The Tabula Mundi Tarot Colores Arcus edition is in progress! I have the three decans of Aries completed in color.

Right after I finished painting the Major Arcana, and was about to start creating the Minor Arcana, I had a dream about finding an instrument that played colored lights instead of sound. It seemed like A Big Dream. But I ended up not painting them in color right away as I got really fired up about an aspect of the decanic minors, in that all three decans of every sign would be symmetrical enough that when combined, certain aspects of each of the three cards could as one, making twelve additional cards, Zodiacal cards. They are mentioned in Book M: Liber Mundi page 77, but only one person has yet commented on that aspect of the deck, so I wonder how many people read that section!  I wanted to design them (the decanic minors) all at once, together, and not stop in between to paint them. So the black and white drawings became the Nox et Lux edition. There was the Kickstarter for Tabula Mundi Nox et Lux, and the deck got published and sent on August 6 2015.

Inspiration has returned, the Fire of Wands. And now I have the first three cards of Aries completed, the Two, Three, and Four of Wands. Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac, and appropriately, the colors of Aries are all varying shades of red and fire: Scarlet; Red; Brilliant Flame; Glowing Red. Colores Arcus means “colors of the rainbow” and the rainbow starts with red, or perhaps infrared.

In the Tabula Mundi Colores Arcus edition I will adhere to the Golden Dawn color scales, and attempt to achieve flashing color. With of course some room for artistic license. These are painted in colored inks on frosted mylar, so each one takes a while to complete, as the inks have varying opacity and it takes a lot of layers to get the colors right.

Here is the Two of Wands in the Tabula Mundi Nox et Lux, and in the Colores Arcus:

The Two of Wands, Dominion,is the first decan (ten degree segment) of the sign of Aries. This decan of Aries (The Emperor) is ruled by Mars (The Tower). It is Chokmah of Atziluth – a Two (Chokmah on the Tree of Life) in the King position of Atziluth (Wands, and the World of Emanations). Thus the color scales for the Two of Wands, Dominion, are as follows:

The King Scale for Chokmah (Two) is pure soft blue

The Four Scales for Aries are Scarlet; Red; Brilliant Flame; Glowing Red

The Four Scales for Mars are Scarlet; Red; Venetian Red; and Bright Red, rayed Emerald

In the card I’ve used the color of the sephiroth (Chokmah of Atziluth, The King Scale for Chokmah (Two) is pure soft

 

blue) as the background color, as this is “where” the energies of the first decan of Aries, ruled by Mars, are expressed.

Three of Wands, shown in the Tabula Mundi Nox et Lux, and in the Colores Arcus:

 

 

This is the middle decan of Aries, Binah of Atziluth. This decan of Aries is ruled by the Sun:

The King Scale for Binah (Three) is Crimson.

The Four Scales for Aries are Scarlet; Red; Brilliant Flame; Glowing Red

The Four Scales for the Sun are Orange; Gold Yellow; Rich Amber; and Amber, rayed Red.

In the card I’ve used the color of the sephiroth (Binah of Atziluth, The King Scale for Binah, Crimson) as the background color, as this is “where” the energies of the second decan of Aries, ruled by the Sun are.

Four of Wands, shown in the Tabula Mundi Nox et Lux, and in the Colores Arcus:

 

Last the third decan of Aries, the decan ruled by Venus.

The King Scale for Chesed (Four) is Deep Violet

The Four Scales for Aries are Scarlet; Red; Brilliant Flame; Glowing Red

The Four Scales for Venus are Emerald Green; Sky Blue; Early Spring Green; Bright Rose or Cerise, rayed Pale Green

In the card I’ve used the color of the sephiroth (Chesed of Atziluth, The King Scale for Chesed, Deep Violet) as the background color, as this is “where” the energies of the last decan of Aries, ruled by Venus, are expressed.

And here they are all three decans in a row. Do you see the symmetry that will allow them to be combined into one image, of all three decans of the Zodiacal sign?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or maybe it is easier to see in color?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether or not you can see exactly how they will fit together (and even I don’t know that yet), the cards were designed with the idea of potentially interlocking elements in mind. I hope to show the “secret” Zodiacal cards soon. They are only secret in the sense that there are currently myriad ways they could come out. Sort of like a multiverse.