All my life it seemed to me that in our world the rational would always go side by side with the irrational. And no matter how forward science moves, many people will still feel the need for the inexplicable, magical, and mysterious. There is no point in trying to convince those who are suffering that they are wrong. But it’s worth telling them how amazing and diverse the world they live in absolutely, here and now. This is exactly what my project is dedicated to.
Like the card Joker, the Jester or the Fool do not have numbers, equal or specific meanings. Its essence is changeable, symbolizing cunning, deception and uncertainty. The traditional cap with bells on his head is nothing more than an Indonesian mimic octopus, which, like its owner, is accustomed to eluding enemies by deception, pretending to be with the help of poisonous animals, corals or plants, even imitating their behavior.
True magicians in nature are as rare as white crows, but that’s not what we’re talking about. The raven is truly the smartest representative of the fauna, surpassing even large predators and primates in intelligence. The raven's brain is so developed that it can solve quite complex engineering and strategic problems using various objects. Some crows can even imitate human speech, but no worse than parrots, and the complexity of their behavior, coupled with attentiveness and caution, has a long history.
The priestess is the keeper of mysterious wisdom. But unlike the magician, its meaning can be characterized as intuitive, without clear clarity of action, a kind of female knowledge, beyond the control of the mind of men. And this knowledge is possessed by the lizard of the genus Darevskia, which in principle does not have males. The reproduction method these lizards use is called parthenogenesis, and involves the mother giving birth to exact copies of herself. If she decides to diversify her genes, she can enter into a relationship with another species or another female.
In the classic Tarot, the Empress precedes the Emperor and is considered one of the most fortunate cards. Her other name - Mistress - reflects the essence of a broader meaning: an established life, fertility, attachment to home. And in these worldly qualities there is no creature more discerning than the female black-palm cockatoo. Before forming a pair, she hands the male a twig, with which he must tap on the nesting hollow. If she does not like the sound made, she leaves the unfortunate place and the unlucky groom.
The strength and power that this card symbolizes can be quite varied, and of course there are many beings under the leadership of a strong animal leader. Such as bees and ants cannot live without society, turning into one huge body, others cultivate their fellow tribesmen’s cruel tyranny for the right leadership. But pay attention to wolves - despite the severity and rapacity of the leader, the members of his pack are not forced to violence in their assigned duties, and you even choose a spouse for them for life. Probably, this is fair power - giving its subordinates the right to choose. And if one of his fellow tribesmen makes a decision about his status, the head will not stand in his way.
Spiritual strength and asceticism are the main characteristics of the Hierophant card, although any spiritual person should possess these qualities. It would seem that in nature, where the main goal has always been and will be survival, there is no place for ascetics. But that's not true. Somewhere in the dark depths of the underwater rivers of Croatia lives a creature called Proteus, which requires only cold mineral water to live and can go hungry for decades. Like its human counterpart, the Proteus is blind, but has an amazing ability to sense the space around it.
Calling to listen to the voice of the heart, Lovers are also often called Choice and instruct you to be more attentive to your emotions. Like people, Dik-dik antelopes have the opportunity to choose whether to be alone or in a small harem. But more often they choose the first option. However, they preserve their already formed couple much more carefully than relationships with children, who, upon reaching puberty, are immediately expelled away.
Australia's plants and animals have been harmed by more people. Except one. This is a large kangaroo, which is one of the national symbols of Australia. As for the chariot in the tarot, the kangaroo cannot back away or jump backwards. It very easily adapts to unfamiliar food and environment, and females are able to slow down the pregnancy process and have offspring on their own initiative. With such skills backed by the motto “Australia Goes Forward!”, they truly stopped at nothing.
Vampire bats, contrary to prejudice, are by no means hellish, bloodthirsty creatures similar to ghouls. In fact, they are very cowardly, and flying with the aim of an unnoticed bite is a very risky business. Therefore, among mice there are a lot of people who like to take time off from night flights and eat only what others bring. But the mouse's memory is long enough, and responsible earners share food only fairly - whoever flew out as much as he could received as much food from his brothers. If the mouse doesn’t want to fly anywhere, then they stop feeding it altogether.
Despite its rather neutral meaning at first glance, this card can hardly be called successful. Emotional and physical separation from society is not the most pleasant state, but haymaking spiders are quite satisfied with it. Most species that prefer splendid solitude are predators. And, like a true predator of the arthropod world, the spider is a true misanthrope. Even during the mating period, the male runs the risk of being eaten by his girlfriend, and sometimes he even has to save their offspring from her insatiable appetite.
Luck is fickle. And the wheel of Fortune spins, taking from some and giving to others: wealth or poverty, grief or happiness. The path of the caterpillar is difficult - as a flightless creature forced to eat a lot to continue growing, it is very vulnerable to birds, other insects and various insectivorous parasites. However, if the caterpillar manages to survive pupation and becomes a butterfly, it will be much more difficult to catch and eat. Becoming a butterfly is truly a great success, but not every caterpillar is so lucky.
