Leila Osman

Designing a Tarot Deck

Introduction The oldest remaining tarot decks are the Visconti-Sforza (fig. 1) decks painted in the 15th century. 1

However most subsequent decks are based on the Tarot of Marseilles (fig.2) which is believed to 2

have been designed in the late 15th century although the oldest remaining prints are dated around 1650. The classic modern deck is the Rider-Waite (fig.3) tarot which was first published in 1910. 3

The Rider-Waite tarot is designed by Arthur E Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. For the sake of giving Pamela Colman Smith the credit she is not always attributed with I will refer to this deck as the Smith Waite.

Unlike the playing cards we are familiar with a tarot deck is comprised of 78 cards which can be split into two groups: the major arcana and the minor arcana. The minor arcana is split into four suits. Cups represent things that exist in the emotional realm: they are not physical and they’re related to the element of water. Wands represent passion, primal energy, sexual energy and root of each individual consciousness: they relate to the element of fire. Pentacles are rooted in the physical world: they often represent money or any currency and physical exchange, they relate to the element of earth. Lastly, swords which relate to the intellectual and thinking realm: they symbolise critical thought and their element is air. Each suit is traditionally comprised of 10 numbered cards, a page, a knight, a queen and a king. The name of the court cards can differ depending on the deck but there are always four of them. The court cards can represent people, they may be the querent themself or somebody they know. The minor arcana generally represents small themes in the querent’s life, the everyday, things directly in the querent’s control. On the other hand the major arcana represent the big themes, the spiritual energy that surrounds the querent, things they may not have control over. The major arcana is comprised of 22 cards, that go from 0 The Fool to 21 The World, each card individual and representing its own theme or challenge. The secrets in the major arcana are numerous but generally the sequence can be compared to the traditional hero’s journey narrative.The tarot depicts objective archetypes that can be found in every human life and as a result every story we as humans tell. The symbols can be found in fairytales with Snow White and Rose Red representing the High Priestess and the Empress respectively, in Arthurian legends with Parzival as the Fool who finds The World—alongside every other Grail story both ancient and contemporary;—in Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials his growing heroine Lyra Silvertongue has her very own divination device the alethiometer (truth measure) whose symbols echo the tarot’s. These are just a few examples of the tarot in well known stories. The cards have their traditional interpretations but because of the intuitive nature of the practice, the reader is encouraged to put their own meanings on the cards and build their own, personal relationship with each card.

The Visconti-Sforza Fool. Reprinted from Wikipedia. By Hurst. M, (13th September 2011) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1

File:Visconti-sforza-00-fool.jpg

The Tarot of Marseille Fool. Reprinted from Composed of Opposites. By Composed of Opposites (n.d) https://2

composedofopposites.wordpress.com/tarot-de-marseille-camoin-jodorowsky-restoration/

The Fool from the Smith Waite tarot. Reprinted from Tarot Card Meanings, by Tarot Card Meanings. https://3

www.tarotcardmeanings.net/waite-tarot-comments/waite-on-tarot-fool.htmPage of 1 15

Leila Osman

Tarot is a form of divination, of contacting the divine and the spirit world and asking for guidance and the truth in the situations that may arise in life. If you want to take a more scientific approach the tarot can work as an ‘ink blot’ test of sorts, where the querent projects their own meanings onto the cards based on their experiences and the situation of which they are thinking. Regardless of your explanation for the tarot, I have found that it works for me.

To read them you can lay the cards out in a specific manner so each position has its own meaning; this is called a spread. There are many preexisting spreads for the reader to choose from or adapt. The reader also has the freedom to create their own spread for specific situations. The Celtic cross (fig. 4) is a classic spread designed by Arthur E Waite in the early 20th century. The spread is very 4

popular because it gives a beautiful overall image of a situation. It can also be read and adapted in a lot of different ways making it very versatile. Each card is generally read individually and they all come together to weave a general picture of the querent’s situation. However, spreads aren’t the only way to read tarot; many tarot practitioners pull a card for the day, week, month or even year to meditate on throughout that time. This practice helps the reader understand the energy surrounding them so they are able to enhance productivity and mental wellbeing.

