The Minoan Tarot by Laura Perry

Aeric

Oh I love it all. It's only a pity that Linear A hasn't yet been fully explained and deciphered so that you could have included an exclusively Minoan script in the keywords. But B is just as good!
 

LauraPerry

I've put a little time into trying to translate Linear A over the years but I haven't gotten any further than anyone else. LOL I do wish we had a clue what it said, but I just didn't feel comfortable using it as random symbols. I wanted the script to have meaning for the cards and not just be pretty. :)
 

Aeric

I'm so eager to read that juicy guidebook alongside Ariadne's Thread. I've been through the entire deck on the Facebook site and am enamoured with the four Priest cards, especially the Priests of the Rhytons and the Labryses. I love the depiction of a priest as a sacred musician. What better way to both represent the Air element and honour the Great Goddess than through music?

According to the book, experienced male priests were depicted with beards, while the younger priests were clean-shaven. I take it then that replacing Kings in the court cards, the Priests in the MT are all initiates or younger priests just learning their duties but are more elevated than the Lords for their holiness?
 

LauraPerry

The main difference between the Lords and the Priests is functional, not age-related. The Lord cards represent men who have reached adulthood but have not attained their full level of emotional and spiritual maturity. In a way, they represent the male half of the general adult population. The Priest cards represent men who have reached spiritual maturity. They may not necessarily be older but they have reached a level of emotional and spiritual maturity beyond that of most adults. We can't be sure when the Minoan priests began wearing beards, whether it was at a particular age or when they attained a specific title or position in the temple. We just know that they're depicted as being noticeably older than the non-bearded figures. No matter how I tried, I just couldn't bring myself to depict the Priest images with beards, so perhaps there is more to the significance of the bearded figures than we are aware of.
 

Aeric

Ah I see. Thanks! I missed the 2015 cutoff for the course but I've joined the Tribe Facebook group just now. I asked my partner to consider Greece for our next vacation. I went in '98 and didn't really appreciate the Cretan tour as much in my high school naivete!
 

LauraPerry

I'll be offering the course again in 2016 so you'll have another opportunity. I'm hoping to have the deck available for purchase within the next few months, as I get the technical hurdles out of the way. I'm looking forward to your participation in the FB group. You might want to have a look through the Files section of the group - there's lots of helpful information there.
 

Aeric

I'm foaming at the mouth looking at that Linear B sacred terminology. I studied Attic Greek and Latin in my undergrad so I love this sort of thing!
 

LauraPerry

Please feel free to post thoughts and comments in the group. Our discussions range over a wide variety of Minoan-related subjects.