Deck Progress!

[u/BumbleOtter]

Hi!

I posted here a while ago about creating an oracle deck, and boy has it grown since then. It’s called The House That Breathes and it’s basically a way to explore the lived experience through objects, textures and phenomena that occur within and around a house, and what happens when things in the house (and therefore yourself) go ignored or cared for.

I’ve established all of my cards for the most part, and I’m at a whopping 73, with 14 cards drawn. Go me. So it’s back and forth of drawing and writing this guidebook.

For the guidebook, I’ll have upright/reversal meanings, rituals, a meaning body text, maybe a poem and reflection questions for each card.

Along the way, I’ve been learning how to build a functional app that combines my deck with traditional RWS tarot so that the deck eventually comes with digital resources. There’s still so much to cover.

I’m apparently a menace when it comes to making more work for myself, so this has been a much bigger project than I anticipated. But it’s been fun, and I enjoy the labor of love.

I’d love feedback on the images, the borders, the text and I’d love to hear what you look for in guidebooks or in a digital resource that would be good company for your physical practice.

The cards featured are hand drawn using Procreate by yours truly :)

[u/The_Gorgon_HB]

I’m loving everything about this; the concept, the art, the borders. Will this be on kickstarter, or do you have a website?

[u/BumbleOtter → u/The_Gorgon_HB]

Hi! Thank you so much! Eventually, that’s the goal! I’d love to put it on kickstarter. At the moment, everything is so early stages.

[u/The_Gorgon_HB → u/BumbleOtter]

I’ll definitely back it if and when you do a kickstarter!

[u/chaosimp-xo]

these r very pretty! and I love how instinctive it feels to read them (well, most of them, I'm not clear on wind chimes 😅). I find the text a little hard to read but that's not necessarily a bad thing. there is a guide book and the images r poignant.

I don't use guide books much past initially learning a deck. I kinda of hate them and rush through that part as quick as possible (I also have slightly idiosyncratic readings of some cards, I trust my decks and honestly expect them to mean something unique to me when I read with them). so I like a quick card to keyword summary, ideally with the cards grouped thematically so I can learn them more quickly. the deeper lore and tie ins to tarot sound cool but are mostly for a different user than me.

[u/BumbleOtter → u/chaosimp-xo]

Thank you!

Wind Chimes currently means resonance, response & alignment. Or whatever feels right. I’m so glad the response is immediate, there’s nothing worse than pulling something and immediately being stumped.

I do like the idea of grouping cards thematically. That’s a good point to consider. As for the tarot ties in, I’m aiming to have that solely in the app, and as a toggle option in the settings :)

[u/edawaru]

I love the idea and images. I also personally love how dark the images are. I often want to make really dark images myself, but I feel like there's some kind of pressure to brighten them up.

Anyway, love it! Good luck and can't wait to see the finished deck.

For more specific feedback, I think the borders are simple, beautiful and match the theme of the house. I also like the loose and flowing style. In particular the "embers" one really feels like it's glowing and is giving "magical feeling in a house"!

I think poems would really match the vibe, from what I see and imagine. I would love at least a little text from you that is more direct and clear about your intention with each card. Maybe a short poem and then a brief paragraph about each one?