Tarot and the 21 Sacraments

[11x20]

Pre-Post Note: Alright, tested it and the message wasn't truncated at all. Enjoy everyone. Big post is... well, big. Mods, if you want me to break this into multiple posts (should one massive post be a problem), let me know. Thank you!

This can also be found here here. The light background makes it a little easier on the eyes, at least for me, so there's an alternative if you don't like reading on a dark background. The formatting there looks nicer too, I think.

This is just an idea I had and kind of ran with. I hear a lot about the 21 Sacraments relating heavily to the 21 Major Arcana tarot cards, so after doing more research, I decided to share my interpretations with everyone. If the 21 Sacraments were indeed based on the Major Arcana then Team Silent really did their homework! I saw a lot of connections to both the imagery and themes of each card. Now this is just an interpretation and by no means "official information" so like all hypotheses, take it with a grain of salt. It's just some nice food for thought.


Tarot & The 21 Sacraments
by 11x20

Fair Warning: This work will have unmarked Spoilers for Silent Hill 4

Table of Contents
01.―――Major Arcana & the 21 Sacraments: The Big List
02.―――Analysis I - The First Sign
03.―――Analysis II - The Second Sign
04.―――Analysis III - The Third Sign
05.―――Analysis IV - The Final Sign
06.―――Analysis V - The Fool Card?
07.―――Extra
08.―――Sources


Major Arcana & The 21 Sacraments: The Big List

01121: Jimmy Stone
└ 01. The Magician
└ Ten Hearts
02121: Bobby Randolph
└ 02. The High Priestess
└ Ten Hearts
03121: Sein Martin
└ 03. The Empress
└ Ten Hearts
04121: Steve Garland
└ 04. The Emperor
└ Ten Hearts
05121: Rick Albert
└ 05. The Hierophant
└ Ten Hearts
06121: George Rosten
└ 06. The Lovers
└ Ten Hearts
07121: Billy Locaine
└ 07 The Chariot
└ Ten Hearts
08121: Miriam Locaine
└ 08. Strength
└ Ten Hearts
09121: William Gregory
└ 09. The Hermit
└ Ten Hearts
10121: Eric Walsh
└ 10. The Wheel of Fortune
└ Ten Hearts
11121: Walter Sullivan
└ 11. Justice
└ Assumption
12121: Peter Walls
└ 12. The Hanged Man
└ Void
13121: Sharon Blake
└ 13. Death
└ Darkness
14121: Toby Archbolt
└ 14. Temperance
└ Gloom
15121: Joseph Schreiber
└ 15. The Devil
└ Despair
16121: Cynthia Velasquez
└ 16. The Tower
└ Temptation
17121: Jasper Gein
└ 17. The Star
└ Source
18121: Andrew DeSalvo
└ 18. The Moon
└ Watchfulness
19121: Richard Braintree
└ 19. The Sun
└ Chaos
20121: Eileen Galvin
└ 20. Judgment
└ Mother Reborn (Succubus?)
21121: Henry Townshend
└ 21. The World
└ Receiver of Wisdom


Analysis I - The First Sign
01121: Jimmy Stone / The Magician / Ten Hearts #1

- Manipulator
- Controller
- Creator (Molding the Fool into something greater)
- Divinity
- (Reversed) Confusion
- (Reversed) Wrong choices
- (Reversed) Giving up
- (Reversed) Crushed Dreams

The Ata-Tarot resource notes that Red and White are universal colors that correlate to the Magician.

Jimmy Stone, we know, was a cruel man and a head of the Valtiel Sect. His cruelty was enough to earn him the nickname, "The Red Devil" as members of the Valtiel Sect believed more in executions to be closer to god. He was a leader who manipulated and controlled, and was even one of the men who implanted Valtiel into Walter's mind (initiating the killings).

In a sense, if Walter is "the Fool" then Stone was the "Magician" who formed the Walter Sullivan we know. In Reversal, Jimmy Stone was killed by a gunshot to the back of the head, possibly not even knowing that his own pupil had been behind him with a gun. Perhaps it was a bad choice to crush the dreams of an already abused boy? Despite being the leader of the Valtiel Sect (which judging by Vincent's location, would be somewhere in a church in Silent Hill), he was found out in the woods in the basement of the Wish House (a center point of the Holy Mother Sect) with George Rosten.



02121: Bobby Randolph / The High Priestess / Ten Hearts #2

- Knowledge
- Secrets
- Mysticism
- Intuition
- (Reversed) Cutting off psychic energy
- (Reversed) False facts, repression of the truth, misconceptions
- (Reversed) Using secrets to another's disadvantage
- (Reversed) Loss of knowledge or secrets

Bobby Randolph was a boy in high school who loved the supernatural and paranormal. Perhaps mysticism and secrets run true to this boy's personality. His death came by violent strangulation with his friend Sein Martin after going to Pleasant River University where they heard a "devil" resided. They did, indeed, find a "devil".

We can probably argue that Walter wasn't too fond of the types who blindly followed occult information and knowledge without taking it seriously. Randolph was a fan of horror and the esoteric, but he didn't follow it religiously as Walter was raised to (remember, the Order is a cult that is known to use forms of divinations such as Gyromancy). Randolph and Martin both, being strangled, probably even saw the face of their killer, so one can easily digress that they had knowledge of who the killer of Jimmy Stone was (and subsequently their own murder) but in reversal, their knowledge went to waste.

They heard a secret about a "devil", the found the "devil" and gained the knowledge, but their knowledge was lost upon reversal through their deaths.



03121: Sein Martin / The Empress / Ten Hearts #3

- Security
- Femininity
- Stability
- Fertility
- Motherhood
- (Reversed) Poverty
- (Reversed) A mother (or mother figure) who neglects her children
- (Reversed) Neglecting something important (business, academics, the self)
- (Reversed) Unwanted Pregnancy

Poor Sein, he gets nailed with a particularly female card. ;D Sein Martin was a 'scrawny' boy who was friends with Randolph and like him, a fan of the occult. He was also a friend (potentially classmate even) of Jasper Gein. However, it was just the two of them (Martin and Randolph) who went on and snuck into the University Campus and sought out the "devil".

Now little is known about Sein to really try and argue that he correlates to this card. Perhaps the "neglect" theme in the card's reversal actually refers to his own overseers neglect to stop him? Perhaps it refers to his own neglect to take caution and simply -not- go chasing devils?



