In 2021, Dior unveiled a fashion collection based on the Tarot. Accompanying it was the short movie Le Château du Tarot, directed by Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone, during which, fashion models appeared, dressed in Dior, but representing various Tarot cards.
Originally a card game, Tarot became associated with the Mysteries (at least, primarily) during the 18th century, when the Swiss Protestant pastor and Freemason Antoine Court de Gébelin promoted the belief that the cards were an ancient Egyptian book of wisdom. He was wrong, but the belief caught on.
Beauty naturally provokes a sense of mystery. It seems somehow spiritual. Hence, religions have nearly always created places of worship that were more beautiful and sublime than other buildings.
According to Etymonline, the English word “sublime” derived either from the French word sublime (15th century) or directly from Latin sublimis , meaning “uplifted, high, borne aloft, lofty, exalted, eminent, distinguished.”
Beauty uplifts. And what uplifts us also seems mysterious.
The opposite—ugliness—seems to drag us down.
Beauty implies caring. It connects things, people, and ideals (or the ideal).
The beauty of embroidery on a couture dress implies that the embroiderer cared about how the wearer would feel when she wore the dress.
The person wearing the embroidered dress implies that she cares about how other see her (and, perhaps, see themselves).
Ugliness is often used to grab attention or make some sort of political point. But, there is no mystery to it. It isn’t sublime. Disconnecting us from others and from the world around us, it is soon forgotten. It relies on hype.
Beauty and ugliness aren’t just physical. They are mental, emotional, and spiritual.
There is inner beauty and outer beauty (and the two don’t always go together).
We embody beauty (or ugliness) in our words and actions, and in the ordinary world, as much as in fashion and art.