Tarot Symbolism in The Courtship of Princess Leia

I've been griping a lot about this book lately, so it's time to look at some of the positive aspects instead. (I liked Chapter Six much better than the previous five!)

The pages of sabaac at the beginning of Chapter Five both frustrated and intrigued me. I felt like there was a lot going on, but that Wolverton was dragging it on much too long for something most readers wouldn't know how to follow. I wanted to know what he was talking about. So I did some research. And I grew more and more impressed with Wolverton's knowledge and attention to detail. (Why couldn't he apply that to more parts of the book?) This passage is so much fun when you have a better idea what it's all about. In a geeky way, of course. But isn't this Star Wars, and a book? Geekiness is the name of the game!

Now, I knew almost nothing about Tarot other than the little I'd heard about the Hanged Man and the Lightening-Struck Tower via Harry Potter discussions. So I'm not really able to judge how reliable my sources are. I've mainly used this site for reference, and much of my summary is paraphrased from there. If anyone knows of a better or more reliable site, let me know! I'm obviously a complete novice at interpreting the cards, too, so what follows is just my best guess. I'd love to hear other people's takes on it, especially if they are more knowledgeable than I.

( So, on to the highly symbolic card game! Warning: much tl;dr ahead. )

Solar System Redefined

Breaking astronomical news! The International Astronomical Union is busy redefining "planet." Soon they'll be voting on whether to accept the latest scheme, and if they do, we'll have a 12-planet solar system.

Sort of. Pluto, Charon (now considered Pluto's sister planet rather than moon), and 2003 UB313 (aka Xena) are going to be "plutons," or "really little planets that we might change our minds about later and call something else."

But Ceres, formerly known as the biggest asteroid in the belt, apparently gets to be a real planet - like it was in the 19^th century, before it got demoted.

I think this is cool, especially if 2003 UB313 gets to be officially called Xena. Hey, it means "foreigner," and that's very appropriate for a far-out object!

We're going to have to come up with a new mnemonic now, though, because "My Very Efficient Mother Just Served Us Nachos Promptly" won't work anymore. I don't know what we'll do if those other few dozen candidates get to be plutons too... We'll need a whole poem or something!