The Cheimonette Tarot

Hi everyone! I'm so happy that I am finally going to try and publish my tarot deck (I'm going to launch a Kickstarter campaign in September).

Ten years ago I began to create my own deck of Tarot cards. I synthesized a lot of historic research about the meanings behind the cards over the centuries (my favorite deck is the Thoth Tarot, so I began my research from there), and I also overlaid a lot of my own personal mythology and understanding of the Tarot system.

I am still finishing some of the cards (though most are finished), and I also need to write a booklet about my symbolism. I have intentionally designed this deck to welcome personal (rather than highly prescriptive) interpretations, and I tried to make my artwork evocative both of the rich history of Tarot and of new understandings of the card concepts, and the connections between them.

Anyway, here are a few examples. Please let me know what you think! I've really enjoyed the questions and knowledgeable feedback I've seen posted in these forums.

http://www.cheimonette.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/T6.png
http://www.cheimonette.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Prince-of-Cups.png
http://www.cheimonette.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/10-of-Sticks.png
http://www.cheimonette.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/3-of-Swords.png

Very nice work, cheimonette!
I like the washy watercolor combined with the relatively clean black ink drawing.
It seems you are referencing the looseness of the stencil coloring on the tightly rendered black key-lines of traditional woodcut decks, but in the context of watercolor & drawing.
....and I do like that sort of thing.
Thanks for posting.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of it.

I like the simplicity of palette and elegance of line in these cheimonette. Very appealing.

Count me in as a fan, too. Great colors, a skilled hand, creative and interesting too look at.

Oh, it's beautiful! I like it a lot!

Thanks so much, everyone! I actually taught myself how to use watercolor while making this deck; I love doing fine details in ink and I thought watercolor would loosen me up a little. It's also a good metaphor for the tarot: you never really know what watercolor is going to do no matter how skilled you are.

I'll post an image showing some of the unique card connections soon; like Fool-Love-Wheel-Devil-Angel, and the Magician and the Sun. The real joy I took in this project was coming up with my own interpretation of the tarot system, while keeping to a traditional (derived from the Marseilles/RW/Thoth systems) order, naming, and numbering framework.

For instance, the tree in the Love card is the Tree of Life (those mandala-flowers will always indicate that tree in my deck). I'm just starting to write the book for my deck now.

I like it too. It looks intense.

Here's an example of one of the new card connections in my deck, between the Devil (shown on the right) and Fortitude (shown on the left) cards.

http://www.cheimonette.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/T15+T11.png

The horse, as a symbol of the more animal aspects of human existence (worldly instinct and wisdom, suffering and liberty, material prosperity and impoverishment, etc.) shows up in these two cards because they both revolve around the opposite concepts of freedom (Fortitude) and captivity (The Devil).

The horse's body belongs with Fortitude as a basis for the mighty leap from biological survivalism into transcendent freedom, and the horse's head belongs with the Devil as a road to confinement and entrapment by the very thoughts which make us human.

As Kierkegaard writes: "There are only two view of life that correspond to the duality which is man: animal and spirit. According to the one the task is to live and enjoy life, and to put everything into this. The other view is: the meaning of life is to die."

When this deck gets published, I am buying a copy. No doubt about it. If you need a special spread for your manual, I'd love to provide one!

I'm getting ready to begin writing my book. I posted in the Tarot Books & Media forum asking people about what they look for in a tarot deck book, and I think I am going to include a full-color image of the card, and a page-long description. I'd like to stay away from keywords and simple descriptions of card meanings, and instead explain the concepts behind the trumps and pip suits, reversed cards, spreads, and court cards.

I designed these cards specifically to encourage more personal interpretation and "educated free-association", and I'd like to talk about that too.

I'd love to get any advice people might have about writing my book!