I have dreamed about creating my own tarot deck for as long as I have been practicing tarot. However, for the longest time, that was all it was – a dream, not a goal. I just didn’t think I was capable. I’ve always believed that I am not talented enough for such an endeavour since I can’t draw and my Photoshop skills are next to none.
Then one day, my friend gave me a quick crash course in Photoshop, showing me some useful basic skills. And with the tricks that I learnt in one day, I created my own tarot deck. From conception to print, the entire process took less than two months.
In making this tarot deck, I put to use all the things I’ve learnt from tarot all these years. Specifically, I demonstrated the lesson of the Suit of Wands by acknowledging my creativity and capabilities, focusing my desires and harnessing it into a goal. On a broader scale, this project reflected my increasing understanding of the most important lesson that the tarot has to teach – to live life consciously.
My original attitude towards my tarot creation dream was a reflection of how I’ve lived much of my life. There was always a train of excuses for all those things I could’ve done but didn’t do. Adventures were always for those with more courage and ambitious goals were for those with more talent. The only thing I’ve ever felt I was good at was to do what I’ve been told. I was the obedient child, the good student and the quiet worker who always performed well as long as I knew exactly what I was supposed to do.
Making this tarot deck is a project I took on simply because I wanted to. It wasn’t an expectation or a standard respectable goals according to the norms of society. And although I had help from friends (aside from the friend who provided me with the Photoshop crash course, another dear friend created my steampunk taichi symbol that is on the back cover and boarder of all the cards), the cards themselves was a creation entirely of my own devising. It was a result of my own desire, translated into will and work. In other words, I was in control.
The ability and act of creation is the most empowering feeling and this feeling isn’t a privilege reserved only for the gifted – it is there inside each and everyone one of us. What I’ve learnt from project is that we can begin creating the life we want the moment we choose to take control. All those times when I’ve told myself I couldn’t possibly do this or that without even trying, what I was really saying is “I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to change. I am comfortably disappointed and I don’t care to do better.”
*For more details on the deck, please visit my Steampunk Propaganda! page.
The Mechanics of Tarot 