Let's not put the cart before the horse... We still have 18 cards to describe before we can approach an artist (or do it ourselves).
Recapping the entire deck for those who've tuned in late, with a few notes:
Major Arcana
"The Ravenmoon's Trumps show people or places that are important in early Fenspace history, with a link back to the event that caused many of the First Fen to want to go into space."
0 - The Fool: The Fool is both the beginning and the end, and the one who both makes the journey through the Tarot and the one who shows newcomers the way along that journey. The creator of the Ravenmoon Tarot chose to depict the First Fan in Space, Katz Schrödinger, as the Fool.
1 - The Magician: The Rider-Waite deck uses The Magician to denote scholarly knowledge. The Ravenmoon deck depicts Fenspace's first well-known scholar, Jonathon Helscher, as the Fen Magician.
2 - The High Priestess: Many interpretations of the High Priestess have her representing "the female indwelling presence of the divine." The Ravenmoon Tarot depicts the three-into-one AI of Fate and her sister-selves (as they present themselves in video feeds from the Fateful Lightning) as the High Priestess.
3 - The Empress: The Empress is both the Earthly Paradise and the Feminine principle. Ravenmoon's artist chose two intelligences to represent The Empress: Kat Avins and Gaia, both of Grover's Corners.
4 - The Emperor: Some interpret The Emperor as the desire to rule over one's surroundings, while others see it as the embodiment of the Masculine principle. Either way, the Ravenmoon deck depicts the Transrationality Science Assessment Bureau's ranking off-planet officer, Col. Stephen Caldwell, as The Emperor.
5 - The Hierophant: The Hierophant originally represented religion, orthodox theology, traditional education, and a “Man of high social standing.” The Ravenmoon deck divorces the card from its religious aspects, and depicts a prominent Fendane with close ties to Earth and conservative politics: Chris Marsden.
6 - The Lovers: In the Rider-Waite deck, The Lovers represents the impulse that drives one out of the Garden of Eden, towards adulthood. The Ravenmoon deck deviates from this and takes the card more literally, showing Benjamin Rhodes and Gina Langley as The Lovers - although some claim Gina represents both a lover and the drive toward adulthood.
7 - The Chariot: The Chariot represents struggle and eventual hard-won victory. It is also the only Tarot card associated with a vehicle. The Ravenmoon deck shows one who has struggled and won against herself, gaining the victory of being able to travel through space under her own power at the cost of being merged with her vehicle: Jet Jaguar.
8 - Strength: Discipline and control are the watch-words of Strength, as they are of Alita Gally and the other members of the Panzer Kunst Gruppe shown on this card.
9 - The Hermit: Rider-Waite interprets The Hermit in two ways: the need to withdraw from society to become comfortable with oneself, and the return from isolation to share one's knowledge. The Ravenmoon deck depicts Fenspace's most famous recluse, Padraig O'Niell, as the Hermit, but leaves the card's illustration incomplete - perhaps the artist is waiting for Mr. O'Niell to end his self-imposed exile from society.
10 - Wheel of Fortune: The Wheel of Fortune represents an element of change in the querant's life. While the most obvious image for this card would have been handwavium itself, the Ravenmoon Tarot's creator instead chose a person well-known to have gone through a change because of handwavium: "That Poor Sod," A.C. Peters.
11 - Justice: The easiest of the Tarot to interpret, Justice represents Justice. The Ravenmoon card depicts Justice with the Best Damn Cop on Mars, Natsuko Aki.[2]
12 - The Hanged Man: Most interpretations of the Hanged Man mark him as an indication of sacrifice, letting go, and surrendering. The Ravenmoon deck goes beyond this and adds misfortune, represented by Murphy Murphy.
13 - Death: Most fortune-tellers are quick to say that Death is not always Death; it is also an ending, a change, or an increased sense of self-awareness because of change. But that ending can also be the ending of dreams or lives. Ravenmoon's artist chose for Death a First Fan who is known to be quick to violence, who was avoided like the plague for years, and who changed because of an increased self-awareness of his place in Fen society: Noah Scott.
14 - Temperance: The Rider-Waite interpretation of Temperance is moderation, synthesis, and compromise. Ravenmoon depicts the first leader to embrace synthesis and compromise for the good of her faction, Serenity I, as the embodiment of Temperance.
15 - The Devil: In most traditional decks, The Devil represents an obsession or addiction to fulfilling earthly base desires. The Ravenmoon deck gives the (dis)honor of the role of The Devil to Asmodeus Grey.
16 - The Tower: Failure, ruin and catastrophe are the hallmarks of The Tower, and this is reflected in the Ravenmoon deck by its depiction of the falling Crystal Osaka on this card.
17 - The Star: Many interpretations of The Star have it representing inspiration and discovery. Ravenmoon's deck chooses to represent this as scientific inspiration and discovery, presenting The Professor in his laboratory.
