Tabula Mundi Tarot – Page 10 – an inspired Thoth based tarot deck by M.M. Meleen

To Border, Or Not To Border:

That is the question.

See the bottom of the page for a POLL after the examples.

Since all the Majors of Pharos Tarot are done now and I’m not planning on doing the minors yet, I’m deciding whether to publish them as Majors only, and if so, in what format. The size would be large, 4×6.25 inches. But they could work in that size either as bordered or borderless cards.

The Pharos images were designed so that they could be bordered or borderless. They have enough extra bleed and length that they could be completely borderless, but the important parts of the image are centered in a same-sized area so that they could be cropped and bordered.

Here are a few roughs of what the Pharos deck might look like with borders. For now I just put them into the Tabula Mundi tarot’s borders to see how they would look. So below see how they might look as bordered, with traditional titles, vs. borderless, with alternate titles.

Note these colors and fonts and border styles are all subject to change. This is just to compare the look in general.

Note also that even though the borderless art looks bigger in one version of the Fool, there is also a way to crop these with the art the same size as the borderless, placing the image more to the edges of the frame. The second Fool below shows the art cropped closer but larger. The first shows more of the overall image. So there are different ways to do the bordered cards, it’s just deciding whether or not to have borders.

I like the look either way. But bordered has the advantage of being more protective of the art, which can chip at the edges in a more noticeable way on borderless decks.

We also have to decide on traditional Thoth based titles or the alternate Pharos concept titles. (And whether or not Lust should wear the “Scarlet Woman” dress or be naked!) It’s a wonder anything ever gets done as I’m pretty indecisive sometimes.

To see the alternate titles check the Pharos home page.

The Works

From Pharos Tarot, in progress:

The (Wheel of ) Fortune card is called The Works in Pharos Tarot. The Works as short for The Clockworks (but also as in “give me the works, Jupiter!” LOL) .

The clockworks turn to power the turning of the lighthouse’s light, just as the wheel turns by the hand of the gods. The Hebrew letter is Kaph, which has a meaning like Yod, hand, except Kaph is the action of the hand, such as the open palm or the closed fist. Ever moving ever changing Fortunes.

We see a clockwork hand here as a stand-in for Typhon. Could it be that chaos turns the Wheel, or is it the ghost in the machine? A mechanical sworded sphinx is on top and a steam powered hermanubis climbs.

The Pivot

from Pharos Tarot, in progress:

The Justice card is called Adjustment in the Thoth deck. The Adjustment card is called The Pivot in Pharos Tarot.

It’s one of only two cards that does not directly show the Hebrew letter pictorially. The letter is Lamed, meaning Ox-goad. The other is the Fool, meaning Ox. An Ox-goad, like a Pivot, offers movement, a change in direction as a response to conditions, just a the light of the lighthouse turns in various directions. Here the Adjustment/Justice figure of Ma’at is masked, but not blindfolded, balanced on a finely tuned pivot .

She was inspired by a well known sculpture of the Art Deco era by Chiparus, depicting Semiramis, a semi-divine Queen of Babylon associated with Inanna/Ishtar.

Subject to revision!

The Enclosure

from Pharos Tarot, in progress:

In Pharos Tarot the Chariot is called The Enclosure, that protective wall or fence, for the corresponding Hebrew letter Cheth, meaning fence. Lighthouses often have an enclosure: a wall surrounding and enclosing the base to protect it from waves. The armored Charioteer both guards and transports the treasured pearl.

This image is in homage to the Thoth tarot Chariot card. (And LoTR.)

The Door

From Pharos Tarot, in progress

The earliest card done, since 0 thru II were redone at some point. The Door is also known as The Empress, whose Hebrew letter is Dalet, meaning Door.

Since it’s such an early card, I wonder if I should redo it, just because my painting skills have improved since then.

The Compass

This one has been a struggle. This is the third version and still not totally pleased with it, but I do like it better than the first two. I think the Golden Dawn color scale colors for this one are tricky to work with. Orange, Pale Mauve, New Yellow Leather, Reddish Grey Inclined to Mauve.

For now though, unless I scrap and redo the design completely, here it is. The Lovers here are portrayed as solar goddess Hathor and lunar god Khonsu, who in a creation myth from the Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BC) mated to create the world. Here they divide and intertwine, exchanging his Djed for her Sistrum. The Hebrew letter for the card means “sword” and the sword is shown as the needle of the Compass. The Lovers card often indicates making a choice, symbolized by the direction finding compass needle.

The House

from Pharos Tarot, in progress:

The Magus is called The House in Pharos Tarot, just as the Hebrew letter Beth means House. Where the Fool was the Light, the Magus is the House, mirroring the path of the Fool on the Tree of Life. It’s the shell of the Lighthouse itself, the house of the spirit. The Magus is a Promethean figure, bringing down the holy fire through his own body, transmitting the light through himself as if a hollow tube, as the personified Wand of the Will, and the Logos. The blueprint of the lighthouse shows it to be a Tree of Life.

