...and now for something completely different...

[Ravenswing]

hi all--

laurel and i are collaborating on a deck. we're getting away from traditional in the following ways:

the cards will be unlabeled. words always annoy me on a card. and if i don't know that the chariot is the chariot, i shouldn't be using a tarot deck.

the majors willbe unnumbered. gets rid of the strength/justice debate. you can order them as you will.

the cards are hexagonal. they'll nest together; make a honeycomb. a seven card spread will make a nice mandala.

and if you think reversals are bad... you get upright, upright waning, reversed waxing, reversed, reversed waning, upright waxing...

anyhow-- i've attached the magician. our first card

cheers
raven

[SherryZoned]

Wow very cool deck....all the different meanings and no words!! Cant wait to see the rest!

[faunabay]

HOW COOL!!!
What a great idea on the shape! Like RedWood I can't wait to see more. :D

[blue_fusion]

wow. that's different, but still beautiful. nice shape. i also like the unique style used, the way the images are layered. :)

[jema]

hi ravenswing and laurel
your deck looks beautiful and i love the shape of it. i see it is a deck that you want to read with care and attention and i like that too.
too often i just look at the name of the card and think i know it all instead of really devoting some time and effort into the images, esp if it is a familiar deck it is easy to be too hasty.

now, i hope you make a book to go with the deck:)
i wanna know more about the symbols. why did you make the pillars those colours? whos eyes are watching us?

[Ravenswing]

okay guys--

especially you jema :) . yes, we plan on a book to go with the deck. it wouldn't be fair otherwise. (although i think we might leave a few things for you to discover on your own }) )

here's a rundown on the symbols on the card. let's start from the top:

the temple.

marked on the upper portion with the hebrew letter 'beth' inscribed in a circle. beth is hebrew for 'house' or 'temple'. the pillars are colored red, yellow, blue and green for fire, air, water and earth. at the base of the pillars are the symbols for these elements.

i am not certain what lurks within this temple...

forward, and to the left and right are two short green pillars-- perhaps capstones would be a better description. they are translucent and represent the emerald tablets of thoth/hermes trismegistus, 'founder' of hermitism.

the one to the left has a crystal chalise full of wine (or maybe blood??) on it-- representative of cups. inscribed on the center front side is the symbol for mercury inside of a circle. there are two glyphs on either side of this symbol. they are letters from an alphabet called 'the writting of the magi'. reading down on the left the letters are 'a' and 's'; reading down on the right are the letters 's' and 'o'. these are said to conceal a great mystery.

the one to the right has an ibis standing on it. the ibis is sacred to thoth. he is often depicted with an ibis head. this ibis is holding a pentacle in its beak. thus, the two 'pillars' have the 'female' objects from the tarot. inscribed in the rectangle on the front of the pillar are three lines of 'text'.

the first line is hebrew for 'INRI', written, naturally, from right to left (yod, nun, rese, yod). the second line is composed of the astrological glyphs for virgo, the sun, and scorpio. the last line is the greek for 'IAO'. (you'll have to check with laurel for the exact meaning of these-- it deals with one of the golden dawn rituals. sorry).

at center bottom, we see a hand bursting out from another 'level' into this one. it is a left hand, signifying the higher 'occult' level. the hand is holding a wand which transforms to a sword. (this is a modified caduceus-- the snakes twine around it, and if you look carefully, you'll find the hint of wings... or perhaps it is the magician who is the winged one) this symbol blends the two 'male' suits of the tarot together.

the wand originates at the genitals, and rises upwards-- signifying the rising of kundilini. the jewel in the hilt of the sword is positioned at the magician's throat chakra symbolizing the power of the word. note that his mouth is open-- though what he speaks...

the lemniscate is a mobeus strip with the cross-over point at the magician's third eye. if you look at the magician's face, you can see that his physical eyes are closed, allowing his greater
'spiritual' eyes to open.

you may see more, but that's what i intentially put into the card



i'm hoping that laurel and i can put out a card every week. once laurel finished with her take on this card, i spent a few days in contemplation. finally, with pencils in hand, it took about four hours for the rough and eight to lay on the color. (not all at once though!!)

i'm using the method described in robin wood's book about her deck. once you have a rough draft finished, you cover it with a piece of tracing paper and color that. if you goof up or don't like the coloring, you just zip off the tracing paper. your original drawing is always intact and ready to go. it's a great method. and you can color on the back to get some really neat effects. (the magician is colored strictly on the front side of the paper.)

well, that's all for now. i'm hoping laurel want to do the high priestess next...

until next card
raven

[jema]

thanks for the explanations raven, they really add to the card and i hope you will show us the rest of them as they progress.

the more i look at it the more things i see - like the magicians hands, and the eyes/wings and yes, something is lurking inside the temple too:)

you are very talented and i just know this will be a great project.

