Army Tarot

rnaroundsue

Not really sure if anyone would be interested, but I was looking over the forum and came up with an idea for a military themed tarot deck. Obviously me being in the Army it would have more do do with that. I have actually put together a list of what each would be (partial). If anyone is interested let me know and Ill post what I have. I would like to possibly do some mock ups but am not sure how to do it. This is just something that I thought would be fun and entertaining for anyone that knows anything about the military.
 

Debra

Hi rnaroundsue,

Welcome to AT! My husband is in the army & I'm a camp follower. We have a copy of the old "Military Fortune Telling Cards" which is much less interesting than it sounds. I'd love to hear your ideas :) I know there are at least a few other military-related people on the forum.

Thanks for your service and stay safe.
 

rnaroundsue

So I did some work on my Army Tarot idea, and am actually quiet pleased with what I came up with. Unfortunatly, I am not artistic, so I have yet to deceide how I would go about doing the pictures, but I have it all in my mind what they would look like. Take a look and tell me what you think. Im open to any and all suggestions. If nothing else, I hope it brings a good laugh!

“Army Tarot”
Suits
Swords – Bayonets
Cups – Canteen/ Cup
Pents – Challenge Coins?
Wands – M-16



Fool – Enlistee
A civilian who thinks that the Army is just like it is in movies and video games. All he wants to do is to “blow s++t up” and “Kill Terrorists” He believes everything the recruiter says to him, including that he can do any job he wants.
Magician – Recruiter
Convinced the enlistee that they can do anything they want to in the Army even though they barely passed their ASVAB. He is the one who is able to get all the waivers needed to get someone in and tells everyone that They will never deploy. After all he's still gotta get his numbers.
High Priestess – Medic
The one who everyone goes looking for at sick call. He is able to cure anything that ails you with a simple Tylenol, IV and Ace Bandage.
Empress – CO
The highest ranking person in any unit. They are the one who says whether you can or cannot go on leave and determine what you are and are not allowed to do. They are usually accompanied by the 1SG or equivalent. They appear to be the one that runs things, but everyone knows that the 1SG is the one who actually runs the show. This person is more of the public figure head.
Emperor – 1SG
The one who is really in charge. Up front he shares this responsibility, but everyone knows that he is the one pulling all the strings. Its with his guidance that the Commander is able to “run” the unit.
Hierophant – Chaplain
The Official voice of the higher power. The Chaplain is the one that few people see, but yet everyone knows who he is. No matter what kind of experience you have had with them in the past, you are never prepared for how the next one will be. Everyone will talk with him when hes just hanging around (does he ever work or do PT?), but no one wants to go into his office and have to talk behind closed doors.
Lovers (Forbidden) “Fraternization” - The PVT and the Officer
This is the couple that everyone knows about, but no one wants to confront. They try to hide it during the duty day. But are often seen together after hours.
Chariot – HMMWV (with Driver and TC)
The standard issue HMMWV complete with leeks, torn door, and broken head light. The scene shows the driver and TC outside of a clearly broken down vehicle (Warning triangle) on the side of the road, as POV's go speeding past. Of course as to be expected, there is no cell phone signal to be able to call back to the unit.
Strength – SF/ Ranger
The “High Speed Rambo” This is what the Enlistee strives to be. He jumps out of airplanes, goes on secret missions, and has more tabs than any other Soldier in the Army. He is always deployed, and wears a different combat patch everyday.
Hermit – The Barracks “Rat”
This is the young soldier who never leaves the barracks. He stays in his room playing video games or on the computer. You occasionally see him on the weekends at the Chow Hall, but other than that you begin to suspect that he may be allergic to sun light. He will occasionally say that he doesn't go out because he has a “girlfriend” back home.
Wheel of Fortune – CQ/ Duty Roster
Its the last day of the month, and the dreaded duty roster for the following month has just been posted. The magical time every month when the duty roster gets posted. “Damn Weekend duty again. Ill pay someone to pull it for me!” Why are there always the same people pulling duty. I gotta remember to start putting in my passes for the weekends, and getting my exemptions put in.
Justice – UCMJ (Extra Duty/ Corrective Training)
The time in every Soldiers career when they have finally been caught and have to pay the price. They are stuck at the unit every night until almost 2200 waxing, stripping, and re waxing the floors. They say that its not fair that they got in trouble because so and so did it, and nothing happened to them. They always feel like they have been treated unfairly, but in the back of their minds, they know they deserve the punishment that they got.
Hanged Man – Re-Enlistment
A Soldier hangs upside-down over a desk with pen in hand. He is about to sign his reenlistment contract and give the Army another 6 years of his life.
Death – Soldiers Memorial
Gone but never forgotten
Temperance – Redeployment (Good and Bad)
After a 15+ hour flight, the moment has finally come. After months spent living in close quarters, eating “substandard” food, and porta potties, it is finally time to be happily reunited with friends and family. Smiling Soldiers exit the plane and are greeted by cheering, happy families. There are tears of joy and the sound of crying restless babies, but the Soldiers don't care, they are just happy to be home.
REVERSED – Weeks after returning, the Soldier is on leave and begins to realize that things aren't what he had expected.
Devil – The Drill Sergeant
Every Soldiers first introduction to the Army comes from this person with the funny looking hat. They yell, they scream, they make you do push-ups, and at times you may feel degraded but once the experience is over, you realize that it was all for a reason. You are now a stronger person and more importantly you are now a Soldier.
Tower – TDY/ PCS (Broken HHG) (DITY)
In the distance there is a trailer hooked up to the family car. In the house, boxes are stacked up to the ceiling. There is no way that everything is going to fit.
Stars – The General
The mysterious officer who has the magical ability to make your entire Chain of Command lose their minds. Now you have to strip the floor, cut the grass, pick up every piece of trash in a 10 mile radius, all for someone who looks like they should have retired 20 years ago, and didn't care what had been done.
Moon – Deployment
The time that many Soldiers think they want. They will finally get their chance to get “down-range” and be a Soldier. They look forward to going out on missions, and having the possibility to kill someone. What they don't realize is that they will never be able to leave the FOB. They will be sitting behind a desk or sitting at a radio “not doing their job.” They have constant access to internet, hot food in the DFAC, a PX that is open 7 days a week, running water in the showers, Fast Food, a 24 hour gym, and Air Conditioning. Despite all that they have, they still have time to complain when the internet is slow or when they have to work late.
Sun – Leave/ 4- Day Weekend
The last work day before a long weekend, and there are Soldiers in formation that you didn't even know were in the unit. Everyone is there for the same reason. Safety brief before the long weekend. No one is really paying attention, they are all focused on what they are going to do during the weekend. Everyone thinks, they will not be the one to screw up, but it all ways happens anyway.
Judgment – Promotion Board
That time in your career when someone has determined that it is time for you to move to the next level. You spent long hours studying, your uniform is freshly pressed, and has been inspected by 5,000 people before you walk into the room. As soon as you sit down you realize that you have forgotten EVERYTHING!
World – Formations, Formations
Groups of Soldiers stand around in formation (Gaggles) waiting for End of Day formation. They have been standing for about 2 hours now, and formation was supposed to have been in 10 minutes 45 minutes ago.