One of the most powerful animals is Dynastes hercules. One of them, because the scarab family includes more than one species, which also includes dung beetles, capable of lifting a weight 1141 times their own. And the Hercules beetle with a lifting force of 850 times its own weight. It is no coincidence that this beetle, due to its impressive growths on its head and colossal strength, received its name as an ancient strongman hero.
Don't be fooled by the scary name, or the position of the man on this card, hanging upside down. In all interpretations of the tarot, he is depicted with a calm or blissful expression on his face, and he agreed to this self-torture entirely voluntarily. It is no coincidence that there is a pea aphid sitting on his hand - a creature that is often attacked by parasites that are fatal to it. But aphids have salvation - the Hamiltonella bacterium, which blocks the actions of aphids, despite the fact that it itself is the same parasite. The aphid feels better without the bacteria, but is forced to endure a lesser evil in order to overcome the greater, and this is the main meaning of the card - suffering in the name of a higher goal and happiness.
Death in tarot is not so simple and straightforward. Most often it means the end of one life period and the beginning of a new one. This card is more likely to correspond to the name “Rebirth” than, in fact, in the biological world, death is what it is. And the Turritopsis Nutricula jellyfish knows this better than anyone. She can rightfully be considered an immortal being. Having reached maturity, it turns into a polyp covered with a chitinous cuticle, under which future jellyfish appear. Metamorphosis is repeated countless times; death is possible only if the jellyfish is eaten by other predators.
The decoration and weapon he carries - his horn - is also his main problem of survival. Despite the fact that it consists solely of keratin, for example, and electromagnetic hair, Chinese medicine has long considered it a cleanser for impotence, selling for huge sums of money. Due to poor attention and its slow reproduction, the rhino often becomes a victim of poachers, so I want to get this reward. As a result, we can say that the rhinoceros, which was moderate with such a lifestyle, became a victim of such excess.
The dark depths of the deep sea world are the least explored place on earth due to inaccessibility and high pressure. In this impenetrable darkness, a small flame burns of one who is part of the force, who always wants evil, but always does good. The devil's angelic name was "Lucifer", which meant light, and, like this clearly not the most positive hero, monkfish represent both the masculine and feminine principles. The monkfish is even named accordingly, luring naive fish into its mouth with false fire.
Eusociality is a rather rare thing in the animal world. Many live in large families, but only termites and bees can exist so crowded in one area. Much of what humans can do, such as building huge skyscrapers, first appeared in the wild. The largest termite mounds reach a height of 10 meters, which is an absolute record among buildings relative to the size of the builder. You can consider the termite mound a kind of Tower of Babel, on the scale of the insect world, of course.
Starfish, like real stars, have a fairly long lifespan, and some even have natural luminescence. True, under water their already weak light is completely absorbed by their habitat. In addition to the long lifespan of an individual, stars are one of the oldest species on earth. The earliest finds of their five-pointed skeletons date back to the Lower Paleozoic, from the Ordovician period, that is, about 400 million years ago.
The connection between the night celestial body and the ebb and flow of the tides has been known to man for a long time. But not only the water level changes under the influence of lunar phases - it is a known fact that the reproduction of coral polyps most actively occurs during and after the full moon. It is not known what this is connected with, but the water world is just as reluctant to give answers as the cosmic world. Moonfish is no exception. Its rather passive role in the life of the underwater world still surprises scientists, as well as its uselessness among fishermen - weighing about a ton, it is absolutely unsuitable for food.
Heliotropism of plants, described by Leonardo da Vinci, is most famous in sunflower. This is the ability of plants to take a certain position under the influence of sunlight in order to catch as much light as possible with their sensitive leaves. In addition to the fact that the sunflower turns behind the sun not so much the branches and leaves as the basket-inflorescence, it also resembles the daylight in shape and color, therefore it was often used in heraldry as a symbol of fertility, unity, sunlight and prosperity.
In 1480, in a French town, peasant crops were badly damaged by an infestation of mice, and angry people sued the rodents, who eventually won the case thanks to the efforts of their lawyer. He stated that his clients could not appear because the mice’s homes are deep holes, and, naturally, being in them, the mice did not know about the summons to court. The court decided to announce the summoning of mice in all villages, but the mice again did not appear at the trial. The lawyer again shielded them, saying that they needed to make their way through forests and ravines, and besides, cats, foxes and owls were in wait for them at every step. He suggested that one cannot blame everyone, but it is necessary to establish the guilt of each mouse individually. Since this was impossible, the case had to be stopped.
It is believed that the symbol of peace is a dove. But the world itself would hardly agree with this. Because the most suitable for this role is the bison. The history of the bison population reflects the political history of Europe like no other. During the War of 1812, the species was almost exterminated, but was still able to recover. But the First World War dealt a blow that this species could not have survived without human help. After World War II, about 20 individuals remained. Now, fortunately, this number has grown to several hundred, and many countries have joined the project. The last decline in numbers was in 1991, coinciding with the collapse of the USSR.