This is the second time I painted the Magus for this deck. The first one was the oldest of the paintings, since I’ve already redone a second and third Fool. The old Magus was the second real watercolor I’d ever painted, so it was a little rough. This one is better. My skills improved enough from the beginning of the process that I had to paint it again and indeed, this one came out much more definitively painted. I also took the liberty of changing the design of the lighthouse in this one to reflect the Pharos lighthouse, and changed up some other elements and colors in the design.

Pharos Tarot FAQ

Here are answers to a few commonly asked questions about my work in progress, Pharos Tarot.

See the Pharos Tarot main page for all about Pharos Tarot in general and links to pictures of all the cards posted to date.

Are there plans to do the minors of this deck?

For now Pharos Tarot is remaining a Majors only project. While it’s possible that someday I’ll go back and make Pharos into a 78 card deck, it isn’t currently known if that will ever happen, as for now I’m focusing some on some new artistic directions. But you never know. I won’t rule it out but it isn’t likely to be soon, and it may be destined to be a majors only art deck. As of now I see it as a special esoterically oriented art project offered as majors only.

Will the Major Arcana be published?

Self published, or at least I hope so, for after all the time that has gone into painting these I hope to be able to share them by offering a very small edition of very large borderless cards small enough for readings, but large enough for framing, or altar display. There isn’t much demand for Majors only editions, so it is likely to be a very small edition of high quality.

Why is it called Pharos Tarot?

I thought of naming it after the Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Alexander the Great dreamed of a Hermit like figure who told him the name of the island where his city Alexandria would be founded and the lighthouse would be built: Pharos. It’s also a watercolor deck – water and light – and a guidance system: tarot.

See the Pharos Tarot main page for more about this and all about Pharos Tarot and and the island of Pharos.

Can you explain the reasoning behind the alternate names and the surreal images?

Each card posted in the blog gives the bare bones of which part of a lighthouse system is being referred to. When and if the Majors are published they will come with a booklet explaining all of the deeper esoteric influences. The basic premise is that Pharos Tarot is set in a dream world. The deck shows how in this surreal and suggestive state the Hebrew letters that correspond to each Major Arcana, also could in this world correspond to individual parts of a lighthouse system, that in turn correspond to aspects of the Great Work.

How did you get this idea?

The designs for the cards have a dream-like quality, for they are liminal creations of dream-space. The idea for mapping the tarot corresponding Hebrew letters to a lighthouse system came to me in a dream state after having a conversation with a group about what a lighthouse themed tarot might look like, but without a lighthouse on every card so it wasn’t a “themed” deck.

A couple of years ago some psychic friends had approached me about doing a themed deck. I had to explain that I don’t work on commission normally and don’t see myself doing a “themed” deck of that nature as it wasn’t my thing, but that if I were to do so it would be something quite different, and I suggested a deconstructed lighthouse, rather than a lighthouse theme, as an example of an idea I could do something with.

A day or two later I had a dream or maybe a hypnagogic sequence while almost-sleeping, where the idea unfolded almost fully fledged: that the Hebrew letters and tarot trumps corresponded to parts of a lighthouse. The thought came complete with card names for a good portion of the deck, and the part of the lighthouse it corresponded to. It was a weird and wonderful example of how systems can interact and correlate, if the mind makes it so.

My friends ended up deciding to look for multiple artists to do their own idea for a deck instead, once they realized what a long process it would be for me (or any one person) to do a deck. They were really looking for an artist or artists to work on commission, and I’d rather not do that for a process as long as an entire deck.

But the muse wouldn’t let me rest, because now it grabbed on to this idea for a painting series and insisted that I give it a whirl on the wheel at least for the majors. So here I am almost two years later. Had to get it out of my system.

At the time I had just been at the point where I wanted to teach myself watercolors, as I was bored with the same medias I’ve been using for years. Watercolor is a medium I formerly had very little exposure to so it was a challenge. It’s a challenging medium. And the water and light theme seemed like a perfect fit for the concept.

Is this a Thoth based deck?

In spirit, as it does incorporate some Thelemic ideas in the images. But since it has it’s own unique titles and the cards are not numbered, as well as completely different images and ideas, it can’t really be called Thoth-based though some of the images were inspired by the writings of Aleister Crowley, and the cards are colored according to the Golden Dawn color scales as he listed them in 777.

What is the artistic process and media?

Simple outline drawings were designed and then transferred to watercolor paper. They are then painted by hand (not digitally worked) in artist grade watercolor pigment on Arches 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper, sized A3 which is 11.69 x 16.53 inches, using a variety of wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques.

Multiple versions were made for many of the cards, as I’m still learning the medium. The designs are simple and not chock full of every possible symbol, to facilitate working with the watercolor painting process. Yet symbolic things are still there, for those who look for them.

Are the original paintings for sale, or will they be?

They aren’t for sale at this time, but after all the revisions are finished I may offer the originals for sale if there is interest.

Will Tabula Mundi and Rosetta Tarot originals ever be for sale?

No, those are being kept together preserved for posterity. The original Pharos art is much larger, and it seems like they should be displayed somewhere.

When will the Pharos Tarot majors be available?

