Fanboys and Tarot

What?  How do these two things go together you might ask. I was watching this movie, Fanboys, which is an homage to Star Wars Fans everywhere. And well I am a Star Wars fan and I have found Star Wars themed Tarot decks.  YES! Of course they are just art projects because none are sanctioned by Lucas but they are amazing. And really why not share two of my favorite things with you?

Here are some of the links to ones I found to be terrific:

 

First here is the Star Wars Tarot from Valerie Kessler and my favorite cards she has created:

” XVIII The Moon – Queen Amidala

A young woman of strong intellect and intuition, Amidala augments her power and security through her ever-changing appearance. Elaborate clothing and makeup obscure her youth and unimposing size–the same traits that allow her go mostly unnoticed in her guise as the handmaiden Padmé. She is herself deceived in Senator Palpatine, her people’s representative to the Republic, who seeks to use her to further his own political interests. She forms an instant bond of friendship with young Anakin Skywalker, unaware that he will grow up to love and later betray her.

Meanings:Deception. Twilight. Obscurity. Intuition. Disillusionment. Danger. Caution. Bad influence. Ulterior Motives. False friends. Slander. Libel. Unknown enemies. An insincere relationship. There are deeper reasons for what happens. Strange connections between people, beyond their own understanding.

Reverse Meanings: A minor deception recognized before damage is done. Trifling mistakes. Overcoming bad temptation.”

 

 

0: The Fool

 

Jar Jar Binks

 

Though friendly and cheerful, Jar Jar Binks often finds himself in others’ bad graces due to his tendency to act without thinking. Even Qui-Gon Jinn loses patience with this walking embodiment of his own admonition to “use your instincts”. Hopelessly accident-prone, Jar Jar nonetheless seems to lead a charmed life, avoiding serious injury and sometimes even helping himself and others by sheer chance–or perhaps the workings of the Force. He has a childlike view of the universe and of how people should treat one another, and is frequently bewildered by the aggressive behavior and intrigues of those around him.

 

Meanings: Thoughtlessness. Folly. Immaturity. Irrationality. Insecurity. Delirium. Enthusiasm. Naivete.

 

Reverse Meanings: Bad decision. Apathy. Hesitation. Negligence.”

 

This is from Elan Rodger‘s Star Wars Tarot from Deviant Art pages:

New Hope” Luke Skywalker as The Fool.
He is starting of on his journey, uncertain of the path ahead. “With the blast shield on I can’t see anything!” He doesn’t know where the path will lead him. Off the cliff? R2-D2 is his loyal sidekick.

 

This is the 4 of Swords- Han Solo in carbonite!

Han solo in Carbonite. He’s resting, contemplating, hibernating.

 

We also have these fascinating Sketch card Star Wars Tarot from John Wtkins-Chow:

0 – The Fool
I – The Magician
II – The High Priestess
III – The Empress
IV – The Emperor
V – The Hierophant
VI – The Lovers
VII – The Chariot

 

The rest can be found here.

 

And here is my favorite one is by Bernice Gordon with her thoughts on her art from her posts on Deviant Art: :

“This was a card that started off as very plain. I realized that it would pack a punch after the color was applied- and it did. However, during the course of it, there was an off-again, on-again love-hate relationship with the card. And I just kept reminding myself to hang in there- the color would vastly improve it.

Also, during my time working on the card, Jason Derulo’s “Riding Solo” came on the radio at least half a dozen times. This only made me laugh every time it did- because the first few times I heard that song I couldn’t help but think about Han Solo when he hit the chorus. So eventually when the song came on, I would hold up my card and point when he said “Solo”.

A special shout out to “shadechristiwolven” for helping me decide upon the final suite of the deck! The suit of Pentacles is hereby known as “Planets”.  As the most Grounded of the suites, Han fits both the Material aspects, as well as the business-like quality of the suite. While I never understood all the other girls fascination with the “bad boy heart throb”, and that whole “I love you-I know” bit made me want to slap him across the face- there is no doubt that deep down, Han is a good guy. Deep deep Down.

Deep deep deep DEEP down.
Anyhow, originally he was also going to hold his blaster.. but it seemed so “eh” out of place in the card. I like it the way it is. The gold “planet” Han hold is also iridescent… and I’m STILL wishing I had a better scanner for these. Killin’ me here.

 

Also, in another amazing turn of events, this card has an odor to it. I don’t know how, I don’t know why… but using my Golden Ochre Pencil on the board made it begin to smell like… well, something probably you would smell around a Scruffy Nerfherder like Solo.

 

Han Shot First.”

“It was a no-brainier to figure out that I would use Anakin and Padme for the Lovers card.”

And here is the Empress Card:

“Like “The Hermit” card, some of the titles themselves are obvious give-aways to the content.

However, it is to note something interesting: I cannot “read” Tarot cards. I have my own deck of cards I “read” from but they are not Tarot. This series is a result of a sort of “epiphany” I had one night… and I decided to run with the idea. After all, Star Wars is full of Archetypes that are found within the Tarot Cards as well, so I decided I would just illustrate what I “felt” fit the image/meaning of the card, and look for the “official” meaning/content after I was done. This way, I wouldn’t be swayed by the pre-conceived notion, but run with my instincts. As an artist (and generally as a person) I run by instinct over knowledge most of the time. My gut is my best intuition so I never ignore it.
What’s funny is after I design the image and then check its meaning- the meaning and my “gut” usually coincide.”

 

These are just a few of the amazing things you can find if you put in Star Wars + Tarot in goggle or if you watch i09. It shared some of the amazing Scifi and Tarot.  To read more check it out here.

 

And if you want an Analysis of Tarot Archetypes in the Star Wars Series this is a great from The Magician’s Hidden Library.

“The Star Wars series is famous for retelling what Joseph Campbell called the Monomyth—the ancient story of the hero’s journey (The Hero With a Thousand Faces, 1949). As the Tarot is also an allegory for the hero’s journey, it should come as little surprise that every archetype of the Major Arcana appears in the Star Wars films, very nearly all of them within the first film released, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977).” you can find the reast of the analysis here: http://www.mysteryarts.com/starwars/tarot/

 

 

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