04121: Steve Garland / The Emperor / Ten Hearts #4

- Authority
- Control
- Rulership
- Benevolence
- "The Gentle King"
- (Reversed) The "Unworthy King", Loss of Control
- (Reversed) Collapse of power structure
- (Reversed) Indecision
- (Reversed) Immaturity

Garland was a pet store owner whom Walter came across as a child. The man had an important cat that was probably set to be adopted later in the day waiting out in a cage. Young Walter wanted to pet it, but when he tried, the cat freaked out and somehow came out, followed by the metal cage crashing down on it and killing it. As if witnessing a rather grisly death of an animal one simply wanted to cuddle wasn't traumatizing enough, Garland came out and lost his temper with the poor boy and began to yell at him angrily.

We know from the victim files that Garland disliked people and was easily angered with them. Little Walter was no exception. However, he was very kind to animals and took dear care of them. In that sense, he was no "emperor" toward people but rather to animals. He kept them happy out of his own love for them and was the benevolent ruler of his pet store. When Walter threw off the balance of power and injured one of the king's subjects he faced the wrath of Steve Garland.

In the end, Garland suffered a chaotic death that brought down the structure of his entire store. Shot multiple times with a submachine gun, Garland died riddled with bullets. However, Walter's rage didn't stop there. There was still a deep hatred for everything in that store after the trauma in his childhood. He began to shoot all of the animals and completely destroy the store with the submachine gun. In reversal, the emperor was brought down and his kingdom came crashing down with him.



05121: Rick Albert / The Hierophant / Ten Hearts #5

- Strong Work Ethic
- Authority
- Has "The Right Knowledge"
- Constructive Counselor
- Strong family values
- (Reversed) Deceit
- (Reversed) Bad Advice
- (Reversed) Withholding the truth
- (Reversed) Stubborn, unwilling to change one's mind

Rick Albert was the owner of the sport's store who was described as gentle and of small stature but strong nonetheless. Little more is given of his personality and he is said to have been killed by being beaten to death with a golf club, while looking for a volleyball. This is most likely right after Walter (the employee who came in with such knowledge of the murder details in Garland's pet store) came in and told him about Garland's murder. Thinking little more of, "Why exactly does Walter know all of this?" he probably turned around and went back to what he was doing before Walter suddenly began to beat him to death with a golf club.

In relation to the Hierophant, we can't really say if Albert was a hermit at all, or even a man who gave good advice. All we know was that he was kind. Perhaps he didn't want to believe that Walter was obviously the killer when he turned his back to the young employee and in the end the reversal of the card was played and he lost his life when unwilling to believe that his employee was the killer. This is a bit of a stretch, granted, but too little is given of Rick Albert's personality to truly match him up to the Hierophant in a way other than the Fifth Sacrament equating the Fifth Tarot Card.



06121: George Rosten / The Lovers / Ten Hearts #6

- Harmony between two
- Tests of faith and endurance
- Important Decisions
- Best of Beginnings meant only for poor endings
- (Reversed) Two was separated by divinity
- (Reversed) Procrastination in favor of a more pleasurable "now"
- (Reversed) Deception
- (Reversed) Decisions being made for the wrong reasons

George Rosten was the Right Hand Man of Jimmy Stone and the head of the Holy Mother Sect. The Lovers Card in association with George Rosten most likely refers to Rosten and Stone's decision upon Walter. They did it out of faith in their own religion and possibly (just like Dahlia) to descend the god and use it in their favor. They were making a decision quite literally for all the wrong reasons.

Walter on the other hand was being used by them and told that it would help him be with his mother. Whether or not he was willingly implanted with Valtiel is unknown. It is known that it happened before he was 18 and let loose on the world when the Order still had control over him, as it's likely that as soon as the Wish House could no longer legally control him, he took off as far as he could immediately get from it (homelessness in Ashfield, then eventually, Pleasant River University).

In the upright position, the card depicts two lovers reaching for each other (or in some illustrations, holding hands) while a heavenly figure (oft interpreted as a god or an angel varyingly) stands between them and mountains in the distance (still between them).

Using Raider-Waite's reversal of imagery, in the reversed position, the card depicts two lovers separated by the angel and falling. The angel no longer originates from heaven but from the earth and seeks to bring down the two who once followed their faith. The implication of the reversed card implies again that the two made their decisions based on earthly desires. In literal terms, the two "lovers" may represent Rosten and Stone (their union not being a romantic one, but a business-type partnership) who had once made their decision in the past being murdered together in the Wish House basement by the ill-willed "angel" they created.



07121: Billy Locaine / The Chariot / Ten Hearts #7

- Drive
- Guidance
- Direction in Life
- Victory
- (Reversed) Losing control in your life, letting others guide you
- (Reversed) Arrogance
- (Reversed) Loss of action/drive, no going anywhere, no leading anyone

Billy Locaine, we know little about other than that he had a "close relationship with his younger sister", Miriam. Perhaps in relation, he was the type of big brother who wanted to guide his little sister. What we know about his death was that it was on a nice day where his house was being painted that suddenly went sour with impending rain.

Billy's moment of death wasn't described, but his father did come out to bring him inside only to find his son lying dead in the bushes after being slashed horribly with an axe. The reversal of the Chariot card just may be referencing in this case, a young boy with the entire world ahead of him who had his life suddenly and abruptly cut short. Walter undoubtedly recognized this and it's even suggested that he felt guilt for the murders of the Locaine children. Perhaps this card's reversed meaning is a good explanation of how he viewed the 7th murder?



08121: Miriam Locaine / The Strength / Ten Hearts #8

- Optimism
- Energy
- Youth and Strength
- Love and Joy
- (Reversed) Misuse of power (Tyrant King Theme)
- (Reversed) Defeat
- (Reversed) Succumbing to impulses
- (Reversed) Loss of Self Control

Like her brother, Miriam Locaine doesn't have much going for her by way of story other than her final moments. She was a girl who enjoyed baking cookies and had a close relationship with her sibling, Billy. At first glance it seems rather difficult to relate the Eighth Sacrament to the Eighth Major Arcana.

However, the imagery paints an interesting picture. A maiden gently holding and even leading a lion. The maiden is a woman strong enough to subdue a lion, and at the same time, the lion is a symbol of strength. It's a happy picture, and may be similar to the relationship Billy and Miriam shared. Miriam was a happy girl, and probably even had her own strengths and was loved dearly by her family. She was the strong, optimistic, youthful lion. Guiding her was her older brother, who plays the role of the maiden-- another source of strength, guidance, and emotional support.

In reversal, the imagery becomes that of a maiden losing control and being overtaken by the lion. While in the upright position the lion, a beast that is not attacking the maiden can be seen as a reference to 'self control', reversing the image puts the lion over the maiden. This paints a disturbing image of Walter's attack on Miriam. We know that her body was mutilated far worse than Billy's-- her family didn't even find her entire body, only a part of it remained! By this we can guess that the reversal of the Strength card references Walter's own loss of self-control as he got "carried away" with killing little Miriam and succumbing to his own impulses.