King – Officer
Queen – SR NCO
Knight – JR NCO
Page – JR Enlisted
 

Vesper

This looks quite interesting. I'm not sure that the Army world is familiar enough to most of us to be a subject for humor, though I could be wrong. I found the descriptions of the personnel and their functions as tarot cards very intriguing, and could imagine myself being interested in this as a working tarot deck.

I had trouble understanding your version of the Moon card, but the others seem like a fairly good fit.

How are your computer skills? In the absense of an artist collaborator, you could try using photos or clip art which can be customized in Photoshop, Illustrator, or one of those other graphic arts applications.
 

Mabon-Tail

I have an idea for you regarding the minors. Have you thought of using each branch of service and as a suit? The Air Force could be the Wands (if you tie the Wands to air), the Marine Corps could be the Swords (if you tie the Swords to fire), the Army would take the Pentacles, and the Navy could take the cups. It could be a stretch, but maybe each rank could match the number for the suit, like each Ace could be a private or trainee, and each numbered card thereafter is the next rank up. I think that'd be pretty interesting.

Or, if you have your heart set on only specific pieces of equipment for the suits, dog tags could take the pentacles.

By the way, my brother, father, and stepfather are all Air Force, and one of my uncles was in the Navy.
 

rnaroundsue

Ive actually gone back and forth about using the different services for the minors. For some reason I couldnt figure out the best way to do it, but that sounds like a great idea. Ill have to sit down and figure out which I would want to do.
 

rnaroundsue

So I worked on a few of the cards for my deck and attached an example. The one that I included is the 6 of Pents. As of right now they are basic pips. I tried to keep the arrangement somewhat "traditional", but basically what I am probally going to end up doing is making each branch a seperate suit, and using the appropriate rank insignia. Hopefully everyone will be able to see the attachment, and please let me know what you think.
 

Attachments

  • Tarot Example.doc
    202 KB · Views: 178

Mabon-Tail

Since each rank insignia is distinctive, I figure you wouldn't need any more than one to illustrate the point. Heck, you could use the rank insignia is the title to each card, if not its background, at least.
 

rnaroundsue

Thank you for the suggestion. I actually like the way they look with only 1 image per card. I attached a couple to show, the first one being with 1 insignia, the second being with 2 insigina's since some pay grades have multiple ranks, and the third being one of the major's that Ive worked on. Hope you like. This is actually really fun to do, and I can see myself printing them out (even if its just on my home printer) one day.
 

Attachments

  • Army PVT (Ace of Pents).doc
    200.5 KB · Views: 154
  • Army SPC (3 of Pents).doc
    6.5 KB · Views: 132
  • 13 - Soldiers Memorial.doc
    253.5 KB · Views: 158

Debra

The attachments are coming up for me as blank pages in Word--no images. Is it only me? I think you may need a .gif or .pdf file instead.

I like the different branches idea.

Soldiers, sailors, airmen & marines--generally work in groups. There's a lot of potential for reading the numbered suit cards, this way.