Nine of Seed Carriers. Art by Kevin Jay Stanton, from BOTANICA: Full Bloom.
Bird-Fig & Honduras White Bat
Upright: Do not be afraid to pursue more than just what you have. Keep options open.
Reversed: Keep in mind that appearances are fleeting, and do not always reveal the full picture.
Have you considered another option that is readily available to you?
So I was reading the P5R Art Book I got (with the help of Google Translate akjdsf), when I got to the section showing off the Faith and The Councilor cards. And...
Creator's Comment-- "...The Advisor looks like the Sun, but is actually Mars..."
...holy shit. That gave me pause.
Because, as someone who is an avid student of The Tarot and understands the symbolic significance of Mars, I finally realized...
IT'S THE HECKING TOWER.
MARUKI IS THE TOWER DISGUISED AS THE SUN.
The Sun is associated with exactly what it says on the tin-- representing the light of the soul, joy, and warmth in both Tarot and in Astrology. Conversely The Tower card is associated with astrological Mars-- the planet of War and Destruction.
More importantly, The Tower represents the hand of fate violently destroying foundations once thought to be stable. Dismantling any constructed sense of control a person has, humbling them and forcing them to start over with a clean slate.
Look at the people falling from the top of The Councilor card just like how they do in The Tower card.
Seeing those sad people fall may look like a hint to Maruki being not all that he seems but, when you tie that to the symbolic meaning of The Tower, it goes from a wink and a nod to a straight up spoiler for his entire character arc!
Maruki has constructed this happy facade that needs to be brought crumbling down, not just for the sake of the world being held mercy by his delusions, but for his own healing journey to actually begin.
And even if you just look at it literally-- Maruki's final boss fight is punctuated by his giant tower-like Palace shattering and him nearly falling to his death if not for Joker catching him in time!
IT'S HECKING BRILLIANT. WAAGH!!!
To go even further-- I also love how the Faith card (both versions) are obviously a fusion of imagery from The Hierophant and The Devil cards.
I don't have as coherent an argument to make here, but there are definitely implications.
The fact that The Hierophant card is also known as 'The Teacher', and that The Councilor card even takes the place of The Hierophant in one deck, makes me think that this is hinting at Maruki's influence over 'Kasumi'... and how she overcomes it.
It could also represent Sumire's relationship with the real Kasumi. (Note how the devils in the reversed Faith card are smiling as they parade around a corpse; meanwhile in the true Faith card, where the High Priest is alive and well, the servants look disheartened/depressed by the reality of their situation.)
Tying it back to Maruki again-- it is said that the titular tower on The Tower card is one built by The Devil. It is the beautiful lie that we build to hide an ugly truth.
Maruki destroys 'Kasumi's beautiful lie when he forces her to remember that she's actually Sumire.
Then in turn, Sumire destroys Maruki's beautiful lie when she shows him that overcoming her ugly truth wasn't only possible- but is how she became her best self.
"So you truly don't want it, huh? ...Looks like I'm totally finished."
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