09121: William Gregory / The Hermit / Ten Hearts #9

- Punctuality
- Organization
- Discretion
- Thinking about the consequences before taking action
- A wise person
- (Reversed) Misanthropy
- (Reversed) Isolation
- (Reversed) Immaturity
- (Reversed) "Foolish" behavior

William Gregory was a man with obsessive work habits, was always punctual, and well-known for his skills. He really was the embodiment of the things the Hermit card implies. He was killed with a screwdriver and found stabbed with a flat screwdriver (one of the many tools he used in his mechanical work) in the workroom of his watch store in Ashfield.

The Hermit card depicts an old man carrying a lantern in the darkness/night and holding a staff. This rings well with William Gregory who is said in the Victim Files as having a dream years before his own death that depicted many of the things Henry would later see during his trip through the building world. Metaphorically speaking, the lantern could be a reference to that premonition that William Gregory experienced. That knowledge was the light in the darkness of "the unknown / the future".

In the end, however, keeping him isolated and working hard in his shop, he was murdered by Walter with a flat screwdriver. Just like the hermit who in reversal will isolate himself and not take heed the warnings he finds illuminated by his lantern, William Gregory didn't take heed the cryptic premonition he had years ago. It's not to say that had he skipped town that particular week he would have survived... he may have just been fated to die at Walter's hand.



10121: Eric Walsh / The Wheel of Fortune / Ten Hearts #10

- Good luck, fortune
- Joy
- Success
- Good karma
- (Reversed) Bad luck
- (Reversed) Unexpected changes
- (Reversed) Bad surprises

Eric Walsh was an easy going bartender who was having a notably good day. It was his birthday, and he was closing up shop early after hearing about the recent murders and the killer still being on the loose. When he went home, he was greeted with a birthday cake set up, and expected to see his family around. However, he was met with a horrible surprise-- Walter shot him in the face before he could escape. What a fun way to spend a birthday, huh?

The Wheel card applies well to Eric's good luck, up until the end, anyway. He was well received among his peers, despite his personality being said to change when driving (chronic road rage from an otherwise easy going guy?). The card itself depicts a wheel of fortune surrounded by clouds (the heavens) and winged beings ("heavenly") as well as a majestic sphinx. Right side up, the card shows the Sphinx ruling high atop the wheel, holding a sword to depict its might.

However, ill-dignified, the card takes on the opposite image. The Sphinx is no longer atop the wheel, instead, a sneaky, slithering snake and the image of the Egyptian god of chaos, Set. So indeed, the card's reversal implies that climbing to the top of the wheel will leave one with a surprise; we know that it's not a pleasant surprise. Eric Walsh was the poor soul who unknowingly climbed a reversed Wheel of Fortune to be met with a sneaky god of chaos at the top-- happy birthday to him, huh?



Analysis II - The Second Sign
11121: Walter Sullivan / Justice / Assumption

- Balance
- Fairness
- Judgment
- Legal action
- (Reversed) Imbalance, inequality
- (Reversed) Abuse of power against the meek
- (Reversed) Depression and lack of foresight
- (Reversed) Corruption in those with authority

Walter Sullivan was the serial killer we all know (and love) who grew up in the Wish House after abandonment by his birthparents. After the ten hearts victims were murdered and he successfully took their hearts, he was taken in by the authorities and later committed suicide in his prison cell with a soup spoon to the carotid artery, dying a slow death by blood loss.

The references to legality and those who "judge" being in proximity kind of makes me think that perhaps there was a method to each death of the 21 Sacraments? Perhaps it wasn't simple "I snuck in and now I'm going to kill you" with Eric Walsh and that the 10th Sacrament was intended to be carried out though a "surprise kill" by theme of the Wheel of Fortune card, and that Walter was meant to have an 8th Sacrament he would lose his control over (Miriam) and initiate a murder out of the Conjurer's own loss of self-control? Going by this, perhaps Walter intended to be taken into custody by those in a judicial position and to die in their proximity to fulfill the more literal meaning of the 11th Tarot.

Another reference to the actual eleventh victim and the eleventh Tarot card is that Walter was frequently placed in positions where the people in power around him abused their power. He was lied to, brainwashed, abused, and in the end, used by those who should have been just and brought him up naturally. He later became the judge who would return years later and take the lives of those who did him wrong and find his own sense of justification in these grisly acts.



12121: Peter Walls / The Hanged Man / Void

- Reincarnation
- Growth
- Sacrifice
- Selflessness
- (Reversed) Inability to learn from experiences
- (Reversed) Selfishness
- (Reversed) Laziness
- (Reversed) Lack of assertion

Peter Walls was a high school student who frequently spent his days high on marijuana and is described as a "coward without marijuana". Tying in to another victim, he actually bought his drugs from Toby Archbolt, who would be punished for his own drug trafficking. When with his friends in an alley near a hotel, he saw a ladder and suggesting that he has more courage with marijuana, he climbed up while under the influence. When he got to the top, he exclaimed that he saw "God" and disappeared. His body was later found in a room of that very hotel, beaten to death.

It's interesting to note that many images of "God" and "Jesus" depict a white man with long hair (commonly bearded, but some artists omit that detail) so it's very likely that when he climbed up the ladder, Walter was waiting at the top and the high Peter exclaimed very honestly to his friends, (after asking, "What's up there?") "I see God!” The joint he carried with him was dropped to the alley below as he climbed up onto the hotel and disappeared from his friend's sight. Walter, having just completed the Ritual of Assumption, really was a new "god" of his own world and brought down "godly" judgment on the young stoner.

Wordplay aside, the card represents stagnancy, a lack of impetus, and overall "suspension". Walls spent most of his days doing drugs, to the point where he became "nothing" without marijuana. He was sacrificing his personality for a constant "high". In reversal, the man on the card goes from upside down to right side up, pointing to the sky/heaven, just as Peter Walls was climbing a ladder to "god". Like a hanged man who's ties were cut, he was indeed "falling", but in the reversed position he fell "up" (again, "toward god") until he disappeared and his friends never saw him again.



13121: Sharon Blake / Death / Darkness

- Great Changes
- Transformation
- A Chapter in life coming to an end
- The "releasing of an outdated way of thinking" (-IntuitiveTarot.com)
- (Reversed) Stubbornness to accept change
- (Reversed) Inability to "let go"
- (Reversed) Unpleasant Changes
- (Reversed) Fear of the unknown

Sharon Blake was an older woman who had family members that were part of the cult. She had undoubtedly heard rumors of the things the cult members were doing to the children at Wish House and turned the other cheek, preferring to live in darkness of that knowledge. It wasn't until it was too late that her family was abducted by the cult and she went to the Wish House to try and find them. Suddenly, the cult being a "friendly" group to her took a dark change as she read Schreiber's expose on the Wish House's cruelty.

