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48 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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The Quest
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Describes the search for someone or something which, when found and brought back, will restore fertility to a wasted land. (The desolation of the land is often mirrored by a leader's illness and disability.) Life is restored to the way it should be or has been. This is the ultimate goal of the main character.
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The Task
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This is not the same as the quest, but merely a step to complete it. This is one of the challenges (often a super human deed) which the main character must face in order to complete his quest.
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The Initiation
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This usually takes the form of an initiation into adult life. The adolescent comes into his/her maturity with a new awareness, and he faces his problems with a new sense of hope. This awakening usually takes place near the end of the story.
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The Journey
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The hero journeys in search of some truth or information necessary to restore fertility to the kingdom. Usually the main character descends into a real or psychological hell and is forced to discover the blackest truths, quite often concerning his own faults. Once the hero is at this low point, he must accept personal responsibility to return to the world of living. A second use of this pattern is the depiction of a limited number of travelers on a sea voyage, a bus ride, or another trip where they are isolated and viewed as a microcosm of society.
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The Fall
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This describes a decent from a higher to a lower state of being. The experience involves a loss of innocence and bliss. It is often accompanied by the expulsion from a kind of paradise as penalty for disobedience and moral transgression.
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Death and Rebirth
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This grows out of the parallel between the cycle of nature and the cycle of life. Thus morning and springtime represent birth, youth, or rebirth; evening and winter suggest old age and death
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Light VS. Darkness
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Light usually suggests hope, renuewal, or intellectual illumination. Darkness implies the unknown, igonorance, or despair.
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Water VS. Desert
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Water is necessary to life and growth, and it commonly appears as a birth or rebirth symbol as a baptisms, which symbolize spiritual birth. The desert represents
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Haven VS. Wilderness
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Heroes are often sheltered for a time in places of safety (havens) for a time to regain their health or spiritual strength before they are thrust out into the dangerous wilderness.
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Heaven VS. Hell
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Man has traditionally associated parts of the universe not accessible to himwith the dwelling places of primordial forces that govern his world. The skies and mountaintops house his gods; the bowels of the earth contain the diabolic forces that inhabit his universe.
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Innate Wisdom VS. Educated Stupidity
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Some characters exhibit wisdom and understanding of situations instinctively as opposed to those supposedly in charge who have extensive book learning, yet usually make poor decisions.
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Fire VS. Ice
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Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth. Fire is usually present when these forces are affecting the hero. Ice (like the desert represents ignorance, darkness, desolation, sterility, or death. Ice would be present forces are affecting the hero or another character.
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Nature VS. the Mechanistic World
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Nature is good while technology and society is often evil
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Good VS. Evil
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The battle between two primal forces. Mankind shows eternal optimism in the continual portrayal of good triumphing over evil despite enormous odds.
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Supernatural Intervention
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A supernatural force, god, or being intervenes either on the side of the hero or sometimes against him.
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The Unhealable Wound
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The hero or some other character has a wound, either physical or psychological, that cannot be fully healed. This wound often indicates a loss of innocence. It always aches and often drives the sufferer to desperate measures.
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The Ritual
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Actual ceremonies that initiate experiences. They will mark his rite of passage into the next level of his journey into adulthood.
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The Magic Weapon
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This is a weapon that can only be wielded or used to its full potential by the hero. It symbolizes the extraordinary quality of the hero.
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The Hero
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The protagonist of the story. His/her life can be clearly divided into a series of well marked adventures which strongly suggest a ritualistic pattern. Some characteristics of a hero might be: his mother is a virgin, the circumstances of his reared by foster parents. After a victory, the hero is made king and marries the princess. He usually suffers a mysterious death. The hero can be marked as the character that changes in the face of conflict, and we are able to see maturity.
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The Young Man form the Provinces
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This hero is spirited away as a young man and raised by strangers. He later returns to his home where he is a stranger who can see new problems and new solutions.
