Tarot Thrones | The Court Card Blog

Month: April 2017

  • Tarot of The Crone | Ellen Lorenzi-Prince | Arnell’s Art

    Tarot of The Crone | Ellen Lorenzi-Prince | Arnell’s Art

    Every now and again a deck catches your eye and you just KNOW that its going to be a powerful tool to work with.  This is exactly the situation with Ellen Lorenzi-Prince’s Tarot of The Crone.  Ellen is an experienced deck creator and has two other decks under her belt (The Dark Goddess and the Minoan Tarot)

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  • Viceroys Playing Cards | Ian Cumpstey

    Viceroys Playing Cards | Ian Cumpstey

    A while back I noticed a kickstarter project for a set of playing cards being created in the UK by Ian Cumpstey.  The intricate styling is very much based on the beautiful cards of the Islamic Mamluks.

    As one might expect from Islamic art, there are no figurative representations in the Mamluk cards, only geometric shapes and abstracted floral/leaf images.  This has been translated into Cumpstey’s beautiful little deck – take a look, you won’t be disappointed.

    It’s a standard playing card deck – Ace through ten with three court cards – Jack, Queen and King.  There are additional cards – a publisher’s card with Ian Cumpstey’s details, a title card called ‘Viceroys’ and two identically decorated cards that equate to a contemporary deck’s two jokers.

    Here are the details:

    52 poker-sized (2.5″ x 3.5″) playing cards

    Double-ended back design

    300 gsm card stock with linen finish

    Custom tuck box

    Printed by Cartamundi UK

    The playing card tuck box is decorated on both sides with a blue-toned abstract floral similar to that on the ‘jokers’.

    ‘Joker’ image on left and card back geometric pattern on right

    The Courts follow the same basic pattern as the Mamluk cards with inscriptions in a blue band at the top of the card and the card title in a blue band at the bottom of the card.  However, the suits are those of European playing cards, not the original Mamluk Cups, Swords, Polo Sticks and Coins.

    The inscriptions for the courts on the original Mamluk cards are very charming and, in some cases, quite divinatory in nature.  For example (this is a translation) : “With the sword of happiness I shall redeem a beloved who will afterwards take my life”.

    Yikes.

    You don’t want that coming up in a reading too often, right?

    So the aphorisms on Ian’s cards are different.


    SPADES
    Jack: Joy appears as I strike with the sword of fortune
    Queen: I am blossoming like the flowers in a dewy garden.
    King: Rejoice and be glad, your dreams will be fulfilled.
    DIAMONDS 
    Jack: Rejoice for your good fortune will continue.
    Queen: I sparkle in your hand like jewels in a crown.
    King:  Within my ornaments great wealth is found.
    CLUBS
    Jack:  My patterns are the work of an artist’s hand.
    Queen: Neither gold nor rare crystal compares with me.
    King:  May your luck last for another thousand years.
    HEARTS
    Jack:  I offer a cup filled with never-ending gladness.
    Queen:  Be joyful and glad in heart for all I bring to you.
    King:  Now is the time for roses to bloom, red as rubies.
    If you are looking for a really pretty set of playing cards that respectfully nod back through time to an ancestor of our Tarot deck, then this is the deck for you.  At only £10.00 a pop (plus P&P), it’s well worth it.  Check out Ian’s website here.

  • William Senior | Tarot in Art | Woman with Tarot Cards

    William Senior
    Woman with Tarot Cards

    Not done one of these for a while and this is an actual live auction piece, so if you fancy it, get bidding!

    This is up for auction in Edinburgh and is expected to make £300 – £500. Unfortunately, you can’t bid for it online, but if you happen to be in Edinburgh on 26 April at Lyon and Turnbull, you can bid!

    The author, William Senior, was born in 1927.  I think that he was Scottish, but other than that, don’t have a heck of a lot of information about him.  He was a member of the New Scottish Group of artists who were left-wingers influenced by contemporary continental art. He set up the Clyde Group with Tom MacDonald and Bet Lowe.

    I do like the painting though. That is probably The Hanged Man on the top of the pile, but because this is a blog about court cards, I’m going to plead ignorance and say that it’s a court card.

    ***EDIT*** 1/5/17 – failed to sell (didn’t reach initial price)

  • The Mirrors Tarot

    So, there is a new kickstarter getting underway today and it gives YOU a chance to be immortalised as a Tarot Major!

    It’s a Majors Only project, so 22 cards looking to have real life people featured – could one of them be you?!

    The Mirrors Tarot is the brainchild of Kyle Jacobs AKA Root and this really interesting young man wants the community to explore their own personal relationships with a Tarot archetype and share it by taking a photo of yourself as you would want the card to appear and use the #modelamajor when you post it across all the social network platforms.