It's a little harsh to say, but looking at the card itself, Sharon Blake, arguably the eldest of the twenty one sacraments was in Walter's eyes, "Death who rides in on a pale horse wielding the flag". In reversal, she finds herself suffering the consequences of turning a blind eye when she could have put a stop to the wrongdoings. Image-wise, the reversal shows death being tossed from the horse, the flag being dropped, and the dead rising against "death" itself. Perhaps this is in reference to Sharon marching in (a forest that had the cemetery strong in Walter's mind) and being "thrown off her horse" by the "dead" (Walter, freshly risen from his own grave), and subsequently drowned to death.



14121: Toby Archbolt / Temperance / Gloom

- Blending of opposites
- Cooperation
- Harmony amongst two
- Balance
- Creating something good and new from two
- (Reversed) Creating something worse from two
- (Reversed) Failing to merge two things harmoniously
- (Reversed) Running out of time before completion
- (Reversed) Imbalance

Toby Archbolt was a leader in the Holy Mother Sect who took reigns after George Rosten and Jimmy Stone died. He had already made a good deal of money from the two leaderless sects as well as his own drug trafficking (he actually sold Peter Walls the marijuana). He also reopened the Wish House and despite all of his wrong doings, was awarded a seat in the Silent Hill town council for "contributions to the city and people" (- Translated Memories).

In a sense, he does play out the role of the Temperance card. He takes elements and profits of the Valtiel and Holy Mother Sects and benefits from them. However, in reversal, he also creates something worse of the two. He gains a greater hold over children in the Wish House (a frightening fact considering he's noted to be a pedophile, or simply, "Liking underage girls") as well as a more toxic grasp on youth by example of Peter Walls and the drug trafficking. He creates horrible things by combining the money and efforts built up by the two sects and even benefits from it all up until his own end.

He realized that people around him were starting to die off and so he fled to Mexico hoping he would be able to escape. However, the restless spirit of Walter Sullivan was able to cause Archbolt's own death possibly in a "dream"-like fashion similar to what Cynthia experienced. He ran out of time before completing his "escape" and failed to merge anything harmoniously (despite his own profit). He was not exempt from Walter's judgment.

The Temperance Card depicts a red-winged angel pouring water into wine (diluting the wine) and creating something else. The angel also has one foot in the water (a realm of spirituality) and one foot on land (a realm of materialism). This works well for Archbolt who had one foot in the "spiritual" cult and another in the "worldly" town council. He had power to dilute anything from either side.

Flipping the Temperance Card, you get the angel "falling" from both the earth and the water (world/spirit), losing the tools to their dilution and failing to unite two things (the water and wine, and the land and sea). In literal terms, Toby Archbolt's attempt to escape while dabbling in the spiritual and political landed him a ticket off a random cliff in Mexico. He fell quite literally from the "real world" as well as his own "dream world" should his situation have been anything like Cynthia's.



15121: Joseph Schreiber / The Devil / Despair

- Materialism and Addictions
- Obsessions
- Lust and sexuality
- Indulgence and freedom (living on the "wild side")
- (Reversed) Confinement, bondage
- (Reversed) Becoming entangled in one's fear to where they no longer take risks
- (Reversed) Self inhibitions becoming dominant in one's personality
- (Reversed) Fear of the world

Joseph Schreiber was a well received and competent journalist who lived in Room 302 prior to Henry. He enjoyed reading and fishing and was the writer who revealed to the world the corruption of the Wish House. His fate is questionable, as he simply disappeared in Walter's world after becoming trapped in Room 302 (becoming the source of the Red Memos). He is seen in the end portions of the game in the form of a pseudo-wall-man type of monster... but rather, on the ceiling and unmoving, almost like a great obsidian statue.

In relation to the card, there is a theme of bondage and confinement with the depiction of the devil itself standing between two chained humans, a male and a female (implicative of Eileen and Henry?). Joseph was damned to confinement in Room 302 moving from the element of "Despair" (inhibition, becoming entangled in one's fear to where they no longer take risks) to the role of "Giver of Wisdom". During this time he fought desperately to communicate with Eileen (obsessively, even) boring a hole in his wall and never giving up until the last of his sanity was drained. Sexuality implied by the card, we know that he gave Mike of Room 301 a "rare" pornography magazine, so it’s questionable just what sort of "rarities" Joseph was into-- or it could just simply mean that it was a particular magazine with limited print. Nonetheless, being tied to a card that has sexual implications, the plot does make a nod to Schreiber's sexuality, as well as puts him in a voyeuristic position (Eileen) that makes one question how far this sexual implication goes.

The card here when reversed is a good example of a once-normal man who possibly took his fair share of risks for the stories he published being locked down in his room and subsequently meeting his fate. The reversal of imagery also implies the chains upon the man and woman being thrown off and the devil being thrown off his altar/throne. This rings very true in the end of the story when Schreiber tells the "chained man and woman", Henry and Eileen, the true way to kill Walter ("Follow the Crimson Tome"), and leading to the dethroning of the "devil", or the "mad god" of the twisted dream world.



Analysis III - The Third Sign
16121: Cynthia Velasquez / The Tower / Temptation

- Chaos, downfall, destruction, ruin
- Something great built on a surface lacking stability
- A damaged ego or sense of self
- Hard times, difficulties in life's path
- (Reversed) Success, magnificence built on a steady foundation
- (Reversed) Arrogance
- (Reversed) Abrupt change, but likely for the good
- (Reversed) A crisis, but things may come through well in the end

Cynthia Velasquez, we know is a girl who usually has "good dreams". She loves to party (and has been a party girl since perhaps before the age of thirteen, the first evidence we see of her sneaking into places "children" are not welcome, as implied in the "He and the Victims" files) and was seen by Walter as something beautiful and "magnificent", however, she lived a hard, "low" life of drinking and self-ruin. She was really something beautiful but built on an unstable upbringing, which lead her to be tempted by the "luxuries" and "pleasures" of the world and later be murdered within her dream as the embodiment of Walter's own "temptation".

In reference to the card itself, we see a lot of this applying to Cynthia, but we also see it applying to Walter as well. He had worked up the courage to approach her, and even still it was difficult (he actually stuttered in his nervousness) and in a sense sought something that could have been magnificent (a relationship with a beautiful girl) but wasn't built on sturdy ground (she had questionable morals and lived the "night life"-- the stark opposite of the "church-going", cruelly disciplined young Walter).

