my tarot gallery
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Some time ago I happened to stumble over a cheap deck of Tarot cards in
a flea market. I was instantly thrilled by the mysterious motifs of the cards.

I wanted to know more about the meaning of the cards and I started to
google and study library books. I then discovered that the Tarot had been
interpreted by various artists in many different and uniquely personal ways.
I learned more about the meaning and history of the cards.

I was also tempted to try and make my own versions of the cards.

Then the thought struck me that there was an awful lot of men with white
beards in the cards. If I was to put red caps on them they would look like
Santas. And if I was to ajust the colours and make winter landscapes in the
backgrounds they could pass as Victorian style Christmas cards!

I went to work. And this is the result so far. I started out from the classic
motifs of the Marseilles Tarot. The 'before'-pictures can be seen in the lower
right corners.

Some of the motifs are available as Christmas cards in my Etsy shop.

 

The Fool
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The Tarot deck consists of an 'ordinary' deck of cards with four suits:
the Minor Arcana, and 22 trump cards known as the Major Arcana.
The Fool is the first card of the Major Arcana, card zero.

The Fool card stands for happy-go-lucky optimism, beginner's luck,
fearlessness. He is the jester, the unfeigned Lucky Jim from the fairy
tale that gets both the princess and half the kingdom in the end.

The Christmas Fool card shows a happy wacky Santa on skis. His staff
is a ski stick and his sack is full of pressies and goodies.

Available as Christmas card in the webshop

 

VII The Chariot
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The Chariot card is the card of balance and control over chaos.

In my Christmas make-over of the card, the horses and chariot have become
Santa's sleigh driven by two crazy reindeers in a fierce paste. But Santa is
in full control and has both reins and tree in a firm grip. All children will get
their presents in time!

Available as Christmas card in the webshop

 

VIIII The Hermit
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The traditional Hermit Tarot card almost looks like a Victorian Christmas
card as it is. In my version I added a red cap on his head, some pressies
in his sack and made a wintery landscape in the background.

The Hermit represents the need to get away from the stressful hustle and
bustle of everyday life in order to meditate, study and look for inner guidance.
It is the card to remind us to slow down and take some time for ourselves,
something easy to forget this time of the year.

Available as Christmas card in the webshop

XX The Angel
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In older decks this card is called 'The Angel', which I thought sounded
a lot more christmasy than 'Judgement', as it is called in new decks.

This is the card for evaluation, truth and consequence, followed by rebirth.

In this version the sweet and lovely Angel of Christmas suddenly appears
in the sky and trumpets the merry holiday message to happy winter children.
The flag of the original card is now a Christmas present with red ribbons.

Available as Christmas card in the webshop

 

Knight of Wands
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The Knight of Wands card belongs to the Minor Arcana which consists of four
suits just like our 'ordinary' deck of cards: Cups, Wands, Coins and Swords.
The suit of Wands is equivalent of the suit of Clubs. The element of the suit of
Wands is fire.

The Knight of Wands card symbolises a brave, proud, strong-headed, original
and unpredictable person with lots of self-confidence.

Here, the Knight of Wands has become St. Stephen, the stable boy on his
grey steed, with a torch in the dark, starry winter night.

According the myth, St. Steven was the first to acknowledge the birth of baby
Jesus. He has his own song in Sweden, sung on the 13 December - 'Staffan
Stalledräng'. Also, St. Stephen's Day is celebrated on 26 or 27 December in
large parts of the world.

Available as Christmas card in the webshop

 

XIII
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This is the very D-card, which is not such a bad card as you might
think. It is just a symbol of transition. I have made a snow man of
Death, and I think he is rather cute! And I do like the symbolism -
death himself is transitionary!

 

XVIII The Moon
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The moon card is the image of a traditional Swedish crayfish
(and snaps) party which allways takes place in August when
the moon is full. I transformed the two crazy doglike creatures
into two dog-drunk men whith snaps-glasses and party hats.

 

Three of Cups
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The Three of Cups card belongs to the Minor Arcana. The Minor
Arcana consists of four suits: Cups, Wands, Coins and Swords.
The suit of Cups is equivalent of the suit of Hearts in an ordinary deck.

The Three of Cups card stands for gratitude, celebration, happiness,
friendship and abundance - in short, a perfect Easter celebration card.

I have transformed the classic Three of Cups card of the Marseilles
Tarot into a happy spring-flowery Easter card. The cups became egg-cups
and I decorated with pansies, willow branches ands daisies.

Available as Easter card in the webshop