Minor cards that define a deck

Me too, as far as what I am most drawn to. I think you get it, what I was trying to say, as in what else can be done with the pierced heart-rose or the flaming stick!
I just posted this as Art and tarot is so subjective and we are all so different, I was wondering if the same cards were iconic or not for a swath of people. Because I used to think so, and now, for myself things are evolving.

I think I get what you're saying. It "must" be a rose or flaming stick, but within those lines there are infinite things one can do, and that's what I like to see.

Not a Minor, but I also look at the Prince of Discs in a new deck. He's my own court, first decan of Taurus (Five of Discs) and quite a disagreeable fellow, in my opinion. But still, I usually narcissistically look at the "me" card. I wish I liked him better, but we really are too much alike.

The sixes seem almost too full of significance. They are at the exact center of the sequence of pips two through ten, and they represent the central decanates of each of the fixed signs: Leo. Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus. As such they characterize typical properties of the elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth. Moreover, they are the nexus of eight of the Trumps: Temperance/Art, Death, Hermit, Emperor (GD) or Star (Thelema), Priestess, Lovers, Justice/Adjustment, Devil. The centrality of the sixes and the consequent superabundance of interrelationships in which they participate is staggering and a bit overpowering, whether from the standpoint of a creator or a reader.

Hah! I am King of Wands. He is all one shot, spectacular flare of meteoric success at first try or crash and burn and go to sleep, lol. If I can't be first I won't play, he says.

I can relate

The minor of my Sun is 9 of Wands, which I like. my ascendant, 5 of swords, which, not so much!

My favorite suit may be disks too, I have a lot of Earth planets in my chart, but they are all Virgo (3 outer planets, two of which are chart rulers)

Understandable to look at personal cards. We all do it. Crowley even labelled his!

LRichard said:

The sixes seem almost too full of significance. They are at the exact center of the sequence of pips two through ten, and they represent the central decanates of each of the fixed signs: Leo. Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus. As such they characterize typical properties of the elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth. Moreover, they are the nexus of eight of the Trumps: Temperance/Art, Death, Hermit, Emperor (GD) or Star (Thelema), Priestess, Lovers, Justice/Adjustment, Devil. The centrality of the sixes and the consequent superabundance of interrelationships in which they participate is staggering and a bit overpowering, whether from the standpoint of a creator or a reader.

Click to expand...

Yeah sixes as central (tipareth) and central of the decanate and fixed, that is a lot of significance! Plus the path connections and it all is a bit much! I hope to do them Justice

So strange you bought up this subject.
This is kind of connected.
Just yesterday; writing up some notes for my deck; wading through the majors, I reached the Chariot, took a deep breath and jumped in.
I quickly realised that the card was like a stranger to me. I finished painting the deck in 2013 and it seems like I have barely seen some of the cards since. Reading with the deck fairly often, for myself and for friends it seems to have rather a limited cast of regular performers.
They are not particularly favourite cards, for example 7 of Coins is always about. Occasionally I see the deck has been used in a reading on blog or something, the 7 of Coins is often there too.
So sometimes a card may seem a little less charismatic, for example that 7 of Coins, but if I were to be thinking of buying a new deck, I should really check out that 7 as I would probably be seeing it whole heap.
From an art point of view. I personally really want to tangle and mangle the traditional images. I guess the challenge is to make an visually original and beautiful deck which keeps the "Tarot" intact as the complete and perfect statement it is.
I get a bit worried that the deeper I go into studying tarot, the more difficult it becomes to synthesise the multiple meanings and symbols into a single image for a card, that said I am not remotely interested in employing a minimal approach to my own work, but I do admire it in others.
When I make another Tarot, I think every card will have to be 'evolved', if I am to care enough to complete the deck.
I guess themed decks may remain full of the iconic symbols, but an un-themed decks may really need to evolve. Still rather a tall order.