She turned him down harshly (the damage to the ego and sense of self) and went on about her business with her posse proclaiming she wanted to go to a party. Her friends mentioned that she could get in trouble if they find out how old she was, but she remarks, "They won't mind if it's me." All around, it's questionable just what occupation and leanings this "temptress" has, and while many dub her the potential "hooker", it's only fair to admit that while she may not be a practitioner of the "world's oldest profession", she is a party girl.

The damaged ego and self perception is often applied to girls like Cynthia. It's common that people suggest the more "risqué" type of girls who come from broken homes and poverty will have a poor sense of self esteem and seek sexuality and even drugs/alcohol as an outlet to their stress. We can't really say if this applies completely to Cynthia or not, since we know little about her upbringing. It is an interesting thing to note, however.

The card depicts a collapsing tower with many people falling out as it is struck by a bolt of lightning from the stormy skies. Perhaps Walter saw Cynthia as a "wreck", after having once been something magnificent, even arrogant or conceited (the tower is often depicted as topped with a broken crown-- a symbol of arrogance). No matter what direction the card is facing, there is only derelict ruin in the end; however, reversal implies a lesser degree of destruction due to the blocking of the card's energies.

In reversal, the people are no longer rushing away from the tower, but rushing toward it. The lighting no longer comes from the heavens but is being sent back from the crowned tower to the heavens (man's attack on god?) and implications that the tower was not built on faulty land. Cynthia may not be who the tower is referencing-- in fact, it may be the shattered ego of Walter coming back for revenge. Before, people rejected him, hell; he may have even suspected higher powers "rejected" him.

But now, he is turning things around, becoming the tower on sturdy land and striking out at those who wronged him and brought him down. The people coming back into the tower may represent his newly acquired godhood, or his strength by way of the victims he's killed. In a sense it may be, "You didn't want me when I was nothing, but now I'm god and I'll show you how a stab in the heart feels." Cynthia was, after all, stabbed repeatedly in various places and is in dire need of a moist towelette when we meet her for the final time.



17121: Jasper Gein / The Star / Source

- Inspiration, a sign, guidance
- Hope and spirituality, healing and aid
- Influence over others
- Serenity and trust, promises of a better tomorrow
- (Reversed) Hopelessness, delusion
- (Reversed) Darkness
- (Reversed) Lack of aid in times of need

Jasper was a bit on the nutty side, as we saw in the story. He actively sought out the occult "Mother Stone" hidden in the forest near Wish House and was a horror enthusiast. As we know from previous victims who were "horror/occult enthusiasts", Walter doesn't take kindly to people who don't take his religion seriously. Jasper was burned alive, screaming that he "saw the sign" while carving into his own chest, the numbers 17121.

The star itself is a card showing a water bearer pouring liquid (often a symbol of spirituality and wisdom/knowledge) onto the land and into a pool of water. The imagery can be interpreted as an oasis in the desert-- keep faith and the healing waters of the oasis will be found. However, it was this diehard faith Jasper held that brought about his own end.

Reversal of the star can imply that the luminary was blocked out by clouds (a source of rain-- the water in an ill-dignified Star card no longer rests in a pool but is now meant to "rain down", and these clouds are what cover up the star). It also implies that in a time of need, where healing is the most needed, it will not come. Jasper followed his faith until he was essentially cornered and deluded by his blind fanaticism (just as the clouds blinded the star).



18121: Andrew DeSalvo / The Moon / Watchfulness

- Dreams
- Unconscious thought
- Illusion
- Spirituality
- (Reversed) Deception
- (Reversed) Self Delusion to a point where it becomes problematic
- (Reversed) Avoidance of reality's strife, escapism
- (Reversed) A downward spiral into the chaotic "sun"

Andrew DeSalvo was a cruel watchman who abused Walter as a child, and was later drowned in the Panopticon Prison. He was said to have not been directly involved with the cult and their beliefs, but got his kicks abusing the kids. Anyone can tell that abusing helpless children is wrong, but DeSalvo successfully deluded himself into not even feeling guilt until later in his life when the restless, vengeful ghost of Walter Sullivan came back with judgment.

On the Moon card is a pool of water with a crab, two dogs howling, and two tombstones (sometimes interpreted as pillars). The two dogs can be easily interpreted as "watchdogs" which are basically what the guards were and looming high over the crab in the pool of water (its only home-- it’s confining "cell") is the moon, watching it eternally. This is all similar to how helpless young Walter was confined to his cell "the crab in the pool of water" to be watched by the big, looming moon (DeSalvo).

[url="http://www.silenthillforum.com/viewtopi ... 916#361916]From the Elements of Victims 16-19 Hypothesis:[/url]
"The water is often linked to spirituality and subconscious thought in art and mythology. The water's link to subconscious and spirituality may reflect that the domain of the Panopticon Prison was a punishment placed upon young Walter for not being "spiritual" enough, or not completing his readings correctly, (even though we learn that the trips to the prison were scheduled and may not have always been punishment-- this is a cult that believes their god is formed from hate and pain, so perhaps they reflected this onto their youth). Perhaps DeSalvo's death in the water is a reference to the Moon card's pool of water. In fact, the crab in the water may refer to DeSalvo in the water as he was found at his time of death by Henry. In astrology, the crab/cancer is often seen as possessive, looming, a parental figure to youths-- perhaps Walter saw a bit of his own father's "cruelty" in DeSalvo and associated him with the crab/cancer in the pool of water.

Crab in the Water-- Again, reversal of roles, reversal of cards from positive to negative. Walter probably took the role of an all-seeing "moon" figure to loom over the terrified Andrew during his death. No longer was Walter the "crab in the water beneath the moon" but DeSalvo became the "crab in the water beneath the moon".



19121: Richard Braintree / The Sun / Chaos

- Energy and Clarity (Illumination)
- Inertia, Initiative
- Power, Enthusiasm, Happiness
- Reason and Youthfulness, Childhood
- (Reversed) Chaos and blindness, loss of clarity
- (Reversed) Misconceptions
- (Reversed) Immaturity, illogical and unclear actions
- (Reversed) Childish Ignorance

Richard Braintree was the hothead of the Apartments who harassed young Walter with cruel threats and even beat up the obsessive Mike and stripped him of his clothes. He was remembered as a source of fear for Walter, and in the end died a death by electrocution in Walter's chaotic and abstract Building World.

In the Sun Tarot card, the sun shines down on a child riding a white horse and carrying the red flag (often the red flag is a symbol of victory, rebirth, even blood). The Sun is a card representing power and in a sense, "wise, prosperous rulership", with the sun taking a metaphorical position of authority over the young child, who can be interpreted as the one who is lead-- one who is happy being lead by a wise authority figure. However, in relation to Walter and Richard, the sun (Richard) was an authoritarian who rained down on Walter (the child) with tyranny and fear.

