CASE FILE: TAROT-2023-0117-BLACKWOOD
SUBJECT: “The Lovers” (Card VI) – Alleged Withholding of Evidentiary Material
CLASSIFICATION: FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY // PSYCHOMETRIC DIVISION
DATE OF INCIDENT: 15 NOVEMBER 2023
DISTRIBUTION: Bureau of Esoteric Affairs; Cold Case Unit (Midwest Regional Office); Office of Internal Card Auditing
I. REFERENCE TO PRIOR FILINGS
This case file supplements Tarot Incident Report 2023-0092, “Six of Swords: Suspicious Crossing of a Major Body of Water,” and Cold Case File 1987-ALPHA-04, “The Disappearance of Eleanor Voss.” Subject card, “The Lovers,” was previously observed in a routine reading (see File 2023-0101, “Three of Cups Incident at a Wedding Reception”) but was not flagged for non-compliance until the present matter.
II. INITIAL CONTACT AND SUBJECT BEHAVIOR
On the aforementioned date, a licensed Tarot Practitioner, one Margaret H. (License No. 447-TP-MN), conducted a cold case reading for the Voss family at a residence in Duluth, Minnesota. The querent, Ms. Helen Voss (sister of the missing person), requested a general timeline spread regarding the 1987 disappearance of Eleanor Voss.
The deck employed was a standard 78-card Rider-Waite-Smith, property of Practitioner H. During the reading, cards were drawn in the following order: Position 1 (Past): Ten of Swords; Position 2 (Present): The High Priestess; Position 3 (Obstacle): The Moon; Position 4 (Outcome): The Lovers.
At the moment “The Lovers” was placed in Position 4, Practitioner H reported a “temperature drop of approximately six degrees Celsius” in the immediate environment. The card was observed to be face-down, but the querent noted it was “visibly damp” with a substance later identified as rainwater. The reading was suspended at 14:37 hours.
III. ALLEGED WITHHOLDING OF EVIDENCE
It is the assertion of Practitioner H and the Voss family that “The Lovers” card possessed knowledge of the 1987 disappearance but failed to disclose said knowledge during the reading. Specifically:
- The card was observed to produce a faint, high-pitched sound, described by a witness (a neighbor, one Gerald T.) as “a woman humming, but also like a radio station that’s just static.”
- A subsequent reversed card reading (performed under duress by Practitioner H) yielded the card “Justice,” which was then observed to rattle against the table. This was interpreted as a secondary indicator that the original “Lovers” card was deliberately concealing information.
- No additional cards in the spread provided direct coordinates, names, or temporal markers related to the Voss case.
IV. INTERNAL CARD AUDITING: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
On 16 November 2023, the Office of Internal Card Auditing (OICA) conducted a standard compliance interview with the subject card. The card was examined under controlled conditions (low light, white noise, no querent present). The following observations were recorded:
- The card’s imagery (Adam and Eve, the angel Raphael) was consistent with standard deck specifications. No anomalous symbols or handwriting were detected.
- When prompted with the phrase “Eleanor Voss,” the card was noted to produce a single drop of moisture from the lower left quadrant (the figure of Eve). Analysis confirmed the moisture was chemically identical to Lake Superior water.
- The card refused to yield any further information, maintaining a state of “psychic silence” for a duration of four hours and twenty-three minutes. This is considered a violation of Section 4.2.1 of the Tarot Compliance Code (Revised, 2019): “All Arcana shall render full and complete disclosure to a qualified querent in good faith.”
V. PSYCHOMETRIC EVALUATION OF SUBJECT CARD
A standard psychometric scan was conducted by a contracted medium (one Dr. Amara Singh, License No. 989-PM-CA). Dr. Singh reported that the card “felt like a locked filing cabinet in a burning building.” The card was assessed to be in a state of “active obstruction,” exhibiting what Dr. Singh described as “a deliberate refusal to testify, as if protecting a living person rather than a dead one.”
VI. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
It is the preliminary conclusion of this office that “The Lovers” (Card VI) is in possession of material evidence relevant to the 1987 disappearance of Eleanor Voss. The card has been placed on administrative hold and is currently stored in a climate-controlled vault in the Bureau of Esoteric Affairs’ Evidence Room 4B. The card is not to be used in any further readings until a formal hearing is conducted.
VII. DISTRIBUTION LIST
For action: Office of Internal Card Auditing; Cold Case Unit (Midwest); Voss Family Attorney (one Elias R. Schwartz, Esq.)
For information: Bureau of Esoteric Affairs – Director’s Office; American Tarot Guild; National Weather Service (re: anomalous moisture event)
VIII. FINAL NOTE
The card was last observed on 22 November 2023 at 08:14 hours. It was found to have shifted slightly in its evidence bag, revealing a faint, water-damaged outline of a woman’s handprint on the reverse side. The handprint matches the size and ridge pattern of Eleanor Voss’s left hand, as recorded in her 1987 missing person file. No further explanation has been offered by the card.
The subject was observed, but the subject did not speak.