STRENGTH (VII)

Original sketch for Strength (VIII) in The Marker Tarot

Closer to how Strength (VIII) will appear in The Marker Tarot

For comparison, Strength (VIII) in the well-known Rider/Waite/Smith deck

First, it's such fun to be back to work on The Marker Tarot.* Until Strength (VIII) (today's design) popped into my memory as I was starting off on a long walk, I'd not realized how much I'd missed this particular aspect of my journey with The Tarot. It was like having a friend of a great many years one hasn't seen in ages, suddenly appear on one's doorstep.

As to why this sudden visit from VIII? I'll be exploring that question for some time to come, I'm sure. But right now I can say it's to remind me I'm not the only person ever to have to continually learn how best to wrestle lovingly with a "lion within." A lion who is most dangerous when ignored and denied, and most powerful and life-giving when cared for and guided gently and compassionately. The hitch to all this? As Jung has been purported to have said "How does one find a lion that has swallowed you?"

At the end of my last post, on The Chariot, I mention that VIII is one of my favorite Tarot Majors, as well as Marker Tarot designs. Well, the former is still quite true. And the latter also. However, not without first doing a bit of fussing at it today. I kept trying to make more out of both the leminiscate/mobius strip and its relationship to the triangle. But I finally realized what works is the simplicity and have retained my original design.

Speaking of that triangle, BTW. I read somewhere many years ago in an unrelated context, that the triangle is the strongest of geometric forms. So it has always seemed a very appropriate and simple glyph for a card entitled "Strength."

The next card up will be The Hermit (IX). As I worked on this Marker Tarot (and it's predecessor whose designs underlie much of it, The Tactile Tarot) I would find my glyphs for IX and VIII becoming way too similar. That sense of inner/outer kept taking over them both. But, as you may see when I make the IX post, I've finally made a clear distinction between them. VIII stressing more the connecting to/taming the inner, and IX sharing the inner outwardly. Yeah, a picture sure is worth a thousand words, isn't it? I often feel hopeless to express anything fully in words, much less accurately. And that could be said to be the plight of the poet (something else I have pretensions of being): drawn to express what ultimately can't be. But The Hermit has a lovely way of expressing without words or even many times, intent: by simply living her/his life to the best of her/his ability.

*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).

* * * *

For the full details (history of and ideas behind this deck's designs) please see this blogs' first post, The Fool.

* * * *

'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: Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; and Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only.

THE CHARIOT (VII)

Original sketch for THE CHARIOT (VII) in The Marker Tarot

Closer to how THE CHARIOT (VII) will appear in The Marker Tarot

For comparison, THE CHARIOT (VII) in the well-known Rider/Waite/Smith deck

As I mentioned at the end of my previous post about THE LOVERS (VI), today's card for "The Market Tarot,"* THE CHARIOT (VII) is another card I've never really "gotten next to." Even when the usually male Charioteer is female, it still tends not to generate more for me than "You go, Girl!" This may have to do, at least in part, with my personal over-focus on the inner world. As VII can be seen as action in the outer, material world. I.e., the choices made in the inner arena of VI are now being applied in the outer world in some concrete way.  This, of course, is the logical next step for The Fool, as s/he has developed enough to move beyond living inside, to exploring and building in the material realm. In fact, it's a necessary step out of the protective egg of the small self, into the risky but rich and vital material world.

Synchronistically, I'm presently having trouble being out in the concrete world (literally in the case of sidewalks :-D) both due to a physical problem and to a spate of more than usually intense emotional upheaval. But I have been sorely missing my almost daily very long walks (as much as two miles) on which I use my own version of a chariot: a wheeled  walker. When I saw my final drawing for VII finished and taped to the card (there are several previous versions), I laughed out loud. It looks a bit like The Fool (the circle) seated on a flying magic carpet! And that would be my wish now, as an injured toe prevents those long walks until it heals. Also, because it's such an effort to get anything accomplished in this world the more I age.  Ah, if "Pigs had wings ..." But they don't, and carpets and walkers can't fly either. Neither can the chariots of our bodies, pulled forward by our conscious and unconscious minds -- sometimes contrary, sometimes cooperating, sometimes utterly oblivious to each other.

Next card up will be STRENGTH (VIII), one of my favorite Majors (as well as one of my favorite Marker Tarot designs so far). THE CHARIOT/teer has become more active in the world, as well as more accomplished in staying "on the road" while still honoring inner processes. But VIII brings in an even deeper and higher challenge that can lead to further integration.

