#blood moon tarot

11/21 Justice - When developing the concept for a card, how did you decide on a final idea?

Each card took some exploring to figure out how I personally connected to the card and how I would represent those ideas visually. Even the cards that I was initially very attached to (ex. The Hermit and The Moon) ended up changing and some of the cards that I didn’t like at all became more meaningful (ex. The Emperor and The Tower).

When I first start to search for my connection with a card I would list all of my initial ideas and associations with the card (colors, emotions, keywords, ideas, symbols, past experiences, etc). I’d then research other people’s interpretations of the card and decide what struck a chord with me, what didn’t, and why. As I worked on the card I’d look for it in my environment and evaluate out how I was experiencing embodiment of my chosen card in my current situation. Eventually, after intaking a bunch of information and trying to fit it together like puzzle pieces, something would unexpectedly click and if it felt like a solid idea when I sketched it out a few times, that would be the idea that I took towards the final card design.

Question for you: How do you come up with ideas for your creative projects?

9/21 The Hermit - What would I do differently if I were to make an other deck?

If I were to make a new deck I think I would try to give myself a dedicated theme to explore and an intentional visual look that carries through the whole of the deck. It was difficult to accomplish that with this deck because I was growing during the process, and towards the end I felt like I was holding myself back so that my designs on the older cards wouldn’t stand out as massively different than the newer ones.

I would also consider making an oracle deck instead of a tarot deck because it would give me more freedom to play with the meanings of cards and allow me to create my own system or story within the deck. I may already have a plan for and oracle deck… but I want to do develop my skills and style before I dive back into illustrating a series!

Question for you: If you were making a tarot or oracle deck what theme would you give it?

8/21 Strength - What struggles did you encounter while making the deck? How did you endure them?

Making this deck didn’t come without its troubles. There were times when I lacked confidence in my work, when I was frustrated with the results of my work, and when I failed and had to start over on a painting. I got through most of this by convincing myself to just do the work regardless of whether or not I might fail. I knew that if I didn’t take the time to struggle through my frustrations, there was no opportunity to succeed or fail, to learn or grow, and I would regret not doing it.

At a midpoint in my work on the deck I went to a convention and had a valuable review with an art director. After some discussion we came to the conclusion that my more interesting and successful paintings were pieces that I had struggled most with during the process of making them. This discovery helped me accept struggles and frustrations as a welcome part of my process instead of making myself more frustrated.

Question for you: What is your relationship with failure? Do you allow your frustrations to hold you back or have you found a way to work with them?

7/21 The Chariot - Who helped you on the journey of making this deck?

It might sound cheesy but there are so many people that, had it not been for their support, this deck wouldn’t have made it this far and I want to acknowledge those folks.

I’m lucky to have supportive parents and amazing friends (many of who are also artists and gave me encouragement and constructive criticism.) Heather, Riley, Jenny, Jabari, Harry,  and many others were there to give me pep-talks and advice when I was overwhelmed and were excited for me at every small accomplishment, even when I couldn’t manage to be excited for myself.

To all the folks who came to talk to me or show your support at conventions, who have shared my work and left comments - you’re the best! It makes me happy seeing a response to my work and I try my best to reply to everyone.

Finally, my patrons over on patreon - thank you so, so much. Your contributions allow me to focus more of my time on my art and it means a lot to me that my work is worth your support each month.

6/21 The Lovers - What are some of the repeating symbols in your deck and what is their significance?

Tarot is filled with symbolism and in the Blood Moon Tarot the symbols have personal importance to me. In much of the Major Arcana the symbols are specific to the card, but in the Minor Arcana (which I have not shared yet) the repetitive symbols are more apparent. I’ve renamed the four suits to reflect my choices in symbolism: Cups have become Songs, Wands are now Skins, Swords are Dreams, and Pentacles are Honey.

Cups are generally associated with the element of water and with emotions. I renamed this suit as Songs and represented it with symbols that I tie to both emotional and auditory experiences: birdsong, the sound of the ocean, and string instruments. Music is an emotional experience for me, both listening to it and playing it. It allows me to express myself and be vulnerable, to show my emotions instead of explaining them, so I felt these symbols would easily tie in to the concepts associated with the common Cups suit.

