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.]
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
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!’
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
Recently I’ve been seeing a few tweets and fb posts about gender and ethnicity in the tarot and how we can ensure that the entire spectrums of both are represented. People, perfectly reasonably, want to see themselves reflected in the tool that they work with on a daily basis.
Since my own Tarot specialism is the court card arcana, I am especially interested in how these issues might be best resolved in the courts.
From what I can see, we have three issues:
the gender split in the ranks
the order of the genders in the ranks
the appearance of characters on the cards.
Looking at the deck ranks, we generally have Page, Knight, Queen and King. Knights and Kings are regarded as masculine while Queens are regarded as feminine. Pages tend to be the one rank where there is a bit of leeway and youthful males and females abound.
If pressed, I’d say that Pages and Queens represent a Yin energy whereas the Knights and Kings are more Yang. If that’s the case, then we have titles that are 50:50 with regard to the sexes associated with those rank titles.
There are increasing numbers of decks that switch things around a bit. Some have gods and goddesses (with the goddesses allocated the most Kingly rank, thank you very much). Others have titles that bear no relation to the sex of the incumbent nor give a clue as to any order of ‘importance’ rank – Teacher, Adventurer, Postulant etc.
So we ARE breaking out of the traditional mould and most people should be able to find a deck where the court ranks are more appealing than Page to King.
Another issue that can arise with the ranks is the erroneous assumption that the King is the ‘top’ or most desirable rank. Just because the King card is the final card in the series, don’t make the mistake of thinking that it’s the most important card or the most desirable ‘character’ in the court series.
Far from it.
King energy is great when you have got to walk the talk, but if you are learning a new skill, the Page’s energy will serve you so much better than a King’s energy.
Similarly, a teacher would aspire to the Queen energy and a medical or software pioneer (for example) may hold the Knight energy to be their most prized court.
No one rank is more important than the others.
We are a multi-hued and sexually fluid bunch these days and we do not want to limit ourselves to the gender- or monochrome cul-de-sac that is depicted in most tarot decks (especially old ones).
As far as the appearances of the various characters in the decks, yes, we do have gazillions of Caucasian or European-looking characters. This is not surprising, given the European history of the Tarot deck. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, we could benefit from more decks casting their nets wider as far as appearance and gender goes. If someone wants to use a Tarot deck because all the characters are African American…. or red-haired …. or all male or all female …. that’s absolutely fine. We all want to feel that we are part of the picture, and it would be great if there was a gorgeous deck for everyone!
But here’s the thing. For ME, neither the sex of the characters on the cards, nor the sex associated with the rank, nor the ethnicity of the characters on the cards has any bearing on how I read those cards.
For example –
The Page of Cups indicates a type of PERSON who may be tentatively embarking (Page energy) a new relationship (Cups energy). This could be a guy, could be a girl, could be a Caucasian person, could be an Asian person, could be red-headed, could be a blonde… could be a 6′ transexual from Bolton who calls herself Alan during the week and Tania at the weekends.
If people fall into the trap of thinking that Kings = men, and Queens = women, they are doing their sitter (and themselves) a disservice.
For me, ALL the ranks apply as equally to women as they do to men. And to men who have transitioned to women. And to women who have transitioned to men. And every sexual stripe and shade of humanity in between.
Court cards are about types of energy and not about sex, gender or colour.
What of the thorny problem of selecting a court card when choosing a significator?
Traditionally, certain courts have depicted specific ‘looks’ when choosing a card to represent your sitter. These Golden Dawn inspired ‘looks’ don’t work in today’s multicultural society – they are too restrictive.
Likewise choosing a significator based on someone’s perceived sex could easily cause offence. You don’t want your reader/client relationship hitting an early bump in the road by making an error in your assumptions, nor by bluntly asking someone how they want to be identified.
Forget choosing a significator with any kind of gender or ethnicity requirement.
Instead consider selecting one based on your sitter’s sun sign. Everybody knows their date of birth. Thus, any Cancer-born person would be represented by the Queen of Cups. Simple.
OR you could just let your sitter pick one of the 16 cards by themselves – then you don’t have to worry and they don’t need to discuss such an intimate detail about themselves with you. And you, as a reader, can talk with your sitter about the sort of energy associated with that court card too.
OR you might be sitting reading this in a daze thinking – who the hell still bothers with a significator these days?! And if this is you – you might be wandering around the halls of Tarot Thrones Towers feeling very confused. Pull up a seat and read some more posts. I want you to LOVE working with Court Cards.
What do you think – find new titles for the 21st century? Expand the genders? Switch up how the courts look?
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
So, it was World Book Day last week and I floated the question: What’s your Top Tarot book?’ on Facebook. And lots of lovely people chipped in with their thoughts.
The top book is 78 Degrees of Wisdom, by Rachel Pollack. So, if you haven’t read it yet – it is worth getting your hands on a copy. The book was selected for its content and the ability to connect with beginner and experienced reader alike.
The second book in the poll is Choice Centred Tarot by Gail Fairfield. This book has been reprinted as Every Day Tarot, I believe. So, again, if you’ve not got it and are looking for a great methodology with which to support your Tarot practice, it’s a good un.
Third, and the second mention for Rachel Pollack, is The Big Little Book of Tarot. Again, great content and handy for carrying around in a little bag!
