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Thank you, @Raggydoll !

One suggestion (and maybe you’re already doing this) is to do test cards without committing to a full project. I’ve done lots of test cards in various styles, media and card sizes. I’ve also scanned and even test printed some to see what they would look like. If you want to eventually have your deck printed, it’s nice to learn more about how different papers, different pencils and colors (etc) work as a finished product. And it gets you going, which helps to give further ideas and inspiration! (If you don’t want to invest the money in printing test cards professionally, then you can print them with a home printer. It works great too). Best of luck with everything, and don’t feel pressured to show us your artwork, it’s nice just to read your thoughts on the process!

I have been wanting to create a tarot deck for ages. Every now and then, ideas come to me for the artwork on specific cards. I haven't done anything with these ideas yet, mostly because I want the deck to be cohesive and I was having problems visualizing how to connect the ideas I have for specific cards to each other. I was also thinking I need some sort of theme. I know that's not necessary, but I think it's cool when a tarot deck conveys a specific perspective. There are so many decks with really interesting or unusual themes/perspectives out there. Obviously, some work better than others, and some are very silly. I don't want mine to be silly. I want my theme to add something of value to anyone using the deck. For the longest time, however, I had a hard time coming up with any kind of theme that would be meaningful to me (and to others), and that I could execute well. BUT NOW I've come up with a theme that I can get excited about. I will have to do some research to see if there are any similar decks out there already, and I will also need to do some historical research and figure out who/what gets assigned to which tarot cards. See, the inspiration for my idea came from reading about actual historical figures. There are two historical novels I read recently, which are really fiction but heavily based on the lives of real people whose stories are amazing and inspiring. And those novels got me thinking. I could incorporate certain elements of their lives into tarot. Plus I would love to draw the clothing they wore, the types of buildings they lived in, and so on. While making notes on my ideas, I came up with four prominent historical figures and matched them up with the tarot suits. That made me see that this idea could work! And not in a cheesy or hokey way. The tricky part is the Majors. Do I have elements of each of these figures throughout the majors? Do I assign another historical figure to the Majors? Or do I create the Majors in sort of a generic way? I'm not sure "generic" is the right word, but I just mean less thematic, I guess. I'll just need to ponder this further and see what my imagination comes up with. Once I have the ideas for the theme and artwork solidified, then I will have to look into how to get the deck published. ===== I just want to acknowledge that some folks here were expecting to see images of my artwork in this "Art Blog." I should have been clear when I created it, that it's mostly where I want to work out ideas and talk to myself about them. That's not to say that I won't post any pictures of my art, though. I'm just not feeling ready to do that quite yet. Thanks for understanding!

Thank you! 🥰

I've said this before @Raggydoll , but I love the style of that deck you made. Even the card backs are just right.

I have some books on antique German and Swiss playing cards, and I referenced several different decks for this project. I picked my favorite depictions for all the cards, and I made sure that every card had clear symbolism. The coloring is not 100% original, I picked a color scheme that I loved and used it throughout. And the back design is of a later date, but I loved it so much that I had to use it.

You made this? I love it! What were your sources?

I really like the earliest German and Swiss decks, and I once made my own version based on multiple antique german decks. It was a super fun project, and it makes me smile whenever I use it 😁

Yes! I have a few German suited playing card decks. One card I particularly like attached. The Lo Scarabeo deck has similarly illustrated images. Unfortunately, when I went back to the shop where I had seen it two days ago, the deck had sold.

It’s a German suited deck, so it can be read just like other German playing cards. You should be able to find keywords for German suits if you do an online search.

Does anyone own this deck? It’s actually a playing card deck from the 1880s and not medieval but very pretty. I’d like opinions on card stock quality and if anyone has read with it, maybe as a cartomancy deck? Lo Scarabeo S.r.l.Medieval Fortune Telling CardsUn antico mazzo di carte da gioco e per la divinazione, illustrato con scene di vita medievale. Ogni seme rappresenta un tema diverso – relazioni amorose, caccia, commercio, guerra – per offrire una v

@Rachelcat You might try looking at the animal symbolism another way. With Lenormand, for example, the Snake is in a similar position- falseness etc. and the Fox likewise. If you trace the symbolism back to pre-Christian times, you’ll get different meanings. I have found the deck adjusts its language to these new readings if you are sincere.

