So Cassandra Jean has finished the complete Shadowhunter Tarot, so for the next … seventy-something days I’ll be posting a card a day (okay, maybe not every day — I tend to get distracted!)  in order, from the first card to the last. Some will be under spoiler cuts; some you’ll have seen before — I’ll explain why each character has the card they have. 

We’ve moved on from the Major Arcana to the minor Arcana — the first suit is the suit of Rings, which takes the place of the suit of Pentacles. The Ace of Rings shows Meliorn and the Seelie Queen: the rings are the gold leaf rings the Seelie Queen gives to Clary and Simon in Lost Souls so they can hear each other’s thoughts.

All the Rings in this suit are family rings except this card, and one other.

So Cassandra Jean has finished the complete Shadowhunter Tarot, so for the next … seventy-something days I’ll be posting a card a day (okay, maybe not every day — I tend to get distracted!)  in order, from the first card to the last. Some will be under spoiler cuts; some you’ll have seen before — I’ll explain why each character has the card they have. 

Knocking off two here with the Sun card and the Moon card. The Sun becomes the Daylighter, Simon, and the Moon, for probably kind of obvious reasons, becomes the Lycanthropes, Maia and Jordan. I think Simon is leaning on a sundial. First I thought it was a tree trunk, but I’m pretty sure it’s a sundial. As it says on the sundial in Lost Souls, I only count the hours that shine.

So Cassandra Jean has finished the complete Shadowhunter Tarot, so for the next … seventy-something days I’ll be posting a card a day (okay, maybe not every day — I tend to get distracted!)  in order, from the first card to the last. Some will be under spoiler cuts; some you’ll have seen before — I’ll explain why each character has the card they have. 

Valentine takes the Devil cup because, well, who else really. He is always comparing himself to Milton’s Satan, his last name is Morgenstern (which means morning star, as in How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how are you cut down to the ground, who did weaken the nations!) his motto is non serviam, etc and so on.

I like that Cassandra Jean has incorporated both the Mortal Cup and the chains that bind Valentine, because he really was always something of a reluctant embracer of evil. More a “ends justify the means” guy than the “burn down the world” villain Sebastian is. 

So Cassandra Jean has finished the complete Shadowhunter Tarot, so for the next … seventy-something days I’ll be posting a card a day (okay, maybe not every day — I tend to get distracted!)  in order, from the first card to the last. Some will be under spoiler cuts; some you’ll have seen before — I’ll explain why each character has the card they have. 

Sebastian takes the Death card. Death is a card in the tarot that promises enormous change. It seems fitting for Sebastian, who is intent on bringing change to the Shadowhunter world, come hell or high water.

I like that Cassandra Jean has incorporated both the dark Cup and the bones of a horse, considering the passage from Revelations: “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

So Cassandra Jean has finished the complete Shadowhunter Tarot, so for the next … seventy-something days I’ll be posting a card a day in order, from the first card to the last. Some will be under spoiler cuts; some you’ll have seen before — I’ll explain why each character has the card they have. 

I was going to post a card a day but I am several days behind, so these three cards go up together since they fit together thematically.

Will gets the Hanged Man which symbolizes someone caught in a bad situation between impossible choices.

Jem gets Temperance, which means balance, and can mean the blending of opposites. 

And Tessa gets the Star, which is an otherworldly card, symbolizing magic. It also symbolizes love, vulnerability and hope. 

These cards have been posted before but it’s interesting to reevaluate them again in the light of Clockwork Princess, thank you Cassandra Jean!

Today’s Cassandra Jean tarot card! Charlotte gets the card of Justice, here The Leader. Interestingly: “Justice mediates the various claims of right, of morality, of duty. In a world of scarcity, not every claim can be met. Justice, in theory, sets forth a system to judge between the claims. The tarot card is therefore typically closer to the notion of  Jurisprudence than to the abstract concept of Justice.” - Wiki

This works well for Charlotte because she, being the leader of the Institute, works within the laws of the Clave to bring about moral change. She also has a lot of personal charisma and smarts, all leadership qualities — recognized, I think, in Clockwork Princess!

So Cassandra Jean has finished the complete Shadowhunter Tarot, so for the next … seventy-something days I’ll be posting a card a day in order, from the first card to the last. Some will be under spoiler cuts; some you’ll have seen before — I’ll explain why each character has the card they have. 

Luke and Jocelyn take the Wheel of Fortune card, here renamed the Destined, as it represents stability amid chaos and change. Luke and Jocelyn’s relationship survived chaos, a war, a rebellion, her terrible marriage, his turning into a Downworlder, and much more. Theirs is a great if quiet love. :)

So Cassandra Jean has finished the complete Shadowhunter Tarot, so for the next … seventy-something days I’ll be posting a card a day in order, from the first card to the last. Some will be under spoiler cuts; some you’ll have seen before — I’ll explain why each character has the card they have. 

Today is Tiberius, who is dear to my heart despite being a studious, lonely, prickly young man who really only gets along with his twin, Livvy. He and Julian have a fraught, complex relationship that’s been a lot of fun to develop. Ty takes the Hermit card, here the Genius, because while brilliant, he is solitary and somewhat divorced from the ordinary world.

You’ll see some of Ty in City of Heavenly Fire.

I spy the Codex in his pile of books there. :)

So Cassandra Jean has finished the complete Shadowhunter Tarot, so for the next … seventy-something days I’ll be posting a card a day in order, from the first card to the last. Some will be under spoiler cuts; some you’ll have seen before — I’ll explain why each character has the card they have. 

Today I’m actually posting two because I’m trying to catch up, and also because you’ve seen these before! Mark Blackthorn of the Dark Artifices takes the Chariot card, here called the Changeling. Mark has fey blood like his sister Aline, both of whom you’ll see in City of Heavenly Fire. He’s carrying a kind of bow and arrow known in mythology as an elf-arrow or elf-bolt. 

Jace takes the strength card, here represented as the Angel because of the angel blood in his veins. And because that Angel blood gives him unusual strength. As for why he’s shirtless…

Me: Why did you draw him shirtless?

CJ: I like him that way.

Me: Good enough.

So Cassandra Jean has finished the complete Shadowhunter Tarot, so for the next … seventy-something days I’ll be posting a card a day in order, from the first card to the last. Some will be under spoiler cuts; some you’ll have seen before — I’ll explain why each character has the card they have. 

The Lovers card! Its meaning is pretty self-explanatory. I thought I’d attach the first version we did, which was just Jace and Clary. For whatever reason it wasn’t working for us. Maybe because Jace looks slightly evil? :) Also I felt like there are so many characters whose relationships could represent unity and love. So we decided to make it a flippable card, which worked either way up, and have Magnus and Alec represent love as well.