As mentioned in the Colores Arcus Kickstarter, the Babalon edition will have at least 12 extra cards.
Ever wonder what I was referring to on page 77 of Book M, or in the Nox et Lux Kickstarter, when I mentioned that the Tabula Mundi minors contained secret zodiacal cards?
Finally I am here to reveal the “secret” zodiacal cards of the deck. Those of you who have Book M: Liber Mundi, which was released when the black and white version of the deck called Tabula Mundi Nox et Lux came out, already may have noticed a hint on page 77 of my book. It states “A final thing to note about the decanic minor cards is that the three decan cards of each sign were designed so that they fit together as one card representative of the sign. This is a secret of the cards that will be revealed in a future edition.”
Cryptic, eh? I also mentioned it in the Kickstarter for the Nox et Lux deck, but no one seemed to notice. What was said there was:
“And, a surprise reveal: through the magic of loosely held sacred geometry principles the three decan cards of every sign were designed to work together to combine and layer into a single complex image. I hope to show these in the updates and eventually offer these twelve additional cards as cards or prints, one for each sign. I still have to make them. They will be; either as a stretch goal or with the color version of the deck, which probably will be next year.” I do try to deliver what I promise. So here they are.
I know at least one of you actually read the whole of Book M or at least that part of it because someone (*waves at S*) asked about it, and even went so far as to try to figure out what that meant by combining cards. In the process they came up with some cool stuff, but they didn’t guess exactly what I was up to. They did grasp that it is based on a form of symmetry.
When I drew the minors, from Day One I made sure that each of the decanic minor cards would combine seamlessly with the other cards of the same sign.
So what are the “decanic minor cards”? These are the minor cards 2 through 10 of each suit. There are 36 of those, the twos through ten of each of the four suits. Each card represents ten degrees of the zodiac. Thus all 36 of them, times 10, form the entire Wheel of the Year or the 360 degrees of the zodiac.
There are the twelve signs. Most people know at the very least what astrological sign they were born under. Each sign encompasses 30 degrees of the circle. So each sign is divided into three decans of ten degrees.
As most esoteric tarot and astrology scholars know, these ten degree segments are called decans, and each assigned to a minor 2 through 10.
There will be these twelve zodiacal cards, included with the Babalon edition. Plus maybe if time permits, more new cards, alternate majors. But for now, twelve is enough to focus on. So 12 new cards, one for each Sun sign.
Let us start with my favorite Sun sign, Sagittarius. “The most philosophical of the signs” according to our old friend Jim Morrison, and not so coincidentally, my sign. We will work our way through the suit of Fire from Sagittarius the 10,9,8 of Wands, though Leo, the 7,6,5 of Wands, and to Aries the 4,3,2 of Wands.
How did I do this? Through the magic of loosely held sacred geometry principles, and with faith.
The three cards of each sign were deconstructed using both x-acto blades and digital technology and then recombined. Originally I thought I’d redraw and repaint them as one image more like Jofra’s zodiac series, and I may some day, but not enough time for that now.
So hereby I say, the Babalon edition will contain the secret zodiacal cards. The Kickstarter ends August 5th at 7:20 AM EDT.
On a random note, I wanted to say that after reading with TM for 2 years, I recently saw someone calculating the timing indicated by a minor by looking up in ephemeris tables the date the planet would next travel through the sign. It was nowhere near the date of the decan and the part of the cycle through the seasons that the decan represents. Seeing that, suddenly a light bulb went off about why in ‘Book M’ you write, for example, “last decan of Pisces, ruled by Mars” instead of the sometimes used, shortened “Mars in Pisces.” I would not have had the light bulb moment without the book. Still learning from it even though I have to use a rubber band to hold it together at this point from frequent referencing! (I’m not sure if that means I’m dense or you’re brilliant. Probably both.)
Hope all is well with you.