The Project I decided to do tarot as my project because I wanted to deepen my understanding of the cards and designing my own deck seemed like a good way to do that. I now have hands on experience of sorting through the imagery of each card and pulling out the separate symbols, interpreting them on their own and putting them all back together.

Initially I chose for my cards to be mixed media, collage, painted, watercoloured, drawn or anything that felt natural at the time. I acknowledge that this is one of my faults; I don’t draw clear enough boundaries for myself and I base too much of my work on intuition alone, meaning I often end up lost because I have so much choice.

I started by looking at a lot of my old work to see if any of the pieces had any of the symbolism or feel of the cards in them and I found a lot of them did. In my initial plan I wanted to finish creating a card a week. Although while I made that plan I did acknowledge it was a little unrealistic but I didn’t realise how unrealistic until I started my work.

The Magician I decided to start with The Magician (fig. 5) because though he’s not the very beginning of the 5

journey as he’s not The Fool, he’s a beginning of sorts and I had clearer ideas for him than I did The Fool. The Magician is about having all the tools necessary at your disposal to begin a new project or journey, he just needs a little push of willpower, which may be one of the hardest steps in the whole

Celtic Cross spread. Reprinted from Esoteric Meanings, by Esoteric Meanings. (n.d). http://www.esotericmeanings.com/celtic-4

cross-tarot-spread-layout/

The Magician. Reprinted from Tarot Card Meanings, by Tarot Card Meanings. (n.d) http://www.esotericmeanings.com/celtic-cross-5

tarot-spread-layout/Page of 2 15

Leila Osman

major arcana sequence. The tools on his table represent each suit of the minor arcana, this can symbolise him having power over every aspect of himself; his primal will, his emotions, how he interacts with the physical world around him and his thinking. The Magician has the capacity to be a poser or a bit superficial; early decks have him named as a stage magician, a juggler and a sleight of hand artist. The Magician proved himself to be difficult. I’d based his design on a collage I’d made a few years ago (fig. 6). The collage was based on an Atlas like figure - someone that holds balance - and I thought this worked really nicely for The Magician. Though not the traditional interpretation for the card it is my relationship with him. I had some technical difficulties bringing my vision to fruition and I ultimately decided to leave him for the time being so I could begin working on a card that I had more confidence with to build momentum.

The Empress I moved on to The Empress (fig. 7) as I’d had a really clear vision for her since the beginning of 6

the project. The Empress is one half of the divine feminine and she represents our connection to the earth. She is physicality, sexuality, fertility, sensuality and motherhood. Unlike the High Priestess she is not a virgin and she is a mother. She is comparable to Demeter, Oshun, Isis, Aphrodite or Persephone. The Empress can have a whole host of meanings. In readings, she can represent the querent’s mother or if the querent is a mother, their relationship with that role. She can mean that the querent needs to become more in touch with nature or their physical body.

I wanted to use an image from Beyonce in her ‘Lemonade’ era because she used a lot of traditional Yoruba imagery to make herself into the goddess Yoruba Oshun (Fig. 8) . She is the goddess of 7

beauty, love, fertility and water. Oshun is often portrayed wearing yellow and cowrie shells. These are symbols that Beyonce emulated in her style choices, as well as using lots of water in her videos. Beyonce was also pregnant at this point which made her look like a fertility goddess. This was the exact sort of imagery I wanted to use in my deck. I started by choosing the image of Beyonce I wanted and cut her out to collage her. I then painted a background for her. At this point in my deck’s development I wanted to incorporate sacred geometry into it as a motif. I decided to use the ‘flower of life’ form for The Empress. ‘The flower of life’ represents the cycle of life and fertility; in a way, it could represent the whole major arcana sequence but I liked it the most as The Empress. I wanted to also include the traditional symbol of the wheat for fertility. Once I’d put all my elements together (fig. 9) I hated it; it just didn’t feel right. This was my first rut. I hadn’t been confident with my aesthetic regardless but this was the one idea with which I was confident and it didn’t reach my expectations. I had to completely reevaluate my style and aesthetic.

