h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today, shall I bore you with the bra search saga, the narrow escape from sartorial embarrassment on an escalator, or the PFI coldcaller who didn't even know who she was supposed to be calling? Better not, sometimes an untold story sounds more interesting than it turns out to be.

It's another court card. These are a lot more difficult for me to get anything from than the rest of the deck, but it was picked at random so here goes nothing: The King of Coins (Pentacles in this deck).

A middle aged man with dark colouring (black hair, brown eyes, tanned or olive skin) is looking to his right, out of the card. His clothing is green and trimmed with ermine, and his gold crown is lined with matching green cloth. In the background behind his right shoulder, there's a tall pink foxglove. *cheats by checking what the deck designer thought that a foxglove's supposed to symbolise.* According to the book which came with the deck, it's supposed to describe somebody successful at their occupation.

His right hand holds a large coin in front of the left side of his chest, protectively? I'm not sure, but he's certainly not offering it to anyone at the moment and he may have recently taken it from somebody else, just out of the picture and to his right. He looks neither worried, nor at ease, just waiting for what comes next or for more information.

I'd usually associate this card with men of a certain age or older, with darkish colouring, or maybe born under Virgo Taurus, or Capricorn. It can also apply to people who work in the financial sector, handle money, are in mining, work on the land, or with animals. I'd also expect the man to have a lot of responsibilities (or feel as if he has), or to have relatively high status at work.

Not sure if I'd like him as a person, but I probably wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him.

Interesting. I am afraid I don't believe, as such, but I am a great believer in things like this as offering a chance to stop and look at your life with a fresh eye. Or at all. A little introspection is a good thing.

Of course, I don't actually have any experience of how Tarot cards are used, so feel free to tell me I am talking out of my bottom.

But oh dear, I want to hear the story of the coldcaller...

For what it's worth, Solnushka, I use cards more to collect, sift and order my thoughts than to tell fortunes. The meanings and associations I use are a mixture of what I learnt by heart from various sources, which details leap out at me on any given day, and what impression I get from the picture this time.

The coldcaller can, I think, wait until the morning...

[Amy P]