About the imagery used in The Rootwerx Deck
In the forty-plus years since I encountered my first Rider-Waite deck,I have sampled a significant cross-section of available cards,traditional and modern,stark and sparse,or highly elaborate,representational and abstract. Some were immediately discarded,others have become mainstays,while still others were embraced for a time,only to be outgrown as my experience,tastes,and proclivities evolved. At this juncture I probably own about a dozen decks,spanning the gamut on every imaginable axis,and find nuance,appeal,and value in each. For this,my own deck,I had several criteria:
- First and foremost,I wanted to ensure that none of the interpretations strayed so far from the traditional as to negate the experience a user brings with them from pervious decks.
- With that being said,however,I did want to retain the freedom to emphasize those particular nuances,from the myriad of possibilities,that have proven themselves to be most important to me.
- Although I wanted to retain the most crucial of the traditional symbolism,I didn’t want to be enslaved by it,and also desired the freedom and flexibility to introduce symbols that would strike a deep level of recognition to the modern reader.
- In the choice between minimalist and elaborate imagery,there was no question that I would favor the latter,for a number of reasons. For one thing,like it or not,we are a culture and generation brought up on the visual image. From another perspective,the more generic images have already been done,and redone,interpreted and reinterpreted,sometimes with no more than the substitution of more vivid or softer colors,so why repeat the effort? While it would be presumptuous for me to try to tell the user what a particular card should make them feel,nonetheless,the whole purpose of this effort is to consolidate a vision of how the cards make me feel. Again,if this were not the case,why bother?
- Finally,it’s important to me that the resultant deck represent good art.
In the realm of literature,there have always been those who claim that:“I just write for myself…” In my experience,this is almost inevitably synonymous with ‘unpublishable’. The flip side,however,is the all too common approach of favoring mass appeal and formula-driven recipes,possibly ensuring transient success,but resulting in nothing of lasting value. In the case of The Rootworker Deck,I make no attempt at ‘universal appeal’ (if there could ever be such a thing),but rather,am shooting for a thoughtful,original,well-focused package that will be something very special to some people,rather than all things to all readers. I can’t predict which it will be to you. All I can say is that it represents the best I have to offer.