To be determined. While all the Majors are done, sometimes more than once (!) I’m still in the process of making and considering some card revisions. There’s designing a card back, and writing the texts. Then I need to determine if I can afford to print, and how many.

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Will any of the cards already posted be revised?

Maybe! New designs are definitely a possibility but not a certainty.

Will any of the older alternate or draft versions of the cards be released?

There may be a few majors that have more than one version in the deck if and when it is published. And/Or a few of the “first draft” or alternate version originals could be offered if there is interest (and if I decide not to destroy them).

There are some that won’t see the light of day; watercolor is hard and not always predictable! But some of them are technically fine, I just wanted to do something different.

What are you working on next?

There is ongoing work on the Fortune’s Wheelhouse podcast continuing, and a Fortune’s Wheelhouse co-authored book is in the works.

But as far as art goes there are multiple projects brewing. Two more decks. Plus there are a few one off esoteric-but-not-tarot paintings I want to do, as well as some other artistic projects. I’m a Fool for painting tarot though. It’s what I love to do as it combines some of my favorite things: art, the occult, systems, and the weird sciences.

If there are any other questions that you would like to see here, feel free to send them for consideration to mm (at) this website.

The Spiral

from Pharos Tarot, a new deck in progress:

The Strength card in Thoth is called Lust. The Lust card in Pharos is called The Spiral. The Spiral corresponds to the spiral ramp or staircase that is a part of every lighthouse. The sign is Leo and the Hebrew letter is Teth, meaning “lion-serpent” or serpent.

There are two versions of the card. One is rated PG, the other I guess is R for nudity.

The Azimuth

From Pharos Tarot, in progress:

For what it’s worth, here is the Emperor from my new deck in progress, Pharos Tarot. I say “for what it’s worth” because I remember when we did the poll here to see which Major Arcana cards people wanted most to see first in a deck, the Emperor came in last! I guess people don’t find the Emperor that interesting. So, probably no one will care, but here he is – and with a twist.

He’s not the last, he is the first, as in, Aries, the first and pioneering sign of the zodiac. In Pharos Tarot he is renamed The Azimuth. The word azimuth comes from an Arabic word meaning “the directions”. The azimuth is an angular measurement in a spherical coordinate system. One can use it for celestial navigation, where it points out the horizontal direction of the Sun or Star chosen. The astronomical object, Star or Sun, is the point of interest, the reference plane is a circular area around the observer, and the reference vector points to true north. Here the Sun is depicted, since the Sun is exalted in Aries. The Sun is after all also a Star, and here we will see a relationship with the Star card that delves into a mystery of the Thoth tarot system.

The azimuth is used in navigation, astronomy, engineering, mapping, and ballistics – all very appropriate for the card of the Great Architect (aka The Emperor) and the sign of Aries the pioneer, explorer, and soldier. The azimuth diagram in the card is topped by an eagle, giving the overall shape of it a resemblance to the “orb and cross” of traditional Emperor cards.

But using The Azimuth as the name for this card also highlights one of the controversies about the Thoth tarot system. It’s a puzzle to many that Crowley switched the Hebrew letter attributions for the Emperor and the Star, some time after the completion of the deck. This change stems from what he received from the words of Liber AL vel Legis, the Book of the Law. In Chapter I, Nuit is speaking. During the dictation, Crowley’s thought about the tarot attributions he had learned and wondered if they were correct. Nuit apparently chose to respond to his thought, saying in verse 57 “All these old letters of my Book are aright; but Tzaddi is not the Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise.” After years of deliberation, Crowley determined that the Tzaddi/Heh switch created a symmetry that balanced out the numbering switch between Lust and Adjustment. (See diagram Book of Thoth page 11)

In the card image, the anchor (which looks like a fish hook, a meaning of Tzaddi) marks the observer’s position in the azimuth diagram. YOU ARE HERE, seeking the Sun (which is also a Star), and your true north (metaphors for your HGA). The Emperor shows you where to set your anchor and how to get your bearings in this, the Great Work. A former version of this card was done, without the diagram, and it was called The Anchor. It had instead the more traditional shield with red eagle. But the muse rejected it so that this version could come forth. This version, the Azimuth, brings an interesting highlight to the Tzaddi/Heh or Emperor/Star relationship.

For note that in Pharos Tarot, the Star maiden is holding a Window (Heh) whose quartered cross shape also looks much like the Azimuth diagram, and the azimuth uses stars as objects of focus for navigation. The Star card is called the Way, for the Milky Way. But one could easily reverse the names of these two cards, and call the Emperor “The Way”, for surely that is what he is pointing out, and instead call the Star card the Azimuth, for the celestial point that is the focus. The celestial point can be a star – or the Sun, which is exalted in Aries, and is after all just another Star, albeit our own personal one.

So there you have it. I hope this makes the Emperor of Pharos Tarot more interesting than usual to contemplate. Whether you think Tzaddi is the Star or not, these two cards have a relationship that is food for thought.

Perhaps I’ll offer alternate versions of each with the titles switched, for those who follow the old attributions.