Pharos Tarot by MM Meleen

[HRU's Muse]

Hi friends!
After a couple of years of preparation and painting, Pharos Tarot Majors are ready!
The Pre-order phase has begun, and the decks will ship in February. You can see cards at the following link. At the top of the page are examples of a few in three versions, and near the bottom of the page are links to every card except the last two which aren't yet shown, to give some surprise http://www.tabulamundi.com/pharos/

Tarot, like a lighthouse, is a guidance device. Pharos Tarot was named after the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the world's first lighthouse and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It is a Majors only deck as it's function is to illustrate hiw the Major Arcana are facets of the One, by correlating each part of a Lighthouse system (the Lighthouse itself and its related peripherals the sea, ship, and navigation) to one of the Majors and its Qabalistic Hebrew letter correspondence. Each card is given a name in addition to the standard (Thoth based) title.

So if you are curious about the Pharos card names I can tell you a little about them. They aren't trying to reinvent Tarot titles. They reference the different parts that make up a Lighthouse system. The Lighthouse pillar represents the One, that all of the Majors are different facets of. The muse spoke to me one evening and said that every part of a lighthouse system could correspond to a Major card and it's Hebrew letter.

The examples I have been using to exolain how it works to those who haven't been following the creation process are The Empress and Death as they illustrate how it works. Sometimes it is so simple it's obvious, like in the case of The Empress, who is the Gate of Heaven. Her letter Dalet means Door - so her Pharos title is "The Door", and she corresponds to the door of the Lighthouse.

Other times it is more complex. The Death card has a Pharos title of "The Walk". It fits because Death is a transition, a journey to a new reality. But it also corresponds to a part of the Lighthouse called "The Widow's Walk", a walkway around the Lighthouse that was used as an observation deck, sometimes by women waiting for the ship of their mate to return from sea. The skeleton in the card is female - Isis the widow of Osiris, god of death, the afterlife, and rebirth.

Osiris was killed by his brother Set, and his corpse was cut into fourteen pieces and thrown into the Nile. Isis searched out all the pieces except one. Thirteen pieces of Osiris were found, but there was one unfortunate loss: the phallus had been swallowed by a fish. The all important organ for life and procreation was missing. Isis, with her sister Nepthys and with the help of Anubis, embalmed the parts remaining. Isis fashioned a new phallus from clay, and through magic, they breathed new life into him long enough for Isis and Osiris to conceive the child Horus, avenger of his father.

The Hebrew letter for Death is Nun, meaning fish. You can see it in the card in her glowing glass lantern, and perhaps carried by Scorpio's eagle in the distance.

Anyway, the Pharos titles are not meant to change or soften the meanings of any title, they are meant to enhance and illustrate the Lighthouse correspondence. Because the Majors are divine guidance from the One.

It is set in a dream space, as the inspiration came in a liminal state, so the images have a surreal quality and aren't meant to be realistic.

The art is all hand drawn and painted in watercolor, because the deck is also an exploration of color and the intersection of Water and Light - in keeping with the Lighthouse theme.

Each card is done in the colors of the Golden Dawn color scales.

The originals are on A3 cold pressed paper (about 12x16).

The decks come with an comprehensive text explaing the meanings, symbols, lighthose part and Pharos title, and analysis of the GD color scales and meanings behind them, for each card. And more.

The cards are extra large Majors only, sized 4x6.25 inches and come in three choices of styles:

Bordered cards have cream colored borders with Thoth based titles and Pharos based titles as subtitles. The attribution symbols are in the lower corners.

Completely borderless cards have only the Pharos titles which are all one word (not including "The"), in a color readable but relating to the art so that it isn't obtrusive. The minimal titling enhances the spacious borderless feeling and allows for concentration on the art. No need to be concerned about which card is which in spite of the alternate titles - it will be obvious to anyone familiar with tarot. These are Thoth based, so expect a Lust and Aeon rather than Strength and Judgement, though.

Then there is an option that is borderless on three sides but has a black bottom border. These have the Roman numeral of the card and the Pharis title, done in the Golden Dawn King Scale color, since that's the scale of the Major Arcana. This option gives max readability and identification with still a borderless feeling. Plus the appropriate color for pathworking.

Hopefully between the three versions there is something to please everyone! Each deck comes with 24 cards plus a signed numbered title card. 24 not 22 as there are alternate versions of some cards. Each version gets different alternates.

You can see more here http://www.tabulamundi.com/Pharos/ and pre-order here http://www.tarotcart.com. This is the pre-order price and there is a 13% discount if you want all three.

I hope it sheds some light upon your tarot journey and increases vision in 2020.

[stronglove]

wow, what an incredible deck, such interesting alt titles, beautiful images, fascinating concept..... i already have the rosetta and tabula mundi but would love to own this one too.... such a pity that 2020 has to be a no-buy year for me.....!
let’s hope there will still be some decks left by 2021....

[HRU's Muse]

Thanks stronglove! I can't guarantee it as they are going to be super small editions. But I do intend to print a little bit extra above the pre-order amounts to round things up, so it's possible! I thank you for the kind comments - be strong in 2020!

[HRU's Muse]

Just an update. The deck proofs arrived last week and the decks are in production. They look really good! I hope they get here by the end of Jan.

The book for it is written too. What I'd imagined as a little white book sized text turned out to be a 150 page book! That's without pictures or tables so it is pretty substantial. Everyone who preordered will get it as a formatted print ready or readable file, plus hopefully I will figure out how to convert to both of the major e-reader formats. (working on that now) so assuming it works people can put on their kindle or what have you.

