Dickens Tarot

Green Faerie

My apologies if I missed this somewhere in the thread, but I would love to see a really beautiful Dickens tarot published. He has so many wonderful characters that would suit the tarot cards, and if you could get someone really incredible to do the art, like Gary Lippincott or someone like that, it could be a stunning deck.

I personally think Mr. Pickwick should be the Fool, Lady Deadlock should be the Queen of Swords, and Bob Cratchit perhaps the King of Wands, but that's just me. :)
 

Morwenna

My apologies if I missed this somewhere in the thread, but I would love to see a really beautiful Dickens tarot published. He has so many wonderful characters that would suit the tarot cards, and if you could get someone really incredible to do the art, like Gary Lippincott or someone like that, it could be a stunning deck.

I personally think Mr. Pickwick should be the Fool, Lady Deadlock should be the Queen of Swords, and Bob Cratchit perhaps the King of Wands, but that's just me. :)

You and me both!! I'm a certified Dickensomane and I can see SO many possibilities here!
(4 of Pents = Scrooge, anyone? :))
 

Green Faerie

You and me both!! I'm a certified Dickensomane and I can see SO many possibilities here!
(4 of Pents = Scrooge, anyone? :))

Oh, Scrooge for the 4 of Pents is a great idea! Also, what about Fagin and his band of child pickpockets for the Seven of Swords? :)

I'm so glad to find other Dickens fanatics on here. I can't imagine why no one has done a tarot deck for him yet. :love:

Here are some other thoughts:
The Emperor - John Jarndyce (Bleak House)
The Empress - Clara Peggoty (David Copperfield).
The Lovers - Nicholas Nickleby and Madeline Bray (Nicholas Nickleby)
Judgement - Jacob Marley (A Christmas Carol)
Queen of Pentacles - Betsy Trotwood (David Copperfield)
King of Pentacles - Mr. Bronwlow (Oliver Twist)
King of Cups - Fred (A Christmas Carol)

What do you think? :)
 

Morwenna

Oh, Scrooge for the 4 of Pents is a great idea! Also, what about Fagin and his band of child pickpockets for the Seven of Swords? :)

I'm so glad to find other Dickens fanatics on here. I can't imagine why no one has done a tarot deck for him yet. :love:

Here are some other thoughts:
The Emperor - John Jarndyce (Bleak House)
The Empress - Clara Peggoty (David Copperfield).
The Lovers - Nicholas Nickleby and Madeline Bray (Nicholas Nickleby)
Judgement - Jacob Marley (A Christmas Carol)
Queen of Pentacles - Betsy Trotwood (David Copperfield)
King of Pentacles - Mr. Bronwlow (Oliver Twist)
King of Cups - Fred (A Christmas Carol)

What do you think? :)

Fagin is brilliant! As for the Lovers, there are SO many possibilities...

I like your idea of Pickwick. Betsey Trotwood and Mr Brownlow are spot-on; so is Jarndyce.

Right now I'm trying to place Miss Havisham... the Moon, maybe?
 

Green Faerie

Fagin is brilliant! As for the Lovers, there are SO many possibilities...

I like your idea of Pickwick. Betsey Trotwood and Mr Brownlow are spot-on; so is Jarndyce.

Right now I'm trying to place Miss Havisham... the Moon, maybe?

There are so many possibilities for The Lovers - I was trying to think of a well-known pair in a book I hadn't used yet, so Nicholas and Madeline seemed like good candidates.

I was struggling to place Miss Havisham, too! It seems a shame not to use her somewhere; such a great character. She's intuitive, but also manipulative, and I don't think of the Moon as having to do with manipulation. Maybe she would fit in the Swords suit somewhere. I'll have to think more about that one.

What about Pip and Estella for the Six of Cups? :)
 

Morwenna

There are so many possibilities for The Lovers - I was trying to think of a well-known pair in a book I hadn't used yet, so Nicholas and Madeline seemed like good candidates.

I was struggling to place Miss Havisham, too! It seems a shame not to use her somewhere; such a great character. She's intuitive, but also manipulative, and I don't think of the Moon as having to do with manipulation. Maybe she would fit in the Swords suit somewhere. I'll have to think more about that one.

What about Pip and Estella for the Six of Cups? :)

Possibly; also young David Copperfield and Little Em'ly when he first visits her uncle's family.

As for Miss Havisham, I was thinking about the Moon as possible deception or illusion; she is that, certainly. But she could indeed be Queen of Swords, come to think of it.

What to do with Mr. Micawber!! Wheel, maybe?

This whole conversation just highlights how Dickens wrote in archetypes. It's hard to stuff his characters into Tarot symbols. Probably it would be easier to think of a card and see which character fits, than to pick a character and see what card fits.

But this is getting pretty OT... :)
 

Green Faerie

Possibly; also young David Copperfield and Little Em'ly when he first visits her uncle's family.

As for Miss Havisham, I was thinking about the Moon as possible deception or illusion; she is that, certainly. But she could indeed be Queen of Swords, come to think of it.

What to do with Mr. Micawber!! Wheel, maybe?

This whole conversation just highlights how Dickens wrote in archetypes. It's hard to stuff his characters into Tarot symbols. Probably it would be easier to think of a card and see which character fits, than to pick a character and see what card fits.

But this is getting pretty OT... :)

It is. :) I'd be happy to keep PMing about it, if you like! And I have an idea about Mr. Micawber, but I have to pull out one of my decks and go looking for the card I'm thinking about; I can see it in my head, but I can't remember which one it is at the moment. You're right that it's easier to think of cards first and then characters, a lot of the time!
 

Shade

I created a Dickens quote deck, it's an Oswald Wirth various Dickens quotes on each card (and only the majors) and copies of the ace of cups to use as a back. It was for the host of a Dickens themed Christmas party I attended. I have the images in a folder for people to use, if you search this forum you can still find it.
 

Green Faerie

I created a Dickens quote deck, it's an Oswald Wirth various Dickens quotes on each card (and only the majors) and copies of the ace of cups to use as a back. It was for the host of a Dickens themed Christmas party I attended. I have the images in a folder for people to use, if you search this forum you can still find it.

I remember seeing that thread when you made the deck! It was so clever! Thanks for reminding people that it's out there on the forum; maybe someone else will be able to use it and have some fun. :)
 

Shade

A character-per-card approach as you are suggesting would be a much, much more entertaining deck to use. And a Dickens Lenormand can't be far off as each of those cards gets to include a few lines of wisdom.

A famed bay Area Tarot-ista portrays Mrs Finching at the local Dickens fair and I've wondered which card would be the most suitable for her.