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The Initiate
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This is a young hero or heroine who, prior to his/ her quest, must endure some training and ceremony. This person is usually innocent and often wears white
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The Mentor
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This individual serves as a teacher or counselor for then initiate. Sometimes he serves as a role model or as mother or father figure. The mentor teaches by example the skills necessary to survive the quest.
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Hunting Groups of Companions
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Loyal companions willing to face any number of perils in order to be together
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Friendly Beast
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An animal who befriends the hero and serves him/her loyally. The purpose of the friendly beast is to show that nature is on the side of the hero
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Devil Figure
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Evil incarnate, this character ofers worldly goods, fame, or knowledge to the protagonist in exchange for possession of his soul
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Evil Figure with the Ultimately Good Heart
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A redeemable devil figure saved by the nobility or love of the hero
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The Scapegoat
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A character used to carry the blame of the sins of society. Usually seen as weak until his death. Then he/she usually becomes a powerful force (a martyr)
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The Outcast
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A figure who is banished from a social group for some crime (real or imagined) against his fellow man. The outcast is usally destined to become a wanderer from place to place.
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The Earth Mother
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The fertility symbol in most stories. Symbolic of fruition and abundance. This character traditionally offers spiritual and emotion nourishment to those with whom she comes in contact.
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The Temptress
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Characterized by sensuous beauty, this woman is one to whom the protagonist is physically attracted and who ultimately may bring about his downfall.
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The Plantonic Idea
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This woman is a source of inspiration and a spiritual idea. The protagonist or author has an intellectual rather than physical attraction to this character.
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Amazon Warrior
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A female character who displays a fearless sense of honor. Usually handles weapons well and is knowledgeable in areas of defense. Many times wrongly perceived as hating men.
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Damsel in Distress
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The vulnerable woman who must be rescued by the hero. She often is used as a trap to ensnare the unsuspecting hero.
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The Star-Crossed Lovers
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These two characters are engaged in a love affair that is fated to end tragically for one or both due to dissappoval of society, friends, or family or to some tragic situation.
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Creatures of Nightmare
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A monster usually summoned from the deepest, darkest part of the human psyche to threaten the lives of the hero/heroine. Often it is a perversion or desecration of the human body. For example, werewolves, vampires, dragons, huge snakes.
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White
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Positive association are light, innocence, purity, virginity, and timelessness. A heroic character will usually wear this color prior to experiencing a rite of passage. Negative associations are death, terror, the supernatural, and the blinding truth of an inscrutable cosmic
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Black
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Positive associations are knowledge and intelligence. The hero figure may wear a combination of black and white while processing through various trails. Negative associations are evil, melancholy, chaos, mystery, the unknown and death.
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Yellow
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Depicts hope and happiness. Positive association with the sun. As long as the sun shines, there is hope for a new beginning.
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Red
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Depicts great passion as in love, violence, and artistry. Also denotes blood, sacrifice, and disorder. The hero or one of his/her cohorts during battles may wear this color
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Blue
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A positive color associated with compromise, serenity, truth, security, spiritual purity. Characters wearing this color usually represent peacemakers.
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Green
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Positive associations are life, rebirth, growth, hope, fertility. Sometimes seen in conjunction with yellow. Negative associations are death and decay
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Orange
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A combination color used to represent hope and passion (red and yellow)
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Brown
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Earth tones representing unity with the land. Frequently seen with native animals or characters in harmony with their homeland. Earthmothers wear this color
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Purple
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Associated with power and royalty, depending upon the degree of richness
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Gold/Silver
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Associated with wealth, status, and power
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Three
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Associated with light, spiritual awareness and unity (the Holy Trinity)
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Four
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Associated with the circle, life, four seasons, earth, nature, four elements (earth, air, fire, water)
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Seven
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Most potent of symbolic numbers. Signifies unions of three and four. Also suggests completion of a cycle and perfect order.
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