Food Fortunes?

gregory said:

Cups are drinks and I need coffee RIGHT NOW; this is true, and someone is making it...

ETA I think trying to work on every card individually is adding to confusion... There are many decks where one card in a suit gives you a whaaaaa moment. I thought the artist had already said he hadn't worked this out as tarot at all, though ?

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He wrote to me and said that he did not create this keeping a divinatory purpose in mind and did not design this to RWS specifications despite extensively studying the RWS system before and during the making of the Food Fortunes deck. However, there are cards that have very clear nods to RWS, like The Duo (definitely a Lovers card with the High Priestess element mixed in), or the Two of Sides, the Five of Drinks (most obvious one, with the spilled Coke). The others are harder to figure out, definitely. Like the Courts for example. Did you get any insights into the Courts gregory?

Not yet - but still - I think we HAVE to look at suits as four wholes, like. You can't - for instance, wild random stab - the deck's in the other room just now ! - decide that 2 drinks is a cup and 8 drinks is a coin...

gregory said:

Not yet - but still - I think we HAVE to look at suits as four wholes, like. You can't - for instance, wild random stab - the deck's in the other room just now ! - decide that 2 drinks is a cup and 8 drinks is a coin...

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I agree, although that seems to be the approach he has gone with. Take the sides for example. 2 of sides, criss - crossed strips of bacon. Definitely reminds me of Two of Swords but then, he has titled it The Constant. Which, the 2 of Swords is anything but. I mean, the indecision is the constant there. Ace of Sides, is a bowl of guacamole I think? I don't see how that could relate to the swords at all. I think the Ace card that shows a hand pouring clear water is the Ace of Swords. The Ace of Sweets is clearly positioned like the Ace of Pentacles. Ace of Mains (the canned soup) is a comforting option, that could said to be either the Ace of Cups or Pentacles. Which leaves the guacamole card (Ace of sides) to be the Ace of Wands.

I have a lot on this week...

But - Two Swords as constant works for me. Isn't flux and the agony of options the ONE constance in life ?

He knows changes aren't permanent...but change is!

I thought about that for the 2 Swords as well, but I just don't like the title "The Constant" for bacon.

Girl Archer said:

He wrote to me and said that he did not create this keeping a divinatory purpose in mind and did not design this to RWS specifications despite extensively studying the RWS system before and during the making of the Food Fortunes deck.

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It's a shame that he didn't. With just tiny tweaks, like...title swaps and card renumbering...this could have been a clone. A funny, interesting working deck.

gregory said:

Not yet - but still - I think we HAVE to look at suits as four wholes, like. You can't - for instance, wild random stab - the deck's in the other room just now ! - decide that 2 drinks is a cup and 8 drinks is a coin...

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I, personally, did that because none of the suits seem clear outside of Cups. And even those are debatable. Maybe if we pin down all the individual cards, we can just do a tally, and majority rules: the food with the most "wand" cards is Wands, lol.

Regarding the courts, just looking at them all together and generalizing: I feel like the four Drinks match pretty well to their RWS counterparts...of Swords. At least, if you focus on the liquid courage aspect of the alcohol drinks. All of those drinks could spur you into action.

Generalizing even more: the Sweets courts make a case for the Sweets being Cups, said an emotional eater.

I had to get it, the bacon card just cracked me up...DH was hooked at "The Slice" LOL.

I like a silly deck once in awhile, life is too long to take everything seriously all the time.

I will have to ponder on the suites for a bit though.

Girl Archer said:

I get how the pizza slice can be The Magician but I would think Burger = Emperor. Why Hierophant? I thought The Folded One (taco) was funny as The High Priestess.

gregory, can you explain what The Links meant in place of Hanged Man? All I saw was a bunch of sausages.

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And yet the burger as the hierophant makes perfect sense to me (only because there is a Burger's Priest restaurant just down the road from me lol) But...my first thought was that the taco should have been the Empress, not the HP. [emoji1]

OK SO - I am FAIRLY OK with the majors. Suits - I stick with cups as drinks - though the two needs a second straw. I LOVE the 5, as I DETEST cola.

I like pents as mains. Heavy, earthy, the MEAT of it all. The 5 is priceless - Chinese food does leave you empty and lacking,.

I also like sides as swords. I'm fine with the bacon- even with its title. The 3 could even suggest the agony of Delhi Belly.... and the 5 works for me - refried is another thing that does NOT appeal ! the 7 - broccoli - trapped wind ? and the 9 - blanco dip is a nightmare for me, so, fine.

So I am left with wands for sweets - and that works too. The upright ace breeding chocolate buttons in its new growth., The 5 with a HOLE PUNCHED through it. The 6 looks very celebratory, and the 10 - with the hefty pan (load) you can use to bop a burglar over the head - what a BURDEN.

omg I love this convo!

Hey Aeclectics!
I'm Josh, I wrote and illustrated Food Fortunes. I am so so so happy that there are people who are enjoying it.

To be quite honest, I didn't think the tarot/cartomancy community would be into Food Fortunes (but I am so glad that some of you are!). So, I made the deck as a novelty with the "layperson" in mind—someone who knew what tarot was but didn't really know anything about it. After discussing with my editor/publisher/agent in the early stages, we decided it would be best to pay homage to the RWS, but not try to copy it or fall in line with it. But I do love seeing all of the parallels that everyone is finding—it's so great!

I did study the RWS in depth and had my first few readings with the RWS while researching. Most of the carryover imagery is arbitrary, but I did my absolute best to be respectful of Smith's beautiful work.

Hopefully it's still enjoyable even with the knowledge that it's a little bit sacrilegious

tl;dr: the Food Fortunes suits don't match up with the RWS suits, but I'm totally loving everybody making it fit anyway!

Thank you to all of those that picked up a deck!
—Josh

joshlafayette said:

... the Food Fortunes suits don't match up with the RWS suits, but I'm totally loving everybody making it fit anyway!
—Josh

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If you read this, I would like to thank you for clearing that up, and as I wait for my deck to arrive, I am looking forward to make my readings with it reveal fresh insights with no pre-conceived associations, which might prove to be quite intriguing to say the least.