While at school I created a painting of the Virgin Mary (fig. 10) based on a tiny sketch I’d done in a notebook. I wanted to use her as one of my cards but I realised she didn’t fit either of the female archetypes, she is neither The High Priestess or the Empress; she is both. She can’t be the High Priestess because she is a mother. The High Priestess represents Mary’s heavenly part. She is the virgin, she is the queen of heaven, she is the holy higher knowledge, while The Empress represents Mary’s earthliness, her connection to humanity, her motherhood. But Mary is the Mediatrix, she is a being in between earth and heaven, she doesn’t fit in either of these binaries. What is interesting is

The Smith Waite Empress. Reprinted from Wikipedia. By Voley, H. (n.d) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Empress_(Tarot_card)6

Beyonce as Oshun. Reprinted from Atlanta Black Star. By Riley, R. (February 14th 2017) https://atlantablackstar.com/7

2017/02/14/5-things-know-oshun-inspired-beyonces-grammy-performance/Page of 3 15

Leila Osman

through doing this I wondered if Mary is actually a Pagan goddess disguised as a Christian character as she fits so perfectly in between; this is a hunch I’d had for a while. However I really liked the style of the painting regardless so I adopted it for my deck.

I decided to return to the Empress but this time I had another idea. I decided to take inspiration from ancient Venus idols rather than a pagan fertility goddess. I started by painting a Venus Idol of my own design drawing inspiration from the Venus of Willendorf and some ancient Egyptian sculptures. I decided that it defeated the point to paint a statue and it would make more sense to me on a symbolic level to sculpt my Venus and then photograph her. Sculpting her was a struggle as the clay I bought wasn’t very good, I know I could make a better Venus if I had the right materials for it. I was happy enough with her and I felt her roughness gave her a sense of authenticity. I decided to paint her so she would go with the rest of my paintings colour wise. I painted a background for her, I decided to use the vesica symbol to cocoon her (fig. 11). The vesica is a shape that can be made by constructing two circles beside each other and highlighting the intersection. I decided on this shape because it’s a symbol of fertility and because it’s yonic (vagina or womb shaped). The painting looked messy so I made another for my Empress which included hills (fig. 12) to create a visual comparison with the Emperor and just a crown rather than the vesica.

The High Priestess The High Priestess was my second card. She didn’t make it into the final set. The High Priestess (fig. 13) traditionally represents the other half of the divine feminine; she symbolises divine secrets 8

and knowledge hidden in the subconscious. She has a relationship with The Moon, shown in her crown. She’s in touch with the aetherial world and with divine knowledge. She has no relationship with the physical; she is a virgin and not a maternal figure. The High Priestess is comparable to pagan goddesses such as Athena, Persephone (pre descent), Artemis and Hecate. When she appears in a reading it may mean there is more to the situation than seems apparent, the querent is overlooking something important, that the querent needs to be thinking less about the physical world and build their relationship with the spiritual or simply the querent or someone they know is representing the High Priestess in the given situation. She is the only card I created that isn’t painted (fig. 14). The composition of this card is something I have been playing with for a while. I was inspired by the illustrations of Emily Carroll. I did this drawing spontaneously so I wasn’t thinking too much about the symbolism and nuances of the card, e.g the expression. The card I made was a lot more illustrated than the others and a completely different style. I like the drawing but not in the context of the other cards. If any card was to be more illustrated than the others it would not be the High Priestess; she is too heavenly for it. I also took issue with her expression, she looks melancholic and to me, The High Priestess is stoic, she doesn’t really have emotions because she’s not really human. The High Priestess has given her body and her mind to her cause and she would never regret it the way that my drawing implies. It felt wrong and once I’d assembled all the cards, I realised she didn’t fit with the others.

The High Priestess Smith Waite Tarot. Reprinted from Daniel Adrien Hyde. By Daniel Adrien Hyde (n.d). http://dahyde.com/8

2014/08/20/the-high-priestess/Page of 4 15

Leila Osman

The Moon The Moon (fig. 15) is a rather easy card to understand, it represents the unconscious, unseen 9

enemies, possibly something that you’re missing or not allowing yourself to bring to consciousness. The Moon is possibly the card with which I am most happy. I took the face design directly from a Duncan Grant painting at Charleston. When visiting Charleston, I was instantly struck by the beauty of this piece. The painting is of Morpheus and he’s on a headboard (fig. 16) . I loved the concept, 10

he acts as a dream catcher of sorts, a guardian into the unconscious. With this card I broke a couple of tarot conventions, the first being the design of the card as a whole. Traditionally, Morpheus isn’t associated with The Moon card but as the god of dreams his presence is thematically appropriate. The face itself isn’t painted but drawn with wax pastels, as a result the colours are particularly vibrant and they mix differently from the colours in the paintings. I painted a very simple background for him that goes with the rest of the paintings and added a halo around him (fig. 17). The grape vine was added later when I had painted The Sun.