In reversal, the child is thrown off the horse, and the sun is no longer shining down on "youth". Some say that the reversal represents childhood being stripped away by misuse of power, lack of clarity, or things becoming 'unclear'. In a sense, what was once serene and peaceful has become chaotic and the child is left to figure out why something once seen as a good thing is suddenly shadowed and in chaos. Logic and reason are thrown out the window by the Sun.

In the story, the reversal can also relate to Walter's own childhood being stripped away not just by the fear imposed on him by Richard, but all the other authority figures around him who abused him and brainwashed him. No longer is Walter the child thrown off the horse-- in the end, Walter became the sun who would come down on Richard with the full force of cynical adulthood, and the "immature/illogical" Richard took the place of the child, who was literally at the mercy of a chaotic sun. While in the past, Richard had been the source of chaos, in the end, Walter was the source of chaos (Abstract Building World, the grisly murders, even Richard's own death and subsequent afterlife as a twitchy, "chaotic" ghost, more powerful than the others).



Analysis IV - The Final Sign
20121: Eileen Galvin / Judgment / Mother Reborn (Succubus)

- Rebirth, casting off the bounds of a previous life
- Accomplishment
- Awakening, and heightened clarity both intellectually and spiritually
- Becoming a "new person"
- (Reversed) Taking on a new burden
- (Reversed) Inability to let go and move on, guilt
- (Reversed) Separation and losing something/someone precious
- (Reversed) Becoming overwhelmed by old problems

Eileen Galvin was the girl who lived next door to Henry (and previously, Joseph), who was simply getting ready to go to a party. Unbeknownst to her future protector, she actually has a history with the killer-- something she may not even remember, but something that Walter himself has never forgotten. When she was no more than four or five years old, she came across a teenage Walter, living homeless in the subway. Seeing that he was cold, she kindly gave him her doll "to keep him warm" even though her mother was telling her not to talk to him and trying to pull her away from him. Walter was so touched by her kindness that she was given a very special role in the 21 Sacraments-- the Mother Reborn.

As Walter viewed "Mother" (302) as the only source of joy, happiness, or kindness in his life, he associated Eileen with that one act of kindness as a child. Almost twenty years later, he returned to her (interestingly enough, she lived right next to Room 302-- the closest victim to "Mother" besides Henry and Joseph) and after a session of long thought and inner conflict on the stairs (trying to break his own emotional ties to her) he knew what he had to do for the ritual and attempted to beat her to death. He was unsuccessful, as the child Walter intervened and protected Eileen. The bloody and beaten Eileen, caring less for herself and more for the child, asked him, "Hey kid, did you find your mommy? You should get out of here... it's dangerous...", before falling unconscious.

She would later meet up with Henry in the dream world's hospital. After Henry takes her with him, Walter, who had once been a non-hostile force around Henry (Henry was able to be around him without worry that he would get attacked) takes a turn for hostility. ("I'm not done with her!! GTFO." XD) The kindness in Eileen's heart paves way for Walter to possess and control her. It isn't until she finds his sketchbook in the lobby of the apartments that the sympathy for him becomes great enough for her to consider leaving Henry to find Walter on her own.

When Henry finds the umbilical cord moments later in the Super's room, Eileen will leave regardless of her degree of possession (full possession shows her regressing to childlike fear and running to Room 302 saying, "I'll wake you up, mommy, I will!", half possession shows her suddenly bolting up, away from Henry and walking backwards toward Room 302, "Goodbye, Henry Townshend. I'm going to the room where Walter Sullivan is.", and no possession shows her simply leaving of her own will with, "We're the only ones who can save him, Henry. I'm going back. To the room where Walter is."). Yet still, she winds up in a possessed state during the final battle, walking to her death by the spiked armillary sphere at the center of the ritual room.

As the Mother Reborn, there are connections to the Judgment card's themes of rebirth, or casting off a previous life in favor of a new one. In a sense, Eileen becomes a "new person" by way of Walter's possession, and may imply the true nature of the "Mother Reborn", especially considering the mysterious "Mother Ending". Some theories suggest that Eileen was pregnant in the Mother ending and would return to Room 303, later becoming the birth mother to a reincarnated Walter Sullivan, (or even the god itself). The Judgment card does have themes associated with rebirth and reincarnation (however, they are much less literal than what the Mother Reborn role and the Mother ending may imply).

In reversal, the themes of separation and the loss of something dear run true to Walter's own separation from his mother, and the theme of being unable to move on or "let go" are understandably visible in Walter's personality and his actions.

The image on the card shows a winged angel in the heavens sounding a trumpet down to the world below, where corpses rise from the dead in praise. In the background are pointed mountains that act as the horizon, separating the angel in heaven from the bodies of the dead (judgment-- a difficult thing to cross, sometimes even painful). Reversed, the card shows less a scene of divine judgment, but a scene where the holy is being overwhelmed by the rising dead.

This plays very accurately in literal terms where Eileen the "Mother Reborn" (arguably a vessel for the "Holy Mother" in some theories, and definitely someone seen as "special" to Walter) becomes the lone figure of light surrounded by the bodies of the dead. In the final battle, she stands as the last sacrament before Henry surrounded by the corpses of the previous victims that line the ritual area. Figuratively, it plays well in that Eileen was a source of "good" in Walter's life, yet in reversal, he was the risen dead who came after her.



21121: Henry Townshend / The World / Receiver of Wisdom

- Completion, finality
- Travel, Final Growth, the fool who became the Wiseman
- A full cycle
- (Reversed) Fear of change, loss of faith, hesitation
- (Reversed) Premature cancellation to change or completion
- (Reversed) False Wisdom, Fooling Oneself, Complete and total self-delusion

Henry is a lone man who moved into Room 302 two years prior to the story and explains that he felt "drawn" to the room. Little is really known about his past other than he had a healthy, happy upbringing and a fine family. He enjoys photography and reading, doesn't smoke, is single, and keeps a bottle of wine in the fridge. He's presumably on the reclusive side, nonetheless, and stands as a stark opposite to Walter. Where Henry had the life Walter dreamed of, Henry chooses not to seek out joy and coops himself up in his apartment, having little to no friends. Walter would have loved a family that loved him and was proud of him, and even would have loved being in Room 302, (another thing Henry has that he does not).

The World card depicts a dancing figure within a completed wreath, representing the completion of "the fool's journey", the completion of knowledge and wisdom after hard efforts and travel. In reversal, the opposite occurs. The dancing figure is still, the world becomes stagnant, and travel does not occur. The fool does not make his journey, and agoraphobia becomes a theme of the reversed World card. It also implies a project that continues to draw on but may never see completion.