    Just think – total creative freedom! Create the Major Arcana card that you love the most the way that you believe it should really be illustrated! The internet filled with glorious personal interpretations of the Archetypes!

    When posting your picture, Root wants you to state which tribe you are part of.  Well, if this was going to be a full 78 card deck, I would, of course want you to be declaring your interest in a court card as part of MY tribe lol! But as it’s a 22-card majors deck, you could declare as part of the @TABItarot tribe? What do you say?!

    When @TABItarot selects the winner for their tribe, Root will paint the photo up for inclusion in the deck.

    If you want to play – check out the kickstarter page today for all the details and remember that your declaration will be:

    • “Hi, I’m (Name) and this is (Tarot Major Archetype). I’m part of the @TABItarot Tribe. Here’s my #ModelAMajor.” [photo uploaded.]

  • The Grand Vision | The King of Wands

    The King of Wands is a very special card, forming the bridge between the Majors and the Minors.  People with a lot of this energy burn very brightly and are very much ‘The Big Picture’ kind of people: A Master of the Grand Vision.  She can see clearly how it will all look, but maybe be a little fuzzy on the details of how to get there.

    What’s your Grand Vision? Do you know how to get there?

    What do you want for yourself in life?  
    To raise happy children into confident adults?
    To have your novel published? 
    To sell your paintings? 
    To pass on your knowledge to others?
    Animal rescue?
    To learn how to tango? No? Just me with that one?! 
    I dare you to tell me.  Go on, write it in the comments.  Even if it’s the maddest idea you’ve ever committed to key strokes – just hit the keys and press ‘send’. 
    Exercise: Move towards your Grand Vision!
    Write down your Grand Vision in all its glory!
    Pick a card deliberately, based on how you want to feel when you are aligned with your Grand Vision.
    Draw 3 cards that will represent 3 steps that you can take to get there.
    Now, start doing them 😀  Simples!
    -o0o-
    Me? I’m a hugely frustrated person.  I don’t have a Grand Vision as such, but there is an overwhelming feeling that there really is SOMETHING that I should be doing.  
    The number of times I’ve prayed and sought enlightenment about The Thing that I should be doing! I’ve beseeched for divine intervention or a bolt of understanding to come from the blue….and the number of times I’ve been terrified that the answer might come back: ‘Clean toilets for a living’. ….
    Because you don’t just want to find a way to pay the bills do you, you want it to be personally fulfilling, right? 
    You might have elebenty billion skills – writer, photographer, singer, artist and, yes, toilet cleaner nonpareil – and still have no idea what your Grand Vision might be.

    Exercise:  How to Find The Grand Vision!
    What do you do that makes you happy?  List every blessed thing, no matter how paltry.  Remember, someone made a fortune from the idea of a pool noodle.
    Here are some of mine: 
    I like helping other people shine.
    I love walking my dog.
    I love writing.
    I love making pottery stuff.
    I love food.
    I love drawing.
    Now take your deck and shuffle it well.  For every item in your list, you are going to draw a card asking the question ‘how can this be of service to others?’. 
    I like helping other people shine – 10 Wands – How can this be of service to others? I can use my skills to help remove some of the burdens that people might have in that department.
    I love walking my dog – 10 Pentacles – How can this be of service? I can help busy families or maybe elderly people, with their dogs.  
    I love writing – 8 Swords – How can this be of service? I can use my writing skills to help people overcome their self-imposed limitations.
    I love making pottery stuff – 7 How can this be of service? VII The Chariot – To drive this forward, there are a couple of things that I will need to harness – skill and resources, I think.

    The more things that you have on your list the more combinations you can make.  Some will be incredibly mad, but you know what? Some composite idea may just pop up and smack you in the kisser as something marvellous to aim for and become your Grand Vision.
    Now look at the things on your list and try some mad combinations – I love writing and I love food – could I write about food?

    I love walking my dog and making pottery stuff – could I make pottery dogs? Could I draw dogs? Heck – could I draw food? Photograph food? hmmm – stock photos? Why not look into it?!

    I love helping other people shine and I love writing – could I combine them? Well, I guess I’m testing that today with this blog post!

    If it seems like a super-mad combination that you have no idea how they could work together, try pulling another card from your deck ‘how could these ideas combine to be of service?’ and see what happens?
    Which suggestion can I start with today? Which suggestions leave me cold? Which suggestions need more work before they can progress? 
    Now, as Twyla Tharp said: Stamp your foot and shout ‘Begin!’