Thursday, June 21st, 2012

Hanged Man β€” Tarot of the Absurd

il penduThe hanged man sacrifices himself
for some purpose greater than his own well-being.
A willing victim of his own up-ended perspective,
he pushes aside the popular opinion,
forsakes the temptation of easy gratification
and goes without things commonly seen as β€œneeds”
in attempt to open others’ eyes
to a different world view.

 

A martyr to some is a traitor to others;
a thief to some is a savior to others.
Bear witness to your true beliefs:
Which side are you on?

 

*Β Β  *Β Β  *

 

I went to the printer’s with my 80 files: 78 cards plus the extra moon plus the silly copyright card. The silly copyright card will be numbered (1 thru 600) and signed, but I’m not going to let you know all the silly words.

 

I’ve never gone through the process of putting something in print format for the printer before. I needed to make all the files the exact correct dimensions (7cm x 12.5cm) and add bleed and crop marks and make sure the color was correct. Tedious.

 

I hear the millions (I wish!) asking, “What color?” Oh, if only I could have known before-hand that files need to be in CMYK for print and RGB for screen. For some mysterious reason (feel free to enlighten me in great detail if you know), RGB black does not translate to the same black as CMYK black. Now that I’ve re-learned my lesson the hard way, I recall being told something to that effect a dozen years ago.

 

Anyhow, all my files were printing some horrible muddied black. I am a person of muddy grays in theory, but I wish the pigment on these cards to appear BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK.

 

The upshot is, I should get to see a proof sometime next week. Yahoo! After I measure how thick the stack of cards is, I will design a box. The box will not be a regular tuck box, because my printer does not have a die to cut them out and I do not wish to cut out 600 boxes by hand (why not? who knows!) so I am making my task even more difficult by having a partly printed, partly handmade box. Thus, no two boxes will be exactly alike.

 

If anyone is interested in a copy, do feel free to let me know (see the contact info) and I will keep track of you in a very organized manner and let you know when it is ready.

 

You notice I have not yet mentioned price. This does not mean they will be free. It means I detest setting prices. Ultimately, it will be the low-average price for a LE self-published deck, which is $41 including shipping in the US. Assuming the box is not too much work…

 

*Β Β  *Β Β  *

 

Happy Summer Solstice!

Saturday, June 2nd, 2012

Six of Cups β€” Tarot of the Absurd

6 of cups meaningArtist: Jessica Shanahan

 

Like unripe fruit, memories sweeten with age. Like fine wine, they leave a complex mingling of flavors on the tongue. The Six of Cups is a card of sweet remembrance of things gone by. It is possible to drink from the cup memory to the point of intoxication and delusion.

 

When we think we remember something correctly, we must remind ourselves that the contents of the mind are fluid. Beginning at the moment of occurrence, memory of events changes over time. Each one of usβ€” each bodyβ€” views an event through the filter of our past experiences. Unfortunately, there is no unbiased bank of memory for us to draw from. There is no unbodied observer, completely devoid of experience, with whom we can consult about what really did happen. Each of us sees an event from a slightly different angle, from a slightly different body, from a slightly different mindset. Our memories are skewed by emotion and circumstance. Visions of the past are as plentiful and as varied as visions of the future.

 

The people on the Six of Cups card descry knowledge of the past by reading tea leaves. Photo albums, journals, scrap-books, stones and driftwood, animal bones, stars and layers of soil, tree rings and faerie rings, a scattering of ashes, the shapes of clouds, a crystal ball, history books, faerie tales, or Tarot cards could all be used for the same purpose. The past is just as certain as the future. Perhaps this card could be seen as a reminder to remain present.