Beginners Tarot Deck with Deep Symbolism and A.I. Art
Latest Updates from Our Project:
For a Garden was Placed.
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Oct 15, 2022 at 06:02:44 AM
The Lovers
3 For a garden was placed in the east of that land. And the Lord God called unto the man and the woman upon the first dawn, which He had made pleasing for them. 2 And it became as the passing of days. The path they made to that place was called Covenant, and it was a blessing and a straight path. 3 It was not surrended to shadow or serpent. It was not lost to familiarity or forgetfulness.
4 And He said unto them, "your love is my love, and the love capable of all living things of the land and sky, the waters and beneath the earth." 5 And upon another day, he said to the woman, "And this path has two trees but one gate. I have fashioned it so, between Understanding and Beauty." 6 And to the man he said, "But whatsoever way is taken by you, know that I abide in this sanctuary forever, for my love is an everlasting day."
7 And they came to know these different things, but spoke not of it, for they knew no difference.
This alternate text was in my dreams at about 4:30am this morning, so I got up and wrote it down as soon as I could. I guess it is my poor tired brain imagining the bible rewritten by the tarot along the structure of Kabbalah.
Hopefully it captures some sense of the setting of the Lovers card, about which other versions Waite said, "The old meanings fall to pieces of necessity with the old pictures, but even as interpretations of the latter, some of them were of the order of commonplace and others were false in symbolism. "
The Tarot of Everlasting Day version takes as its prompt the Waite-Trinick version of the card as well as some of the original Golden Dawn teaching, which I will look forward to sharing in our AMA Session on Sunday and in the video course - and perhaps, if we reach our 999 stretch goal, in the Tarot Speakeasy!
I will be glad in one sense to have the cards printed and out of my head, as my dreams have been totally bonkers for some months. It is one thing to use the tarot for dream work, it is something else to have the tarot use you!
And as we make our way to the conclusion of our campaign, thank you once again for sharing this journey, it is very much appreciated - only a week now remains to make your pledge for the Tarot of the Everlasting Day, if you have not yet decided ...
Stretch Goal 9 Tarot Speakeasy
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Oct 15, 2022 at 03:13:05 AM
The Tarot Speakeasy
Cycle of Restructuring
Just literally as I was typing "cycle of restructuring", for the Seven of Swords, the live news in my headphones reported that the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer was sacked. Not a political statement, but a news item that resonated in real time so strongly with a card and its kabbalistic correspondence.
In this draft of the keyword version of the scenic Seven of Swords, I've shown some restructuring of the deck at this 'seven' stage of the whole campaign. I've reduced the text size to something closer to the next test proof version and in favour of some of the discussion we've been having on the text.
The Kabbalah is along the side, now not in capitals as previous drafts, so as to indicate it is entirely optional to the reader. Thank you for your comments and feedback, I'm taking it all into consideration.
The illustration of a fallen warrior who is perhaps down but not entirely out is a re-focusing of Pamela Colman Smith's design to the original Book T, Mathers & Waite text.
It also draws on Crowley's take of the card as "futility". Do we get up and start again, at the Seven stage, or keep on going? Either way, it is a moment to consider what we stand to gain in holding to our decisions.
In the Tarot of Everlasting Day, it is intended that the images will familiarise beginners with the absolute core source of 'meaning' and 'interpretations' behind the cornerstones of most contemporary tarot decks. When you come to most other decks, you will be able to easily recognise what Waite, Colman Smith, Crowley and Harris, etc., were also drawing upon for their designs.
For experienced readers, the illustrations should not be at odds with your experience and study, and may even cut more concisely to the core texts, I hope.
TheTarot Speakeasy
If we can now reach the totally bonkers number of 999 backers, prior to the campaign closing in just eight days, we will open a Facebook Live Room for a full long-weekend of four days, for about eight hours a day, into which every backer can come join us in conversation, learning, questions and practice - to get personal teaching on any aspect of your deck, tarot, cartomancy and esotericism in general - taught in real-time by Marcus, whenever you want!
Please continue to share the project, every hour now counts at this stage of the campaign!
OurAMA Session on Sunday
I would like to invite you to an open "ask me anything" session which will be on Sunday 16th October, 2022 live at 9:00pm UK time (4:00pm ET) in our Facebook group, Tarot Professionals.
This will be a great opportunity when we can talk about tarot cards, cartomancy, divination, western esotericism, magick and more - and you can ask me anything!
