I. The Magician

Meaning: Action, initiation, success

Depiction: Queequeg stands in a whaling boat, harpoon in hand, scanning the sea. Beside him are the  other symbols of the suits of this tarot: a pewter cup, a lance, and a gold doubloon. Just as in the RWS tarot, over his head is a lemniscate, or infinity sign.

Text: Chapter 18, His Mark, and Chapter 10, A Bosom Friend (quoted below).

Through all his unearthly tattooings, I thought I saw the traces of a simple honest heart; and in his large, deep eyes, fiery black and bold, there seemed tokens of a spirit that would dare a thousand devils. And besides all this, there was a certain lofty bearing about the Pagan, which even his uncouthness could not altogether maim. He looked like a man who had never cringed and never had had a creditor.

Comments: Queequeg is the first Pequod shipmate that Ishmael meets. He instigates their relationship by offering his pipe. He pushes Ishmael to action to choose a ship. He challenges Ishmael’s sociocultural beliefs and leads him to change. If it weren't for Queequeg, it's unclear how long Ishmael would have wandered around New Bedford, and where he would have ended up.

This card is also appropriate for Queequeg because of the infinity sign, which has been associated with the mark he used to sign up to join the crew of the Pequod, despite the fact that it's not listed in the original text. Melville described Queequeg's mark as a "queer round figure" that matched a tattoo on his arm. Some editions show the Maltese Cross as his mark, others an X, and the 1930 edition illustrated by Rockwell Kent has the infinity sign. The 1956 film version depicts his signature as looking like a whale - an infinity shape with a big oval followed by a small triangle as the fin.

Queequeg's mark from Moby Dick (1956)/ Warner Bros.

Rockwell Kent, Illustration from Moby Dick (1930)

It's hard to say what shape Melville intended: the infinity sign fits nicely as Queequeg's tattoos are said to depict "a complete theory of the heavens and the earth" (Chapter 110: Queequeg In His Coffin). But, as he appears to have Maori-style tattoos and is a native of the South Pacific, the "queer round figure" may have been a koru, which is a symbol of life and creation.

0. The Fool

Meaning: Innocence, risk, and beginnings

Depiction: Ishmael carrying his carpet bag, on the edge of a rocky cliff staring out to sea, at the beginning of his journey. 

Text: Chapter 1, Loomings

Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship.

Comments: This is an obvious card for Ishmael, and would fit for almost any protagonist. Ishmael embodies The Fool at the start of the book, naive and new to the world of whaling, weary of life on land and waiting to see where the water will take him.

Richard Basehart as Ishmael/Warner Bros. (1956)

Alternate Depiction: Pip boarding the Pequod. This scene is not in the book, but in terms of archetypes, Pip is also very close to The Fool, a symbolic image which became the  Jester of today's playing cards. First, he plays the role of troubadour, wandering around with his tambourine. Melville was absorbed in Shakespeare at the time of writing Moby Dick, so this seems consistent with this idea. Second, after Pip is lost at sea and goes mad, he becomes the wise fool counseling the king (Ahab). But in the tarot sense meaning beginnings, Ishmael is a better fit for this card.