[Melvis]

Wonderfully done, Ravenswing and Laurel! I really look forward to seeing more cards!

Peace,

Melvis
:TSTRE

[Kirali]

I love the artwork, I love the symbols and I love the shape! I hope it gets published! I can't wait to see more cards! You guys are doing a great job. Stay inspired! :)

[kayne]

*Kayne stares in awe, mouth dropping open*

WOW! COOL!!! :D:D:D

Love the idea guys - what a brilliant combination of minds and skill, you two! So impressed!!! Alright... One card per week... Can't wait for the next card!

Have you considered deviding the card into 6 triangles and having a different picture facing the top, for each direction? Or you could have 6... spaces... around the ourtide and one large, general picture in the centre?

(I have attached an example of what I am talking about... :P)

[Ravenswing]

kayne--

that's a wonderful idea--six facets of a concept blended into one card. you wouldn't need bother with reversals; just read what's facing up. i prefer the second division. triangular images don't allow much room. the truncation would give more stretch, and one could put an appropriate mandala at the center of each card...

sounds like a great deck. maybe later.

thinking about camels
raven

[HOLMES]

HELLO

in thinking of all your knowledge in gemetria, kabbalah, and such.

what i would suggest is this,,

write down all the advanced stuff in the book , and say at the beginning this book is for the advanced scholar, and the deck is desigined to be used inuitively.

while studying this book will help you understand all the symbols and the systems that go with it, the images are desigined to speak directly to your soul and let your superconcious and subcosnious merge into one, your conscious therefore elevating it to new hieghts.

mediating on these cards while having no basis in the moderen world, can help you to grow in understanding thyself as they spead to your dreams ,, and the dream of your ancestors which exist in the dna of your body.


and oops i went a bit far but that is what i got :O)

[Major Tom]

Originally posted by Ravenswing
hi all--

if i don't know that the chariot is the chariot, i shouldn't be using a tarot deck.



I love the idea of the majors un-numbered and your justification. })

I couldn't help but notice the file name had a 1 in it. ;)

I'm in awe of the hex shape. Wow! Absolutely inspired - sort of defines the angles you'd read in a round deck.

Your pencil designs are beautiful. Ravenswing and Laurel make a good team. :)

What are your plans for the deck? Do you plan to market it? })

[Page]

Ravenswing & Laurel I think your card is different for sure!

I don't even think you will need to go to the publishers as they will come to you. Apart from publishing this looks like a good fun project to work on.

+ the cards are more easier to shuffle than round cards.

I can't wait to see more cards!!!

maud:*

[WillieHewes]

Very nice!

If you want to have it published, don't wait for publishers to come to you, publishers are far too lazy to do a thing like that. Start contacting them now. :) I think it's a very good idea and could take off.

Willie

[Maan]

WAUW
i'm very intrigued

[Ravenswing]

hi all--

i want to thank you all : ) for the encouragement. putting together 78 images is something that i'll need to keep the momentum going with. your positive energies will become an integral part of the deck.

yes, i guess we plan to market it, but first i want to finish it :) . we're going to work on a book to accompany it-- some of the symbology may be a bit obscure. i'm not going to go searching 'til it's done. i don't want any time/space constriction on creativity.

to the major--

my scanner numbers scans automaticallyso you can have varients under the same name. just a coincidence (??) })

back to the drawing board
raven

[rota]

I think you'll also run into the problem of having artwork and art style change as you progress: You'll start in on The Two of Wands, and look back at The Magician, realizing that your standards have risen as your vision has become sharper, and you're suddenly faced with the need to change and rework older cards.

Know going in that your first effort won't necessarily be your last.

Momentum is the key to actually getting a deck finished. Just keep on, doing a little bit each day. Always advance, even if advancing means junking something you'd previously considered finished.

I love the deck concept: the Gem-like shape is a lovely idea. I'm impressed the most, though, with the depth of thinking behind the symbology. It should be a wonderful deck, and I want one!

[Ravenswing]

rota--

yes, i've had that problem before. the last card is almost two years away-- much time for growth. i think the idea is to spiral along; a feedback system of sorts.

of course, the optimum would be to first go for all the symbology etc, before creating an image. then do rough sketches of the entire deck. then look them over again. then, and this is the hardest, stop learning while producing the deck...

there's already a few things i could add to the magician. but i'm not going to touch it for the moment. my art style is pretty set-- i've been at it for 30-some years. i think i've found my niche-- and not a rut. things i've done fifteen or twenty years ago are obviously mine-- the handling gets finer as time goes on.

but, on with the show
raven

[Dajax]

WOW!!! Awesome!!!

I've added it to my wish list. One card - that's all it took.

Wow.