If you are not already a member of the group, please make sure you answer the joining questions, and you can also mention you are part of the Kickstarter or interested in the deck, which will help our Admins! Once you are in the group, hop onto Facebook on Sunday at the time, and join us in the live room.
I may be able to record the session and make it available to backers on a link for viewing at your convenience.
The Worker is Hidden in the Workshop.
Marcus.
All the Eights
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Oct 14, 2022 at 01:36:52 AM
8 to 888
Thank you for sharing the campaign, please do continue to do so as we are now 8 backers away from the 888 stretch goal, which is crazy. That will give all backers an on-line reading system using the deck.
Then we have a ten-day countdown in which we might just make the 999 truly-bonkers goal, a four-day open meetup in which we'll cover all and every aspect of tarot, divination and esotericism!
In the meantime, let us continue to support what we want in our life and make our own way with our own work - one meaning of the 8 of Pentacles.
Here we see the Everlasting Day version of the Eight of Pentacles, literally showing a "self-made person", or as Waite describes it, "An artist in stone at his work."
And below we see a draft of the Keyword version, which I am looking to now place at the bottom of the cards, depending on how the second proof copy looks when it arrives with me from the printers. The Kabbalah reference (not yet on this card) will go along the side on the cards to which that applies.
In this card I also wanted to capture the idea that the work is not yet complete, but it is virtually assured it will come to a succesful conclusion at this stage, so long as we keep the goal in sight.
The font and font size is still draft - I will have a better idea of how these will be fixed once I have the physical second proof copy in my hands within the next couple of weeks.
Gilt Edging
Picking up from our discussions in the comments, I wanted to say that I am enquiring about black matte edging to the cards, but it is unlikely I will offer metallic gilt, such as silver or gold. There is a time constraint to this, which would demand another test proof (of a test proof) and at least another three-week cycle of test production. I am more uncertain that the gilt can be done to the standard required for a heavily worked deck, as I have seen "nice" decks with gilt that appeared fine on delivery, but after some months of heavy use started to flake and scratch the cards during shuffling. Collectors will not notice this, but I want this deck to withstand good use - so may offer a gilt version later.
Temple Size & Pocket Size
Similarly for different sizes, I would really like to do this, however there is more complexity in offering different sizes - and possibly size ratios - made more time-consuming with editing 130 cards. So, I am definitely looking into this, but it will follow fulfilment of the campaign, once delivery of the existing deck is well behind us!
Kabbalah & Keywords in Guide
Several of you have asked about the keywords and Kabbalah correspondences, and whether they will appear in the guide if you are pledging for the title-only deck. Yes! Definitely, the correspondences, keywords and more will be in the guide, no matter which version of the deck (or both) you are receiving.
Thank you everyone for your kind comments and useful questions in the comments, they're wonderful!
Another update to follow should we reach 888 - so please share the campaign and we will do this!
The Worker is Hidden in the Workshop.
Marcus
News! Stretch Goal 8 UNLOCKED, BONKERS Stretch Goal Tarot Speakeasy, Final Ten Days & Kabbalah Keywords
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Oct 14, 2022 at 01:13:49 AM
The All of Everything
By our Work we are Changed.
Well, there's a lot of things today, but first my absolute thanks to you for supporting the creation of this deck and all and any sharing of the campaign with your socials, it is truly appreciated.
I would like to share some Kabbalah keywords with you further below, but first our news!
Stretch Goal EightUNLOCKED
With your incredible help we have quickly soared through 888 backers overnight and unlocked our eighth stretch goal - an online reading system!
You can see and use a prototype here using just three cards from the deck.
A fullly featured version of this system will be developed shortly and made available for all backers!
That's absolutely incredible and I am truly thankful for your passion and encouragement for the deck.
Stretch Goal Nine
Our Tarot Speakeasy, a four-day online open event to discuss every aspect of tarot, lenormand, cartomancy, divination and esotericism has been our utterly bonkers stretch goal since the beginning of the campaign, when 999 backers seemed the most remote of possibilities.
However, that is now within sight as we close in on our final ten days, so I would ask one last stretch of you in sharing the campaign page to your socials, and encouraging others to pass it on! Who knows, if we reach an interested audience, we might be able to have the greatest online tarot party for four days!
APracticalKabbalah
All the Kabbalah and other correspondences, interpretative suggestions and keywords will be in the guide accompanying the deck, whether you pledge for titles-only or keyword cards - or both decks!