This all works well with Henry, who binds himself to his own home up like a hermit until the events of Silent Hill 4. Henry is forced to become the Receiver of Wisdom, and indeed, gains knowledge of Walter Sullivan and the victims prior to him and Eileen. However, once the "receiving" of wisdom is completed, Henry's "world" will stop upon his death at Walter's hands, unless he manages to get out alive.

Another interesting note is that the world is often represented with the moon and stars as armillary spheres, (similar to the one in the center of the ritual room, however, not covered in spikes). Look up an armillary sphere in Google-- you'll find that they have an eerie similarity to Walter's Eileen Juicer 9000. When the player is left with the 21 Sacraments ending, it’s implied that Henry, possessed looks over to the armillary sphere and possibly even walks to his own death just like Eileen. A fitting end in a machine similar to actual armillary spheres depicting "the world" for a victim who himself, represents "the world".




Analysis V - The Fool Card?
00121: Walter Sullivan / The Fool / The Child

- Having a naive nature
- Beginnings
- Youth, childhood
- (Reversed) Becoming lost in dreams
- (Reversed) Overactive Imagination
- (Reversed) Refusal to accept reality
- (Reversed) Foolishness

While Walter as an adult and as a sacrament is the eleventh (Assumption / Justice), there is a 22nd card, or "Card Zero" that comes before all of the sacraments. There's never a "22nd" victim or person mentioned in the game that can correspond to the zero card, "The Fool". Looking at the meanings of the card, I began to wonder if maybe Walter as a child, or the idea of "his chance of living a normal life" or his "chance of moving on" was the actual "Sacrifice Zero".

After Dahlia told him that the 21 Sacraments could help him be with his mother in Ashfield, Walter believed what many could simply write off as a "fairy tale". He became lost in his own overactive imagination and desperation to be with anything he could call a "parent" or "family". As he grew older, he became less and less in tune with the world, ("refusal to accept reality") and more deluded by the fantasy of his mother being either in Room 302, or actually Room 302.

In a sense, Walter was the fool who made the journey through the 21 cards/sacraments who would (should the 21 Sacraments ending be attained) finally have all wisdom and realization, as well as the completion of his life long effort. With the already noted schism between Walter's adult self and his child self, it's not too big of a stretch to say that it was the "adult self" that was the eleventh and the "child self" who was the fool.

The image on the card is of a "fool" dressed for travel, followed by a dog (possibly trying to warn him?) walking toward the edge of a cliff. The fool can either continue walking in his blindness and plummet to his death, or he can heed the warning of the dog and continue his journey in another direction. The reverse of this would be the fool falling into the sky, losing all of the things binding him to the world (his belongings) and essentially getting lost with his "head in the clouds".



Extra:

"Five of Swords" - The Five Swords of Obedience
- Failure
- Defeat
- Humility
- Weakness
- Submission
- (Reversed) Depression
- (Reversed) Fear
- (Reversed) Suspicion
- (Reversed) Someone working against you, or you unknowingly working against yourself

All of these work well in application to what the Swords of Obedience truly do. When used on a ghost, the Sword of Obedience effectively pins the ghost down and they are at a point of submission to Henry (or whoever has the swords-- Joseph was the one who initially wrote about them and their power, so it's possible that he may have pinned a few himself at some point or another... we never do see all 19 Ghosts in Silent Hill 4).



"Eight of Wands" - The Eight Spears of the Holy Mother
- Hope
- Journeys
- Action
- (Reversed) Conflict
- (Reversed) Hard Work Gone to Waste
- (Reversed) Journeys coming to an untimely halt
- (Reversed) Recklessness

The Eight of Wands I connect to the Eight Spears of the Holy Mother. When Henry arrives in the ritual room beneath 302 at the core of Walter's world, he finds these eight spears pierced in the bodies of the victims around him. It's possible that in these positions, they were a part of the final sign of the ritual and acted in accordance to Walter's plan. They were figuratively in a position that would aid his plan in coming to fruition.

However, Henry takes these spears and stabs them into the pale "demon" figure (It is, in fact, Walter, and possibly what really happened to Walter's corpse) after using the umbilical cord. This works with the flipping of the card and changing of meanings. Especially in the "hard work gone to waste". Flipping the card essentially makes it mean 'you've come a long way, but it'll all be for nothing' or 'you came far, but you did it wrong'. 8 Is a number of journeys which can apply to the Eight of Wands and the Eight Spears. All pierced in the victims, the Eight Spears are kind of like the trophy to all of his work, and Henry pretty much takes them and sticks them in the monster-Walter, bringing his plan crashing to the ground (as if Eileen hadn't brought it spiraling down enough to begin with).



"Knight of Wands" - The Twelve Acquirable Golf Clubs
- Energy
- Action
- Initiative
- Enthusiasm
- Charisma
- (Reversed) Confrontations
- (Reversed) Discord
- (Reversed) Initiating Battles
- (Reversed) Spite

In total there are twelve golf clubs in the game. When one thinks about how the worlds are all formed from Walter's memories (both good and bad), it kind of makes you wonder if golf was one of the few things he enjoyed in life. XD Especially considering just how many clubs you see lying around. We do know he worked at Rick Albert's sports store part time, so one could just say that it's Rick Albert's memories and the things he enjoyed overlapping with Walter's memories.

In Translated Memories' "Victim Files", Rick Albert's file describes a certain "part time staff employee" who comes running in excitedly and talking about how the pet store owner, Steve Garland was killed brutally. In the employee's enthusiasm, he details how the pet store owner had numbers carved into his back and his heart cut out and sewed shut. Even Rick Albert wonders just how the employee knew so much about the murder. The grisly details given by the energetic employee disturbed him greatly.

Perhaps the Knight of Wands refers more to Walter? We know little about his life before he went "off his rocker" and killed everyone. What we do know is that he appeared trustworthy, is described in Silent Hill 2's memo on the murders of Billy and Miriam Locaine as, "a guy who doesn't look like he'd kill kids", all around "normal", and mostly shocked the people who knew him when they found out he was a killer. Perhaps he was charismatic by nature and good at hiding just how much spite he had for the world?

It's worth noting that very few (if any) victims walked into his world or traps (save for Jasper). He often went and sought out his battles. Initiator of battles/conflict.



"Two of Swords" - The Two Acquirable Spades
- Restoration of Peace
- Resolution
- Return to Balance
- (Reversed) Lies, Deceit
- (Reversed) Misguidance
- (Reversed) "Bad Advice"

In the game there are two spades you can get (Two of Swords equates the Two of Spades), and one is a weapon, the other is used to retrieve the Mother Stone in the forest. It's worth noting that it was in the "forest" (Wish House, to be exact) that Walter first learned of the 21 Sacraments and the knowledge Dahlia gave to him.

