, but accept.
This points to things that are in the ‘background’ of the story and come to light slowly throughout the course of it. Brad and Sam met a few years after the war. Sam was doing a ton of different things trying to keep busy and essentially running himself into an early grave. Part of Brad’s major issue with this is the fact that not only would Sam never talk about all the things going on, giving him the brush off and just trying to get through everything, but that he was essentially killing himself on several levels, ignoring his health in particular not only refusing treatment for illnesses, but smoking and drinking.
Now, the Priest, in the Manga Tarot is the equivalent of the High Priestess in other decks. They hold all these secrets within, and carries the ability to reveal these things so that decisions can be made. You are going to learn a lot of things, some of them very odd and potentially disturbing, but they will benefit all around even though they may stir up the dead.
That’s one of those ‘duh’ factors again. The point of the story is the revelation of all these ’secret’ things. Sam’s childhood, his acts during the war as essentially a terrorist or resistance fighter (depending on which side you’re on).
Here we have a struggle. You have been battling a lot lately. There have been a lot of challenging things which have gone on, and you feel as though you’re at war, but you’re not entirely sure what you’re at war with. You’ve been shaken up, and are off-kilter, you have no idea how to fix these things, but you want to, and you should be able to. The cards are in your favor on this, so do not give up. This is also a card of struggling, you’ve been juggling a few things lately, money has been involved to a certain degree. This is more balancing of things, you’ve been having to balance perhaps two jobs, or career and home life and it’s been getting to you, but relief is at hand and things will pay off soon, and there will be less stress.
Yay, Brad, you win! The blockhead is coming to his senses and going to talk to you, and actually start taking care of himself. Brad has been balancing also, he’s finishing up school, doing an internship and worrying about Sam. He spent a few months completely at a loss because Sam up and left, figuring that he would die and not wanting to put Brad through that, and then when one of Sam’s “co-workers” get in touch, for a while he’s acting essentially as Sam’s caretaker on top of everything else.
Unlike the Queen from Sam’s reading this Princess is a situation and not a person, they are an indicator of good fortune, and change for the better, a turn around in ill-health that will bring great relief. They are paired with the XXI World which means this is a very Good Thing to have happen, and also that there is a completion of a long journey and great rewards coming for hanging in and soldiering through. The World being the last card of the Major Arcana is a very positive card. It is the card of perfection and happiness. It’s a successful conclusion and being able to reap the rewards of all the seeds which have been sown. Investments pay off. Relationships move to the next level. You can finally relax. This comes up when you’re reaching the end of a portion of your life, if you’ve been studying for a degree, it indicates passing and going on to the next level, it could also be marriage after a long engagement, or even both. It can also indicate travel, trips and being able to teach others.
There are several ways that could be accurate. Sam’s health is certainly much improved by the time the story starts. He’s still got some issues going on, given he has ravaged himself in several ways; but things do seem to be coming back together. It’s hard for Brad to process or relate to a lot of things Sam went through given they grew up in very different environments, and there was a lot of hurt and conflict but they’re actually able to work through those things while Sam explains himself, especially given that hearing about Sam’s upbringing shows Brad why Sam is so afraid to be close to people.
The Four here is a bit of a warning though. You’re getting all these rewards and all these good things, and there’s a want now to hold on tight to everything and not share with others, to keep what you have earned and save it for fear that it will disappear again, but this is unjustified, you will do much better if you take what you have and learn from it, and let others know so that they will not commit similar mistakes so that everyone can learn these lessons and take them to heart. What you give out you get back at least three-fold if not more.
This part is the only part that confuses me as both reader and story writer. I’m leaning towards the fact that it’s saying that Brad should not smother Sam after hearing what he went through and seeing what he’s gone through health-wise. That Sam does not need protecting in that sense. Alternately I wonder if it’s suggesting that they should use Sam’s recollections to write his memoir, in the book, and publish it to share with the people of their Earth and the colonies what happened.
The Ten is a great card to have here. This relationship WORKS, is what it’s saying. You can have a great time together. There is love here, there is happiness here and friendship. All the semi-cheesy cookie cutter “Hallmark” moments can be here, but without the cheese. It’s there, the issue appears to be trusting that it is in fact there, it’s hard for one or both of you to accept or believe in what is before them; which brings us to what doesn’t work; the Ace of Swords, which is potential. This is not to say potential is a bad thing, this is more be careful. You’re feeling better, sharper and you want to get out there and do things, however you mustn’t push too fast, you may be getting better but health is still an issue, if you push yourself to do things the way you have in the past you’ll be back in the soup again and worse than ever. Take things slowly. You have time.
They do click very well, but the Sword actions are something that Sam did. He had to go and work with their Earth’s equivalent of the FBI to identify some people, got sick while doing that, was in hospital, got better, then went right back to doing a bajillion things, started to get sick again, and ran away. These sort of patterns are B-A-D bad.
The potential here is an interesting combination of cards, the Prince is a card indicating one or two who love deeply and passionately once they allow themselves to do so. However if this card were a character they would be Romeo, so there is a bit of caution to be allowed with this deep romance, a worry about going too far, loving too much, which could be a downfall. The five, however, is a card of loss. I don’t think this is a financial loss despite it being pentacles, most other cards have pointed to health issues, so this is probably another warning on that regard. You may have lost but you have to try and focus on the fact that you still have a lot of good things, and while it may seem like there is no end to all of these troubles, things will get better especially if you focus on each other and the connections there and do not spurn the aid of those who are there for you.
The Prince reminds me a bit of Sam. He professes to not care about romance, and has been frankly a slut in the past, however he was always secretly wanting a relationship and the romance of it all, except he would crush on straight men quite a bit and mope about that and drink more.
He has lost quite a bit as far as health goes, including his sight, as becomes apparent in chapter two of the story, and a good portion of his liver, and function of his lungs. However, he is learning to celebrate the fact that he is alive and does have people who care about him despite his stupid mistakes. Brad is also learning to accept that Sam does care also, as one of his fears was that he was doing all this and had actually been being used this whole time.
So there’s that, my follow-up on the reading. I very much liked doing this, it’s an interesting and fun way to continue character studies.