In these final 10 days of the Kickstarter campaign I would like to share some of the Kabbalah tucked inside the pip cards. It is out of the way, but there if you would like to use it.
In the Ten of Pentacles, we have the Malkuth of Assiah, the lowest of the ten Sephirah in the lowest of the four worlds.
Each number of the pips represents one of the ten Sephiroth ('numerical emanations') on the Tree of Life.
Each suit of the pips represents one of the four Worlds of the Kabbalah, from the divine emanation to the material manifestation.
Here's a quick keyword guide for our ten days of study:
Ace: Source
Two: Division
Three: Creation
Four: Expansion
Five: Contraction
Six: Balance
Seven: Cycling
Eight: Sorting
Nine: Foundation
Ten: Manifestation
... in the ...
Pentacles: World of Action
Swords: World of Formation
Cups: World of Creation
Wands: World of Emanation
So the Ten of Pentacles (Coins in the Pips) is Manifestation in the world of Action.
Here's some interpretations we can make from that simple correspondence:
Being Here with Everything. Present Moment. As it Is. You are That.
And applied in a reading:
"Everything is fixed now, the only change is to do something new. This is a successful outcome, whether it is what you wanted or otherwise - it is as it is. Deal."
In this Ten of Coins, we see the way the pip cards contain some 'scenic' elements but enough in the background to not get in the way of the reading - I hope!
Here there is a reminder that the 'creation' is now 'fixed' in that the leaves have turned to stone or become ossified. The coins are arranged in a 'final' arranagement, with the crown of their original idea encircled - also an allusion to the first Sephirah, Kether, which literally means 'crown'.
All the pip coins have a crown motif, to remind us that 'as above, so below', 'the divine is all in everything', and 'Kether is in Malkuth, as Malkuth is in Kether, but after another manner." This is literally, the 'crown is in the kingdom', so that is how it is illustrated, even (and especially) in the everyday pip cards.
The sprouting seedling also suggests the truth that every end is a beginning, for it is an everlasting day.
In our next updates, we will look at further applications of the keywords, hopefully of interest to beginners looking to start building correspondences into their readings in a simple yet powerful way, right from the start!
Let me know if you have any questions, and look forward to seeing you in the AMA Session on Sunday!
The Worker is Hidden in the Workshop.
Marcus.
Ask Me Anything Live Session Sunday 16th October 2022
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Oct 13, 2022 at 08:19:42 AM
Ask Me Anything
By our Work we are Changed.
I would like to invite you to an open "ask me anything" session which will be on Sunday 16th October, 2022 live at 9:00pm UK time(4:00pm ET) in our Facebook group, Tarot Professionals.
This will be a great opportunity when we can talk about tarot cards, cartomancy, divination, western esotericism, magick and more - and you can ask me anything!
I have been using tarot and working with western esotericism since I was 13, in the photo below you can see what I was like as a 17-year old (on the left, my friend Sean (on the right) and I are doing a "stare like Aleister Crowley" competition which he won), now 40 years ago, with the first signs of my obsessive collection of books.
You can see to the bottom left of the photo a couple of my tarot decks, and the books in that corner of the room include Eden Grey books on tarot, books on Chaos Magick, Thelema, the White Goddess, Witchcraft, I-Ching, Jung and Alchemy and a shelf of books on Egyptian Magic which has been a lifetime interest. There's also a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and the Book of Thoth, Arthurian Myth and Gurdjieff's Fourth Way in the mix, I was pretty much covering all the bases back in the day!
I never learnt to play guitar but I did once see a lunar occultation with that telescope.
So, any questions at all about reading tarot, living as an initiated Witch long before the internet, dream magick, alchemy, symbolism, the practice of ritual in modern life, spell-casting, magical initiation and esoteric spirituality, and of course our tarot deck on Kickstarter, now is your chance to have fun conversation in person with me about "all that stuff."
I look forward to seeing you live on Sunday 16th October, 2022 live at 9:00pm UK time(4:00pm ET) in our Facebook group, Tarot Professionals if you would like to hang out for a bit in an informal way and ask me anything! We have fun in these sorts of sessions, and its a great way to find out stuff together!
You do not require a camera or even a microphone, although that will enable you to ask voice questions rather than text chat - but the rule is whatever is most comfortable for you!
If you are not already a member of the group, please make sure you answer the joining questions, and you can also mention you are part of the Kickstarter or interested in the deck, which will help our Admins! Once you are in the group, hop onto Facebook on Sunday at the time, and join us in the live room.
