Creating an Oracle - systems

I like the 'Judge' card - reminds me of a description I created long ago for a non-existent card called 'The Oligarchy'.

Cheers... this one carries some implications, many of which feature in the Kafka novel "The Trial" about the existential absurdity of systems which have to do more with law than justice, as well as Sartre-an sense of "being for others" in which no matter how self-defined we are, there is still a sense in which we are very much defined by the perceptions and subsequent evaluations/judgements/diagnosis/labelling of others

I really love your artistic style. I think it is fabulous. Reading the beginning of this thread, i wasn't sure what to expect when you said you weren't happy with your images. But my jaw dropped when I saw them.
I like the technique. It's real, human. I see the thought incorporated into each image. I agree with the statement that each image inspires a reaction to it.
Fantastic job! Please keep going. *smiles*

Zedrex said:

Cheers... this one carries some implications, many of which feature in the Kafka novel "The Trial" about the existential absurdity of systems which have to do more with law than justice, as well as Sartre-an sense of "being for others" in which no matter how self-defined we are, there is still a sense in which we are very much defined by the perceptions and subsequent evaluations/judgements/diagnosis/labelling of others

Click to expand...

Yes...I can really pick that up from the card. Your work is beautiful. I do get that "drama" feel and sense about the cards, for sure. I'm really fascinated with the bird's eye view...and the kind of impressions one can receive from that perspective...You capture that well. Look forward to seeing your other cards.

Another great book you might want to look into is "Book of Ordinary Oracles," by Lon Milo Duquette.

So you say you're not confident about your art, huh? Hmmm...Own it! It's yours and it's great. Keep creating and enjoy the process.

Best Wishes,
Flames

Thank you so much - everyone

I figure I'll just use this thread to discuss it's progress and some of my thinking as I'll go.

For now, preview of another 5 cards:

http://alternateparallelreality.com/downloads/aproraclepreview2.jpg

Very cool deck! Good luck with it!

I'm in the process of creating my own oracle, so I know the dilemma you're speaking of. I basically approached it originally from the standpoint that for every "meaning" I wanted attributed to a specific card, I wanted to create an opposite card.

It very quickly veered from that rather simplistic viewpoint to a 50 card deck trying to encompass as many conditions/situations as possible that could convey a message for the various types of questions a querent can ask. Won't really know how well that will work until the deck is completed and put through some trial readings, but when narrowing down what I wanted included in the deck I thought them through carefully and think in the end I have a nice variation and something that can work well. Time will tell.

Again, good luck with your deck, looks very promising!

I think it's a good idea to have some sort of structure and some idea of the concepts you'd like to include. Even if you don't know all of them from the start (you can add and remove cards later), it helps if you have some structure to work with so that you don't feel like your deck is directionless or at a loss for what to do next.

Indeed... though I suspect my project might be suffering from too much structure!