Volume 20 Number 2 Article 6 Spring 3-15-1994 Tarot Card Symbolism in the Star Wars Films Coralee Grebe Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore Part of the Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons Recommended Citation Grebe, Coralee (1994) "Tarot Card Symbolism in the Star Wars Films," Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 20 : No. 2 , Article 6. Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol20/iss2/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mythopoeic Society at SWOSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature by an authorized editor of SWOSU Digital Commons. An ADA compliant document is available upon request. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To join the Mythopoeic Society go to: http://www.mythsoc.org/join.htm Mythcon 51: A VIRTUAL “HALFLING” MYTHCON July 31 - August 1, 2021 (Saturday and Sunday) http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-51.htm Mythcon 52: The Mythic, the Fantastic, and the Alien Albuquerque, New Mexico; July 29 - August 1, 2022 http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon/mythcon-52.htm Abstract A Jungian interpretation of the first three Star Wars films through the lens of Tarot imagery. Additional Keywords Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces; Hero’s journey; Jungian analysis of Star Wars; Star Wars (film series) —Relation ot Tarot; Tarot in film This article is available in Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol20/iss2/6 JVUvTfoLoKe Issu e 76 j8>pRlKiq 1994 P ^ e e 27 5 E^^£S?ir ^fcsE?i©cs)I!ji^<SE) ® a S & xi 0 m& f i t o I t a © CjoRAl.ee ©R€Be cholars and critics have discussed the implica­ The Major Arcana tions of the Star Wars films for more than a The twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana are also decade.1 Many have noted the presence of called the triumphs, trumps, keys or secrets. Cards are Jungian archetypes in the films. While Jung was numbered from one to twenty-one with the remaining primarily interested in psychological phenomena, he was card, The Fool, being unnumbered like our modem jokers. quick to recognize the connections that link together Often the twenty-one cards are studied as three groups of dreams, artistic expressions, the occult and spiritual jour­ seven cards each. The first septenary, cards 1-7, represents neys. His observations of the archetypes pervading all of natural powers as personalities, the second, cards 8-14, these areas have impressed generations of psychologists, describes the laws and variables that affect our lives, and mythologists, artists and philosophers, among them the third, cards 15-21, suggests the conditions which gov­ Joseph Campbell. ern all phases of existence. Campbell's best known work focuses on the universal When the three septenaries of the Major Arcana are elements of myth, folklore, religion and the spiritual as­ arranged in sequence, they can be thought of as the kind pects of an individual's adventures. Director George Lucas of number line we learned in grade-school arithmetic. The credited Campbell's Heroic Cycle with affecting the Star Fool card which is either unnumbered or the zero card, can Wars films; without Campbell's influence, the movies be placed at the beginning of the line. Because it is so often might not have been made.2 Campbell explored many unnumbered, the Fool can also be placed at the end of this aspects of this cycle, even analyzing the Tarot cards ordi­ line, as though it is both the highest and lowest number in narily associated with gypsy fortune tellers, horror movies the Major Arcana. It can be thought of as a link between and m ore recently the N ew Age movement. the two ends of the line, a knot which ties the line into a circle. Logically, an unnumbered card could be placed The tarot contains many examples of the universal anywhere along the line. In this sense, it is almost as if the symbols Jung observed, and the cards of the Major Arcana Fool card is a slip knot which slides along the circle of can represent the Jungian sojourn to individuation when cards, becoming a traveler of sorts.5 they are read numerically. While Jung and Campbell are links to both Tarot and to the Star Wars films, a public The Fool Card discussion directly linking the Tarot deck and the Star Most versions of the Fool card show a court fool, jester Wars movies has not taken place. or wanderer about to walk off a precipice. It's easy to picture the unwary fool as someone about to fall into an The Tarot Deck adventure, but it can be more difficult to see him as the The Tarot deck consists of seventy-eight cards which initiated veteran who returns victoriously. An individual can trace their history back to the Middle Ages and may about to tumble off a cliff doesn't fit society's standard have been derived originally from the Egyptians.3 The image of a wise person. deck is divided into the M inor Arcana, fifty-six cards that resemble a modem deck of playing cards, and the twenty- The seeming paradox results because the adventurer two cards of the M ajor Arcana. who journeys out to the edge of the known world is both foolish and courageous. The Fool's innocence is both an The cards of the Minor Arcana are the forebears of advantage and disadvantage in that he is open to new and today's deck of cards. Like our deck, there are four suits. unusual experiences, but doesn't recognize their dangers. It Instead of spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs, the suits seems inevitable that, after surviving a dangerous adventure, are swords, cups, pentacles (or coins) and wands (or ba­ the fool would begin to "wise up. Frequently, it is society tons). They suggest the four classes of medieval society: that often catches up, as in the case of Columbus who was nobility, clergy, merchants and peasants, respectively. regarded as a fool on his first trip across the Atlantic, and a hero subsequently. Like the selfless heroes that Joseph The Minor Arcana is numbered from ace to ten like Campbell describes in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The modem decks, but instead of our three royals per suit of Fool represents those who proceed despite the danger. jack, queen and king, the Tarot has a royal hierarchy of four. In some decks they are princess, prince, queen and The Fool may wander into his adventure, but when he king; in others they are page, knight, queen and king. sees the situation for what it is, he is like the old married P a x j e 2 8 Issue 76 0PR1K1Q 1994 vM y t ^ L o r g couple claiming that even knowing what they know now, has not integrated a masculine side and lashes out at they'd do it all again. It is perhaps best described by T. S. masculinity in ignorance. The card means intuitive solu­ Eliot in Four Quartets: tions, creative talent and is often associated with the An- We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all ima. The number three card of the Empress indicates our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And synthesis and harmony. The more matronly image of this know the place for the first time. woman suggests fertility and productivity. Unlike the High Priestess, the mother has integrated at least the seed When looking at the Tarot's Major Arcana as a repre­ of masculinity in fulfilling her maternity, but as is true of sentation of a spiritual journey, and especially when trying all the cards there is a light and a dark side to this mater­ to apply it to the Star Wars films, the question of who may be the hero (the Fool) is a valid one. Like a Picasso painting, nity. If the High Priestess grows from the same roots as Persephone, the Empress comes from Demeter. She also Star Wars presents the many perspectives of a hero super­ imposed over one another. In the three films we have, it's represents a firm foundation for future progress. easy to see Luke as the hero. Darth Vader was apparently The Emperor, the fourth card, is the first card that once a hero, Obi-Wan has his heroic moments, Leia per­ relates directly to information we have about the Star Wars forms a feat or two, and Han too can be seen as a hero of films. As a father figure, he signifies logic, power, and the the everyman. It's important to recognize the heroic in force of will. We not only have the character of the Em­ these many characters in order to realize that the Tarot's peror who obviously has come out of the first trilogy, but Major Arcana applies to more than one individual. the original Star Wars script as copyrighted by George Lucas was subtitled "The Journal of the Whills." The Em­ In examining the correspondence between Star Wars peror card connotes ambition, conquest and authority. and Tarot, it must be remembered that only the middle trilogy of nine planned films has been made. Each trilogy The fifth card is called the Hierophant, Papus or Pope.