The private root. The public crown. One tree.

Two points, top and bottom of the chart. The oldest image for them is a tree: the IC is the roots, the MC is the crown where the fruit shows.

The IC is the room nobody gets into. Not "where you're from." The actual private source. Home, ancestry, the thing that feeds you underground. Often you can't see it clearly yourself. It's the part that isn't on the card.

The MC is the card. What you'd write under your name. Not your job title. The role you claim, what you want the world to need you for, the thing said about you when you've left the room. Reputation. The fruit that shows.

The catch is the catch of every tree: the crown can only be as alive as the roots. Damage down there, and nothing real grows up here. The card is only worth what's in the room behind it.