A man labours over the coins. Each coin represents one coin time.
2. The Ace of Swords
The Sword decapitates the king and takes his crown.
3. The World.
When we look upon the world rationally it looks rationally back.
The reading
A man is hard at work making horseshoes. There are eight. Can we assume they are for two horses? A masked assassin bursts in and cuts off his head. His cloth cap falls to the floor and reveals a golden coin. The assassin takes the coin but doesn’t realise that it will bring him great misery.
He has gold but lives in a world of golden senses.
2. The Six of Pentacles
Bill Gates.
3. The Four of Pentacles
Jeff Bezos.
The reading
The poor wise hermit searching with his lamp. Searching for an honest man in daylight like Diogenes before him. He is not looking for an honest man but a rich man. The excel spreadsheet and the shopping basket full and resplendent with wealth and beauty. I won’t be so trite as to say these are worth nothing. The masters of capital have made fountains of gold.
I knew I would do something pornographic but decided to keep it relatively traditional with a ‘reverse cowgirl’ position taken from a French erotic illustrator.
The Emperor
Lacan’s graph of desire overlaid on US president Donald Trump.
The reading
An overflowing of emotion wells within me. Where is my lover? What cruelty that we are separated. And in this lustful anxiety a dark master has taken the reigns and put them upon us.
Money is the order of the day. A fortnight of deals!
The Queen of Pentacles
I had wanted to include Queen Elizabeth II and pentacles seemed a good choice as I wanted to put her on a fifty p coin. Unfortunately i drew her too big so that idea went down the drain.
The Ace of Pentacles
The Rider Waite has a hand so I drew my own hand with a coin in it.
The Ten of Pentacles
Elon Miusk occurred to me and only later did I realise it was probably because the roman numeral X looks like logo for X.
The reading.
Coin rules us all. Queens and thieves both. Take this coin and do what thou wilt!
Another beautiful boy! Strong but nimble. Running! Jumping! Loving!
The Four of Cups
Meditating on the three a fourth appears!
The reading
In the ideal life we begin with balance. A leaving ceremony. The boy sets off sword in hand. Finally he finds no adventure so sits under a tree and ponders his past, his present, and his future. In pondering these three a fourth is suggested. A fourth tense?
Thee times four. These three are ruled by the master of hell! They must serve him.
The Page of Wands
A mere boy full of hope. Simply drawn with a magic hat.
The Six of Swords
Taking a boat across a sea to three volcanoes. This boat is not built for seafaring. Will the swords make it.
The Devil
The biggest card!? I decided to free draw without reference and use the classic design of a naked man and woman chained to him. I think this is an interesting opposite to love as the divine. Do we taste both heaven and hell in sex?
The reading
Hail a beautiful boy has been born. AS he grows he takes his stick with pride and ventures to the woods. Discovering a stream? A pond! A lake! A sea! An ocean! Out of his depth and now a man he spies a beautiful woman. Love blossoms but a great danger is afoot in in this ecstasy.
The twin towers. Not the end of history but the beginning!
Justice
I had long ago decided to use the Metallica And Justice for All cover for this.
The Magician
The Magician is a great and major arcana. My first thought was a popular magician but I couldn’t think of any apart from Paul Daniels who doesn’t interest me. I decided to just free draw and for some reason Pamela Anderson came to mind. I original drew her with a large erect penis but it looked a little odd so I painted over it in gold.
The Nine of Pentacles
The Rider Waite is a pretty woman in a gown. Diana’s wedding came to mind so I used her and put the pentacles in her train.
The reading
Guilt rules your dreams. The sword of justice comes for you. But you are saved by wakefulness. The magician offers you a deal. Your wedding day and nine million dollars. But you must also be made immortal. Why tricks are hidden in this offer?
Ten fingers of course! Two hands with which to commit acts glorious or evil!
1. The Two of Cups
All minor arcana today. The two of cups users the motif of lovers and I have been itching for a pornographic card so here we are. Lesbian lovers perhaps.
2 The Seven of Wands
A male fighter. I may simply use a boxer here against all seven wands.
