Amanda Palmer Tarot- The Seven of Wands

Some of you may have already heard about the Amanda Palmer Tarot Deck, it has been in the works for years now. Now the deck is finally going to see the light of day and I can share what I did for it! Thanks in large to Madeline Carol Matz, who started rallying the 78 or so amazing artists in earnest (no easy task!) and organized a kickstarter to get it properly off the ground, this deck is now happening in a big way! There are still a few weeks to get your own deck, so check it out and help us exceed our goal even more. The more this gets funded, the more the artists get paid!

Digital

The initial instruction way back when this assignment was first given was to base the card off a particular song. I always loved  Astronaut, from her Who Killed Amanda Palmer series and when I read the description of what the Seven of Wands stood for, it seemed a perfect match. For me, this song was about the people who are simply destined for greater things. You've met them.They have a little extra spark, they don't seem to have any fear and don't worry about failure. They are the mad geniuses who come along and shake up their corner of the world. The Prometheuses, the  Übermensches. These are the people who make a lot of sacrifices and may give up a little of that human connection because they are so focused on doing something a little bit larger than life. They are magical and terrifying and we flock to them like moths to a flame.  Astronaut is the the song of the Moth.

I wanted my image to embody to that very human desire to steal fire from the gods.  While everyone has some capacity for this,  I think this is something especially familiar to artists. The creative struggle is long and hard and full of obstacles. Whether it's the people around us who are standing in our way  or own personal demons, it is an unending battle. But it's a battle worth fighting if, even for a moment, we get to touch a little fire.

Seven of Wands from the Rider-Waite Tarot deck

From the Wiki page for the card : "The Seven of Wands is a card that when upright, means a testing time calling for courage and tenacity for long-term success. In the Rider-Waite deck, the person braces themselves in a defensive pose against the other wands prodding in his direction. Looking strained and stressed, but standing firm, he appears to stand on a hill, or straddle a mountain range, to symbolise his strong footing. The Seven of Wands defender stands ready for battle. It is about defending the footing gained. It is the ability to cultivate the struggles at hand into a stronger position. He stands alone against a multitude, but perseveres. It is he alone who maintains the fight and is not beaten."

"Astronaut"

music and lyrics by Amanda Palmer

Is it enough to have some love

Small enough to slip inside a book.

Small enough to cover with your hand

Because everyone around you wants to look

Is it enough to have some love

Small enough to fit inside the cracks

The pieces don't fit together so good

With all the breaking and all the gluing back

And I am still not getting what I want

I want to touch the back of your right arm

I wish you could remind me who I was

Because every day I'm a little further off

But you are, my love, the astronaut

Flying in the face of science

I will gladly stay an afterthought

Just bring back some nice reminders

And is it getting harder to pretend

That life goes on without you in the wake?

And can you see the means without the end

In the random frantic action that we take?

And is it getting easy not to care

Despite the many rings around your name

It isn't funny and it isn't fair

You've traveled all this way and it's the same

But you are, my love, the astronaut

Flying in the face of science

I will gladly stay an afterthought

Just bring back some nice reminders

I would tell them anything to see you split the evening

But as you see I do not have an awful lot to tell

Everybody's sick for something that they can find fascinating

Everyone but you and even you aren't feeling well

Yes you are, my love, the astronaut

Crashing in the name of science

Just my luck they found your upper half

It's a very nice reminder

It's a very nice reminder

And you may be acquainted with the night

But I have seen the darkness in the day

And you must know it is a terrifying sight

Because you and I are living the same way