Cinephile Tarot – Maenad Tarot

The Ten of Cups and Found Family in Shoplifters

In our efforts to “queer the tarot,” we might find the Rider Waite Smith imagery for the Ten of Cups overly heteronormative at first glance. A surface reading of the image might suggest that the pinnacle of emotional fulfillment is a life of heterosexual monogamy and 2.5 children. However, appearances can be deceiving. Hirokazu Kore-eda’s beautiful 2018 film Shoplifters (the original title translates to Shoplifting Family) showcases a family with a deep Ten of Cups bond. Despite their surface resemblance to a nuclear family, their bond might not have anything to do with biological family at all.

Angels to Others: Tarot and Hellraiser

In honor of Halloween, I’m using the tarot to take a look at Hellraiser, written and directed by Clive Barker, with a terrific score by Christopher Young. The following will focus on the original Hellraiser film from 1987, with gestures towards the 1988 sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and Clive Barker’s novella, The Hellbound Heart. Spoilers for the first two films and the novella below!

Let the Right One (Slip) In: The Turning Point of the Cups

I often match up individual tarot cards with music, but rarely do I find a song that encompasses a journey across multiple cards as elegantly as Morrissey’s “Let the Right One Slip In.” This simple, joyful song rests on the turning point of the Eight of Cups, pointing back to the Seven of Cups and forward to the Nine of Cups. The first three lines alone map out the path:

Let the right one in
Let the old dreams die
Let the wrong ones go

Fandom Tarot: The Dark Crystal

The Fandom Tarot series combines two of my favorite things: tarot and geeking out! I’ll be assigning tarot cards to characters from various books, TV, movies, games, etc. You’ll see a lot of court cards in this series, so if you need an introduction or a refresher, be sure to subscribe to the blog and you’ll receive a free Guide to the Court Cards! At the end of the post, I will share a fandom-themed tarot spread. These posts are written with the assumption that you’ve seen/read the full series at the time of posting unless otherwise noted. Beware that we are talking MAJOR SPOILERS.

To kick off this series, I thought I’d start with a film near and dear to my heart: 1982’s The Dark Crystal. As a kid, this movie terrified and enchanted me. The creature design still leaves me breathless with its intricate beauty and embrace of the grotesque, and certain scenes never fail to inspire a sense of existential dread. With the Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance set to drop, I thought I’d revisit the film that freaked me out so much!