The Fool is the first card in the Major Arcana — it represents new beginnings, improvisation and believing in the universe. A caterpillar operates on instinct; there’s no better example of putting your faith in the world around you.
The Magician encourages you to use your talents to your full potential in service of necessary transformations. What could possibly represent that better than a chameleon doing its thang?
The High Priestess represents intuition, subconscious, divine feminine, so this symbol of womanhood and omen of good luck feels like a perfect fit.
The Empress represents feminism, beauty, nature, abundance. I think damselflies are very pretty and shiny and they remind me of this pond I used to walk around in the Audubon Society preserve near my childhood home. That was one of the first places I was allowed to go alone — and it was for sure the first place I really connected with nature. Also they’re shiny
The Emperor represents authority, the establishment, and fatherhood. I knew I wanted to pick a beetle because their exoskeletons represent fortification — like what would be protecting the establishment. I didn’t want to pick a beetle that telegraphed toxic masculinity, though, so I googled “shiny beetles” and eventually keyworded my way to this guy — a golden jewel beetle — which is more of a rainbow hue, but shiny AF.
The Hierophant represents tradition, institution, and spiritual balance. Bees function in such a regimented society with clearly defined roles, but they also communicate by dancing — balance
The Lovers represent, well, love as well as harmony, aligned values, and choices. I’ve always thought fireflies were very romantic — a very cliché take — but there’s something about feeling like stars are that close to earth, ya know? I really appreciate that this card isn’t just about romance, though: it explicitly addresses the way you choose to love someone everyday
The Chariot represents control, willpower, decisive action, and success. I knew I wanted a spider because they strike so precisely and efficiently. I wanted a spider that didn’t really fucking upset me to look at, though, so I googled beautiful spiders and discovered the mirror spider — aka the sequined spider. They look like lil disco balls with lots of shiny mosaicked panels and I really enjoyed drawing it: success.
The Strength card represents — stick with me here — strength. It also represents courage and persuasion. Anyway, I googled “strongest bug in the world” and the mother-fucking diabolical ironclad beetle came up. What is that name! It’s the most incredible name I’ve ever heard! How can I made it my name! Anyway, you can run this beetle over with a car and it just keeps trucking; color me persuaded of its strength
The Hermit represents solitude, introspection, soul-searching, and inner guidance. I picked the marbled newt for three reason, in reverse order of how influential they were to me:
1. It is one of the members of the salamander family that hides and naps. This is NOT HIBERNATION! Pls trust me when I tell you not to call it hibernation on amphibian message boards
2. They live mostly in France — certainly a country in the world where I’ve done a lot of reflection!
3. THEY NAVIGATE TO THEIR PREFERRED BREEDING AREA USING THE STARS! That’s the gayest shit I’ve ever heard! These lil lizards might as well be reading their own GD tarot to figure out when they’re gonna meet their future wife! Relatable
The Wheel of Fortune represents luck, destiny, opportunity, and positive changes. I knew I wanted a dragonfly in the major arcana, and instead of going in order, I picked which card this should be first. Buckle up because this caption is gonna be a long one.
Dragonflies are born in water and grow up to fly, so they represent transformation. Dragonflies were one of the first insects to ever evolve 300+ million years ago — butterflies showed up around 50 million years ago. In Japan, dragonflies are the national emblem and represent joy and rebirth. To the Mayans, they represent creativity. In various North American Native Tribes, a dragonfly represents some combo of the following: adaptability, connecting with nature, rebirth, and an invitation to explore your hidden feelings.
This card is intensely personal to me. When I someday pull this card, it will represent my whole future — which I hope is full of art and mountains and adaptability and love and introspection. So I picked a lil bug that encapsulates all of that. I specifically picked a Flame Skimmer Dragonfly because skimmer larvae are buried the deepest in the mud underwater and thus have the more dramatic transformation. Flame Skimmers burst out of the earth and travel through the water so they can take flight on fire. With all of the elements represented, they’re the perfect inspiration for my future — and I hope it resonates with you too!
Guess what Justice card represents! I picked a snake bc it is the only vaguely thematic animal that appears on the statue of Lady Justice, but also bc I am interested in the confluence of a few things.
1. the card also represents cause and effect and fairness,
2. snakes represent evil, being stepped on by Lady Justice, in that image, and
3. snakes are unfairly maligned based on stereotypes and assumptions and then prematurely murdered by representatives our justice system.
The Hanged Man represents pause, surrender, and new perspective. I knew I wanted to do a butterfly because the transformation between caterpillar and butterfly is driven by instinct. Caterpillars eat uncontrollably until they pupate.
Then the caterpillar digests most of itself and uses the resulting juice to fuel the development of the butterfly. Butterflies remember stuff they learned as caterpillars, but they apply it differently. It’s a cycle of surrendering to instinct, pausing to take in information, and moving forward with what you’ve learned. I went with the Chinese Peacock Butterfly because they’re a new take on an old concept
I spent almost a month trying to talk myself into drawing a death-feigning beetle bc the Death card doesn’t actually mean what you think, but one day I was like, “idk maybe you hate that beetle, Bridge, that’s okay.” Instead of being an upsetting omen, Death actually represents change, transformation, and growth, so I picked a carrion beetle, which eats corpses to thrive!
The Temperance card represents balance, moderation, and patience — snails are slow, but by definition they have shells that are big enough for the snail to retract into, fully. What they lack in speed, they make up for in stability, which is a kind of balance I’ve struggled to find. Hopefully the snail can remind me about it.
The Devil card represents the shadow self, attachment, addiction, and sexuality So what could I choose besides nature’s tiny vampire? The bat represents all the spooky, dark stuff — plus it represents our snuggly dog (hello, attachment!) and all of her her hot bi moms.
I totally changed style for these last, like, six cards, but the flat style stopped working for me and I’m trying not to lock myself into arbitrary choices made mid-pandemic. Speaking of which, the Tower represents sudden change, upheaval, and chaos. I picked a butterfly for change, but I picked the spookiest one.
The Star represents hope, faith, purpose, and renewal. I picked a glass-wing butterfly, because I guess I only care about butterflies now — but specifically, a glass-wing is the most fragile looking version of fragile part of a fragile insect and that’s how I feel about hope these days.
The Moon represents illusion, fear, anxiety, subconscious, and intuition. Slugs make me anxious, but they also are functioning on pure animal instinct, y’all. Slow, steady, and in whatever direction their gut sends them. And btw, the slug’s stomach is in their foot, which is pretty on the nose, imo.
The Sun represents positivity, fun, warmth, success, and vitality and I like hummingbirds. That’s all!
Judgement represents rebirth, inner calling, and absolution. What can it be be but another, very peaceful butterfly? The Mexican Bluewing looks very calming and balanced and they eat rotting fruit instead of other bugs.
The World card represents completion, integration, accomplishment, and travel. The cosmic turtle is a myth that persists in a ton of different cultures around the globe, in which the planet is actually on the back of a real big turtle. I think that’s really beautiful! I think, as a planet, we should be on a slow and steady march toward justice! I think turtles are dope! Go Terps!