3 The Five of swords
Majestic sky. Warrior with three swords and two enemies vanquished.
The reading
Lovers at night. Drinking from the cups of life. The cups of love and hate. But there is a masculine violence repressed. The lover failed. Take these seven sticks! Render them in steel. There are five now. I have three so take them off me. But how I wish I could return to that eden of pure loveliness. The vision of two woman that set me on my path.
I may be being overly literal and have great appreciation of the wisdom of a pretty young man but Jim Carrey was the first comedian who came to mind when thinking of a mainstream fool.
2. The Ten of Cups
Nothing really jumped out to me but I like the traditional use of a rainbow particularly with black and gold. I considered a pride theme from the rainbow but quite liked the simple happy scene of the Rider Waite deck.
3. The Queen of Swords
The reading
Laughter. Half demonic half divine. Wakes the soul to a beauty and an ugliness. What black rainbow is this. Laced with gold. A dark rainbow but sheer delight. Then the murderous queen. In eastern lands what evil has resulted from such an innocent joke?
A dandy. A pretty young man. I could have thought of something better than the Rider Waite deck that I lazily copied in hindsight. Like my copy the very thing was decadent and unimaginative.
2. The Three of Pentacles
Again a straight copy but I enjoy the intrigue of the three figures in a religious building. A fool. A monk. A spy.
3. The Ten of Swords
Again a straight copy but the body with ten swords is a great card.
The reading
The decadent youth spends hi father’s money on fine clothes and ridiculous cocktails. After getting drunk on a fish blood mix he gambles away the last of his inheritance. Forced to a criminal investment he makes enemies with the wrong people. Three thieves meet to plot his murder. When they find him drunk they pin him to the ground with ten swords. One fore every thousand he owes. They stab him with four and three and three. The body is left outside the town for weeks before being found.
Five coins in a stained glass window. Warm yellow light spills out into the snow and onto beggar in the street. Those warm inside know nothing of the scene.
2. The Ten of Wands
Ten fingers. Wooden fingers. Not the bundle but ten fingers pointing upward. Counting and numbers. Digits and hands.
3. The Queen of Wands
Queen Elizabeth the first. Not the second who can go on a pentacle!
The reading
Cold. Winter. Snow falls on my broken leg. Plans are brewing. Take the hands and gather wood. Without a fire we are ruined. The ten fingers are burnt and a lady arrives. She rides a grand horse through the snow. She sees the fire of fingers and is struck by the terrible scene.
Hang him high. Terror tied by the feet. Awake 3am. What a terrible dream I had of my father hanged upside down. Am I awake. Nine swords glow above me. The Hypnogogic state can be deceiving. They merge in to a single wand. Fear is resolved and sleep is restored. Sadness may fade for a while.
My first thought is pints. Perhaps a drunken scene on a British street.
2. The Seven of Cups
Cornucopia. Plenty. Overflowing of goods and services.
3. The High Priestess
Nuns evoke repressed sexuality. “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. Everything passes away except God.” Saint Theresa of Avila. I stumbled upon a photo of her getting shot in the heart and there was nothing left to decide.
The read
Drunkenness ruins many men. Let it then! Let seven cups of heaven rain upon your breast. Let the nipple drip then into my mouth. And let St Theresa take the arrow!
A fourth reading from the Gesamtkomödiewerke deck.
1. The Six of Wands
The RIder Waite centers around a boy on a horse. I don’t want to draw too many horses so opt instead for a boy standing with a halo and the remaining wands in the background.
2. The King of Wands
The king of wands obviously has the same phallic content as the king of swords but I need a way to distinguish it. I choose to use an obese man and found an image of a man on a tortoise which captures the lizard that we see in the Rider Waite deck.
3. The Eight of Swords
I love the Rider Waite card with a tied up woman and six swords stuck in the ground so I plan to largely reproduce that. The read
The read
The minor cocks! Six One Nine. Wands Wand Swords. Ride boy to your father and take your mates. He guards mother tied. Down with the patriarch. Spare nothing but give the world freedom!
