Back Major Detours
Chapters (34)
  1. COVER
  2. DEDICATION
  3. PART ONE
  4. CHAPTER ONE
  5. CHAPTER TWO
  6. CHAPTER THREE
  7. CHAPTER FOUR
  8. PART TWO
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. PART THREE
  14. CHAPTER NINE
  15. CHAPTER TEN
  16. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  17. PART FOUR
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  21. DISCOVER MORE
  22. READING GUIDE
  23. PERILLIAN CORNER SORTING MATRIX
  24. THE FOUR CORNERS
  25. PERSONALITY PROFILE WORKSHEET
  26. THE PASSION EMPRESS
  27. THE WARRIOR EMPRESS
  28. THE ENTHUSED EMPRESS
  29. THE WISE EMPRESS
  30. PERSONALITY PROFILE WORKSHEET
  31. THE CRUSADER EMPEROR
  32. THE SCHOLAR EMPEROR
  33. THE CATALYST EMPEROR
  34. THE COUNCIL EMPEROR

I find that, in this room, seeking something deeper will mean doing something I’d really rather not. Just ahead of me in this dark room is a plastic tube tunnel, the kind children play inside. It leads through a wall into the next room.

Anxiety pings in my brain again as I think of how eerie and silent, how insulated and cramped that tunnel will be. I reach my hand up to play with my hair, but then force that feeling away again.

After all, I chose this hard path, fool that I am.

The crawl into the next room is indeed tight, but it’s also fast—and oddly freeing. Once through the tunnel, I examine this next room from the floor. Once I do, I find there’s only one door left for me to walk through, painted purple.

image I walk through this singular purple door.

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What matters more? That answer is pretty simple—what matters more than anything, really? Justice.

The decision to walk through this doorway was an easy one. The tarot’s Justice card calls for a careful examination and good judgment, not just of others, but also of ourselves. Appropriately, this entire room is painted half in pitch black and half in stark white, while the path through the middle remains gray.

This feels especially fitting, as more gusts of wind bash against the walls outside. After all, the only path forward we usually have is the solitary gray one.

Walking this path leads me to the next wall, where I find only one final door, painted blue.

image I walk through this singular blue door.

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What matters more? That answer is pretty simple—what matters more than anything, really? Strength.

The decision to walk through this doorway was an easy one. Especially because the tarot’s call for Strength doesn’t require brute force. Instead, it suggests that sometimes the truest strength comes from being gentle and kind. Which is probably why, in the center of this next room, a giant open palm is painted on the floor, covering a clenched fist.

Since Strength stands for unexpected solutions to a problem, I figured this might be the cleverest path forward. However, crossing this particular room, the house seems to come alive all around me, banging and clanging louder than ever. It almost feels like I really have entered some kind of horror house, as if the walls themselves are cautioning me to turn back.

Then again, perhaps this is just another sign that I require unique strength to continue forward.

Coming to the next wall, I find only one final door, painted purple.

image I walk through this singular purple door.

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I press my hand to the purple painted wood and see it also has an inscription printed in bronze. It’s not just one symbol, though, like the other doors. I recognize this writing as half of the quote for the Princess of Cups listed in Perilli’s booklet. It reads: Rise above jealousy, manipulation, and possession. Beside each emotion, the symbols for The Devil, The Fool, and Strength appear. Whatever else this means, it must mean I’m close.