Tarot Deck Creation Study Group

[blue_fusion]

hi. i've been thinking of creating my second tarot deck, and am planning to make it minor arcana a three-suit one, instead of the usual four. (actually, i've posted a thread about it somewhere in this forum). anyways, i'm incline to make the three suits on the greek moirae (goddesses of fate), meanig the suits will be loom, measuring rod, and shears. anyway, i would really appreciate it if you guys could give me your opinions and musings on this. thanks.

by the way, if you want to view my first deck, it's here:

http://necromance.topcities.com

blessed be!

[kayne]

Hey Blu_Fusion,
I split this thread so it would become a new one but I need to work out how to change the title... Hmm...

That is a really interesting concept BF... Would you have more than the standard amount of cards in each suit?

[blue_fusion]

Originally posted by kayne
Hey Blu_Fusion,
I split this thread so it would become a new one but I need to work out how to change the title... Hmm...

That is a really interesting concept BF... Would you have more than the standard amount of cards in each suit?

i'd want the suits to come up to 13 (aside from the court cards). cuz i believe that the number 13 also has a significance in the occult (and also tocompensate for the lack of the fourth suit). well, my first idea, since the suits will be based on the three fates, what will the aces signify?

[HudsonGray]

Actually I'm wondering what you'll be loosing out of by cutting out an entire suit. Even adding extra cards to the other 3, that only uses 9, which will be shuffled between the other suits (could loose continuity that way). Would you keep the same major arcana? Add a few more there to make up for lost court cards?

I've seen decks that added an extra suit (spirit/spirituality/aura) but cutting out a section seems like there'd be a gap in what's able to be shown when you use the deck.

[truthsayer]

blue fusion,
i really like your sailer moon deck. i also like your idea about doing a deck on the moirae. have you considered making it an oracle deck rather than a tarot? that way you could create exactly what you have in mind instead of following a centuries old divination structure like tarot. you could still loosely have a tarot format but wouldn't have to worry about having 4 suits or creating pre-conceived expectations from others for a regular tarot deck.

[blue_fusion]

Originally posted by truthsayer
blue fusion,
i really like your sailer moon deck. i also like your idea about doing a deck on the moirae. have you considered making it an oracle deck rather than a tarot? that way you could create exactly what you have in mind instead of following a centuries old divination structure like tarot. you could still loosely have a tarot format but wouldn't have to worry about having 4 suits or creating pre-conceived expectations from others for a regular tarot deck.

that would be nice. but i'm foresseing that my problem would be that i need some sort of structure or guidline to base my cards on. your suggestions to the meanings of the minor arcana cards would be most welcome. :)

[truthsayer]

each suit is represented by a different goddess. one is the spinner. one cuts the thread and one is the weaver-i think. i'd study the myths and use these as guidelines to create a personality for each fate. piers anthony wrote a fantasy book around them. something like "a tangled skein" or something like that. it's part of the incarnations of immortality series. another side of the 3 goddesses is that they represented the 3 faces of the goddess=maiden, mother, crone.

i don't know if this helps or not but it's all that comes to mind.

[blue_fusion]

Originally posted by truthsayer
each suit is represented by a different goddess. one is the spinner. one cuts the thread and one is the weaver-i think. i'd study the myths and use these as guidelines to create a personality for each fate. piers anthony wrote a fantasy book around them. something like "a tangled skein" or something like that. it's part of the incarnations of immortality series. another side of the 3 goddesses is that they represented the 3 faces of the goddess=maiden, mother, crone.

i don't know if this helps or not but it's all that comes to mind.

hey thanks. erm, would you have any suggestions as to the meanings of the specific minor arcana cards themselves? :)

[truthsayer]

let me think about it. do you have the mythology deck? i can't remember the specific card used to rep the fates but that's one place i'm going to check. i'm also going to check a book on the 3 faces of the goddess.

[blue_fusion]

i'm thinking of making the court cards patterned after the 3 faces of the goddess, with a fourth one for the particular moira herself, thus: maiden, mother, crone, lachesis/clotho/atropos. what do you guys think about this? also, what do you think the aces mean in such a deck? :)

[truthsayer]

i can see aces for lachesis and clotho but atropos cuts the thread signalling the end of life. unless the ace were to mean the beginning of the afterlife after the cutting of the thread. thus you could have lachesis cutting the thread-the new beginning of an end. the 2 is traveling to hades, 3 coming to the river styx, 4 taking the ferry across the river styx, etc. then you could have persophone and hades as king and queen of the underworld. perhaps the 10 would be the elysian fields. 5 facing cherubus the 3 headed dog at the gate.

just a few ideas.

[blue_fusion]

Originally posted by truthsayer
i can see aces for lachesis and clotho but atropos cuts the thread signalling the end of life. unless the ace were to mean the beginning of the afterlife after the cutting of the thread. thus you could have lachesis cutting the thread-the new beginning of an end. the 2 is traveling to hades, 3 coming to the river styx, 4 taking the ferry across the river styx, etc. then you could have persophone and hades as king and queen of the underworld. perhaps the 10 would be the elysian fields. 5 facing cherubus the 3 headed dog at the gate.

just a few ideas.

that sounds nice, but won't that make the deck a more specialized one, thus making it difficult to interpret for more general questions.... :)

[truthsayer]

true, but i was coming up w/ inspired ideas-not practical ones. i can't be creative and practical at the same time. it's just not practical! ;)

[blue_fusion]

Originally posted by truthsayer
true, but i was coming up w/ inspired ideas-not practical ones. i can't be creative and practical at the same time. it's just not practical! ;)

i'm sorry if i offended you in any way. :) i was just trying to think of a minor arcana system that interprets just as well as any regular deck. but i do see where you're coming from. and i do appreciate your idea for atopos's ace, that is a beginning to the afterlife. which, somewhat similar to the death card, may be interpreted as a a sudden abrupt, change which will lead to a great cjange in one's life. :)

[truthsayer]

i wasn't offended blue fusion. i was just stating a fact about how i create. i don't worry about what i'm creating making sense until i start editing for clarity. for me, to be practical and creative at the same time are like trying to blow bubblegum, rub my tummy and pat myself on the head at the same time. i tend to be so self-critical that if i get too analytical in the beginning that i kill my muse by accident! so i just try to let it flow! :)

[blue_fusion]

I just had an idea. We were discussing Plato’s Politeia in my Philosophy class and we chanced upon three aspects of human nature which, when properly guided, can lead to three virtues. They are: reason which leads to wisdom, mettle/spirit which leads to courage, and appetite which leads to temperance. Maybe these can be incorporated in the three suits: temperance with she who weaves, courage with she who measures, and wisdom with she who cuts.

[truthsayer]

yes!!!!!!!! excellent idea! i think that works in w/ what i understand of the fates.

[blue_fusion]

also, that way the cards will still have a general sense with regard to interpretation. :)

[FeralFey]

Wouldn't the aces still represent the beginning of each cycle for each suit? Since you're obviously going on the triple goddess theme, you'd HAVE to take full advantage of the whole life/death/rebirth motif, especially since you're using the Three Fates, which are steeped heavily in this concept.

But that's just my two-cents. :)

--FeralFey

[blue_fusion]

Originally posted by FeralFey
Wouldn't the aces still represent the beginning of each cycle for each suit? Since you're obviously going on the triple goddess theme, you'd HAVE to take full advantage of the whole life/death/rebirth motif, especially since you're using the Three Fates, which are steeped heavily in this concept.

But that's just my two-cents. :)

--FeralFey

hmm. ill use that. thanks for your input. :)