Tarot of the Silicon Dawn - The Lovers

Elendil

I am not really sure what to make of this card - which is why this study of the deck has stalled for so long. The three circling figures at the centre of the card are all female - at least they all have breasts, but they also have tails and it is difficult to detect any other significant genitalia since the figures cover their nether regions with their hands. They are red, blue and green, which the accompanying book tells us are the primary additive colours of light. The 'choice' is not between black or white (the colours of the arms which reach into the image at the bottom corners of the card on the left and right) but of any alternative mix when each or all of the whirling figures combine (to a lesser or greater extent). So - I get the idea that this card does retain a traditional meaning of choice...but I get little else...

Does anyone have any insight on the card which might help me out?
 

Eyebright

Have you noticed in the varnish layer there are gender symbols over the hands that cover their modesty?
Male, female and another which I assume is hermaphrodite? Venus, Mars and Mercury?

I guess the card keeps the gender of the figures vague to emphasis making an unbiased choice? That these labels we put on things don't matter, they aren't what is important. It also makes the deck more open and all encompassing for all the flavours of sexuality that exist in the world. I quite like that.

Also the varnish layer shows a swirling vortex that leads to a triangle in the centre of the card. It's an equilateral traingle, so each side is equal. No-one is any more important than the other.

The other thing I have noticed is that the colour of each figures hair is the colour of the person's in front of them's body, so there is a synergy and blending of them all. You might be choosing one over another but is it really that much different to one of the other choices?

Another thing I have noticed is that the swirling vortex in the varnish appears to look like a shell, though I don't know at this moment what that might mean, but I doubt it is unintentional!!

Any help Elendil? I'm glad to see you starting this back up, I enjoyed discussing the cards with you and Nikki :)
 

Eyebright

Also here is a quote regarding the card from Eqypt in the Tarot Deck creation forum:

There's a couple reasons for the Lovers being red, blue, and green.

The personal, and initial one, is that I'm in a triadic relationship; this is why I drew three Lovers in the first place! We have a few playful metaphors for ourselves, and they tend to end up with those colors as part of the symbolism.

The visual one is that I wanted them to all be about as bright as each other. I did try making them red/blue/yellow, but yellow is innately a lot brighter than blue and red; the yellow Lover either became the focus of the whole image, or looked dirty and unpleasant when I darkened her.

The deeper visual reason is that R/Y/B aren't the only primary colors - they're just the subtractive primaries, of reflective pigments. R/G/B are the additive primaries; if you add red, green, and blue lights together, you get bright white. If you mix subtractive primaries, you get mud.*

Waite makes this card about the Eden myth and gender duality; Crowley makes this card about... um... my, he does go on about this one, doesn't he? Creation and sex magic and duality. Most of the duality-themed cards, in my hands, become invitations to transcend dualistic thinking, to look off of the single black/white, yes/no, male/female, true/false dimension and into wider realms of possibilities. (Note, thus, the black and white hands reaching up for them!)

* If you look deeper into color theory, you will discover that "red, yellow, and blue are the subtractive primary colors" is, in part, a lie. Four-color print process uses cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. And if you shine red, green, and blue lights on a white surface, then turn off the lights in varying combinations, you get... cyan, magenta, and black. Mix CMY inks together and you get something closer to black than the muddy color of RYB paint. It's still not pure black, mostly due to our inks not being absolutely perfect in their absorption spectra, so printers add the black ink. Plus of course we do like black text on white paper a lot and it's pretty awkward to print the same text three times.

My, I do go on
Click to expand...

I found that interesting to read :)
 

Elendil

Eyebright said:
Have you noticed in the varnish layer there are gender symbols over the hands that cover their modesty?
Male, female and another which I assume is hermaphrodite? Venus, Mars and Mercury?
Click to expand...

Well spotted. You must have extremely good eyesight!
 

Eyebright

It took much tilting of the card to acheive optimum viewing conditions to see what they were lol! :p

This card is growing on me, like many of these cards, what looks simple on the surface actually reveals many more layers.
 

Egypt Urnash

All I have to say about this one offhand is that this is where one of the themes of the deck first emerged: Eschew binaries, whether they be of categorization or of choice.

Oh, and there's also the fact that it's one of the earlier cards done in this project; it was in the very first set of sketches, and to be honest I think it's one of the weakest cards in the deck. If there's a second edition I will be strongly tempted to add some more stuff to this one, or replace it entirely.

Also I TOTALLY FORGOT what I'd done with the gloss layer until reading this post. *grin*
 

Eyebright

I don't see it as a weak card at all!
I personally like the fact that the choice in the card becomes more than yes or no, or this one one or that one, as you say binaries. When is there ever a choice or this one or that one anymore? With the internet and consumerism, there is always a dizzying array of things to choose between, and that includes people lol (match.com etc!) :p
 

Winterchild

Egypt's Lovers

I really like this card.... it reminds me of my rainbow kids as I call them... my older girls describe themselves as pansexual.... which I like... even though I am not a lover of labels. The card reminds me of the parties we have had when gender becomes totally indiscernible. So colourful is the dress and the makeup of all the kids..well young adults... the love I felt from these humans of all genders and the support of each other, was really very beautiful and pure.

I also like what Egypt has to say about the colour process and the printing process.. I used to be a printer and photographer, and have often looked at things in this same way, when looking at colours symbolically. The colours of this deck are just fantastic imo. Another point is that all colours together make pure white light....

I am reminded of this quote:

The white light streams down to be broken up by those human prisms into all the colours of the rainbow. Take your own colour in the pattern and be just that. - Charles R Brown

Winter
 

Eyebright

I love that quote Winterchild very poignant, and very applicable to this card!
 

Winterchild

Quote

It's great ..it always makes me feel good. My daughter made me a book of our favourite quotes for my 50th birthday and this was in it.... I really like the idea of assigning a favourite quote to a tarot card..thanks for that Eyebright.... you gave mean idea...

I like the rainbow symbol for GLBTS (I like to add the S on the end as I think we should all be included... I am S for STR8 AGAINST H8 !!)..... I like it for an anti prejudice symbol full stop....

This is one thing this deck gives you like no other imo... total freedom to be who you are with it.. and that is a big *YES*!!
 
Tarot of the Silicon Dawn - Discussion Shadowscapes Study: Queen of Cups