*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).

* * * *

For the full details (history of and ideas behind this deck's designs) please see this blogs' first post, The Fool.

* * * *

'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: Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; and Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only.

THE LOVERS (VI)

Original sketch for THE LOVERS (VI) in The Marker Tarot*

Closer to how THE LOVERS (VI) will appear in The Marker Tarot*

For comparison, THE LOVERS (VI) in the well-known Rider/Waite/Smith (RSW) deck.

So, here we are at one of the most "popular" cards with the general public, THE LOVERS (VI). Back in the day when I was reading professionally, it often elicited positive responses of some sort from Tarot clients. (As opposed to those cards that generated the occasional hidden -- and sometimes not so hidden -- flinch when they would show up: Death or The Devil or The Hanged Man.) Yet in my readings for over 40 years for both others and myself, VI has often given me a troubling pause. Especially as it tends to be more about all sorts of choices that we are faced with in our lives rather than issues that are generated by romantic love. Well, I'll modify that and add that love does frequently enter the picture in all sorts of choices. "Nothing's a sure thing, baby, so play the game with most heart." I blush to say that that line in quotes is from one of my own dream poems. Essentially saying, you can't know the outcome for sure, so best to let love -- your heart -- guide your choice. And that puts me in mind of the idea that appears in VI lore: it's through the feminine (not necessarily female gender, but definitely feminine aspect) that we find our ways to Spirit. In the above Marker Tarot glyph, the Spirit would be the top arrow, the feminine on the left, and the masculine on the right. This is the arrangement on the well-known RWS version above. Of note here in the RWS version is that the male figure is looking toward the female, who's looking to the Angel who's sometimes interpreted as representing Spirit.

As often with these Marker Tarot posts, it's synchronistic this particular card would be up now. I have been faced with more huge and entangling inner world choices (and many times, the challenge to choose to simply accept what is) than I have been in years. It is good to be reminded that no matter how desperately lost I may be feeling or am, I need not always become some sort of well-armed, full time, furious warrior to wend my way back to the guiding light of Spirit. As the way in which Spirit calls to us can often be subtle and require us to yield, to be receptive, to be more yin than yang. And, not surprisingly, The Marker Tarot VI vaguely reminds me of that ancient Yin/Yang symbol.

The next Marker Tarot design will be THE CHARIOT (VII), a card I've never fully buddied up to. Maybe work with it here will bring me closer. In terms of the little story that's emerging within the Majors of the Tarot as I put them up here, VII can be seen as the Fool acting on/taking the choice(s) s/he's made out into the world in some concrete way.

*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).

* * * *

For the full details (history of and ideas behind this deck's designs) please see this blogs' first post, The Fool.

* * * *

'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: Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; and Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only.

THE HIEROPHANT (V)

Original sketch for THE HIEROPHANT (V) in The Marker Tarot

Closer to how THE HIEROPHANT (V) will appear in The Marker Tarot [Note: This is the sketch at the top of this post, with the Photoshop color inversion filter applied, followed by the glowing edges filter ... another design experiment along the way.]

For comparison, THE HIEROPHANT (V) in the well-known Rider/Waite/Smith deck

As I mentioned at the end of my previous post, The Hierophant (V) was one of the most difficult Marker Tarot* designs to finalize. It was equally so in my Tactile Tarot (the deck that ultimately morphed into The Marker Tarot) and in my Taiga Tarot (see signature below for link to its blog). This is at least partly due to my identification with V as it's one card in my "family" of cards in the Tarot, as determined by methods such as numerology and astrology. And it's the primary card in my "family," as The Hierophant's number is five, and I'm a five by both name and birth date numerology. This identification can sometimes make me a bit doubtful about how I see V. Do I see it clearly, feel it deeply enough, or does my own reflection get in the way?

There are other possible reasons for my difficulty with its design but that's not what this post is about. Especially as I did finally decide on a design I like and resonate with. One that expands somewhat on The Hierophant in my Taiga Tarot, taking off from an old name for V: The Pope, or Pontiff, which word means "bridge builder." And that is a nicely graphic way to depict spiritual teaching, one of V's most commonly agreed upon central aspects. In a less exclusively spiritual context The Hierophant might be seen as honoring the human need to tell one's story to others. To be heard ... and in that way to touch and to be known.

