The Tarot Room – Georgianna

And speaking of Moon Goddesses (which I was doing in yesterday’s post), I thought I’d share a Moon image close to my own heart.

It’s the Moon card illustrated by Ivan Minsloff for our upcoming, but yet-to-be-named Tarot deck.

As you can imagine, I’m rather fond of this image.

Not only is the Moon represented by a Tarot reader and two wonderful dogs, the dog on the reader’s right is my very own angel canine, Stoney Machete.

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Here’s an IndieGoGo Project well worth getting behind …

Tarot scholar, artist, writer, and all round good guy Robert M. Place is about ready to print his newest deck – The Tarot of the Sevenfold Mysteries.

Place has been working on it for years and describes it as the ‘culmination and synthesis’ of all his art and scholarship.

And given the incredible depth of his art and scholarship this deck is sure to be amazing.

Take a look at Place’s project page to learn more about the cards and how they’ve developed through the years.

And donate if you can. The perks are great and you can be one of the first to get a copy of this very special deck.

I can barely wait to get mine.

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As I’ve mentioned many times before, my illustrating friend Ivan Minsloff and I have been working on a Tarot deck.

Just last month we debuted our Hermit card at Art in the Hermetic Tradition at The Hermit’s Lamp.

Today, we’re letting you all have the first glimpse of #21, the World.

I was inspired to reveal it after watching the video below put together by Knate Myers.

It’s a beautiful series of space images from NASA and perfectly expresses why we chose an astronaut as our final card in the Major Arcana.

Seeing our world from space reminds us that everything we know is really part of the grander whole, and whether we like it or not, we’re all in it together.

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There have been a number of new Tarot Kickstarter projects lately, and today I’m writing about another one.

It’s called The New Tarot and was designed by Warren Tusk and illustrated by Leslie Minnis.

What’s particularly interesting about this deck is that the creators don’t consider it just another version of the traditional Tarot, but rather as a sequel, or maybe a Tarot Pt. 2.

The New Tarot examines what might happen after the Fool graduates through the enlightenment of the World card. It looks at where he goes once he gets out into the ‘real world’ so to speak.

Tusk describes his deck as being ‘calibrated for outward-focused queries concerned with tangible goals and interactions between people….”

And in order to achieve his new vision, he’s come up with twenty-one new Major Arcana, including cards like Sanctuary and Fellowship.

The Minor Arcana has been completely revamped as well. No Cups, Coins, Wands, or Swords. The New Tarot explores life through the Suits of Keys, Chains, Masks, and Tomes.

Though I’m not convinced that the traditional Tarot is lacking when it comes to questions of a tangible nature, I think The New Tarot is an interesting idea, and hope that Tusk and Minnis raise the funds they need to make it happen.

Take a look at their video promo below to see what you think.

And visit The New Tarot Kickstarter page to see some of the cards, and to find out what goodies they’re offering to people who donate.

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I’ve been wanting one of these decks since I first read about it last year!

Contemporary Magic: A Tarot Deck Art Project has been travelling around the US, but it’s back in New York City now and at the KLÜP Foundation.

Not only can you see the exhibition there, you can also get yourself a copy of the 78 card special issue deck printed up as a catalog to the show.

Curated by Stacy Engman, this project brought together an amazing collection of artists – true icons of contemporary art and design, from Karl Lagerfeld and Christian Louboutin, to Yoshitomo Nara and Vivienne Westwood.

You can see the full list of artists at the KLÜP site, and it’s impressive.

I’ve already sent my messengers to New York to get me a copy. I hope they succeed in their quest. But it’s available on line as well for those who can’t get there in person.

It’s a little more expensive than your average deck, but it’s sure to sell out soon. Don’t wait too long if you’re interested in getting one.

It doesn’t happen every day that this many renowned artists get together on one project. That they got together over Tarot is truly remarkable. I just love it.

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Take a look at this clip from Moti Mark Zemelman.

He’s a dancer, choreographer, photographer, and lover of the Tarot. He’s making a photo deck using dancers as his models.

At the moment he’s working on the the 22 major arcana, but hopes to eventually create all 78 cards and get them published.

If you’re interested in helping him out, Zemelman’s looking for donations. He’s trying to raise money to pay for dance studio rental, costumes, printing materials, dancers’ fees and framing for a future exhibition of the work.

In exchange for donations, he’s offering a variety of very nice thank you gifts. Check out his donation page to see it all.

