prog: (coffee)
prog ([personal profile] prog) wrote2006-07-24 11:03 am

Happy Squirrel

Zarf has finished all the trumps (major arcana) for his SVG tarot deck. PNG preview here.

Why don't I have any tarot-cardy icons? I guess because I'd have to pick one to start with.



Fact you may not have known about me: During my fifth and final year of college, and for a little ways after graduation, I was deeply involved in the cartomancy aspect of tarot, to the point where I believed that I experienced something mystical through it (and also to the point where, ten years later, I can still easily summon the word "cartomancy"). I was also under a tremendous amount of stress and confusion from various sources. No doubt these were linked, but I don't think the relationship of the two is merely symptomatic: screwing around with the cards helped me get through that rough time. Typical story of someone lonely employing religion, really.

I left it behind around the time I reconnected with friends, the people I think of as my Maine tribe, a couple of years after graduation. As things stabilized, I reƫvaluated my spiritual standing and found that the woo-woo was no longer part of it. The deck I used for all that, a Robin Wood Tarot I bought from Silo Seven in Bangor, was repurposed for a while as a Zarcana/Gnostica deck, but I eventually retired it in favor of the Aquarian Tarot's far more mellow and game-appropriate imagery.

I still have it, though, up on my game shelf, in its original, beat-up box. I don't regret going through that period, though for a long while before now I was hesitant to admit to it. Learning the tradition of tarot and all its elemental symbolism was a lot of fun, and I still enjoy seeing it used as a source of fantastic stories. (And I have long held a solid association between the four core Volity Games folks - [livejournal.com profile] prog, [livejournal.com profile] daerr, [livejournal.com profile] radiotelescope, [livejournal.com profile] jtroutman - and the four suit-elements. Though this sort of thinking was inspired as much by the comic The Invisibles as by anything else.)

[identity profile] greenlily.livejournal.com 2006-07-24 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooo. The Robin Wood deck is nice. I haven't looked at it in ages but I remember liking the artwork.

Being into the Interconnectedness Of Things, I've used the Herbal Tarot for my (very infrequent) readings for the last couple of years. The images are kind of blah, but the connections between each card's traditional meanings and the actions, etc. of the herb pictured on the card are really helpful for me.

[identity profile] prog.livejournal.com 2006-07-24 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)
The Wood deck is beautiful. The colorful, comic-booky (in the best sense) imagery was what moved me to purchase it while visiting that store on a lark; I had no intention of getting into tarot when I walked through the door.

Tarot Torrent

[identity profile] radtea.livejournal.com 2006-07-24 05:55 pm (UTC)(link)
A guy on my f-list is into Tarot and posted this link recently:

http://www.mininova.org/tor/367258

[identity profile] elphie.livejournal.com 2006-07-24 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I think the tarot is a great way to get information from the unconscious mind regardless of whether you believe in any woo-woo or not.

The Robin Wood is probably my favorite deck too...


[identity profile] prog.livejournal.com 2006-07-24 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't deny it. That's really the other hook that got me into it... a wonderful website (in 1995!) about tarot reading that used this as its argument.

Sadly, I don't recall the name of the woman who ran it, even though we corresponded briefly (the upper bounds of my email log is somewhere in 1998) and doubt that I'd be able to find it again if I tried.

[identity profile] katre50.livejournal.com 2006-07-25 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
I used to heavily consult the I Ching for the same reason. It was a great way to get me to admit to myself what I really felt about things. Sadly, I haven't pulled out my copy in years.

[identity profile] misuba.livejournal.com 2006-07-24 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
OH CRAP I didn't kow you were an Invisibles fan. Or I didn't know that I knew. One of the two.

[identity profile] tahnan.livejournal.com 2006-07-24 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Robin Wood is also my tarot deck of choice. (My general litmus test: look at the Knight of Swords, see if I feel any emotional reaction.)

[identity profile] prog.livejournal.com 2006-07-24 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I took out my deck to admire it for the first time in years, after writing this post. I find the royalty figures all especially beautiful. Love the outfits. (Though the Knight of Cups' shell-helmet-thing is kind of dopey lookin.)

[identity profile] jtroutman.livejournal.com 2006-07-24 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I was into Tarot for a while in the early 90s. I particularlly liked the Voyager Deck, which had (for the era) cutting edge composited visual images. And it was just beautiful.

I definately believe that your subconsious mind can tell you things with Tarot, because I think it can count cards.

[identity profile] aspartaimee.livejournal.com 2006-07-24 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
i do a lot of tarot (i sometimes post my ramblings and readings in locked LJ posts) and have numerous decks including one that is in italian and has the major arcana represented by marvel superheroes. many of the cards were given to me by my mom who also made black silk bags for me to carry them in.

i personally use The Halloween Deck given Halloween and my birthday being one day apart. i connect with it more than the others.

and I have to ask...

[identity profile] jtroutman.livejournal.com 2006-07-25 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
so what Tarot card(s) do you associate with me?

Re: and I have to ask...

[identity profile] prog.livejournal.com 2006-07-25 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
Not cards, but suit, assigning exactly one to each of us depending upon their role in the project.

You're Water.

[identity profile] rikchik.livejournal.com 2006-07-25 01:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Hmm, this discussion is making me wonder if I should change my significator, from the Knight of Wands to the King. I changed from Page to Knight in high school or so, and haven't thought much about it since.

[identity profile] aspartaimee.livejournal.com 2006-07-25 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
time for an upgrade, methinks.