So Below Court Cards

I am really proud of the court cards for both volumes of the Book of Shadows Tarot. Because Lo Scarabeo encouraged me to push the boundaries and explore new possibilities, I tried to meet the challenge.

Because Book of Shadows, vol. 2: So Below is meant to be closer to the RWS tradition (whereas As Above was meant to be a kind of re-imagining of what tarot can be), the court cards are grounded in the familiar Rider-Waite-Smith tradition. However, I did two things that I think shake things up and mess with our expectations.

Instead of letting rank decide the gender of the characters, I let the suits decide. And to play with our heads even more, I designed the “passive” suits (Cups and Pentacles) with male characters and the “active” suits (Wands and Sword) with female characters.

You know how we all play different roles in life? Sometimes we are a student, sometimes an activist, sometimes a confidante, sometimes a teacher or leader? Well, to help support that point, each suit has the same character taking on each of the ranks. Clever, yes? Well, I thought so.

So let me present the So Below Court Cards. I hope you like them!