18 - The Moon: Rider-Waite uses the Moon to denote life of the imagination separated from life of the spirit - a focus on a wide-ranging worldly life instead of a spiritual life. This role has been given (perhaps unfairly) to Buckaroo in the Ravenmoon Tarot.
19 - The Sun: The Sun is "attained knowledge," shown in this deck by Neil Armstrong making his walk at Tranquility Base.
20 - Judgement: Judgement symbolizes resurrection and the promise of life after death. That promise was fulfilled in the earliest days of the Fenspace diaspora, embodied in Fenspace and depicted in the Ravenmoon deck by Wave Convoy.
21 - The Worlds: Rider-Waite says The World is fulfillment, accomplishment, and success. While this could apply to all of the Big-Name Fen, the most public and outspoken BNF, Mal Fnord, is the one Ravenmoon's artist chose to depict on The Worlds. Many of the planets that the Soviets were first to explore are shown in the image's background.
Rockets
"The suit of Wands, Staves, Batons, or Clubs is associated with the classical element of Fire. The Ravenmoon Tarot gives the fire of inspiration to this suit, renaming it Rockets and illustrating an overview of pre-handwave space exploration."
Ace: Dr. Robert Goddard, launching his first successful rocket.
Two: Sputnik 2 and Laika
Three: Dr. Wernher von Braun shaking hands with President Truman, with Eisenhower in the background.
Four: The Atlas V rocket, launching a commercial satellite, in orbit.
Five: A Minuteman missile, in mid-launch.
Six: A Space X Falcon rocket.
Seven: Rollout of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
Eight: Challenger on her launch pad, 28 January 1986, with her crew pictured in the foreground.
Nine: A NIKE missile emplacement, clearly abandoned, with a group of civilians working on one of the missiles. Some kind of lightning display is going on in the background.
Ten: A V-2 rocket, mid-launch. The background is indistinct, so it cannot be seen whether this is a wartime launch from Germany or testing in the American desert.
Page: Yang Liwei.
Knight: John Glenn in the Friendship 7 capsule.
Queen: Sally Ride.
The King: Yuri Gagarin, in space.
Coins
"The suit of Coins, Pentacles, or Diamonds is associated with the classical element of Earth. The Ravenmoon deck gives the solid rock of wealth to this suit, including non-material wealth in its riches."
Ace: Antonio Mendoza, Fenspace's first Vitamin Man, trading his goods for whatever he can get.
Two: Mal Fnord and Chris Marsden, shaking hands, with Soviet and American flags waving in the background.
Three: Haruhi Suzumiya giving The Speech at SOS-Con.
Four: Colonel Stephen Caldwell in full dress uniform, hoarding the wealth of handwavium technology.
Five: Noah Scott and Haruhi Suzumiya, backs turned to each other, with Great Justice dividing between them.
Six: Myk-El Miller, teaching others how to safely use handwavium so as not to become poorer from the experience.
Seven: The USS Miranda going to FTL.
Eight: Vulpine Fury, in his usual "shop telepresence" persona.
Nine: Ford Sierra, tuning her namesake blue car.
Ten: A Ninja team coming home from a succesful mission.
Page: Bob Schroeck, tending a field aboard Grover's Corners
Knight: **WHITENOISE**, the leader of the Morians.
Queen: Haruhi Suzumiya, caring for her closest friends.
The King: Don Antonio Esposito.
Cups
Cups = Hearts = Water = Philosophy and Spiritualism
The "crystal chalice filled with handwavium" should appear in some form on every card.
Blanks indicate undecided cards. Text in italics following blanks gives the traditional meaning, which we've been using for the other cards.
Ace: A crystal chalice filled with handwavium.
Two: The Lovers (Ben and Gina), toasting the opening of their base on 36 Atalantae.
Three: The virtual avatars of
Discovery, Atlantis and
Endeavour standing in front of an unidentified Space Shuttle's main engine block.
Four: __________
A young man sits under a tree. One thinks of Buddha under the bodhi tree, sitting crosslegged, but this youth is not serene. He seems dissatisfied with the three cups before him. A hand from a cloud offers him a fourth cup, but the youth shows no interest. It indicates a period of ennui and boredom, where nothing seems to be satisfying.
Five: The administrator of
Island One gazing forlornly at three empty cups, while two people from the Chicken Ranch sip from two other half-full cups behind him.
Six: Dr. Drakken and Shego, playing in the gardens of Crystal Tokyo, surrounded by six cups.
Seven: Members of the Ministry of Magic, debating which cup to partake of while showing signs of thirst.
Eight: A starship departs the Sol system, with the eight non-"minor" planets, in their orbits, in the background.
Nine: __________
This is known as the "wish" card. A well fed, self satisfied individual sits with nine cups behind. It indicates a table of plenty and getting everything you desire. It is the wish card, meaning your wish will come true.