Sounds like a fabulous project. I look forward to seeing it done.

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This is a deck I drew a few years ago. Clearly based on Pamela Coleman Smith’s images in the Rider Waite Smith, I meant it to be fun, simple and bright. Not to mention, I wanted some cards I could publish without having to ask permission.

I recommend anyone interested in Tarot to draw their own deck based on one they find significant. It doesn’t matter if you know how to draw or not. I love the Stick Figure Tarot and certainly anyone who can print their name can draw a stick Magician.

And if you still don’t think you can draw (or in this case copy someone else’s drawings), get yourself The New Drawing on the Right Side of The Brain. In the first few chapters you’ll wonder that you ever thought you couldn’t.

The benefit of drawing your own Tarot deck is that you really get to know the images. Focusing on all the lines, colours, facial directions, expressions, objects you’ve never noticed before, it’s really quite amazing what you’ll see.

You may or may not include everything in your own pictures. But you’ll know a lot more about the deck you’ve drawn and probably the general system of Tarot than you did before you started.

Try one yourself! And let me know.
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click here to see my Toronto Graffiti Tarot (Ver.1)
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if you’d like to make you’re own copy of Georgie’s Tarot <-- click here

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As if I wasn’t lucky enough last month to be on the Storm Cestavani Show, but as a bonus ‘guest’ prize, Storm gifted me the delightful new All Hallow’s Tarot by Robin Tisch-Holister.  It took a while for the deck to make it all the way to Canada but I got it this week – and I love it!

Not only did it arrive in a most beautiful bag stuffed with magical toys and candy (thank you Leisa!), the deck itself is fabulous! Hand-drawn, contemporary images mixing themes of Halloween with modern urban living. It’s small, easy to shuffle, great fun to look at and gives an excellent read.

#3 The Empress

As I do with most new decks – my first reading was a ‘get to know’ you type deal. In this case, I asked the deck to tell me how it typically looks at issues of the spirit, emotions, intellect and body (at least while it’s talking with me.)

The card that came up for the Spirit, representing the fire or particular passion of the deck, was #3, the Empress. She’s a sweet figure in a red hat and purple dress. She wears a green snake like a shawl and stands with her familiars, the owl and the cat.

I interpret this card to mean that the core spirit of the deck is compassion, nurturance and love. It’s striving to help readers find transformation in the darkness, and connect to the grand-mother. Creativity, expansion and love are what matters most.

King of Wands

In the position focusing on the emotions, or the water element, I pulled the King of Wands. Not a lot of water in this card. In the picture, a serious, somewhat tough looking man sits watching, a skull in front of him to his right. In his left hand is a wand/bat and above his right shoulder a sword. Apparently the emotions in this deck can run a little high, but they get things moving.

The themes that jump out for me here are spirited rebellion, mastery of emotional transformation by fire, and a willingness to burn through soggy feelings that inhibit our growth. The deck is reminding me that power is derived from the conscious direction of our emotions, not by letting them rule us.

The position of the Intellect was filled by the 5 of Cups. In this lonely-feeling card, a woman looks sadly in front of her at three smashed pumpkins. Two others are behind her seemingly fresh and bright, but she’s paying no attention to them.

5 of Cups

From an intellectual perspective, this card might at first seem out of place. But looking more closely, I think it fits well with the last two. Emotions like sadness, disappointment, and self-pity need not overwhelm us. It’s where you place your mental focus that counts. If you want to dwell on sadness, that’s what you’ll feel. But you don’t have to.

And in the position of the Physical, the earth card, I pulled the 3 of Swords. Another unexpected card for its placement. In the picture, a person looks troubled, holding their face in their hands. A large tattoo on their left bicep shows the traditional RWS sorrow image, a heart struck through by 3 swords.

3 of Swords

The message here feels similar to the one above. Emotionally painful thoughts can really slow us down, not just mentally, but physically as well. If issues surrounding loss, betrayal and/or sadness are getting in the way of physical well-being, this deck wants to help.

Very interesting …. at least for me, it looks like the All Hallow’s Tarot would especially like to be used for questions of the Heart. Even when they’re tough questions. Emotions are its specialty and it promises to look at them with compassion, clarity and no-nonsense good humour.

Sounds excellent! I can’t wait to play with it more. Thank you Robin, Storm and Leisa!! I really like it!

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