Tarot Thrones | The Court Card Blog

Year: 2017

  • Your Tarot Court Card for 2018

    Just a bit of Tarot Court Card fun to start us thinking about what we want for ourselves in 2018. I’ve done this for the past couple of years and it’s just a bit of fun, not rooted in any deep and meaningful ancient system. Just my own 🙂

    So, you might be working out your Major Arcana card for 2018 to give you a THEME for the coming year, as inspired by your personal year data.

    To find our what your personal year card is, take your day and month of birth and and add to 38 (ie 20+18, the incoming year).
    Here’s an example: mine!
       13
    +  8
      38
      59

    Since there is no Major Arcana card numbered 59 (hey, we’re not using Minchiates here, people!), these digits need to be further reduced by adding them together, giving us a total of 14.
    My theme for the year will be inspired by Temperance *does this mean I need to give up booze for the year?!*
    But since my blog focuses on the Court Cards, I thought we’d have a little fun and extend the exercise further:
    Instead of adding up your digits, above, until they total 22 or under (ie the number of Major Arcana cards we have), total them up until they are 17 or less.
    I numbered the Page of Pentacles, the lowliest of the lowly, as 1.  But your numbers will not reduce to one, so I’ve also accorded him 17 (because he’s also VERY special, as well as being the lowliest of the lowly).
    So, if you add up to 17, then you are having a Page of Pents year 🙂
    Taking my example again, this means that my 14 – Temperance year – becomes further compounded by Court Card 14…. which is The King of Cups.  Hopefully, It’s going to be a year about finding the balance required by Temperance between emotions and relationships on one hand and still managing to be productive and get the job done.
    Have a try yourself and tell me who you end up with as your Court Card theme for the year!
    Page of Pents (1) or 17
    Page of Cups 2
    Page of Swords 3
    Page of Wands 4
    Knight of Pents 5
    Knight of Cups 6
    Knight of Swords 7
    Knight of Wands 8
    Queen of Pents 9
    Queen of Cups 10
    Queen of Swords 11
    Queen of Wands 12
    King of Pentacles 13
    King of Cups 14
    King of Swords 15

    King of Wands 16          

  • Wildwood Tarot | Wild Magic | Mark Ryan, John Matthews, Caitlín Matthews

    Wildwood Tarot | Wild Magic | Mark Ryan, John Matthews, Caitlín Matthews

    It’s been a long time in the pipeline, but Wild Magic is actually HERE!

    First up, I hold my hands up, I’m biased towards this deck – I work with Mark and administer The Wildwood Tarot’s website. I am an admin on their facebook page and an admin on the Wildwood Tarot study page AND I work for Will Worthington, the deck’s artist.  I’ve tried to keep this review as factual as possible and will only fully focus on the section of the book that involves court cards – but just letting you know, ahead of what you read.

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  • The Tarot Court Cards | Exercise Regime

    The Tarot Court Cards | Exercise Regime

    There’s a new yoga teacher in town, Kate.  She’s a former ballerina and you can tell.  She is in control of every bit of her body and moves into positions fluidly and strongly.

    I’m as envious as a very envious thing.

    Inside my head, I am good at yoga – very bendy, very strong and about 20 years old. Outside my head I am not very good at yoga – I’m reasonably bendy, my language is stronger than my body and I am, of course, considerably older than 20.

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  • The Numinous Tarot | Interview with Noel Heimpel

    Dreamers | Numinous Tarot | Tarot Thrones
    The Numinous Tarot

    I like to find nice things for you to look at, usually with the ‘look’ slanted towards the court cards because, well, I’m all about the court cards.  Today I’ve got some inside skinny on the Numinous Tarot by Noel Heimpel.  Let’s jump in, shall we?


    Me: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your tarot background:

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  • Noa Ikeda | Tarot deck | Pages

    So, I’ve been watching the development of this Tarot deck and it’s really shaping up to be gorgeous!

    I have already posted images of the Queens that Noa has created and today I thought I’d share her Pages with you.

    Meet the Page of Pentacles – this young person (could be male or female and that suits me just fine) is standing in lush countryside with a tree-motif Pentacle floating above the Page’s eft hand.  Trees branch across the Page’s tunic and headress.  It’s a gorgeous image!
    The Page of Swords is opulently dressed with huge snowy wings at her back and in her head-dress.  Look at how the sword has cut the air, leaving traces behind.  And the ghostly cloud bluebird.  I’m not sure whether her eyes are closed, showing white lids or whether her eyes are blind.  If her eyes are blind, it shows that the Sword Page is not swayed by what her eyes tell her.
    Standing in mountainous dry terrain is the boy wizard himself! Or at least a version of him as envisaged by Noa.  The Page’s Wand cuts a fiery path through the air and little flame butterflies dance around it.
    And to the absolutely delightful Page of Cups.  She stands with her Cup in her left hand on the shoreline and watches a watery fish jumping out of its depths.  She doesn’t look startled – when you are the Page of Cups, these flights of imagination are to be expected.
    All the Pages, bar the Page of Pentacles, has some kind of creature associated with it – bluebird, butterfly, fish.  Perhaps the Page of Pentacles needs no such familiar – he IS the natural world.
    Here is a link to Noa’s website to see the rest of the cards as they develop and she also has a Patreon account.
    I am very much looking forward to the deck’s completion!

  • The Wildwood Tarot | Distinguishing the 3 Versions

    So, there are now THREE versions of the Wildwood Tarot floating around out there.  All equally gorgeous, of course, but there ARE differences and you will want to know what you are buying if one comes up on the bay of the ee.
    I manage the Wildwood Tarot’s website and am an admin on their official page (and an admin of the wildwood tarot study group over there too). And I wrote A Year In The Wildwood (my e-book) I asked Eddison Books if they could send me a V3 to help me complete this info video for you and they very kindly agreed.

    The card stock in all three versions IS THE SAME, but the V3 version in the UK has a UV glaze which makes it sturdier.

    NOTE:  You will need to ensure that the imprint you are buying is the CONNECTIONS version.  Some retailers are stocking the STERLING version which is the US version of the deck.  The STERLING version will NOT have the UV varnish.  18/5/17

    Sorry about the quality of the sound – just used the camera’s onboard mic and it’s a bit tinny.

    A learning process.

    If you have ANY questions about The Wildwood Tarot, just let me know

    Reading cloth by Ania M!

  • Game of Thrones Tarot | HBO

    Oh AT LAST!!!

    Available to pre-order from THAT store!

    Available from November! 
    *swooshes off to practise her dragon-calling and sword-work* 
  • 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)