#tarrochi

Hey all - I am back on tumblr after a while being away, and decided to start over. I am looking for witchy, tarot, and literature-focused mutuals again. I had a bigger following in my old blog, but it had been far too long. I read cards, practice when I can, and I want to get (back) into italian folk magic. I speak English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese, and am open for readings in all of those languages.

Notice the difference? I'm not talking about the colors, or the difference in imagery to illustrate the symbolism, or the numbering conventions - I'm actually talking about something a bit more fundamental.

It's the faces.

English is a Germanic language and although we've since dropped 'gender' from our grammar, its legacy still played a role in shaping how we perceive the world around us. Tarot, having its roots in romance languages, makes its gendering clear in the text - The Moon is feminine, The Sun is masculine. The old Germanic forms, however, do the opposite: in modern English's precursors, The Moon was masculine and The Sun was feminine. This seemingly innocuous difference can radically redefine our understanding of the symbolism embedded in these illustrations, as well as how its applied. I think, in certain respects, that symbolism is pretty clear too: The Moon, for example, shows two nearly identical towers framing either side of the card. Symmetry. The Sun, however, eschews such symbolic symmetry for a much more organic design - featuring, of course; flowers (the feminine sex organ of plants), and a child (that thing which a 'woman,' in this sense, can create that a 'man' cannot).

Even the colors, to some extent, conform to the stereotypes we might except from the era: bright, warm colors to signify the fiery passion of the spirit of women. Cool, muted colors to underscore the logical, analytic reasoning the men of the era were so insistent they possessed.

Was this an intentional change, or an oversight? Or psychic inspiration? How many other symbols and their interpretation have changed due to the way our language shapes how we think?

Lera Boroditsky has some incredible insights about how our language shapes our understanding of the world around us - this Ted Talk is a great introduction to some of these concepts (including how The Sun being feminine and The Moon being masculine, or vice versa, changes our reactions to it fundamentally). She also has several incredible, lengthy, lectures that go in depth on science and philosophy of this subject.

The Moon Tarot Card.

i'm painting my own tarot deck. it's going to take me a while.

it's set in reno and it includes portraits of my friends, cohorts, mentors, bartenders, and pillars of the reno community.

this is mae mae. independent woman, strong soul, survivor, artist, and real talk queen.  here's the shot from the photo shoot and in progress painting/card.

Mae The High Priestess I, 48x36in, acrylic on hardboard. In progress. 

www.theartonym.com

the art you need from someone you like