The suit of Skins (Wands) is associated with the element of fire, creativity, transformation, willpower, and passion. I chose to represent these ideas with shedding snakes, swirling smoke, mushrooms, and changing leaves. The connection of these symbols to transformation is obvious, but many are also associated with invoking visions which can spark creativity.

Dreams (Swords) is the suit associated with the element of air, ideas, anxieties, and illusions. The symbols I use to represent this suit are moths, eyes, abstract patterns, and phantom beasts. These reference anxieties and nightmares of mine, along with suggesting hypnagogic imagery.

The final suit, Honey (Pentacles), is associated with the element of earth, manifestation, work, and abundance. I chose to represent this suit with bees, fruit, acorns, and plants. I keep bees and I think these insects are the perfect embodiment of what this suit represents.

Question for you: Do you have something symbolic that you keep around, and what does it mean to you?

5/21 The Hierophant - What is your personal view on how the tarot “works”?

To start this off, this refers to my personal views. I don’t want to tell you how to view tarot, only how I have come to view it in my own use. There are as many ways to read tarot as there are tarot readers. None of them are really wrong and it’s interesting to hear other people’s views on it.

Personally, I view the tarot as more magical than spiritual. In the way I use these terms “spiritual” refers to outside forces influencing us (such as deities, ancestors, spirits, etc) and “magical” would refer to an internal influence (our willpower, our intentions, our awareness, and making meaning for ourselves.) I know many who use tarot as part of a spiritual practice, and many who use it in a more magical practice, and the two can easily intertwine.

I believe that whatever you put into tarot is what you’ll get out of it. If you consider yourself a skeptic and expect your reading to be vague and unhelpful, that’s likely the experience you’ll have, and that’s okay (I’ve been this person at times). If you come into it prepared to explore certain problems, you’ll likely come away with new solutions and feel more prepared to confront whatever is challenging you. If you come into it with no expectations, it may be helpful, but not as profoundly helpful as it can be when you have a specific issue you’re prepared to address.

For me, tarot is a tool, a set of symbols which can engage our abstract and creative thinking so that we can arrive at unexpected solutions. As someone who is passionate about lucid dreaming, explorations of consciousness, and makes their living using their imagination, I think the human brain is amazing and we can make the best of our abilities with tools such as the tarot.

Question for you: What is your personal view on how the tarot works?

4/21 The Emperor - Why did you choose to stray from the original meanings of some of the cards?

Tarot has evolved massively over the years. Originally the deck was used for a card game called Trumps, something far removed from our current use of the deck (though the game is still played). As years passed it began being used for fortune telling as well, but there was no “standard” deck. I was able to visit the Cloisters a few years ago and view many of the oldest decks created and was surprised to find that even the suits we see in most decks (cups, wands, swords, and pentacles) varied from deck to deck and included things such as acorns and bells.

When we think of tarot, we often think of the iconic Rider-Waite deck painted by Pamela Colman Smith. Many modern decks are based off of the imagery and meanings in this deck. In the years I’ve spent reading tarot I’ve come to associate certain cards with specific experiences and my meanings, though still rooted in the Rider-Waite deck, became more personal. As a visual artist I have my own language of symbols to express my feelings and ideas, and as someone who loves the tarot, I wanted to create my own, unique deck.

This is the only deck existing that will express my own personal ideas, experiences, and imagination. Everyone is free to design their own deck however they see fit, and they should! (This is why YOU should make a deck if you want to.) So, it’s no Rider-Waite deck and not everyone will connect with it, but I know many of you have already fallen in love with my work, my interpretations, and have felt some fresh air in the way I approach tarot. I hope this can  inspire those of you who want to explore and reframe the tarot to reflect a changing world and to express your own unique voice.

Question for you: What is keeping you from expressing yourself? How do you hope to inspire others?

3/21 The Empress - What do you most value about the tarot?

What I value most about the tarot is its ability to make space for self reflection and to help facilitate conversations about personal struggles that the querent may feel too vulnerable to discuss in other settings.