Hi there! I saw your other post, desktop and google (chrome, I assume.) Go ahead and try it in an incognito window. You possibly have a plugin that might be conflicting. Please give that a shot and report back for further troubleshooting! :)

I am sorry you are having problems joining us SallyHill Are you using a phone or tablet or desktop browser to join? What browser are you using? Could you try a different browser or device if that one is not getting you through the security check for bots trying to join us We will get you in here 😀

Context of the reading is everything, I think you can get a lot from one card. However it depends on what you are reading on, if it's a really complicated or confusing situation, then you need quite a lot of cards. One card for a really complex situation isn't going to work well but then I see videos online of people doing 40 cards, and then clarifying them over the top, I turn off after the 5th card! I think working out the right spread and the right amount of cards for the reading is a real readers skill and something we get better at with our readings and experience.

I am having the exact same issue from my computer. I am using Google.

I am trying to sign up, but I keep getting an error message about the security question, and i cannot find a way to contact a moderator. Would appreciate some help!

grins Okay, okay, gotcha! 😄 I don't think the fewer and fewer cards is a new trend, back in the day I already thought "way too many cards, we can condense that" (and, anecdote, I once did a 1.5 hour live sessions based on one card - way back when...) Yes, three cards I think is still reasonable, and more if within a specific spread, but I am not one to just put 11, 15 or more cards down just because... that to me relies too much on the key words, but then again, I am an artwork reader rather than LWB...

Happy to remind you! I think it's pretty too. I'm not getting much out of it yet, but then I haven't tried with a really good question, or a question at all. And it has cat slander: The cat card is "Falseness"! So we'll see by the end of the week. I'll let you know.

Nope. Unless you are psychic 🤪.

@Rachelcat I just looked at your images and thought “what a lovely deck”! And then I remembered I have a copy of, which I haven’t looked at in years. Thank you for reminding me of it again. I like your deck interview too. Let us know how you get on with it? For myself, I drew this combo the other day and delight in how literal the deck can be even with its supposedly esoteric undertone. I’m working on a book, which the publisher asked me to revise. My question was “What do I need to consider as I work on the revisions?” I included the base card this time, as I often do in Tarot readings, as the underlying theme and energy of the reading. And lo and behold - it shows a book. The card titled Thoughts/Gedanken is an important image for me. It quotes an almost identically themed image in my book, which shows a fish in the position of the third eye. I read the whole card combo as I need to be committed to my intuition, my way of thinking and writing (my originality), and the way poetic thought/ knowledge works in its own mysterious ways (it cannot be forced). — The cards are a nice way of confirming how synchronicity works.

There seems to be a trend these days towards using fewer and fewer cards in a 'reading.' When you take a reading down to one card only, you must riff off that one card only. It doesn't matter whether you use traditional meanings or intuitive meanings, unless you are incredibly psychically skilled, you have only that one card to go on. It's fine, in my opinion, to pull one card a day to meditate on, for yourself, but if somebody comes to you for a reading and you only pull one card? What do you say to them, unless you truly do have psychic skills? It can provide a topic, but how can you progress the reading if they aren't in front of you to discuss the card and fit it into their own life situation? I think cards do their best work when they can create a 'conversation' between themselves. If you limit them to only one keyword, yes, they will sometimes hit a mark. But most of the time? If a person comes to you for a reading to help them with a real-life situation, and you pull Death? Okay, Death means something in their life is gone and won't return. But what has gone? That's where you need more cards. Will this ending be beneficial to them? Did they desire this end, or are they upset by it? Is this ending happening now, or is it a future or a past event? Is it something the querent can influence or work with, or is it a done deal? What happens next? And etc. Death is a dramatic card as well. Let's say, instead of Death, you pull the Queen of Wands. What do you say to the querent, if that's the only card you've got, and won't be pulling any more? One card can act as a beginning to a reading, if you establish a conversation with the querent. But if you want the reading to be helpful and not just guesswork, I think you need more cards, and more card positions. One-card readings may seem simple in concept, but I fear they prove to be anything but, in practice.

I think the main thing here is whether or not these readings prove to be relevant and accurate for the client. I’m not saying they aren’t, I’m just saying that I have come across people who are great at storytelling but not great at predicting the future or correctly reading the past/present. I have also come across some experienced tarot readers that are excellent at all those things, but they are not as common imo. Yes and no. If you’re a traditional reader, then you can view the card as the present and make skilled deductions about the past and the future, but unless you have some psychic skills, there would always be an element of speculation. In those cases it makes way more sense to me to just pull two more cards. I don’t think it’s wise to try and answer several different things with one card. When a psychic reader does that, they’re relying on much more than the one card, so it becomes a whole other story.

I just read it as showing the present state of affairs of the matter, that what immediately pertains to it. Say, if the matter inquired about is known to be a troublesome one, I expect a troubling card to appear atop the pre-selected one - which tells me we're on track. So the thing that card gets extra is not weight but attention at the start of the read.