9 of cups. Give that guy a job! I don't know if he is lonely, missed the party he invited everyone to, or grants my wishes! He needs some kinda stable pictogram. He is confusing. I dislike him in a reading, and I do not see him as "magically your wishes are fulfilled!" Far from it, he fills me with dread...

The Hanged Man and the Ten of Swords for me. If they don't work, it's hard to connect with the rest of the deck. The Hanged Man and the Ten of Swords must have a certain... well, it's hard to explain without writing an essay. I can connect with a deck with one of these not being quite 'right', but both of these not matching will make it difficult to connect for me.

I love the Ian Daniels Tarot of the Vampires, for example, but every time I see the Hanged Man I NOPE. Makes me shudder. I love the deck, I really do, but I am glad that I've never actually pulled the Hanged Man for any of my spreads; I suspect that the whole thing would end up derailed. But the Ten of Knives works, and that saves the deck for me.

wooden-eye said:

From an art point of view. I personally really want to tangle and mangle the traditional images. I guess the challenge is to make an visually original and beautiful deck which keeps the "Tarot" intact as the complete and perfect statement it is.
I get a bit worried that the deeper I go into studying tarot, the more difficult it becomes to synthesise the multiple meanings and symbols into a single image for a card, that said I am not remotely interested in employing a minimal approach to my own work, but I do admire it in others.
When I make another Tarot, I think every card will have to be 'evolved', if I am to care enough to complete the deck.
I guess themed decks may remain full of the iconic symbols, but an un-themed decks may really need to evolve. Still rather a tall order.

Click to expand...

This idea of making a beautiful deck, that keeps the "Tarot" intact as the perfect statement it is, while not being themed and yet evolving each card, is it in a nutshell.

Incidentally, I was asked once my least favorite card and the answer was 7 of Disks, so funny you mentioned that one! (Failure can go eff itself) I also do not like 5 of Swords, but as my Ascendant card, I try to make peace with it (that is actually a funny as "peace making" is the undoing in that card that leads to Defeat.)

And sometimes, I get what you mean about being a stranger to your own work, as I see art I have done and think "Who painted that? Where did it come from? was it *me* and what *is* me." How very Buddhist (anatta and all that!).

OK - you guys are a tad advanced for me (Astrology etc). ...

closrapexa said:

but I also look at the Prince of Discs in a new deck. He's my own court, first decan of Taurus (Five of Discs) and quite a disagreeable fellow, in my opinion. But still, I usually narcissistically look at the "me" card. I wish I liked him better, but we really are too much alike.

Click to expand...

Babalon Jones said:

Hah! I am King of Wands. He is all one shot, spectacular flare of meteoric success at first try or crash and burn and go to sleep, lol. If I can't be first I won't play, he says.

I can relate

... Crowley even labelled his!

Click to expand...

Hah. You guys make me laugh. Hopefully at some point I can join you in such self observations.
And I do like some of Crowley's labels.

Lotus Padma said:

9 of cups. Give that guy a job! ...he fills me with dread...

Click to expand...

:-D (He has got a job. He's a bar keep).
In The Fey Tarot he's most definitely high (Drug on!). In the Parallel Worlds it's a big fat icecream - so I like that one! Yum!. In the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot - a fit guy enjoying the rain on his face (mouth open drinking raindrops) - I like that one too...

I just bought The Night Sun Tarot (in my search for a 'dark' deck. Generally found that 'dark' either had too over-the-top themes, or too much sex splattered all-over-the-place for my tastes. Or - I didn't like the style of artwork). Here, 9 of cups is a curled winged baby surrounded by the cups - and hebrew words... Most intriguing... Haven't read anything yet.

I've fallen in LOVE with the pentacles of this deck. And... that 7 of Pentacles that Babalon Jones dislikes... here, they're placed on the 7 (Wester Esoteric) Chakra's of a chap. Hmmmmmm - think I REALLY like that idea. The project of your whole life.

<to Babalon Jones>: "Who am I?" (Koan) - is all good! :-D imo.