In my opinion, a good tarot reader (whether they read for themselves or for others) should be able to ask the right questions so that the querent can more easily discover the answers that they likely already have within themselves but are having difficulty accessing. It’s easy to get swept up in life, become overwhelmed, and feel unable to slow down enough to focus on our problems and tackle them with clear intention. Making a ritual of tarot readings and journaling has become a helpful way for me to navigate confusing feelings, difficult situations, and mountains of stress.

Question for you: What practices aid you in navigating difficult feelings and situations?

2/21 The High Priestess - What advice would you give to someone who wants to make their own tarot deck?

• Just do it. It’s a huge project, but you should do it. Do you not feel ready? Do you not feel “good enough”? Do it! (I’ll tell you in a later post the more in-depth reason why you should just do it.) If you feel like 78 cards is too much, why not try an oracle deck?
  
• Don’t make your deck for the approval of others (the exception to this being if you’re doing it for a client, of course). Make a deck that is important to you. Take the time to sit with the cards and explore them. The deck will hold more meaning for you, and ultimately you’ll connect with the right audience if you’re confident enough to share your thoughts as they are instead of making what other people expect to see and hear. (This took a long time to sink in for me, but it’s one of the most valuable things I’ve learned while making this deck.)
  
• Keep a journal. It’s a long process, and if you want to dive into the tarot you’ll be doing a lot of introspection. Some of the things I’ve talked about in my videos or in the description of the cards are direct passages from my journal. Making art is great. Making art that helps you transform is powerful.
  

Question for you: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

1/21 The Magician - What inspired you to make a tarot deck?

Would you believe me if I told you the very first thing that sparked my love of tarot was a kids show? I’m sure some of you share my experience of watching Cardcaptor Sakura as a kid. I barely remember any of it now, but I do remember drawing my own Clow Cards and being inspired by their magical designs. I ought to go back and rewatch the series sometime. Growing up, my best friend’s mother would occasionally let us pick a card from one of her decks and tell us about it, and my friend had a deck of his own. It wasn’t until much later, when I was around 14 or 15, that I received my first tarot deck. The Lunatic Tarot reminded me a bit of the Clow Cards with their elongated shape and distinct manga influence, I still have the deck and it is very loved.

As my interest in art and tarot grew my influences expanded. In highschool I was constantly watching for updates on Stephanie Law’s Shadowscapes tarot and she remains a major influence on me today. If I could go back and tell little-me that one day I’d meet Stephanie and receive advice from her as I worked on my own deck, little-me would probably screech with joy (big-me still does, on the inside).

In college I collected decks, researched the history of tarot, and studied the cards with an amazing woman who has become one of my most beloved friends and mentors (Heather, owner of stones, and the model for The Empress card). I wrote my thesis on the tarot, specifically its role in reclaiming mythical thinking as a tool to attend to our psychological needs alongside logical thinking. These explorations of tarot laid the foundations for what would become the Blood Moon Tarot.

Question for you: What are you passionate about and what inspired you to pursue it?

The Chariot

Inspiration / Direction / Cooperation
The Chariot guides the sun and moon through the heavens; It is a great collaboration of wings and willpower. Without direction, the thread that creates the chariot would be a shapeless tangle of knots, but the warp and weft, despite running in opposite directions, weave together and in their union create the enchanted carpet. No part of this journey would be possible on our own, we should remember all who aided us and all who lent us a moment to inspire and motivate us. You are the uniting factor, you chose to move forward towards your goals, but the chariot is made of many threads.

This lovely is already off to a new home, I’m so happy!

Preview for Temperance which I’ll be releasing later this week.

GUYS. I HAVE. THREE. MAJORS. LEFT.

This deck is feeling so real, it’s crazy.

The Tower for the Blood Moon Tarot (show your support through Patreon!)

Destruction, Undoing, Release.

Brick by brick you’ve built a castle of everything you understand about your world. You’ve carved elaborate designs around the walls, filled it with all your expectations for the future, and knew that it would always stand tall. But the higher you build and the more you trust in those walls to stand against the storm, the longer the fall and greater the humbling. When the world defies your expectations and you cling to your beliefs, denying reality, The Tower will meet destruction and you will be shaken from your dreams.