Minoan Tarot for your week

Here are the two Minoan Tarot cards I pulled this morning. I draw two cards every Monday, one from the top of the deck and one from the bottom, as a way of framing the upcoming week.

Theoretically, the first card - the one from the top of the deck - is about the more obvious aspects of life. The second card, the one from beneath, is the “hidden treasure” - aspects of life that may not be immediately obvious but that are valuable.

Here’s my interpretation of today’s cards:

The Moon: Illusion. Deceiving yourself. The anxiety you feel is about something that isn't a real threat. But deep down, you know that. And this card is a reminder that you have what it takes to let go of the illusion and stare reality in the face. Doing that will resolve a number of problems you're dealing with right now.

Strength: You have the strength of will, the inner strength to stare down those illusions and look past them. This card is letting you know that you're stronger than you think you are. This is the card of mastery of self. Compare it to the other cards that talk about success: The Chariot is about succeeding by controlling others; Strength is about succeeding by controlling yourself; Sacrifice is about succeeding by giving up control. Knowing which one is best in each situation is the key to success.

I’ve had people ask about the skin colors on the cards. These are identical to what we see in Minoan art - I based the color palette in the deck on the Minoan frescoes. In Minoan art, women are depicted with unnaturally white skin, like a piece of printer paper. Men are depicted with reddish-brown skin.

There’s a theory floating around online that this difference in skin color is because Minoan men worked outside while the women stayed indoors, which seems a little odd to me for a culture that exhibited gender egalitarianism. The Minoans were very much unlike the later Hellenic Greeks, who did indeed keep their women indoors. Besides, the DNA evidence is clear: All the Minoans had skin in varying shades of brown.

Dance ethnology research suggests that this red-and-white skin color pattern in Minoan art is purely symbolic and has a deep sacred meaning. There are more details here, if you’re interested.

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