Also offered, but not strictly Tarot, Invisible Cities, Homo Ludens, The Grasshopper and Castle of Crossed Destinies 🙂
So, all those links above? Since we are Tarot besties, I have checked the prices on Amazon, Wordery and The Book Depository and put in the link to the least expensive copy available from those three sources.
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
So, this deck arrived and I was DETERMINED to do an unboxing video about it. This called for RESTRAINT otherwise the unboxing video would have looked like this:
Reader, it took DAYS to find the camera and the charging cable for the camera’s battery. A Sisyphean Task in this house of elebenty billion different charging cables.
Anyway, off I went.
And, as you can see, I wasn’t properly prepared for an unboxing video.
And this took DAYS to complete. I’m so much better with a pad and pen 😀
Next time I promise that I will have scissors and a sharp knife to hand.
I commend this brilliantly strange deck to the house!
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
They say that you can have too much of a good thing. Pah! I don’t believe that at all. Good things are good things are good things. Especially when it comes to Tarot decks. Especially when it comes to THIS particular Tarot deck!
Alexander Daniloff’s 2012 Tarot has now reached its third incarnation and I am now proudly clutching a copy of that 3rd Edition to my ample and heaving bosom.
This third edition has several changes, so buckle up baby, we’re going in!
The first thing to notice is the new SIZE of the cards. The first two editions were substantially taller than a standard sized tarot. This edition pulls everything into a standard RWS-sized deck, with no cropping of the image nor significant colour alteration.
New Empress v Ver 2 Empress
A smaller deck is easier to shuffle and takes less space to lay out a large spread. So, result! *high fives her reader*
The next point to note is the corners – there are rounded corners! This pleases me enormously as I am forever worrying about clients dunting the corners of my other two Daniloffs in an over enthusiastic shuffle and thus rarely take them out of the house in case they get damaged.
The cards now have a border, a nice shade of gold. This border replaces the white border in the Major Arcana cards and most of the Minor Arcana, with the exception of the four Aces and the 16 court cards.
The original design of the court cards in Alexander’s deck did not include a border and I think that the decision to leave them with their original white backgrounds is the right one to have made. To sit these characters into the new golden frame would have detracted from their impact.
New size, new corners (Page of Swords)
Leaving the Aces unbordered was prompted by a similar concern about the aesthetics of these four cards. I like them unbordered, but it might not be to everyone’s tastes! See?
7 Swords and Ace of Swords
Version 3 also has a new card back! The design, a figure who holds a blazing torch in his right hand, whose left side is skeletal and reminds us of the passing of time. In the centre of the card is a six-pointed star with III emblazoned – the 3rd version of the deck. The image is double ended, so perfect for using with reversals.
New card back design
The card stock itself is well-suited to shuffling and gaming, so no complaints from me on that front, I like the satin sheen on the new edition.
In this 3rd Edition, Alexander has kept Strength as Major Arcana VIII and Justice now resides at XI. In the previous two editions, there were an additional pair of Strength and Justice cards, so that you could use the numbering system that you preferred. Which was a lovely touch. The change here is, I think, due to cost/printing restraints. I am comfortable with Strength as VIII, so this change doesn’t present any problems for me.
Alexander’s decks have always carried a Quintessence card. In the two previous editions, this was depicted as a white curtain that we could not see through or behind. In the 3rd Edition, the Quintessences is presented as an almost blank card (there is some texture on the card) and if you weren’t aware of the original Quintessence card, you might just consign this ‘blank’ to the tuck box, along with the deck’s frontispiece.
Quintessence. Also, aren’t my scanning skills dreadfully wobbly?!
In summary then – if you are looking for a gorgeously coloured, RWS-inspired Tarot that is easy to handle, and something that you aren’t going to see on Amazon, this is the version to buy!
*** Note: I am a fan of Alexander Daniloff’s work, but I AM a bona fide purchaser of these decks. ***
You can buy it here! Or, if you are a TABI member, you may still be in time to buy one from our recent group order!
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
For the past ten days or so, I have been feeling as though I am living through the looking glass – and it’s not good, with cake that says ‘Eat Me’. I’m not even an American. What a challenge it is to be a liberally-minded American at the moment, because:
YES, Trump wants to build an actual wall.
YES, Trump shuts out Syrian refugees from America (allegedly for only a set period of time. We’ll see) Dear America, what happened to ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore’?
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
At the beginning of January, I posted on how to find your Tarot court card companion for 2017.
Prudence got in touch to say that she was the Queen of Wands and she was so inspired, that she created a necklace … and here it is!
I am very lucky to be the first person to see her new necklace *whispers* so I’m sharing it with you because, well, it’s nice to share the Tarot love, my friends!
Prudence says: “For this necklace I used white pearls. To symbolise the element of fire I used a touch of red pearls. For the Court of Cups I would use blue, Court of Pentacles I would use green and for the Court of Swords I’d use silver.
“If you fancy The Court Card necklace in the suit of your choice, it will be $50.00 (US dollars) plus shipping. Payment can be made via PayPal.”
You can e-mail Prudence directly at tarotbyprudence(@)aol.com
Remove the brackets, of course!
-o0o-
Do you have any court card-inspired jewellery that you want to share?
Drop me a line here or find me on the book of the face!
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
Stop being confused by court cards! Start being excited by the possibilities! Become a court card adventurer along with me 🙂 The Tarot’s Court Cards are my specialist area. They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ….
