Does anyone find my deck interesting?

[karacol]

I've been creating a tarot deck since August 2003. It has been a lot of hard work, and I've only completed about one-fourth of it so far.

http://karacol.deviantart.com/gallery/ - click on an image thumbnail to enlarge (and again for a larger view, if you like).

I feel like the deck is at a significant point of maturation, and I would love to get some feedback on the images. Do you think the deck as a whole is interesting? What catches your eye (good or bad)? Does the imagery make sense?

Ultimately, I'm making the deck for personal satisfaction, but I am curious to see how people react to the images, as it helps me sense their effectiveness, to spot problems, and to develop themes for future cards.

Thanks!

Henry

(the images are posted on deviantart, which allows comments to members. Feel free to leave comments there, if you prefer.)

*Update 12/21*
Lots of people are asking about the seemingly contradictory imagery in the Ace of Cups card, so here's one explanation I wrote to a Deviantart member:

"For me, the flame can represent burning love and abundance (fortune burning bright, rather than burning up). The flower emphasizes the fertility and abundance aspect. Also, scientifically speaking, water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, both very flammable elements. So in a sense the fortune in the water element is fueling this small, contained flame.

Reversed you start to get the sense of fortune being burned up, so the troubled love and anxiousness is made more acute since it has the added activity of flame.

Generally speaking, I think that the water element has a lot of complexities that bridge with fire, in unexpected ways. Immediately I think of volcanic islands, geysers; steam vents at the bottom of the ocean with their own ecosystem. I think of the organisms that live in the lightless depths of the ocean, subsisting on the heat and chemicals of magma vents. I think of water-fueled engines that release pure oxygen as the only by-product. I'm very interested in this mix, being a scorpio myself, which I see as a sign full of fiery tendancies but is of course a water sign."

 

[Alta]

I didn't look at all of them. A few comments.

Sorry, don't like The Hanged Man. For me a little to much like some bondage death from CSI.

The 8 of pentacles is deeply original and to me does indeed express a significant part of the card's meanings.

Knight of pentacles. I am unsure why in your comments you say this is the most actively violent or aggressive of the knights. Not my impression gained and I have read several books and own quite a few decks. The image is though good for the knight. I could associate it with learning, with slow development and unfolding.

Page of wands, interesting and good. Even get the hint of the deviousness and trickery possible with this card.

2 of swords: okay but doesn't pull the meaning in for me.

The back is very cool, I like it. Strong and symetrical, like the eye of god imagery.

High Priestess, to me the elements are good but the card doesn't seem pulled together enough yet.

7 of cups: okay, that is brilliant. Another one of your cards which is deeply original and really grabs out the meaning but presents in a startling way.

The Empress has good humour to it, but doesn't give over the 'female in power' part of the meaning quite enough. Close though. The card appeals to me.

8 of wands. Honestly, this deck shows wonderful depth. To me that is a brilliant redoing of the energies implied. It is slightly limited by implying a more interior take but an intutive reader will grab both sides for various readings.

Star is pretty but I don't get it really.

Ace of cups. A cup of fire? Interesting image but sort of contradicts the essential meaning of the card. Unless you meaning burning love or something like that.

5 of swords. nteresting but I could read with it, but others pull meaning better.

Knight of swords, really excellent again. You seem very strong with the Courts I have looked at so far. The image of the swords coming out of the head (mental sign) is brilliant.

 

[Alta]

3 of cups: I get it but it is a bit weak in pulling meaning. The implication of possible over-partying is there (cups partly underwater and one cup turned on its side). And fellowship. But, missing something.

The World is excellent. Good strong imagery and would draw meaning in a reading.

The Tower is fine. nothing new but well done.

The Fool: I actually like this one quite a bit. How you managed to convey inncoence and vulnerability with just a back shot is beyond me, but well done. The Fool usually doesn't include water but I think it works here.

The Moon: not for me. too 'pretty'. this card should have a slightly menacing atmosphere. A shiver in the spine so to speak.

The devil, for personal reasons of my own, strikes me as brilliant. Mind you, I have a thing about mirrors, portraits and low light.

Strength: I may not be understanding that one. Is it something about England?

I had to do the double zoom to see the hierophant correctly 9(dark). Seems to me this wouldn't make a bad Hermit. As heirophant it left me a little uncertain, though I think I partly understand it. By the denim are you implying the wisdom of the common man? Not necessarily needing religious leaders because of what we already have inside??

hermit: too young. Didn't care for this depiction. Do understand the role of the fence or barricade though.

 

[Marua]

Pretty good.

I like them. Artistically they are very good, however as tarot cards they could need a bit more symbolism in some of them, but thats just my personal opinion. However, if they are only for personal use, and you like them the way they are, leave them that way. What you see and feel yourself is what's important.
I look forward to seeing the rest.

Love from Marua.

 

[karacol]

I like them. Artistically they are very good, however as tarot cards they could need a bit more symbolism in some of them, but thats just my personal opinion. However, if they are only for personal use, and you like them the way they are, leave them that way. What you see and feel yourself is what's important.
I look forward to seeing the rest.

Love from Marua.

Thanks Marua! I'd like them to be funtional as well as personal, which is the biggest reason to get feedback. That way the deck is a reat tarot deck, rather than tarot-themed art.

 

[Sidhe-Ra]

Hi- I have a deviantart account, too, so I've left comments on there. I really like it a lot! Quite dark, very unique.

 

[karacol]

I didn't look at them. A few comments.

