Tarot

The Tarot is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games. It later gained a use as a divination tool for cartomancy.

Poets of the Fall make frequent use of the tarot for visual storytelling, such as in the music videos for Carnival of Rust and Requiem for My Harlequin.

In Depth

Like the common playing cards, tarot has four suits. Each suit has 14 cards: ten pip cards numbering from one (or Ace) to ten; and four face cards: King, Queen, Knight, and Jack/Knave/Page. In addition, and unlike standard packs, the tarot also has a separate 21-card trump suit and a single card known as the Fool. Depending on the game, the Fool may act as the top trump or may be played to avoid following suit. These tarot cards are still used throughout much of Europe to play conventional card games.

In English-speaking countries where these games are not widely played, only specially designed cartomantic tarot cards, used primarily for novelty and divination, are readily available. The early French occultists claimed that tarot cards had esoteric links to ancient Egypt, the Kabbalah, Indic Tantra, or the I Ching, claims that have been frequently repeated by authors on card divination.

In the occult tradition, tarot cards are referred to as 'arcana', with the Fool and 21 trumps being termed the Major Arcana and the suit cards the Minor Arcana, terms not used by players of tarot card games.

Usage

Carnival of Rust

In the Carnival of Rust MV, there are two large illuminated boards, one on either side of Zoltar's box that display tarot cards in succession. These are:

• 
  1. The Star
• 
  2. Nine of Swords
• 
  3. The High Priestess
• 
  4. Eight of Cups
• 
  5. Nine of Wands
• 
  6. Ace of Wands
• 
  7. The Magician
• 
  8. Strength
• 
  9. Ace of Cups
• 
  10. Nine of Swords
• 
  11. The Star

Notably the design of the Nine of Swords card changes for its second appearance.

Requiem for My Harlequin

The fortune teller in the Requiem for My Harlequin MV (played by band photographer Tiia Öhman) does a three card spread for the Harlequin]]:
These cards are The Fool, Death and The Magician. Usually, the first card pulled represents the past, the second represents the present and the third represents the future. In context then, the "requiem for my harlequin" relates to the first two cards.

The letter tiles in the MV are rearranged at the end to say "Lovers forte", potentially a reference to the card The Lovers.

Other

• The card on the front cover of Temple of Thought resembles a combination of the tarot cards The Lovers and The Devil, but as a double-headed playing card rather than a tarot card. It also has the sunburst lines seen on the tarot cards in the CoR MV. This card is referenced again in the music video for False Kings.
• Tarot is mentioned in the lyrics of Choir of Cicadas: "The wreckage, the blunder, the tarot read."
• Love Will Come to You may be referencing The Tower card, sometimes known as The House of God with the line "Through the streets and the houses of gods you roam"
• Revolution Roulette and Sorry Go Round may be references to The Wheel of Fortune - upright and inverted respectively.
• King of Fools may be a nod to the juxtaposition between the cards The Fool and The Emperor (aka The King).
• The infinity symbol on the cover of Ultraviolet may be a reference to the Rider-Waite versions of The Magician and Strength.
• Rumors may be referencing the card The Chariot with the line "Seducing illusions driving the chariot of hearts astray" as "Hearts" is a playing card suit.
• Brighter Than the Sun may reference the Fool (joker)'s usage as a trump card with the line With everything riding on a joker.

Source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot