Today’s card is from the charming Badgers Forest Tarot. What? You haven’t heard about this deck? Quelle Horror! It is from the creator of the adorable TaRat, my beloved Rabbit Tarot and completely talented artist, Nakisha. Her second edition Rabbit Tarot is close to being sold out!
Here is her Hanged Bird card. And a few words from Nakisha herself about this new project. I hope you will join me in helping her make the Badgers Forest Tarot a reality.
Here’s Nakisha!
I let my proof copy of my new Badgers Forest Tarot deck decide which card to talk about, and after shuffling some (It’s going to take a bit getting used to these larger cards!) I pulled the Hanged Bird, which in classic tarot is equivalent to the the Hanged Man. This card shows a sparrow with one foot caught in a vine, hanging upside down from a branch.
This is actually one of the first paintings I did for the deck, over three years ago (I did not paint them in order, but randomly). For me this card has a lot to do with control and lack of control, mental or emotional blocks, and feelings of being stuck or being held back. The bird could easily fly up and away and escape the vine, however for some unknown reason it is suspended. In my mind, I don’t imagine the bird flapping around or struggling, just waiting, observing and trying to make sense of its predicament. I think a lot of time this card symbolizes being stuck in a pattern of thought, or holding oneself back and being unsure or unable to move forward. Sometimes it means waiting until the next move becomes clear, or trying to see things from a new perspective (such as hanging upside down, literally).
Remembering back to my first tarot deck, the Rabbit Tarot, I had some bunny owners not too happy with my image for the Hanged Rabbit, until I pointed out that the noose holding the bunny’s foot was actually quite loose, the rabbit could escape at any time, but perhaps because of the unusual sensation of being suspended it wasn’t ready to go.
The Hanged Bird is indicative of a temporary situation. The bird will fly off, eventually, it’s just the direction that it will take that remains to be seen. In a way, that is where I am now, being in the midst of the Kickstarter to fund this new deck. I am waiting to see what the outcome will be for the funding to print it.
Please consider helping me make the Badgers Forest deck available to everyone by becoming a backer on my Kickstarter here-
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2049847855/the-badgers-forest-tarot
I have until August 2nd, 2013 to make this deck a reality. I also hope, if this is successful, to put together a book based on this deck, and to work towards the third edition of the Rabbit Tarot, as the second edition is getting close to being sold out.
All the Best,
Nakisha