2econd 2arot

Yeh,,,, I think I reduced them a bit. For some reason my software keeps enlarging the images....so I've been reducing them. WIth Green Goddess, when I did that, she uploaded as tiny....so I uploaded it at original size, and from my control panel at Photobucket she looked about the same size as the others, even when you cliked on her...but when I went in thru the link here at the forum, it's like it was all undone.

I'm just looking for a way to get it all consistant to make veiwing more pleasant.

Amazing what the scanner reveals. I'm drawing these card size...about 3.75in by 5.25...and when they get blown up...the DETAIL. I don't know if it's my lousy vision, but I see things I need to fix...and yet, at "real" size (they'll be printed even smaller) you can't see any of that...so maybe I don't need to fix 'em.

Just sayin.
Thanks for looking, everyone.

emperor

Ok I now have my Emperor up. Not so set on the name of the card, tho.


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Hmmm. Something to match The Green Goddess would fit, but he's not green, lol. The Red something, maybe?

The antlers on his staff are a nice touch! he looks thoughtful.

How about "The Cheiftain" or "The Red Cheiftain?" Somehow the Emperor reminds me of someone so surrounded by opulance that he's out of touch with the land, his people and HER especially.

I tried to put in several references to the Green Goddess: He looks over towards her (as many Emperor cards do). The little clusters of 3 green jewels in his bronze crown...they add to 15 The Devil and reduce to 6 The Lovers. This shows the sexual relationship between them. And of course the antler with referrs back to the stag in the Green Goddess card.

Somehow "Cheiftain" seems more like what he looks like. The staff looks Native American-y...the bronze crown is not as Opulant as a gold one...more earthy. His vest looks leather to me. He's almost part trapper/mountain man.

I think it's spelt "chieftain" but yes, I agree that fits him really well. Especially with the antler and feathers on his staff, which make him look tribal. The clusters of jewels on his crown are a beautiful touch and reference to the Green Goddess. They look almost like they could be actual greenery like buds or clover leaves! But they're symbolically only on show on his crown whereas the Green Goddess is surrounded by lush greenery. Overall I think it's a really good portrayal of them both.

Glad you like them. I seem to be catching my stride somewhat working in this size. I need to go back and redo the Fool especially, make him larger...and perhaps "zoom in" on everybody else, too. I don't think I'll do that till I've done all the others, tho....

Lumps

Hierophant as Rabbi?

k...

What do y'all think of depicting the Hierophant as a Rabbi? We've seen priests, popes, gurus, shamen, buildings, stone gods... Somehow it seems really spot on for me... Qabalah, orthodoxy, traditions...

The Rabbi idea struck me a few hours ago, and it's intruiging me a bit. I'm not of Jewish lineage, but I've had lots and lots of "exposure" in that I used to teach music in a private jewish day school, and of course I've studied Qabalah quite a bit (albeit western qabalah.)

I used to go to a private Qabalah class at a rabbi's home as well.

When I first heard the term Hierophant, I thought "What the hell's a hierophant?" No one knows right off...so I think the term is a little out of touch. We've been discussing him over in the Using Tarot Cards forum.

I think Using a Rabbi is better than using a priest/pastor because in the (modern) church there's so little/no emphasis on mystical traditions...but the Rabbi's have the Qabalah, you know?

What say you? Opinions please, as it is time for me to do this card.

Well, it depends which branch of the Church you're talking about. In Catholicism or the Eastern Orthodox religions there is still lots of emphasis on ritual, traditions and mysticism.

But I agree that in Judaism there is more of a *consistent* emphasis on it, because there's less variation within the religion. Personally my favourite decks are ones where The Hierophant isn't representative of one particular religion, he's more of a generic wise person/sage figure so you can make whatever associations suit you as a reader.

Another thing to consider is whether you want an overall "theme" to your deck or not. The Green Goddess and The Chieftain are leaning more towards pagan or tribal religions. So do you want everything to tie together nicely into that theme or do you want to represent lots of different walks of life in your deck? Either is a valid path to go down. Lots of the most popular decks represent many different cultures, ethnicities, religions etc at once.

Topsy...thanks for this.

I don't know if you've followed it or not, but Thirteen and I have been having a drawn out conversation on "that dusty dry old Hierophant" over in Using Tarot cards. I'm picking peoples brains about him in both forums.

What you said really made me think about the theme of my deck...um...

y'know you are absolutely right, and while I have not identified a theme within myself, other than intuitively picking what is "just right" for me, I feel like i'd better DO THAT, huh??

I did a previous deck, and as I mentioned, never really thought about a theme either.

You know, whenever I use a deck, any deck, there are all the other versions of the cards, screaming at me from behind the scenes, you know what I mean? And because of all those to work with, in my head, the image on the card has not really mattered. In fact, I could have a card with "POPE" written on it, in some nondescript font, and I could still do a reading. So in designing cards, it's always been more about "what gets left out" than what goes in.

I want there to be a sort of unity or feel to it--I mean, I rejected "emperor" with a golden crown because such monarchs are wrapped up in their opulance and out of touch with the land and their people. It didn't seem to roll with the nature of the images...but I haven't defined it as "pagan" or "tribal" or anything like that. BUt a generic sort of "wise old man", well that's the hermit...as would be a shaman.

Here's my latest idea....

"The Storyteller".

I'll tell you why. I have been (it's been awhile) a professional storyteller. I've told many traditional stories, so I"m sort of connected with that.

Traditionally, the storytellers have kept the traditions and oral histories of their people. Many of the stories they tell are myth, and they shape the religious beliefs of their people...whether they are "just stories" or more than that depends on the belief of the independant hearer. On one level, it's "just a story", on another level, it's a parable with a powerful spiritual message behind it. The Storyteller doesn't tell you what that message is...s/he just tells the story.

It challenges us to assess the "stories we've been told" about life, death, morality, society, God, etc, and decide what do WE believe?