Looking at the Tarot cards as representing a journey from birth onward, by the V one has come far enough along one's path to have stories separate and different from one's parental figures (III and IV, the previous cards). And this emergent individuality leads to choices that are often represented by the following card which I'll post next, The Lovers (VI). BTW, this little story I find emerging as I post The Marker Tarot cards is only one way the progression of the cards might be seen. I imagine many Tarot aficionados are inspired by the richness of the Tarot to see other stories.

*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).

* * * *

For the full details (history of and ideas behind this deck's designs) please see this blogs' first post, The Fool.

* * * *

'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: Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; and Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only.

THE EMPEROR (IV)

Yup, it's been over a year since I last posted to this blog. Nor have I done any work on The Marker Tarot designs in that time. Long story, but I'm now enthusiastically back to work on this deck. (The other two decks I've been sharing my designs for: The Taiga Tarot and The Found Tarot [links below in signature], will also have posts showing up for them again soon.)

As I said in November 2015, THE EMPEROR (IV) is the next card:

Original sketch for THE EMPEROR (IV) in The Marker Tarot

Closer to how THE EMPEROR (IV) will appear in The Marker Tarot

For comparison, THE EMPEROR (IV) in the well-known Rider/Waite/Smith deck

I won't go into the details but it's synchronous that the first card as I start back on posting
from The Marker Tarot would be IV. The Emperor is often seen as the archetypal, and
sometimes personal, father. And father issues have been up in my life in a big way for some time now. As of this writing I'm getting (seeing) something I'd not gotten before about this card. It can say to examine in what ways some important father figure in one's life has determined how one views (sees) things. Some foundational way one may not even be all that aware of.

Although its more often shown up in the King of Wands, IV also addresses something
my life keeps urging me in various ways not to forget to do: be the father to myself that I never really had.

In a more general sense, I always get a chuckle out of the possibility of clairvoyance this card can represent. Maybe this ability is at least partly why He can seem so solid and calm. If one has a sense of what the future may bring, then what to do becomes much clearer and one can focus on action as opposed to worrying.

I'm also often struck by his protection of what The Empress (III) creates. Both maintaining/containing Her sometimes wild creative efforts and taking good care of them in the even wilder world.

The next card up will be THE HIEROPHANT (V). A design I had an especially hard time with, even as far back as the design I'd done for it in a deck for blind folk (which deck is at the roots of The Marker Tarot) and on a side trip, to the V in my Taiga Tarot. But I think I'm finally content with its design in The Marker Tarot that I'll be sharing here soon.

Footnote: 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).

* * * *

For the full details (history of and ideas behind this deck's designs) please see this blogs' first post, The Fool.

* * * *

'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: Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm for Tarot poetry; Roswila's Tarot Gallery & Journal; Roswila's Taiga Tarot for taiga (illustrated tanka); and Trying to Hold A Box of Light for digital photos only.

THE EMPRESS (III)

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).

* * * *

For the full details (history of and ideas behind this deck's designs) please see this blogs' first post, The Fool.

* * * *

'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.

THE HIGH PRIESTESS

Original sketch for THE HIGH PRIESTESS (II) in The Marker Tarot

Closer to how THE HIGH PRIESTESS (II) will look in the final Marker Tarot

THE HIGH PRIESTESS (II) in the well-known Rider-Waite-Smith deck

So, moving right along, or in keeping with today's card it would be better to say "going with the flow," here's The High Priestess (II) in The Marker Tarot.* As I worked on this card I kept remembering that in some older decks She's called The Papess. And that if one thinks of an actual person as the source of this, there is a legend that there was once a female Pope, known as Pope Joan. Whether this is true or not, it adds even more possibilities to an already intriguing card with a far reach. Ultimately, though, what I come away with from any encounter with The High Priestess is the reminder that all the waters depicted anywhere else in The Tarot images are said to flow from the hem of Her robe. And that one might do well to deeply consider those subtle urgings and intuitions.

The High Priestess also tends to bring up memories of a dear friend of mine who died very young. She identified with this card as the initials of her first and middle names were B and J (the letters usually appearing on the pillars to either side of II, standing for Boaz and Jachin). Sometimes this recall prompts a later dream message from Brenda, and at other times just a sad but fond feeling.

Next up will be The Empress (III), a card I've oddly enough often had a rather neutral relationship with. When She shows in a reading I'm usually a little befuddled. She and The Magician have been alike in this way for me. Yet The Magician's Marker Tarot design popped quickly (see previous post). While The Empress's has gone through many reworkings.

*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).

* * * *

For the full details (history of and ideas behind this deck's designs) please see this blogs' first post, The Fool.

* * * *

'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.