The second tarot convention I broke was to paint him landscape. I had to do this otherwise the face would be too small and he wouldn’t be the feature of the piece. I have never seen a tarot deck with a few cards landscape and some portrait. It does bother me a little but if any card were to be landscape it makes sense that it is a cosmic card; the stretching expanse of the sky is better portrayed landscape than portrait. I made The Sun landscape so I could have some continuity in my deck.

The Emperor If The Empress is Oshun, The Emperor is Ogun. The Emperor (fig. 18) is the masculine card of 11

the deck. He embodies rationality, critical thought, consciousness, conquering and power over the elements. The Emperor is often described as the husband of the Empress; he is the masculine that interacts with the physical while she is the feminine that interacts with the physical. The Emperor and The Star are probably the most traditional cards I’ve created to date. My initial thought for The Emperor was to find something that encompassed the masculine archetype like a venus did the feminine. My first thought was to go to the golden age of Athens. My initial sketches for The Emperor have him in a toga with a laurel crown, I carried on with this idea until I started sketching on the paper I was going to paint on. After losing the toga and laurel crown, I decided to keep him a blank figure (fig. 19). I wanted to put the planet Mars as his halo but I really liked how it looked white behind his black head. Leaving his halo white with the radiance emitting from it made it look like the Sun. The Sun is a masculine planet so it works regardless.

I painted his background and the mountains red as a nod to Mars and also an homage to the traditional Smith Waite Emperor card. I kept the staff from Pamela Colman Smith’s illustrations too because it highlights his power and the ram is a symbol of Mars. The white dancing lines over his

The Moon Smith Waite Tarot. Reprinted from Edelwyn. By Edelwyn (n.d). https://www.edelwyn.com/moon-card/9

Morpheus at Charleston by Duncan Grant. Reprinted from Charleston. By Charleston (n.d) https://www.charleston.org.uk/10

charleston-room-by-room/

The Emperor from the Smith Waite Tarot. Reprinted from Psychic Guild. By Psychic Guild (n.d) https://www.psychicguild.com/11

tarot/card-meanings/the-emperorPage of 5 15

Leila Osman

body was a last minute aesthetic choice, I really enjoy how it looks and anyone can project their own meanings onto that choice. Personally I like that it shows man’s complete control over his body, that consciousness flows everywhere in him. This card is where I felt like I hit my stride; with this I’d understood how to follow my intuition but also incorporate it into the traditional imagery to make something instantly recognisable to anybody who knows who The Emperor is.

The Star To understand The Star (fig. 20) properly, we must first look at the card directly before it, The 12

Tower (fig. 21) . Often when tarot is portrayed in the media Death and The Devil are the cards that 13

predict oncoming disaster for the hero, in actuality the card to be afraid of is The Tower. The Tower is the point in the hero’s journey when our hero loses everything. It is cataclysm and the hero has stared death and destruction in the eye. Everything he thought was true is false and he has to adapt to that. The Star is that process of adaption, growth and rebirth. The Star attempts to rebuild from the base and the Moon and Sun continue in her footsteps. She’s about confidence in one’s body, hope for the future, renewal, spirituality, feeling loved by the universe and rebirth. Her development is really easy to track through my sketchbook which makes her really interesting. I was first inspired by Matisse’s collage women (fig. 22) . I really enjoyed his sense of anatomy in these 14

pieces. I drew some sketches to emulate his forms (fig. 23) and I knew that it was perfect for The Star. I loved drawing her so as a result I have numerous sketches of her in my books and her development is apparent from one drawing to the next. Once I was happy with her I painted her using the same colouring style for her skin as I did with my Empress venus. I cut the horizon in half like I did with The Emperor. Because of these stylistic choices I feel that my Star (fig. 24) draws everything together.

