Original sketch for THE EMPRESS (III) in The Marker Tarot
Closer to how THE EMPRESS (III) will appear in The Marker Tarot
For comparison, THE EMPRESS (III) in the well known Rider/Waite/Smith deck
Today's card in The Marker Tarot* is The Empress (III). I've kept noting as I've been doing other sorts of work at my computer, that today is Friday the 13th. And now find myself wondering if there's any connection I can possibly wring out of this to The Empress card. So far nothing has occurred to me. Especially as after I'd scanned in the above sketch I had the good fortune to realize a way I can easily further clean up these designs once they're on my computer. And that's a stroke of good luck, just the opposite of what a Friday the 13th might portend. Smile. (The way to further clean up these sketches? Just increase the contrast and decrease the midtones.)
But to The Empress: as I mentioned at the end of my previous post on The High Priestess, I have a rather neutral reaction to III when She shows up in readings. And getting out of that neutral response is often a challenge for me. Getting into gear and going someplace, anyplace at all with this card (and a couple others, such as The Magician) can be a struggle. Even The Marker Tarot design for III was one of the biggest challenges of the entire 78 Tarot cards. It took many months to get to what even felt somewhat close to a form that I liked. Then it took more time to become refined. I know that must sound silly with such a simple design. But that's the truth of it.
Now I'm trying to see how all this might relate to what I know about III. Hm, She's about Creative Imagination at heart. So maybe this struggle I've been referencing is one way in which creativity manifests. Yes, any birth (something else She often portends) is a lot of work to say the least, but well worth it.
Next up will be The Emperor (IV). His design was rather solid -- like the immovable old square that He can sometimes be -- from the start.
*The other two decks I've got going are Roswila's Taiga Tarot (blog dedicated solely to the deck's designs), and Roswila's Tarot Gallery & Journal (you can search for "Found Tarot" at the top left of this blog; the photo/cards for The Found Tarot are salted betwixt and between all sorts of other posts).
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For the full details (history of and ideas behind this deck's designs) please see this blogs' first post, The Fool.
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'til next time, keep enjoying The Tarot, in whatever forms it comes to you,
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing, please email me for permission (under "View my complete profile")**** SEE ALSO: United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS) (charter member); Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila's Tarot Gallery & Journal; Roswila's Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only.
