Let’s try this again using the same spread. The National Football League championship game predictions were inaccurate as far as determining the winners and losers but not that bad concerning the mechanics of scoring. For the Super Bowl reading I decided to use the Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery as the main deck and the Alchemical Revised, 4th Edition for the additional cards. Once again, I chose not to use reversals because they imply negative numbers that don’t work well within the scoring scheme. I placed the defending champion New England Patriots in the top row and the Philadelphia Eagles in the bottom row. I stayed with the Emperor as the “Objective” or Significator card.

All images copyright Robert M. Place, Hermes Publication

The quarter-by-quarter analysis doesn’t show a lot of fireworks until near the end of the game. The Patriots seem methodical in doing what they do best, and the Eagles will be “sharper” once they get their game on. To me, Swords cards always suggest a passing game and Pentacles describe a running game. (To complete the picture, Wands show an aggressive offense that may invite mistakes, while Cups imply an “enveloping” defense that shuts down the opponent’s attack.) There are no Wands in this layout, so it could be a fairly conservative, low-scoring game

The 1st Quarter suggests a slow start, with the Ace of Pentacles showing the Patriots’ defense “keeping the lid” on the Eagles, who with the 5 of Pentacles may get only “small change” for their offensive efforts.

The 2nd Quarter has the Patriots going to work on the ground with the 4 of Pentacles, grinding away, while the Eagles rethink their strategy with the Ace of Swords. The contrasting images look like the Eagles will be trying to take apart a stone wall with a toothpick while the Patriots simply bury them.

The 3rd Quarter reveals the Eagles attempting to take their passing game up a notch with the 2 of Swords (the owl in the picture shows the wisdom of this move) while the Patriots defense starts to unravel with the 5 of Cups. The ascending bird in the image could be read as the Eagles’ offense “sliding in between the cracks” of the Pat’s disorganized defense.  Traditionally, Swords are a “hard” suit and Cups are a “soft” one, so I believe the Eagles will gain an edge here (pun fully intended) while the Patriots flounder.

The 4th Quarter offers the most interesting scenario, so I will examine it at length. In most decks the 9 of Cups shows a smug, obviously well-off  man enjoying his good fortune – I go so far as calling it the “fat, dumb and happy” card. This is a card of great happiness; the Number 9 was considered the “Third Perfection” by the ancient Greeks. Here the image is of an antelope (a species of deer) standing atop a solid array of nine cups. According to the Pure Spirit web-site, “the deer was sacred to the feisty goddess Artemis, from Greek mythology. Deer symbolize the powers in nature that are not easily subdued.” Regarding the antelope, the Spirit Symbols blog adds the following insights: “Antelope is the symbol of decisive action.  This is a herd animal so the actions Antelope represent are not just about the self, but the whole tribe and family as well.” The implication is that the Patriots’ “herd” will come together once again after a difficult 3rd Quarter to impose their usual “force of nature” mastery on the game.

Judgement for the Eagles could mean a couple of things: either they will “answer the call to greatness” and emerge victorious, or they will be emphatically “ushered out the door” into next season, with Brady and the Patriots “calling them to account.” Since the Sun is the Patriots’ quint card, the latter seems more likely, and the odds-makers mostly agree.

The quintessence cards are the Sun for the Patriots and the Wheel of Fortune for the Eagles. (It’s interesting to note that both of these cards reduce numerologically to “1,” the Magician. It will be fun to see which brand of on-field “wizardry” prevails.) The Sun speaks for itself; it is the “source of all good things” and a primary indicator of success. In the eyes of the Universe, the Patriots emerge as the “favorite son.” The Wheel of Fortune portrays the Eagles as the “wild card” in this match-up, and their fortunes could roll either way. This card corresponds to Jupiter, which is uniquely attuned to the Emperor in qabalistic symbolism, so it might be seen as carrying the Eagles all the way to the Emperor’s throne. But the Sun is still the true “power behind the throne” and the celestial origin of the Emperor’s dominion, so it has the final say. Forgive me for the fanciful analogy, but Tom Brady makes me think of the Louis XIV, the Sun King, who was the longest-reigning monarch in French (and European) history.

The Grand Quintessence is Justice, which metes out the wisdom of the Emperor’s judgment. Here it seems to be saying “Might makes right.” Although as an Air card (Libra) Justice relates well to the Swords in the Eagle’s quarterly snapshot, those Swords imply an excess of finesse that tries the Emperor’s patience and costs the Eagles his confidence. The Patriots’ quarterly array has no real affinity with Justice, but the Sun as sub-quint is more to the Emperor’s liking. Justice here could mean that the “fix is in” for the Patriots, although many people would prefer to read it as the Pats finally getting their long-overdue comeuppance. I still see the Sun and the Emperor as “holding court” for the Patriots while the Eagles come across as an upstart, a usurper with an improbable shot at a coup.

However, the scoring roll-up using the numerical values of the quarterly cards tells a different story. The Eagles come up with 28 to the Patriot’s 19. Here, Judgment in the Eagle’s 4th Quarter makes all the difference, suggesting the possibility of a dramatic blow-out by the underdogs near the end of the game. At that point, though, with the 9 of Cups the Patriots may have enough “padding” on their lead to fend off the Eagles’ surge, and the latter will wind up “paying the piper” (sorry, I couldn’t resist that). It will be fascinating to see whether the detailed analysis of the cards or the mechanics of the scoring model prove to be the most reliable indicator of success and failure.