Tarot Reading!
Did I mention that I read tarot cards? The problem is that there are many different types of Celtic Cross (the spread Anne is using) and they each have different meanings for the card positions. However, the story is generally clear.
We start with Don as the Sun. But what Anne fails to mention is that he's a reversed Sun. The Sun is about youth and reason, optimism and a new day. What struck me most about this episode was how boyish and kidlike Don was with Anne in the past. Sunny and optimistic. Now he's the reversed Sun, a man who is confused, dark, pessimistic.
What's getting in his way, "Crossing him" is the 8 of Cups. This is a card about leaving behind what you know, even what you love, to follow after dreams or illusions. Clearly, Don's usual practice of leaving the past behind is not an asset right now. It's keeping him from being the best he can be.
Below, the root of the situation, is the Page of Pentacles. Which is what Don used to be. A hardworking young man striving for money and security. That's not enough now, however. Above, as Anne points out, is Judgment, which is not only about resurrection, but wiping the slate clean. You have to face the past and come to terms with it. That is what "crowns" Don, what is in his best interest.
Behind him is the three of Wands reversed. The three of wands is a man waiting to see if his hard work will pay off. Clearly, just recently, Don has felt that all his hard work has not paid off, or brought him something back rather than good. Ahead is the five of swords. Uh-oh. Not good. He's going to get into a fight he can't win.
Up the "staff" part of the Celtic cross we start with the World, which is, as Anne said, about having the whole world at your command. This is a wise person, a knowledgeable person. A traveler. He can make his home anywhere, and he can make his living at anything.
Above that we have the 9 of Wands, which is about a lone soldier holding the fort against enemies. I suspect from this and the five of swords that Don will be the lone hold out against the merger. This is likely his "environment."
Above that we have the wheel of fortune. As we've already seen, fortunes are changing. Some rise like Peggy, some fall like Pete. There are ups and downs for everyone. Don both hopes and fears for a change in fortune.
The outcome? The 8 of Wands. Things are going to move very fast, and Don is going to find himself in a new position, possibly going up in position and responsibility.
Any other readers have takes on this spread?
- (1)
Thirteen: thanks for the full reading. I read tarot too, but I didn't see the whole layout. Much appreciated.
Thirteen, this is fascinating. I need to learn more about Tarot cards.
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What an interesting post, Thirteen! Thanks for sharing your tarot knowledge. I wish I could read cards the way you do.
Anna's reading of the tarot cards indicates that Don will be alone holding the fort against enemies (9 of Wands), will get into a fight he can't win (5 of Swords), and will take on new and greater reponsibility (8 of wands).
Can we interpret this to mean that Don returns to New York, takes on Duck in a losing battle over control of Sterling Cooper, and then moves on to create his own advertising agency?
Would the cards tell us why Don is promiscuous and such a liar? Is there anything in the cards that would explain Don's special relationship with Peggy?
Anna's comment when Don told her about meeting "Elizabeth" was that he was in a "lavender haze." I assume that meant she was seeing an aura of happiness surrounding him.
Thanks, again, for a perfectly fascinating post!
Great thread Thirteen...
I bet your face broke into a big grin when Anna whipped out those tarot cards!
How cool that you were willing to share your knowledge with us...Thanx!
Thirteen, wow - thanks for the insight into tarot card reading. Very interesting. I had mine read once, but know nothing about reading them.
Did everyone notice that Matt Weiner & Co use a tarot card as their logo?
Remembering, as to your questions:
Can we interpret this to mean that Don returns to New York, takes on Duck in a losing battle over control of Sterling Cooper, and then moves on to create his own advertising agency?
I'm going to guess that the writers, being into accuracy, knew what they were doing when they laid out that spread and, yes, are making it predictive. In which case, the scenario you suggest for the future sounds about right. Certainly, the 9 of Wands suggests that Don alone will be the one to stand his ground. It's also possible, just possible, that Duck's British friends might betray him and put Don in charge of SC, which would also work for that 8 of Wands. We'll have to wait and see how the writers play out their own tarot card predictions.
Would the cards tell us why Don is promiscuous and such a liar? Is there anything in the cards that would explain Don's special relationship with Peggy?
Anna's spread likely only covers Don's immediate situation. That is, where he's been recently, where he is and where he's going in the near future. Certainly that 8 of Cups, a man leaving 8 cups to follow the moon, could suggest turning his back on Betty and his family and going after other loves and romances. Remember that this is a "crossing" card. That means that, in this spread, his tendency to do this should be read as an impediment, a problem.
There is no indication of his lies, but there is indication of Duck's treachery, his "take-over" attempt in the 5 of Swords. That card shows a swordsman winning everyone else's swords in duels. Duck has out-fenced all those sharp minds running SC, and he's tricked them into handing over their swords to him.
As for Peggy--I'd like to point out the World Card seen here: http://www.learntarot.com/bigjpgs/maj21.jpg
The woman in this card holds out her batons there in pretty much the same way the mother in Peggy's ad holds out the popsicles. This world is a mother figure, Peggy's Virgin Mary, offering to all her children whatever it is they need. To Don, Anna is that mother figure.
Now that we've met Anna, I think we can say that Don might see in Peggy something Anna-like. Certainly, his support of Peggy, freely given with no asking for anything in return, is very much like what Anna gave to him. Anna was his mentor when he was naive and still had a lot to learn. Now he is the "master/mentor" to Peggy.
The World is a card that signals both the end and the beginning. It says that you've learned all you need to learn, and now your job is to pass on that learning. To be the teacher, the giver.
Anna's comment when Don told her about meeting "Elizabeth" was that he was in a "lavender haze." I assume that meant she was seeing an aura of happiness surrounding him.
I hadn't thought of that! You're probably right. Good call.
Hey, Greytone,
I bet your face broke into a big grin when Anna whipped out those tarot cards!
Yes, though I was just glad they didn't do what tv and movie people usually do when they have someone laying out tarot cards...lead up to the dreaded "Death!" card ;-D We readers always laugh at that cliché.
Did everyone notice that Matt Weiner & Co use a tarot card as their logo?
Wasthere, do you know what card?
Thirteen, when you said that it reminded me that the Popcicle client said that Peggy's art reminded him of something - but he couldn't place it. Nice foreshadowing, AMC. *wink*
DanaMc
(Thirteen had written - "As for Peggy--I'd like to point out the World Card seen here: http://www.learntarot.com/bigjpgs/maj21.jpg The woman in this card holds out her batons there in pretty much the same way the mother in Peggy's ad holds out the popsicles. This world is a mother figure, Peggy's Virgin Mary, offering to all her children whatever it is they need.")
@Thirteen: interesting about the British dumping Duck as head of SC. I kind of wondered why, if they fired him for drinking in London, that they would accept him in their NYC office? Usually, when a firm has fired you once, they're not going to give you a second chance. Maybe in this kind of advertising, they do.
Also, from the moment Duck met them in the restaurant, I thought they were "testing" him to see if he was still on the sauce. He failed that test by finally gulping down the martini (in one swallow - even I couldn't do that with Manhattans)! Were they the same people that sent over a case of booze? Creepy, if they did - like they were baiting him to fall off the wagon.
Thirteen: they use the Sun card as part of their logo, I thought.
Thirteen, when you said that it reminded me that the Popcicle client said that Peggy's art reminded him of something - but he couldn't place it. Nice foreshadowing, AMC. *wink*
LOL! Well, actually, as the popsicle thread points out, what the client is seeing in the Mom is the Virgin Mary pose; that's why it reminds him of something, namely of being in church. In 1962 such a client would probably not even know what tarot cards were. There just weren't that many decks being sold in that many places (now you can get them at Barnes & Noble!) or that many readers.
But I'm sure it's no accident that the writers matched that image of the mom passing out popsicles to both the Virgin Mary and the World Card. It's telling that Peggy recognizes that the handing out of communion is "Christian" meaning that it's not unique to Catholicism. She understands in that moment a key element to being an ad person--that archetypes cross all cultural boundaries. The loving goddess-mother is a universal symbol, not exclusive to any one religion. It will be universally recognized by all.
That The World card's lady matches up only emphasizes this. It puts Peggy and Don on the same spiritual wavelength, in a way. It was very sharp of the writers to see that connection in how artwork of Mary holding forth her hands matches that of The World card's lady's hands.
thirteen: great post! I'm pretty rusty but I've read tarot cards myself and your interpretation is really good. Don's cards were better than I thought they'd be (no "Five of Pentacles"...I hate that one!). I wasn't watching the entire scene so I missed seeing every card. Now I don't have to rewatch!
I wasn't watching the entire scene so I missed seeing every card. Now I don't have to rewatch!
Thank TiVo, the pause button, and the internet to re-check classic Rider-Waite cards (I don't know if I still even have one of those decks). The whole spread isn't shown more than twice, and some cards were on the edges. But it was pretty easy to match them up and figure out which was which. The 8 of Wands is really the most intriguing. That's the outcome card.
It's not an easy card to interpret in a spread, the reason being: It's all about speed.
And now I'm wondering about those hotrods which are going to be racing down in Long Beach. About Don's connection to cars, both in his past as a dealer, and in his present with that new car. About his drunk driving that almost got him and Bobby killed. Hmmm. This card might turn out to be more literal than I thought.....
What was hilarious was when Anna laid out the cards and asked if he wanted to know what was there. He answered, "No."
Then he pulled his chair forward, sat on its edge and leaned forward to see what was there. Like a kid with Mom.
Thank you Thirteen! Very interesting1
thanks, thirteen, for the great reading and interpretation. again, I'm struck by the writers' attention to detail, I'm certain that every one of those cards was deliberate....really brilliant.
Simply fascinating, Thirteen!
As somebody who reads the cards regularly, l find these interpretations very interesting