I'm seeing your point regarding Mother Brain as the Hierophant; equitable representation would be ideal. I'm going to do some research on the cards in question and see if I can come up with some kind of solution to the Guru problem. I do know that sometimes the cards go by other names, and maybe one of these alternate interpretations can help us make a decision.
Indeed. another alternative would be to place Queen Zeal as Hierophant, if we really wanted her as a Trump. the arguments in favor are 1. her high degree of power, and 2. she's a link between Lavos and the world, just as the Hierophant links the spiritual and secular. But other than that, it's a stretch. The Hierophant is about community and tradition, while Queen Zeal destroys both in her addiction to Lavos. We'll probably end up incorporating her into the Tower.
Regarding the Empress card:
This is a very good point, and would be my primary reason for choosing Azala. Again, your desire to make the time periods more equitable is well-taken and I agree that somehow or another the Prehistoric and Future eras need more representation.
Yes, I don't want any eras to be neglected. Several selections apply across the eras, such as Epoch or Time Gate, but time-specific selections should be as varied as possible.
The issue is for me that Azala isn't very Empress-like. She's a female authority figure, but that's where the similarity ends, for the most part. The empress is traditionally depicted as Venus, and is about motherhood-- fertility, nurturing capacities--- and abundance, as well as sensuality and beauty. All of those are qualities that fit Queen Leene: she is a symbol in the Middle Ages for the continuance of the Kingdom of Guardia, famed for her beauty, and acts as the classic courtly inspiration for Cyrus and Glenn to fight. Her mentorship of Marle also places her in a mothering role.
Azala's species, on the other hand, suffers a rousing defeat at the hands of the humans, which is the opposite of fertility and motherhood and creation. She would make a near-perfect reverse Empress, but as it stands she strikes me as a stretch-- she's more of an Emperor, threatening and domineering.
So one way to solve this would be to tweak the card: let's see if there is anything in the traditional symbolism we can emphasize to make Azala a better fit.
These are very strong points, more solid than my attempts to justify. I was thinking that Azala would fit better as Emperor, but she's female! A female emperor would be very unorthodox, especially since the card is about masculine authority. We could have the King and Queen of Guardia as Emperor and Empress, with Azala as the Queen of Wands or Swords in the Minor Arcana. It seems that whatever choice is made, there's going to be some compromise or sacrifice.
Likewise, the Guru issue is not going to be easy.
Ohh, that might work well, because I can't see the Rainbow Shell fitting neatly into any of the Trumps. I like the idea of a seed for Ace of Cups; I do prefer the pendant to be depicted in the Star. The pendant really deserves to be on a Trump in one way or another.
That's my line of thought. keeping with consistency, if the Sun Stone is referenced on Lucca's card, I'd want the Rainbow Shell to appear somewhere. The Sun Stone being on a Trump, and the Rainbow Shell being on an Ace is justified by the fact that the Sun Stone was more significant as the power source of Zeal.
Ace of Swords - Ruby Knife
Ace of Wands - Gate Key
Ace of Cups - Zeal Sapling/Future Seed
Ace of Pentacles - Rainbow Shell
I think we can stick with these!
Referring back to what I was saying before, as we work with the Major Arcana, we'll have to balance it with the Court Cards. Most of the current choices are pretty good. However, I'm not sure about Kino as King of Cups. He did fight the Reptites, and came through in the end with the Dactyls, but most Chrono fans don't find him too cool or memorable. Although he would be further representation of prehistory, I was thinking of placing Cyrus or someone else there.