Ten: __________
A husband and wife join arms looking up at the rainbow over their house. Two young children dance. Ten cups are seen among the rainbow. It is a card of happiness, completion of all plans to your satisfaction, and a card of fulfillment and a sense of wholeness. A happy marriage and family life.
Page: Michelle Delacroix, a cup with an engraved fish design resting on her keyboard.
(Unless somebody would prefer a different filker, keeping in mind that Hoshikage Kouyou hasn't debuted yet.)
Knight: Leonard da Quirm, offering a cup to a lady in the shadows.
Queen: __________
A queen on her throne at the seaside holds a cup she looks into. She sees visions within. It indicates a woman who has the gift of intuition and is able to offer good advice. She also may harbour a secret she is willing to share with you.
The King: The Jason in his garden.
Notes:
robkelk: "Four: Do we have any named groundbounders yet? Queen: Too bad the deck was released before Takami "woke up", and nobody knows about Dee's abilities at this point either."
Staves
Staves = Spades = Air
No cards have yet been decided in this suit. The traditional meanings, via Wikipedia:
Quote:The Suit of Swords is a suit found in playing cards using the Italian and Spanish suits. It is also found in Latin Suited Tarot Cards. It's equivalent to Spades in Anglo-American playing cards.
The suit represents the Second Estate (The Nobles).
Common divinatory meanings
Swords correspond to the element of Air, and as such signifies freedom but also quick change. The Swords suit also traditionally represented the military, which implies strength, power and authority, but also responsibility, violence and suffering.- Ace of Swords: The Reaver. Indicates decisive ability. Cutting through confusion. Taking a radical decision or standpoint. The ability to see through deception, and expose it.
- Two of Swords: The Choice. The two of swords indicates doubt over decisions. A sense of powerlessness and apathy giving way to fear. If the other cards in the spread are favourable, then the Two of Swords can indicate lack of bias and even mindedness.
- Three of Swords: The Wound. This card represents the aspect of the mind which is overly critical, especially of itself. The perverse impulse to dissect a problem beyond the point of usefulness. The three swords are often depicted piercing a bleeding heart. The swords symbolise the intellect, and the heart, the emotions which always suffer under this treatment.
- Four of Swords: The Effigy. The four of swords symbolises avoidance. Setting problems to the side, (the swords on the wall), while one prays for deliverance. This card can also represent surrender, or in some cases, pacifism.
- Five of Swords: The Traitor. This card symbolises victory by betrayal. The emptiness which descends after a harsh struggle. The alienation of others through belligerence.
- Six of Swords: The Boatman. A dangerous journey. Readers do not always agree on the alignment of this card. It can indicate a doomed endeavour, or conversely, moving out of troubled waters. It also indicates responsibility for others.
- Seven of Swords: The Thief. This card represents covert activities. The attempt to get away with too much, and being compromised as a result. If the reading is favourable, the card may represent making sacrifices to move ahead. Simplifying.
- Eight of Swords: The Prisoner. Feeling trapped and oppressed by others, and powerless to change. Often the condition is self imposed, but the cause is attributed to external influences. This card can also indicate the stubborn adherence to an ideal.
- Nine of Swords: Terror, the Nightmare. Tarot readers do not generally like to categorise cards as "bad", or "good" but The Nine of Swords is probably the most dreaded card in the deck, however it can indicate the process of letting go, grief, and in combination with healing cards like The Queen of Wands, it is highly beneficial.
- Ten of Swords: The Corpse. The nightmare in The Nine of Swords comes to an end in The Ten. There may be exhaustion, and the result may not be ideal but the ordeal is over and the truth has been outed. The Ten of Swords can also indicate the end of a repetitious cycle. Divorce.
- Page of Swords: The Spy. The ability to observe others keenly, while concealing one's own nature. The talent for keeping secrets. Keeping one's head in the face of danger. The ability to endure suspense.
- Knight of Swords: The Berserker. Wrath. Impatience. Fanaticism. Blind addiction to action as opposed to thought. Also may indicate initiative and courage.
- Queen of Swords: The Widow, or necromancer. This card symbolises independence, at its best. Power, intelligence, tactical thinking. The ability to streamline a problem, and find the solution without fuss. At worst, The Queen of Swords can represent isolation, depression and cruelty.
- King of Swords: The Warlord. Discipline with passion. Power and insight. Can symbolise tyranny.
Notes:
robkelk: I want to put the Hacker Underspace in here somewhere.
Dartz: "The Ace of Swords might be a Jedi Knight. Three might be a wounded SPARTAN with an A24 'Sword' battlerifle and three spent shells on the ground. The Six could be the SS Ciara firing excalibur missiles. Eight: A service number of some sort. The Nine could be the metallic hand off a Boskone Berserker with nine-bladed fingers."
ECSNorway: "Six of Swords should show a spaceship, either firing six beam weapons or escorted by six fighters, flying into what is clearly massively overwhelming opposition, kind of like nBSG Pegasus' death-ride..."
Stuff that's come up during this project.
The leader of the Morians needs a name.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012