Personal Conceptual Deck - opinions

[MoonRaven]

I don't know why.
I just felt like designing a card or two to see how they'd turn out.

It ended up being several cards. I was wondering what people here thought of them, and whether you think I caught the idea of the card in the images.

http://www.dragon-wing.org/tarot.asp

[Bellefoy]

I just looked at these, and I love them! I'm definitely not an expert, but I felt you caught the meaning of the cards. If you go ahead and make more, I hope you'll post them.

Brenda

[Dagda Moon~Lily]

I agree, I really enjoyed perusing your the cards you have finished! I am sure many people could connect with a deck such as that! I especially loved the High Priestess! :d Keep going, by all means! I'm interested in seeing the progression of this deck!

[Sylv]

I like them! My favorites are the High Priestess and the Sun (the little bird is so sweet). I too would love to see more done. Great work!

[Witchy Cowgirl]

WONDERFUL! LOVE 'EM!

Espically STRENGTH, THE SUN & THE DEVIL.

The HIEROPHANT wasn't what I expected, but I knew what THE HIGH PRIESTESS was gonna be before I opened it!;)

Your doing well and I hope you finish 'em. If you do are you gonna try to publish them? I think you've already found several buyers here.:D

[Azure]

I LOVE the High Priestess.

(You could also print these images up on t-shirts, just as a thought).

[MoonRaven]

I wasn't really sure what to do with the Hierophant, actually.
I've got a version of the Emperor I'd like some opinions on too.

[MoonRaven]

Actually while I'm getting opinions, I'd like to hear suggestions on which animals best represent the qualities of certain cards.
Especially Death, The Chariot, The Wheel of Fortune, and The World. I am so stuck with those ones... thought about doing a turtle for the World though.

[Lacykitten]

Beautiful cards! I would definately buy such a deck.

For Death, since it usually represents rebirth, change etc.. I would suggest a fire salamander. Phoenixes aren't real, but salamanders are. Mythologically (ish?) they are thought to do similar things as Phoenixes, so I think they would make a good choice?

Let me ponder on the others.

LOVE the High Priestess and the Emperor. *purrr*

Actually the Wheel I could see as maybe.. fish creating a circle, with like.. kelp or coral in the middle of them or something..

I don't know, just what I thought of.. let me review the meanings. :)

[Zaniah]

Wow... you should go with this! They're beautiful. I'd buy them :P
But seriously, as a person making my own decks... wow. I'm honestly floored.
Please continue! Your choice of animals for each card is right on. I love the monkey!

Light and Love and High Creative Spirits!

[MoonRaven]

Actually it's a sloth :-)

I wanted a creature that lived on its own and took its time to do its own thing.

That's an interesting idea for the death card... I think I'll incorporate a butterfly into it somewhere too, to represent transformation.

[Zaniah]

My mistake :)

[Sylv]

Just wanted to let you know that the emperor card is amazing too. :)
That's an interesting idea for the death card... I think I'll incorporate a butterfly into it somewhere too, to represent transformation.
I think you should go with just the butterfly as a symbol of rebirth-it's a bit less obscure than the salamander. Just my 2 cents. For the other cards I'll have to think a little and get back to you. Oh, and as soon as you said a turtle for the world I thought of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, lol.

[MoonRaven]

I have no idea what that is.

I was actually thinking more about the Native American story of the world being on the back of a turtle (gotta stick to your roots sometimes).

[Azure]

The Wheel of Fortune is actually intended to represent a specific goddess, Fortuna, that actually played a major role in early and Medieval Christian cosmology (see "the Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius). So for the Wheel, you might want to find out if any animal is specifc to the goddess. Based upon what I know of medieval cosmology, you might want to use a lion.

For Death, I'd go with symbolism again - what animals mythologically suggest death and rebirth? What about a white butterfly or Luna moth, which the Greeks considered the symbol of the soul?

The World as a turtle from Native American myth or and Elephant from Indian myth might be good. Or perhaps the ouroboros (serpent eating it's own tail).

The Chariot - what about a running hare, cheetah, greyhound, horse - any animal which gives you a sense of speed and forward movement.

[Sylv]

Discworld is a book series-a disc shaped world is born on the shoulders of four elephants who are standing on the back of a sea turtle who is swimming through the universe, looking for a mate. :)
I was thinking about the Hanged Man-that's a hard one. If you look at the characteristics of letting go and suspension a jelly fish (non-poisonous) might work. Sacrifice (and maybe reversal) could be represented by a salmon (swimming upstream-reversal-to reproduce regardless of obstacles and death-sacrifice).
Whoops-I just noticed that the Hanged Man wasn't one that you were asking for help with! *rolls eyes*-typical scatter brain.
For the World, this might sound a little odd, but what about bees or ants or another communal insect (I like bees). The key words I'm seeing are integration, accomplishment, involvement, and fulfillment. Bees working together-integration and involvement-make honey, keep the hive running smoothly, etc.-accomplishment- and the worker bees/queen bee who have done their jobs feel fulfilled.
For the Wheel of Fortune, I'd either pick an animal that follows a cycle-movement- (esp. hibernation or something) or maybe an animal who instead of being driven off by humans has taken advantage of them (foxes, raccoons, etc.) -taking advantage of an opportunity, turning point, personal vision, and even movement can all fit in here.
For the Chariot, I don't have any specific ideas but as I was reading its characteristics, it struck me that it sounds like some kind of animal that lives in groups with a definite leader-maybe chimpanzees (in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Sagan discusses chimps in a light I'd never seen them in before).
Hope this helps a little!




Note: I'm a very newbie to tarot, so all the characteristics I'm looking at for cards come from Learn the Tarot website. I just recevied 78 Degrees of Wisom and Tarot for Yourself, so my ideas about the card characteristics might change soon. :)

[Witchy Cowgirl]

The Emperor is grand!
Originally posted by Azure
The Chariot - what about a running hare, cheetah, greyhound, horse - any animal which gives you a sense of speed and forward movement.

I like the idea of the horse for the CHARIOT.;)

[AstraSkye]

Originally posted by Bellefoy
I felt you caught the meaning of the cards.

MoonRaven - The cards are absolutely beautiful! I agree fully with what Bellefoy said (quoted above). This is - seriously - a deck I would buy!

Being a cat lover - the High Priestess is my favorite :) but they're all just... wow!