Interestingly following yesterdays two of wands. To me it looks similar to the two of wands but further along a journey. I decided to largely base it on the Rider Waite deck but I enjoyed striking the wands at an angle.
2. Death
The mast card! Sein Zum Tode – being towards death. One of the big guns! Coffins. Skulls. Black. But I want it to be simple too. A black rose may be interesting. As a personal note it reminds me of dead family members. In particular two graves standing next to each other. I remembered in my school art class studying the body of Christ at an angle so decided to copy that image.
3. King of Swords
Phallus. The master signifier. There is much phallic imagery in the Tarot but surely we must use that here. I enjoy drawing the penis so will probably include it. Finally I thought a naked athletic man with a big penis and a sword fitted the title.
The read
A devastating set has been dealt. The present is the end. The end is the beginning. The past is the future. “The time is out of joint”. Death puzzles and confounds but also drives. The beautiful young man runs naked with his sword. Let the grasses be cut. Let the bodies shudder for the three are here.
This is the second in a set of readings that will build up a full deck and yield a new ordering that shall be called the !Gesamtkomödiewerke! read.
1. The Two of Wands
Typically associated with a decision of whether to stay or go. As the first card in this three it might represent my personal choice to leave England and more generally the call to adventure in the monomyth. Each wand may represent home and adventure with a globe to signify the possibility of travel. This leads neatly into…
2. The Knight of cups
The knight in Rider Waite is depicted travelling by horse. this seems clear to be the travel considered in the two of wands. This might be romantic adventure or literally travel. A knight on a horse is such a clear image I tempted to leave it as is or minimally change to riot police.
3. The Hierophant
Religious or cultural leaders might be reframed in modernity. Karl Marx said that ‘all critique begins with critique of religion’. One must however be careful to consider what constitutes the contemporary religion. The appropriate analogue of Christianity is not scientific cosmology but rather the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Perhaps Kevin Feige the president of Marvel Studios is our hierophant then.
The read
Ambition and curiosity set the stage for a journey. The globe of destiny challenges and is taken. We up and leave facing many troubles but the way leads to wisdom. The mage is a terrifying image of a wisdom too far. Grasp the opportunity but not too firmly.
This is the first in a series of Tarot readings that I am using to determine the order for drawing my own tarot deck. It was a three card past, present, future draw and was:
1. The Empress
The past was the empress. I recently read that a common reading of the Empress is as an important woman in your life and that the mother is the obvious choice. This yields a clear past as birth. My first thought was to use a vulgar anatomical design like the Nirvana In Utero cover. I also like the nipple spraying milk as in and the general Christian depictions of Mary as a universal mother. Pregnancy and babies were other obvious possibilities. When framed as maternal the card becomes almost too inspirational. The whole cannon of western and indeed world art opens up and one is in danger of becoming overwhelmed. As the first card to draw I am torn between a bold simple style and more ornate and complex design. This card births the whole set! The number three is also significant as the third card it has a very high rank and importance. The Trinity is an obvious reference and perhaps my favourite the impossible triangle should make an appearance. The science of reproduction and DNA is also a possible element. The Empress is also a figure of a powerful woman and somebody like Angela Merkel or Margaret Thatcher could be a reference. Can I resist the most obvious symbol of all, the vagina, as per Gustav Courbet’s L’Origine du monde?
2. King of Pentacles
The King seems in direct contrast to the preceding Empress. It occurs to me that it would be an interesting idea for my deck to have an idiosyncratic logic based on the random draw order. So that this becomes card two in the Gesamtkomödiewerke deck. I have largely reproduced the Rider Waite image as a minor arcana I didn’t feel I had much to add. I misspelt pentacles.
3. Temperance
Temperance is a clear indication of balance. Again I have largely reproduced the Ryder Waite image. There are many elements that I struggled to reframe in a new form. Actually by being less busy than The Empress I think the card has greater impact.
The read
Zero: the reading of readings. We begin in the primordial nothing and contradictorily the zero spits out a three that is the mother of the world. The three generates the first three. The obscene threesome of creation yields a coin. The abstraction of value is grasped by the King and made the King of abstraction. The abstract King stumbles out of balance and produces balance in turn.