I'm going to print a small run of actual perfect bound 5x7 books that will be available for those that prefer real books. That's the same size as the deck package so they will bundle nicely.

The book has divinatory meanings, esoteric correspondences, the specfic Pharos metaphysical part analysis, symbols in the art explained, and an breakdown of the philosophical and magical reasonings behind the Golden Dawn color scale colors for each card.

I'll try to figure a way to give people who ordered the chance to add the print book to their order if they wish.

My next steps are doing all the hand made stuff that goes with them. I always say I'll never do that again but here I go again

So far so good and it looks like if all goes well the first ones will ship early February.
Preorders will be open until the end of Jan or til the first decks start shipping. Then preorders will close until all decks have shipped. After that the decks and books remaining will be available at www.tarotcart.com.

I think everyone who ordered will be happy!

[HRU's Muse]

Ok decks are hopefully going to start shipping this week or next at the latest. Pre-orders close this week. Only preorders are guaranteed to get a painted gift so now is the time if you were waiting.

Preorders will also get the 150 page book as a print ready pdf, so you can print it yourself. You can also pre-order a limited edition printed book. I am only printing 400 so they will be signed and numbered. They will ship with the decks if ordered during the preorder period, so if you want to add the print book and get them together now is the time.

If you are concerned about shipping cost because you are outside of the US, just know that if you have already ordered the deck and want the book, some of the postage paid with the book order will be refunded as I will combine into one package and refund the excess after they ship. It is mostly international orders this applies to, and US orders who chose flat rate for their decks too.

Or you can avoid shipping altogether and avoid waiting by getting the ebook version instead as there is the option to get it as MOBI or EPUB for your Kindle or other e-reader.

All right, back to making paintings. I want every preorder of the deck to get a special handmade gift as thanks for helping to make this strange little deck real, so I have to get busy!

[HRU's Muse]

Just an update: Pre-orders for Pharos will close tomorrow and the shipping process will begin. The book pre-order will be left up a couple more days so that those who ordered the deck and decide they want to add the book to ship together still can - at least until they get a shipping notice.

Because the pre-orders have handmade elements, they will ship in batches and not all at once, so don't be distressed if you don't get a shipping notice and someone else does. I'll be shipping some every day, in the order that they were received.

When you get your package you will see why it just isn't possible for me to ship all at once! Every pre-order package not only includes the handpainted item but also some intricate hand cut and assembled paper artistry. The amount of labor I'm doing is flat out ridiculous, so it's only done as a big thank you to those of you who took a chance on a pre-order and trusted me to get it right.

The remaining decks will be put back up for sale on the website, but the subsequent packages won't have the same extras included free. If they are offered at all it will be as an optional upgrade.

Thanks to all who signed up for another ride on the wheel!

[Rose Lalonde]

Thanks for the update. So much work and creativity; I was already excited to receive mine, but even more so now.

[Nemia]

The Pharos tarot is simply wonderful, and the book is fantastic! I have both the printed and the Kindle version.

It came with a hand-painted bag for the deck! The Rosetta and Tabula Mundi came with lovely bags, too, but this is the best bag ever - hand-painted by an artist whom I admire so much!

I didn't take good pictures yet but I chose the traditional format. Usually, I tend to borderless decks, but the aesthetics of the earlier Meleen decks is so deeply ingrained in my brain that I preferred to have the Pharos titled and bordered.

The wonderful thing is that by reading the book and looking at the cards, you can watch a light house built in your mind, and who doesn't love light houses? The world is dark but you know that sooner or later, a strong light will shine and help you find the way. And once you know that, the darkness doesn't frighten you so much anymore. The mere existence of the lighthouse makes the darkness not only bearable but even fascinating.

Building this lighthouse through tarot concepts is a stroke of genius. The art is masterful, the style unique. The fact that we have a majors deck means that I'll use it for meaningful, powerful readings only. I know that this is the deck for the Summer Solstice reading - I'll keep it ready for that.

I'm happy and proud to have a wonderful collection of Meleen decks and books (only the Book of Seshet is missing).

[Rose Lalonde]

Agreed. I love it as well. I posted my pics (of the borderless) in the Deck Stork thread, but just wanted to chime in that, as usual from Meleen, it's an amazing deck and book. As you said, Nemia, the lighthouse is built in your mind through the cards, and the analogy is -- forgive the pun -- enlightening and meaningful. The book covers the color scales well, something I had hoped to see since she originally wrote about them in a 'part 1' a few years ago.

Can't say enough good about it and the obvious love that went into the creation of the deck, book and even the packaging.

[Nemia]

I want to put up some pictures I made.











Now the cards. The light really sees to shine through them.





The Fool



the Lovers



A truly breathtaking Temperance



And probably the most gorgeous Star I ever saw. And Mel does Star like nobody else - I'll take a picture of all her Star cards (Rosetta, Tabula Mundi and now Pharos) and you'll see what I mean.

Amazing talent.

If I may repeat what I wrote at the Cartomancy Forum:

What is a lighthouse? It's a structure built by humans for humans to give orientation to those seeking to find firm land under their feet again. It shines a light in the darkness - but only for a moment. Darkness loses its terror once you know that this light is going to come back in a certain rhythm.

Light is truth and insight, and the night is full of potential and secrets. Tarot gives you both, the lighthouse gives you both, and the Pharos Tarot gives you both.

In my opinion, this is a work of genius, a visionary tarot. I'm grateful that I hold it in my hand now.