The Sun The Sun is the last card I did and there was a long break in between The Star and The Sun for me. I had an artist block of sorts so I just waited for the inspiration to come to me. Eventually while in Paris I saw a building opposite Notre Dame. It had a head on the archway of perhaps Athena or Apollo (fig. 25) . I liked the image so much I wanted to paint my own version of it for The Sun 15

(fig. 26). Apollo doesn’t traditionally appear on The Sun, but I felt it fitted regardless because he is the sun god in Greek mythology.

The Sun is one of the most positive cards in the deck, it stands for accomplishment, enlightenment and joy. It’s the third card from the end of the major arcana sequence. The next card is Judgement, a form of initiation and then The World, completion and integration. The Sun marks the end of

The Star from the Smith Waite Tarot. Reprinted from Waite Tarot Blog. By Truth Seeker (November 18th 2018) https://12

waitetarot96591540.wordpress.com/2018/11/18/10-greater-arcana-the-star/

The Tower from the Smith Waite Tarot. Reprinted from Tarot Meanings. By Tarot Meanings (n.d) https://13

www.tarotcardmeanings.net/majorarcana/tarot-tower.htm

Blue Nude by Henri Matisse. Reprinted from The Independent. By Pilger. Z (14th April 2014) https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-14

entertainment/art/reviews/henri-matisse-the-cut-outs-art-review-9259383.html

Police Prefecture Paris. Reprinted from 1900 Paris l’art nouveau. By 1900 Paris l’art nouveau (n.d) 15

Page of 6 15

Leila Osman

rebuilding yourself after the Tower. It’s a very satisfying card because of this and is always really gratifying to get in readings. Because my Sun was Apollo I thought it would only make sense that my Moon have some nods to Dionysus so I could add another layer of symbolism to my deck. For The Moon I added the grape vine around his halo. I’m especially proud of these choices because they came from me and don’t exist in the traditional tarot imagery. It also implies a new level of meaning for the two cards, that as well as enlightenment and joy the Sun also implies order, divine knowledge and art. Adding Dionysian imagery to The Moon means that it can now mean intoxication, night life, ecstasy and ritual. These symbols are up to the reader and the querent to interpret.

Formatting The back design for my cards was an ongoing struggle, I spent the whole process thinking about what to do for it. The back is a challenge because you want something that goes with the cards nicely but it has to be reversible and work whichever way you turn the card. Once I finally had all my cards I sat down to paint the back design and it was a lot more simple than I had imagined. I sketched a couple of options and ultimately decided to use orbs with the radiance motif emanating from them. To go inside the orbs I imagined a profile. I thought of The Emperor and how the line drawing motif I used on him hasn’t reappeared in the deck yet. I decided to use that. I sketched a page of line drawn faces (fig. 27) until I decided on one I really liked and painted it (fig. 28).

Once I had all my cards I went to school to correctly format them. One was in A4, two in A3 and one A2. First I printed them all as A4 and then transferred them into A5 from there. I would prefer to make them smaller if possible, so they can be actual card sized. I will also add a sheet of coloured card stock in between the front and the back so I can add the labels without covering any of the paintings.

I’m aware that this project is only the beginning. I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped to but I will continue with this project until I have all 78 cards. Maybe it will be a lifelong project or maybe now I have the momentum completing it will be significantly easier.

Page of 7 15

Leila Osman

Page of 8 15

(Left to right) fig. 1, fig. 2, fig. 3.

Fig. 4

Leila Osman

Page of 9 15

Fig. 6Fig. 5

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

Leila Osman

Page of 10 15

Fig. 9 Fig. 10

Fig.11 Fig. 12

Leila Osman

Page of 11 15

Fig. 13Fig. 14

Fig. 15

Fig. 16

Leila Osman

Page of 12 15

Fig. 17

Fig. 18 Fig. 19

Leila Osman

Page of 13 15

Fig. 20 Fig. 21

Fig. 22Fig. 23

Leila Osman

Page of 14 15

Fig. 24

Fig. 25

Fig. 26

Leila Osman

Page of 15 15

Fig. 27Fig. 28