Tarot Card I – The Magician

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Digital Art, Phil Gennuso, Tarot Card, The Magician

by phil gennuso

      The Magician, the second card on our journey through the Major Arcana.

      My design splits the digital canvas into four quadrants, the hemispheres, the compass, the world. I have drawn in the Northern point, it stands for a sense of direction and destination. Often times my life has been in a state of utter chaos but somehow that special point of light, my ultimate goal, stays in view and inspires. There are springs and circles, lines and colors going every which way! The colors are bright, there is a sense of optimism here, however reckless. Perhaps I should be more concerned. Maybe someday my bag of tricks will run out. Maybe someday I won’t land on my feet. Maybe. But as long as I can see the North Star of my dreams and hopes, shining, beckoning, I have to stay positive and rely on my resourcefulness.

Tarot Card 0 – Innocence – The Journey Begins!

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Digital Art, Innocence, Phil Gennuso, TAROT POSTS

by phil gennuso

Introduction

      The beginning of life! Is anything more exciting? Is anything more filled with promise and dreams? Or the beginning of any journey, or any quest. That is what this card signifies to me.

     Many decks call this card the Fool. But this is not an opinion I share. Inexperience does not necessarily make one a fool. Naive perhaps, but not a fool.

     Some decks leave this card unnumbered rather than starting with zero. Either way it represents the beginning, the beginnings of life, the beginnings of journeys, the beginnings of civilizations, the beginnings of our universe.

     My card is innocence. In order to live fruitfully, we must keep our innocence alive somewhere inside of ourselves, somewhere inside our polis. When innocence dies, so does any hope of creativity, vitality, progress.

Design

     For my design, I chose a young woman, someone just starting out her independent life as an adult. She is dreamy, romantic, longing. She is surrounded by darkness (which may signify the present), but there is a bright sunlight behind her (which may represent the future). The contrast is dramatic and clearly drawn.

     My image is straightforward and direct. I am not using any overt symbolism in my deck. More typical decks tend to use symbolism, and fill the card with different items which might refer to different events. I want to concentrate on the essence of how I perceive each card. For me the Tarot is not so much a prophecy as a revelation. The cards reflect different stages in our lives and invite us to reflect on what is relevant at this moment.

Returning To The Tarot – New Beginnings

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Digital Art, New Beginnings, Phil Gennuso, TAROT POSTS

Yesterday’s Rains, Tomorrow’s Dreams, Phil Gennuso

A new beginning !!!

     I first started my career in digital art about three years ago, both from a sense of adventure and a sense of necessity. At that time I wanted to put a Tarot application on a web site as a fun thing to do. I have always had an interest in the Tarot, dating back quite a few years, and I thought it would be a great programming assignment. You see I had worked as a programmer for many years, and then left somewhere around 2006 to take a break and try my hand at other things. By 2013 I decided I wanted to try to go back into programming and setting up a small Tarot application online seemed like an interesting project.

     I realized of course that I would have to do something for the cards, and not wanting to infringe any copyrights, I decided to try and create my own deck! I did create a deck but as I look at it now, it is somewhat clumsy. So this year I have gone back and am creating a new deck. I am only releasing the Major Arcana for now, I am not sure if I will do the Minor Arcana. And I will re-release my application, a new improved version!

     So this is my new beginning and much like the first card in the deck, I start out with a fresh sense of confidence and hope that I may be able to contribute something new to this ancient craft. You see, my cards will be partly based on the historical deck and partly on the experiences of my own life. So it will be Tarot, biography, history, philosophy, and hopefully, art and poetry.

I hope you enjoy!

And as always, I so appreciate your comments!

Tarot, Card III, The Empress

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Digital Art, Phil Gennuso, TAROT POSTS, The Empress

by phil gennuso

My proposed Tarot card for The Empress (III).

Tarot Card XVIII The Moon

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Digital Art, Phil Gennuso, TAROT POSTS, The Moon

designed by phil gennuso

My proposed design for this Tarot card, The Moon, card XVIII.

I tried to capture the beauty, the incompleteness, the rhythms, the melodies, the romance, the contradictions of this ancient Tarot symbol.

Tarot Card: VIII Strength

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Original Artwork, Phil Gennuso, TAROT POSTS, VIII Strength

prototype by phil gennuso

 

For this proposed card, VIII Strength, I have used barbells and a beautiful vase.

The barbells symbolize our goal of physical health and renewal. I am something of a classicist and believe we must try to take care of body, mind, and soul. I try to walk at least a few miles every day and try small exercises with barbells as often as possible.

However there is our other side, the spiritual side, that also is part of our strength. Here I have used a vase, hand made in Brazil over ten years ago, a bit fragile perhaps, but beautiful, and sturdy in its own way. Art is for our soul, our spiritual journey, and that too, is part of our strength, as we try to make sense of an often chaotic world.

Tarot Card V The Hierophant

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Original Composition, TAROT POSTS, The Hierophant

original collage by phil gennuso

This is my proposed Tarot card for the Hierophant, typically card V in the traditional Tarot deck.

The Hierophant classically is based on the Pope, or the High Priest, but I chose to select Dag Hammarskjold, the UN peacemaker and second Secretary-General, and Mary Baker Eddy, the Christian mystic who founded Christian Science.

When I was growing up, Dag Hammarskjold was one of our heroes, along with Dwight Eisenhower; and in fact, John Kennedy, called him (Dag Hammarskjold) the greatest statesman of the century.

Mary Baker Eddy, remarkably, as a woman, founded a major branch of Christianity, Christian Science, a religion with millions of members in the US and worldwide.

I think both of these figures represent the spiritual, and inspirational aspects of the Hierophant, to 21st century men and women.

Isn’t it time that women, who are more than half of the human population, also take their place beside men, as spiritual leaders, in all religions?