The Towers

The first card I got done painting last week was The Tower(s).  I emphasize the plural "towers" because it depicts much of the aftermath of 9/11.  It took me longer than usual to finish it because it's a card that deals with sudden liberation, destruction, and breakthrough.  I wanted to show a scene that displayed hope out of chaos, comfort during a time when the whole world seems about to end -- the tower has fallen but people still stand.  I meditated on images of tragedies that have taken place in the last five years.  I could've chosen any image from any other time in recent history, but I kept coming back to the scenes of 9/11 -- an obvious related theme to the original Rider-Waite Tarot of a tower struck by lightning with people falling to their deaths.  Most people who draw this card in a reading are freaked out by this image.  Just like today if you come across yet another image from 9/11 -- over and over again the image of the World Trade Center falling is played -- I can't even count how many times I've seen the WTC fall now, it's not hard to get angry about it and wish it had never happened.  I didn't want to paint an image that would perpetuate this sense of morbidity over the 9/11 tragedy.  I didn't even like it when, just hours after the WTC fell, people were making T-shirts as if to say "I survived 9/11 and all I have to show for it is this stupid T-shirt." I don't want to make light of this event at all, it is still too fresh in my mind.  I wasn't there but I had two friends who were in NYC at the time of the fall.  I can't ignore that this happened and this image shows how I still feel about it.  The best thing I can think of that came out of the tragedy was this bursting out of hearts all over the nation.  Ignoring the anger, the senseless urge for revenege, and blind patriotism that bordered on facism, when something like 9/11 happens it gives the average person the sacred duty to reconnect with loved ones.  That is what I am trying to say with my version of The Tower.  

Compare The Towers of the Valentina Tarot with The Tower in the Tarot of Marseille

& The Tower in the Rider-Waite Universal Tarot : 

I'm very interested to hear what anyone who has a mind has to say about this.  I was reluctant to depict a recent tragedy in history and almost did an image that was less controversal and more generic, but decided to take a shot and go with my heart.  What do you think?

The Heirophant

I'm not Catholic, but the traditional version of this card usually depicts a priest or pope.  The card is about finding the meaning, the direction of your life.  It deals with spiritual traditions and ideals and the risk of hypocrisy.  On the positive side this card is about having faith in something or someone else.  On the down side it's the crushing of the ego and submitting to a false prophet.  This card clearly, to me, has another side to it and that's The Devil.  I will compare this card to the image I have already chosen to represent The Devil card.  Putting the two of them side-by-side is like seeing both sides of the coin...

Astute viewers will recognize that both cards represent the same man -- he could be Anton Szandor LaVey or he could be Osama bin Laden or any other man who has great influence, for good or ill, over a lot of people.  The difference between The Devil and The Heirophant, however, is that one works to oppress the masses and the other works to save them.  But who is really good and which one is truly evil?  What if both archetypes are striving to achieve the same goal and it is only the way we percieve them that really makes the difference after all?  You decide.

Eight of Pentacles

I am really pleased with this image.  I believe spiders to be very resourceful and this is why I chose one to represent the Eight of Pentacles.  The web is the spiders' best handiwork and this night it has brought her a eight bundles of food.  This card deals with apprenticeship and progress -- the harder you work, the better and quicker you achieve your goals.

Six of Cups

The Six of Cups usually deals with children and nostalgia.  Here I ripped a scene right out of my dreams.  In the early 90's, I dreamt of a man who could shapeshift into a pink dolphin.  This man (whom I called "Dolphin" as if you couldn't guess) would dare me to swim out into the ocean and, if I could keep up with him, he'd take me to magical places.  Those were wonderful dreams!  I was 19 at the time and I loved my dream world so much I kept daily records of my noctural adventures with Dolphin.  Ten years later I finally met someone who looked so much like Dolphin that I had a TERRIBLE panic attack when I first laid eyes on him -- my best friend, Andrew.  I didn't tell him about the Dolphin dreams until several years later and he told me that he used to own a rose quartz dolphin when he was a kid.  Coincidence?  Maybe.  But I believe it's best to believe in the magic.  When I showed this image to Andrew and told him that I could clearly see his smile on the pink dolphin's face, he said he really couldn't see himself in the dolphin but told me he'd take my word for it.  Anyway, the image is meant to show innocence and laughter.  Hope I did a good job.

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Thank you for viewing my latest Tarot creations.  Come back later tomorrow to see what other projects I've been working on!!!

~V