National Playing Card Collector’s Day * wild woman of the wavefields * #CardCollection Day
‘Tis ‘bout two weeks ‘til Halloween, All Hallows Eve, Samhain, and All Souls Day of the Dead, and of which are the days of the year wherein the veil is thinnest, and perhaps whereof the invitation to go between worlds is most felt. We have just passed the first quarter of the waxing moon this week, and by month’s end will be upon the last quarter and the waning moon, an apt time to make our prayers.
And given the such am going to take the chance to talk about the deck a bit, and especially given that (yesterday was) National Playing Card Collector’s Day. If you’ve been thinking ‘bout buying a deck of Surfer Tarot cards, let me introduce them to you a bit.
First up there are 180 cards, which is a bit unusual given that the traditional deck is 78 cards. We’ve added a cover card and a joker of sorts, the wild woman of the wavefields as the 79th or extra card of the deck. There is also an additional 100 card collector’s addition, whereof you may substitute and/or mix ‘n match as you wish, taking cards from the 78 card deck and replacing/substituting them with the cards of your choosing from the 100 cards.
Another distinction the deck enjoys is that instead of the traditional swords/spades, cups/hearts, pentacles/diamonds and wands/clubs as suits, Surfer Tarot is suited with winds, waves, rocks and rays. This is a little auspicious in that ‘tis not general consensus nor understanding of the suits, in that their origin is drawn from the cycle of nature’s manifestation, from earth/diamonds to plants (clovers)/clubs, to fruits (of the tree)/hearts and to acorns (seeds)/spades (earth >> plants >> fruits >> seeds).
And so in like fashion we can adapt the suits of surfer tarot to just the such. Wind is the yield from heat upon the earth, which in turn helps to produce waves, the fruit of our ocean swells, and until they come upon the rocks or reef of our coastal borders, and then as we as surfers are the rays of dissemination upon riding/receiving of the emanations of our mother ocean, and in seeding/sharing of the such.
Nature’s cycle also mirrors the cycle of spirit and of our ongrowing story of individual growth, and whereto Tarot becomes a book of knowledge and wisdom written in the symbolic language of nature. And similar to surfing, the Tarot is cross cultural and a timeless reflection of the universal interaction of spirit and nature.
In addition to surfer tarot being a cultural archive of sorts, and with the built in invitation for you to act as surf art curator, and while presiding over your handheld, personal (not to mention portable) little art gallery of sorts, there is the sentiment to support your local surf artist, and as their inspiration and artistic intentions have well put their most often, heartfelt interests and passions on full display.
And not to put personal opinion to the side, as I suspect that the full blown iconography of surfer tarot especially pays tribute to the Tarot in that the pips were originally but rote symbols of staves, swords, coins and/or cups and the such, and have now morphed into an illustrious collection of contemporary interpretations, and having oft elevated themselves from common toys to fine art collectibles.
If you would like to read more about Surfer Tarot, please start with the preface and introduction here, and if you would like information on how to place an order via paypal, please click here. Mahaloha.