Sorry, don't like The Hanged Man. For me a little to much like some bondage death from CSI.

The 8 of pentacles is deeply original and to me does indeed express a significant part of the card's meanings.

Knight of pentacles. I am unsure why in your comments you say this is the most actively violent or aggressive of the knights. Not my impression gained and I have read several books and own quite a few decks. The image is though good for the knight. I could associate it with learning, with slow development and unfolding.

Page of wands, interesting and good. Even get the hint of the deviousness and trickery possible with this card.

2 of swords: okay but doesn't pull the meaning in for me.

The back is very cool, I like it. Strong and symetrical, like the eye of god imagery.

High Priestess, to me the elements are good but the card doesn't seem pulled together enough yet.

7 of cups: okay, that is brilliant. Another one of your cards which is deeply original and really grabs out the meaning but presents in a startling way.

The Empress has good humour to it, but doesn't give over the 'female in power' part of the meaning quite enough. Close though. The card appeals to me.

8 of wands. Honestly, this deck shows wonderful depth. To me that is a brilliant redoing of the energies implied. It is slightly limited by implying a more interior take but an intutive reader will grab both sides for various readings.

Star is pretty but I don't get it really.

Ace of cups. A cup of fire? Interesting image but sort of contradicts the essential meaning of the card. Unless you meaning burning love or something like that.

5 of swords. nteresting but I could read with it, but others pull meaning better.

Knight of swords, really excellent again. You seem very strong with the Courts I have looked at so far. The image of the swords coming out of the head (mental sign) is brilliant.

That's funny, that's the first CSI reference I've received! I do agree that this card needs work.

For the knight of pentacles, I based the interpretation largely on what Rachel Pollack wrote in the Vertigo Tarot, combined with the history and life of the model. I know basing meaning on the model is unorthodox, but I feel that it can be a way of acheiving meaning the same way that using a symbolic character can be, but in the reverse. What it really means is that the model is not simply a depiction or a placeholder, but is portrayed by the image.

Thanks for the point about the 'female in power' aspect of the Empress. I had not considered that aspect thoroughly when I created the image.

Adding fire to the Ace of Cups was an almost whimsical addition, but I actually think it works, as contradictory as it seems. The cup is emerging from water, which is itself highly, explosively flammable when split into its elements of hydrogen and oxygen. The flame, to me, represents a sign of abundance and light, in this context. (But maybe that isn't expressed effectively through the imagery?)

The 2 of Swords image came directly from a very powerful, vivid tarot reading a lady (who has an aeclectic account, I think) did for me. Perhaps it's too personal of an image.

I'm glad you like the 8 of wands and 8 of pentacles. The 8 of wands, tweeked the way it is, fit a personal story of the model. The 8 of pentacles was just a lot of fun to make, and it's one of my favorites. And they both involve ammonites! Yay!

 

[karacol]

Hi- I have a deviantart account, too, so I've left comments on there. I really like it a lot! Quite dark, very unique.

Great! I'm going to check it now!

 

[sansa]

Very original. I enjoy the art in the cards. I could definetly see myself using them.

 

[karacol]

3 of cups: I get it but it is a bit weak in pulling meaning. The implication of possible over-partying is there (cups partly underwater and one cup turned on its side). And fellowship. But, missing something.

The World is excellent. Good strong imagery and would draw meaning in a reading.

The Tower is fine. nothing new but well done.

The Fool: I actually like this one quite a bit. How you managed to convey inncoence and vulnerability with just a back shot is beyond me, but well done. The Fool usually doesn't include water but I think it works here.

The Moon: not for me. too 'pretty'. this card should have a slightly menacing atmosphere. A shiver in the spine so to speak.

The devil, for personal reasons of my own, strikes me as brilliant. Mind you, I have a thing about mirrors, portraits and low light.

Strength: I may not be understanding that one. Is it something about England?

I had to do the double zoom to see the hierophant correctly 9(dark). Seems to me this wouldn't make a bad Hermit. As heirophant it left me a little uncertain, though I think I partly understand it. By the denim are you implying the wisdom of the common man? Not necessarily needing religious leaders because of what we already have inside??

hermit: too young. Didn't care for this depiction. Do understand the role of the fence or barricade though.

Really glad you like the World. Non-traditional and creepy, but I still love it. And I really love the equiangular spiral, crop-circle, fractal design. It's one of those symbols I love.

I can see the innocence in the Fool, now that you mention it, though it was not a direct intention to express that. I love those cliffs. The place feels like the end of the world and just teems with the apprehension that the knowing Fool must feel.

Moon: Too pretty? Well, that's my girlfriend, so that explains it.

Strength is very Galician (the Galicia of Spain, that is), actually, depicting the facade of the cathedral in Santiago de la Compostela, which is also where I get the image for the back of the cards. I was trying to show a relationship between the woman and the lion, but not to define that relationship to strictly. I've never really like the versions where the woman "tames" the lion, or that strictly define the relationship. I think that strength lies in flexibility, not rigidness. (The lion actually has a subtle link to the Devil card, but that is probably not something that comes through, nor is it designed to.)

I switched the imagery for the Heirophant and the Hermit, while keeping the meanings the same. For me, the man portrayed in the Heirophant fufills the role of the Heirophant in life, but actually fits the Gandalf-Hermit imagery much better. And because so many of my cards are also portraits, I defered to that instead of retaining the traditional imagery with the meaning. (I see it as balancing, since the imagery and meanings are actually preserved, just shifted, and I'm certainly not the first or most famous person to do something like that.)