Some argue that Dahlia told him that his mother was in Room 302 to make him want to complete the 21 Sacraments. Some argue that Dahlia was doing this as an effort to postpone his success in descending God for his Sect of the Cult (Dahlia was in the Holy Woman/Saint Lady Sect, depending on your translation of choice, and Walter was in the Holy Mother Sect, which rivaled the Holy Woman/Saint Lady Sect). It's not out of character for Dahlia to try and ruin the opposing sect, as we all know from Silent Hill 1; she's kind of a crafty bitch.

Whether or not Walter believed her every word until his dying breath is actually questionable. As an adult, he knew that it was impossible for a Room to give birth to a Human. Its common birds and the bees. In fact, as a child he believed his mother was a resident of Room 302, until he later learned that someone else lived there, and as he got older and his mind became rather warped, that mindset became, "Mother -is- Room 302".

We see child Walter in the second round through the forest telling Henry that he has parents who left him as an infant. He recognizes he was orphaned by two very human people. But he also believes that he has a mom in Room 302. It can be guessed that sometime between then and his adulthood, he began to see Room 302 as a "Spiritual" mother. (Perhaps his mindset was, "There's a reason that I was left there, and that reason is for Room 302, 'God', to be my Mother.’God' chose me."? That's a bit of a pitch in the dark, however. There's really no telling just what went through his head.) We know for certain that the Holy Mother Sect believed that material objects can be 'God' or contain 'God'. Room 302 is a 'material object'. By that extent, Walter possibly saw himself as a Jesus figure, or a "Son of God" figure whose destiny it was to be tied so inseparably to Room 302.

It's also interesting that the location where Henry uses the Bloody Spade to dig up the Mother Stone is an area that's in a state of flux and cannot be traversed until certain requirements are met. After using the Bloody Spade, the location is restored to "peace" by the second round through the forest.



"Two of Coins" - The Two Acquirable Coins
- Monetary warnings (don't overindulge in your spending)
- Communications
- Materialism
- "Take caution in your projects"
- (Reversed) Not heeding warnings
- (Reversed) Debt
- (Reversed) Overindulgence in material pleasures or intoxication

The two coins we find in the game are the Lynch Street Line Coin from Cynthia and the Filthy Coin (also found in the Subway) which later becomes the 1& Coin which Henry uses to access the Murder Scene. It's worth noting off the bat that the Subway represented the worst of the world's material "pleasures" and "pains" to Walter. The girls (who may have possibly been hookers) who abused him as a child, Cynthia and her posse (whom we know liked to live the "night life" and drink heavily).

The first coin we get from Cynthia actually turns this card pretty accurately in her direction. She was a very materialistic, worldly girl. She loved to party and drink and she obviously wanted a man who could provide for her or at least provide her with material pleasures. ("Hey... you misunderstood me... you look handsome, but it doesn't mean I think you're attractive. Your clothes are filthy, and smell so bad... Do you think that's the kind of thing a girl like me is into? No way...") It might be going a little too far to just stamp her as "gold digger", but we know for a fact that she at least had a habit of drinking too much ("...I think ...I drank too much last night..."). "Worldly Pleasures" were "her thing".

The second coin we get is the Filthy Coin which later is washed and becomes the 1& Coin. Being a little boy, Walter probably meant it to be a $ sign, but got it a little wrong. He wants to give that coin to his mother in Room 302, hoping that giving gifts could possibly wake her up. It's a drive to please her and be given love in return. Perhaps he saw that the men in the subway were giving the "mean girls" money in a similar way and were given "love" in return. It's not to say that as a little boy he was seeking "action", but he probably didn't understand that the "affections" these men bought from the girls in the subway was of a different nature than the love he sought from his mother in Room 302. Perhaps he simply knew it was nice to be given a gift, and if he gave his mother a gift, she would be happy and wake up? Sometimes the simplest answer is the solution here, though it's nice fodder for thought. Just what sort of things could a young, impressionable child see in a rather dirty, questionable subway?



Sources:
• http://www.ata-tarot.com (Ata-Tarot.com by James Rioux)
• http://www.paranormality.com (Paranormality.com, by Karyn Easton)
• http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/919554/39042 (Silent Hill 4 Comprehensive FAQ by A l e x at Gamefaqs)
• http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/919554/31120 (Memo FAQ by Sunderland at Gamefaqs)
• http://www.translatedmemories.com/victimfiles.html (Translated Memories, by Konami and the Translated Memories.com Staff, alternatecoppa, excuse17, and jYubei)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot (Wikipedia.org's Entry on Tarot, not a great source, but still has some decent data)
• http://www.intuitivetarot.com/ (Intuitive Tarot)
• http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/919554/31470 (Silent Hill 4 Script by Genlohim)

[The Adversary]

I believe a forumer called Silent Pyramid made a similar expository analysis, which can be found on GameFAQs.com.

[11x20]

I believe a forumer called Silent Pyramid made a similar expository analysis, which can be found on GameFAQs.com.

Yeah, I'm familiar with Silent Pyramid's massive, amazing analysis. Unfortunately he doesn't go into all twenty one as far as I remember. Still, his FAQ covers a lot of other wonderful tidbits about Silent Hill mythology.

[arwain]

Whoa Granolabar, I've to read all yet but this post seems vey interesting and exhaustive.
And this is one of the factors that prove how much is deep and original the SH4's story.

[The Adversary]

>I'm familiar with Silent Pyramid's massive, amazing analysis.
Amazing?

I'll read and comment more on this later.

[11x20]

>I'm familiar with Silent Pyramid's massive, amazing analysis.
Amazing?

I'll read and comment more on this later.

You don't think Silent Pyramid's analysis was good? Granted there are some errors and inaccuracies (I couldn't be asked to point any out, it's been a very long time since I read through it), I still think he had a good handle on the series mythology. If I remember, English wasn't his first language either, so I think the copy we see at GameFAQs was a translated version of his original analysis, so that may explain some of the few glaring grammatical errors I remember seeing.

Whoa Granolabar, I've to read all yet but this post seems vey interesting and exhaustive.
And this is one of the factors that prove how much is deep and original the SH4's story.

Thanks, Arwain. Yeah, I think that SH4 really was deep and personally, I believe they had nothing but Tarot in mind when creating it, Probably, they were still fresh from the "tarot theme" in SH3 (which was much less pronounced than in this game, what with the 21 Sacraments) and decided there was more they could do with it. SH4 really was a breath of fresh air, I was getting so damn tired of Brookhaven and Alchemilla and the nurses. I love nice undead cleavage as much as the next guy, but the movie kind of killed it for me. I really enjoyed the burping behemoth patients and the 2-floor "screwed up art gallery" St. Jerome's hospital.

[AuraTwilight]

...

God dammit, you rule. POST MOAR.