Tarot table design

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 30 Aug 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

G.I.R.	30 Aug 2003
This is kinda irrelevent, but.... I just got a small, round, coffee table. I plan on using this as my table for readings. It's a very plain, wooden table. I'm planning on painting on it. My present idea is to paint the edge as a black circle. Then, paint an eight-pointed star in the circle like a pentacle but with an eight-pointed star. (someone tell me if this has any religious/occult usage. I just like eight-pointed stars.) Then I think I'm gonna put a symbol for each element in between opisite sets of points. I'm also thinking of putting in the other spaces, a pentacle, wand, sword, and cup. Anybody got any other ideas, Or opinions on mine? Somebody help me out.

Diana	30 Aug 2003
Eight-pointed star? Type "Ishtar" on Google, and you'll come up with some very interesting websites. Try typing also "eight-pointed star". This web-site is quite interesting too. Scroll down to "The Star of Ishtar". http://www.geocities.com/iraqinfo/index.html?page=/iraqinfo/mythology/astronomy-babylon.html Your table sounds lovely. Now that I have give you some clues, are you going to tell us what G.I.R. stands for? :D (P.S. Choose your colours carefully, and make sure there is lots of gold.)

DeLani	30 Aug 2003
I would suggest burning the wood, instead of painting it. You can use a magnifying glass and the sun, or those crappy electric ones. But it looks much nicer and lasts a lot longer. Post a picture when you finish it!

G.I.R.	30 Aug 2003
hmm.... very interesting... I'm going to try to answer things in order... 1. G.I.R. stands for.... Information Retrieval unit. knowone knows what the "G" stands for. (from the cartoon Invader Zim) 2. I'm considering wood burning but that could take quite some time and I'm not sure how good it would look on the table (the table doesn't look that good so wood burning would make the table itself look bad, things like the stain on it not working with the color of burnt wood, etc.) 3. All the stuff about the star is very interesting, but could you tell me what (I think I've got this right) Sumarian beliefs originate from, I also found info on Pagen sites (same thing?) I like the connection to life/death and to venus but doesn't venus also symbolize vanity, etc. Would this symbol be appropriate?Also, Is there any other symbols that would be more appropriate? Also, I got a link where there's a pic of the star, because there are other kinds of eight-pointed stars but you had the right one. http://www.likeacat.com/item139.htm Anyone got any other advice? later added... I had an idea while pondering the wood burning idea, what if I burnt the end of a stick and drew it , then used some form of sealent? more added later... What's the importance of color schemes

HudsonGray	30 Aug 2003
I've seen some really nice stuff where the entire table (legs and all) is painted in brilliant colors, sectioned off & elaborated with acrylic paints. They dry faster than oils. You could also consider painting an antiquing glaze over the entire surface once done, to add 'age', or to add that crackle surface on the top. If you really hate how it turns out, there's always table cloths you can drape over it.

Macavity	30 Aug 2003
I like the idea of a star surrounded by a decorated circular border. The colour cheme may be a bit bright for your ideas, but things like... http://www.golden-dawn.org/tradition.html are quite fun. Beware that some of these groups tend to be a bit keen on patenting their designs. ;) Macavity

G.I.R.	30 Aug 2003
I think I'm either gonna do opisite points in elemental colors with elemental symbols, or gold... also, what symbols for elements could I use? Another thing, which elements should be opisite eachother and which ones should go in between eachother. Also, same for card symbols. Also which symbols should be in between which elements. lotsa questions

cricket	30 Aug 2003
The most important thing is that it's appealing to YOU. You're the one that's going to be looking at it most often. You're the one that will be giving readings atop of it. You're the one that's going to be stuck with the whole thing. Put symbols on it that mean something to you. For example, for the air element some people might put swirly lines - something like the cartoon lines drawn to show the wind. Other people might not have a clue what that is, but would put clouds. It's all about what you think of as a symbol of each element. The same goes with the symbols of the suits. Put them where you think they belong. If you associate swords with the north, put it at the north. If you associate wands with north, the same. It's really only a matter of what you associate with what. Just my couple of cents worth. :)

G.I.R.	01 Sep 2003
I have finished the table except for the gloss finish. I was gonna post pics but my account doesn't alow such things. If anyone knows how I can change this, please tell me. It's turned out pretty good

SongDeva	02 Sep 2003
There was a whole thread on tarot tables at another tarot site, inspired by one on ebay, that went for like $400. What some of the members seemed to be doing was to buy a piece of glass to line the top of the table, and putting designs under this, i.e., some of the members were laying out the major arcana of a particular deck in different designs. The benefit here is that the design is changeable, like many of our relationships with tarot, and will allow the design to grow with you.

The Tarot table design thread was originally posted on 30 Aug 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.