# Card Ideas (oracle/tarot)



## sunandshadow (Jun 21, 2010)

I was toying with the idea of making an oracle deck illustrated with either anthros or feral animals.  There would be 12 suits (each suit a type of animal) and each suit would have 6 cards: Strength, Weakness, Negative Emotion, Positive Emotion, Social Role, and Activity.  So I wondered, if I describe a few specific card concepts, can I get some feedback on the ideas?  They seem kind of underdeveloped. *blush*

One of Raccoons: Intuition  A white or golden raccoon looks at scattered tiles and she envisions them arranged in different patterns, possibly in glowing blue light.

Three of Raccoons: Embarrassment  This card shows a chubby light-colored raccoon hanging by one ankle from a rope trap in a tree.  The raccoon is red-faced and trying to reach up to his ankle to untie himself.  Possibly small animals are standing around heckling and laughing at the raccoon.  (Different idea - perhaps pink paint has somehow been dumped over the raccoon's head.)

Five of Raccoons: Gambler  An eager-looking dark colored raccoon holds dice or cards.  The raccoon's playing partners are a dog and a weasel.

One of Weasels: Strategy  A black and white weasel is playing chess by himself, and the chess pieces are the other animals.


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## Zydala (Jun 22, 2010)

I don't know much about oracle cards - I do tarot card readings though. it sounds like a fun idea 

Question - what are the significance of the cards? like, if you draw one, what does it mean for an individual? what if it's reversed? etc


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## sunandshadow (Jun 22, 2010)

Well, what the card meant would depend what question was asked and/or what spread was used.  Reversed, hmm... I think that would reverse who was the object and who was the subject.  Like if you chose a card to represent a person, then asked "What is the source of this person's problems?"  And the card drawn was Embarrassment.  Right side up would mean the problem was someone else causing embarrassment to the subject, while reversed would mean the subject causing embarrassment to the other person was the source of the problem.  What so you think?


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## Zydala (Jun 22, 2010)

sounds interesting  I read cards for fun, and I'm sort of more about the questions and the 'Jungian' aspect of being able to see yourself in what's shown to you rather than actual fortune telling, so I think your ideas are cool, haha.

As for advice, it sounds like you just started on your project, so keep in mind while designing cards that symbolism can mean a lot when added to the cards - even the colors that are used can be important in them, and what numbers they correspond with. Have them tell a subtle story, too - sort of like the Major Arcana. It will make your ideas seem a lot more solid. I've seen a lot of oracle cards that are just basically newspaper horoscopes printed on the back of pretty pictures :| those aren't the fun cards, lol.


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## Damagefox (Jul 5, 2010)

Im.....HOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMEEEEEEEEE  Nice to see I am not the only tarot reader on the forums. I just found out today that I might be an old soul (A professional reader's intuition Led hear to believe I might have done tarot/magic in previous lives, not just this one)  I have toyed with the idea of making a deck as well. But my mind shifts so much I doubt I would be able to stay focussed beyond the sketching phase. lol. Or at least one or two cards. Who knows.


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## Faustus (Jul 8, 2010)

The useful thing about the Tarot deck is that each card has more than one image you can draw upon. For instance its name and meaning don't necessarily have to be the same thing, and cards are also associated with certain suits (also having a meaning) and elements like fire and earth, which adds another layer of complexity. I think it's important for a card's meaning to be as deep and open to interpretation as possible, while also providing useful guidance.

-F


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## sunandshadow (Jul 10, 2010)

I found a fun thing today - a deck of blank tarot cards, intended for self-illustration.  They already have the standard tarot suits and the trumps are labeled, meh, but I guess I'm curious to see if I can superimpose this animal oracle deck on a standard tarot structure in any useful way.  Good excuse to doodle, at any rate.


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## Zydala (Jul 11, 2010)

sunandshadow said:


> I found a fun thing today - a deck of blank tarot cards, intended for self-illustration.  They already have the standard tarot suits and the trumps are labeled, meh, but I guess I'm curious to see if I can superimpose this animal oracle deck on a standard tarot structure in any useful way.  Good excuse to doodle, at any rate.


 
Oh wow! Hey where did you find them? I'd be real interested in doing something myself!


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## sunandshadow (Jul 11, 2010)

Amazon has two or three kinds available. ^_^  The preformatted one I have is The Inspiration Tarot, but they also have completely blank ones, I might order one of those.  Or, there's a company which produces demos of card games which will print one of a kind or small batches of card decks from digital image files for under $20 a deck.  Unfortunately they only do playing-card size at present, but it's still cool.


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