Can decks have zodiac signs?

nisaba

I was talking about the deck.

The deck's rising sign would be determined by the moment when the deck arose in the creator's mind. The whole deck's Moon sign would be determined by the time of the completion of the Moon card. The deck's main sign or "sun sign" or "star sign" by its date of publication. Like us, a deck would have a complex chart, just differently constructed.

Given that the deck can't produce behaviour, I'd be interested in hearing how you'd see this as affecting a deck or your relationship with it.
 

Barleywine

Personally, I think it would be more useful to consider your own astrological makeup and then select a deck that speaks to that both emotionally and intellectually. For example, I have strong Cancer/Capricorn/Scorpio emphasis connected by major planetary aspects, and I should obviously be drawn to complex, intense, perhaps somber, unconventionally darkish decks. The Thoth and its progeny have always fit me to a "T," and more recently the Night Sun Tarot with Deviant Moon waiting in the wings.
 

Nemia

I don't think so. I'd find it limiting. A good deck incorporates aspects from all zodiac signs and planets. I want to find Saturn and Mars, Sagittarius and Taurus, Moon and Sun in my decks. People are complex and much more than just their birth sign, and so are good decks.

But I guess it's a personal feeling.
 

Barleywine

Once again, as the OP seems to intend, I'm talking about the deck as a whole, as an integrated entity or "personality," not the individual card attributions. It seems reasonable to assume that there could be deck "soul-mates" the way there are - at least supposedly - human soul-mates. The Thoth certainly strikes me as such, in a way that the Hanson-Roberts and its ilk do not and never will. But the astrology doesn't come from the deck itself, it comes from the alignment of its emotive qualities with my own "signature." That's the only way considering an overall "deck sign" makes any sense to me - as resonance, not as a technical birth-chart for the deck's creation. Admittedly, it's more than a little fanciful: the Night Sun might seem a bit Scorpionic, the Aquarian - despite its name - could be seen as Virgoan due to what some sense as its "Fall" vibe, as well as its low-key, utilitarian nature. Some of the more openly friendly decks like the Connolly might be experienced as sociable in a Leonine way, without the regal veneer.
 

Lucas Prince of Cats

Nice replies! Interestingly, I was recently wanting a very Libra deck, so I went out and got the one that drew me, and I did a birth chart calculator for when I first opened it up, and tried to get to know it, and it happenned to be a sun, and moon libra. Wow!

Also, seeing that the mars sign is action and sensuality, that would be interesting to ponder.
Also, I like to think that the ascendent would have to do when it was first opened and used Perhaps, it's moon is for when the whole decks art and concepts where thought up. The sun would be when it was complete or finished physically. The venus would be it's relationship with it's readers and querents. It's mercury would be where it goes among the hands of readers. Jupiter kight be determined when the first thought of the deck came up. Or maybe they're all determined together?
 

chaosbloom

Lucas Prince of Cats said:
I was just wondering if anyone has ever thought of figuring out astrological signs for their decks, and how they would do it, like, would it be for when they were first opened by you?
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Pick a full moon under the sign you want to ascribe to the deck and leave it under the moonlight until morning. That will be the night birth of the deck and you can probably rebirth it as you please. Although that would be more like a chief influence rather than a true human-like sun sign. Same with all other signs and planets, add planetary hours and sigils and do something of the sort. If you like the crazy sorceror who lives in a tower archetype, make a symbolic or alchemical womb for the deck, and then add each planet in the chart exactly as you want them using the above methods (the outer planets can take centuries to reach a desired position, so you might want to skip them or solve the immortality problem first).

If you're not into traditional planetary magic and want something more chaos magick instead, make a servitor that will be the deck's personality (more like the deck's genie), include the sign, and then just keep the deck's sigil charged. However, if you mess up in designing the servitor, your Tarot questions will be answered by it and not by whatever you think guides the cards.

I guess it all depends on how you think Tarot works. For me, it's a tool that you can use to contact the divine and seek divinatory answers. Giving a personality to a tool like that would interfere with this process so I'd probably never try to give a deck more than just a lunar influence (which I've done).
 

Lucas Prince of Cats

chaosbloom said:
Pick a full moon under the sign you want to ascribe to the deck and leave it under the moonlight until morning. That will be the night birth of the deck and you can probably rebirth it as you please. Although that would be more like a chief influence rather than a true human-like sun sign. Same with all other signs and planets, add planetary hours and sigils and do something of the sort. If you like the crazy sorceror who lives in a tower archetype, make a symbolic or alchemical womb for the deck, and then add each planet in the chart exactly as you want them using the above methods (the outer planets can take centuries to reach a desired position, so you might want to skip them or solve the immortality problem first).

If you're not into traditional planetary magic and want something more chaos magick instead, make a servitor that will be the deck's personality (more like the deck's genie), include the sign, and then just keep the deck's sigil charged. However, if you mess up in designing the servitor, your Tarot questions will be answered by it and not by whatever you think guides the cards.

I guess it all depends on how you think Tarot works. For me, it's a tool that you can use to contact the divine and seek divinatory answers. Giving a personality to a tool like that would interfere with this process so I'd probably never try to give a deck more than just a lunar influence (which I've done).
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Interesting reply!
 

chaosbloom

Lucas Prince of Cats said:
Interesting reply!
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I imagine you want something far less complicated than all that, right? Birth is creation or start but that can be many things. A deck's birth might be the moment it was conceived in the mind of the artist as others have said, or the moment it was completed, or the moment it was first used by anyone. But the deck you own is your deck. Simply pick the appropriate day to give it a special and secret name and that will be it's date of birth. Not as explicitly magical as what I've said before but it would still do what you want as long as you believe in the process.

I'd still pick a fresh deck to do that with but it's up to you.
 

Awakened Queen

My deck does! :)
 

Barleywine

Because there are so many possible birth dates for a deck, I think magical intent is the key. If you want a strong Libra emphasis, introduce yourself to a new deck (i.e. open it) around dawn on the day (usually) in October when the Moon is new; thus Sun, Moon and Ascendant will all be in Libra. Any other planets in Libra at that moment would be a bonus; this year it happened to be Mercury. That just occurred on October 13, 2015 so you're out of luck in that regard now, but you could still get two of three, minus Moon. I would still also consider the intrinsic nature of the artwork. I can think of decks that are cerebral and dreamy, and that might respond well to a "Libra" overlay.
 
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