The Fool
I used the classic tarot imagery of the fool stepping off the cliff. But the figure is Spock in starfleet blue, with one of those weird looking starfleet duffel bags in place of the bundle on a stick, and he’s stepping out into space. In place of the dog, we have Spock’s pet sehlat I-Chaya.
The meaning of the card is a great beginning, setting out on a journey to, so to speak, a strange new world.
The Magician
Sarek stands in his movie-era ambassadorial robes, in the traditional magician’s pose, except instead of pointing up and down, he has both hands in the Vulcan salute.
The table, or altar, traditionally has the four symbols of the suits. For my suits, I have lirpas for swords, kal-toh for wands, IDIC symbols for pentacles/coins, and meditation lamps for cups.
This one’s about inspiration and inner power, and something about the wisdom of experience.
The High Priestess
This is the priestess who performs the fal-tor-pan, the Vulcan ceremony where they put Spock’s soul back in his body. Where the card has pillars, I added two of the white-robed Vulcans from the background of the scene. She’s holding the kir’shara, which holds the teachings of Surak.
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She represents inner knowledge and intuition.
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The Empresss
T’Pau from TOS sits on a stone bench. It’s a desert scene, but I added a few plants since the empress usually has symbols of growth and fertility.
The empress’s throne traditionally has a heart on the side, so this heart is anatomical and also green, since Vulcans have green blood.
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This is traditionally a very feminine card—and while T’Pau might not be what we in this time and place think of as feminine, I like to think that “all of Vulcan in one package” is supremely feminine in Vulcan terms.
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The Emperor
Ambassador Soval has a lirpa for the scepter, and I made the globe in his hand red. The only fun thing was that I added golden ratio spirals to the armrests of the throne.
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This card is about established authority and power.
The Hierophant
Surak, obviously, it’s gotta be Surak. I used his rather garish TOS…poncho robe thing. He’s standing outside rather than sitting on an ornate throne like in the original card. He has one hand in the Vulcan salute, and a meditation lamp in the other hand, and in place of the keys of Peter I have the two halves of a broken lirpa, all of which are meant to represent teachings of non-violence.
The traditional meaning of this card is the establishment…but I actually portrayed him more as a radical, didn’t I? Funny how that works!
The Lovers
It was hard to pick, but I REALLY love the way it turned out. I have Tuvok and his wife T’Pel, touching fingers in front of the set from Amok Time. Tuvok is holding a mallet, and the coffin-shaped gong is hanging over them. Presumably T’Pel did not stop the gong and declare kal-if-fee, so this is basically “pon farr: the good ending”.
The Chariot
This one shows ambassador Solkar making first contact with Earth—I wanted to use a ship for the chariot and this seemed like the one to use!
This is about taking action, moving forward, and getting results.
Strength
This one is TOS T’Pring, with a sehlat rather than the traditional lion. Instead of holding the sehlat’s mouth open, she has one hand on its fur and is pointing into the distance.
I have a lot of thoughts on TOS T’Pring. Ignoring the newer stuff in String New Worlds and only looking at Amok Time, she’s pretty clearly being forced into a marriage she doesn’t want, and says that the only way she can get out of it is to invoke the challenge and become the property of the victor. In any other story, we’d cheer her on for escaping that.
I think the stunt she pulled was her only option for freedom. If she had chosen Stonn, she would have end up with no option to divorce whoever won, and I think it’s unfair to demonize her for choosing one of three impossible options. Her life wasn’t worth LESS than Kirk’s.
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It takes strength to stand up against oppressive traditions, and that’s important.
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The Hermit
This one is the Kolinahr master from the beginning of The Motion Picture!! That definitely seemed like a good choice for the inner reflection of the hermit
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The Wheel of Fortune
This one was tricky. There’s a lot of symbolism packed into the original, and there’s only so much I have to work with!
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So instead of trying to replace the symbols one by one, I kinda tried to recreate the “wheel of opposites”, “what goes up must go down” vibe.
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I used the circle and triangle from IDIC, but with the triangle balanced in the middle of the circle. There’s a sehlat, a guard animal, to represent safety and protection; opposite a le-matya, a venomous predator, to represent danger.
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On the other axis I have a lirpa for war/violence opposite a meditation lamp for peace.
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The three Vulcan symbols are the ones from Spock’s robe from The Motion Picture, which the costume designer Bon Fletcher has said mean concept, process, and discipline.
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Justice
Justice normally has scales in one hand and a sword in the other, but I combined them, hanging the scale baskets from either side of a horizontal lirpa, while her other hand makes the Vulcan salute.
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This figure is T’Rina, the president of Ni’Var over the united Vulcans and Romulans of the future.
I actually added the day/night symbolism in the background myself. The crescent of Vulcan’s sister planet points up to show an invisible noontime sun, and down on the other half to show midnight.
The Hanged Man
Ensign Vorik from Voyager hangs upside down in what’s supposed to be his Hawaiian shirt outfit, since…that’s the only non uniform outfit he wears lol.
He’s in the traditional pose with one knee bent, but I added some Shibari style ropes instead of just the rope around his ankle.
Look….I just think he’d be into it, okay?
This card is about a waiting period, or being in limbo. Sometimes you just gotta wait things out.
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Death
TOO MANY BONES. The traditional card has the skeleton wearing a suit of armor, and now I know why.
I again used the symbolism of the predatory le-matya, this time in place of the horse that death rides.
It represents a big life change, the end of an era, and making way for what comes next.
Temperance
This one was hard, because temperance is kinda the Vulcans’ Thing.
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So I actually went with Amanda Grayson. She’s not Vulcan, but it’s the world and culture and family she chose. There’s even a term from one of the novels that means Vulcan-by-choice, and she of all people would qualify!
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The Devil
Oh this was a fun one! There was no character that seemed devilish, but as a symbol of a cultural boogeyman, the concept of pon farr slots in perfectly. Loss of control is the ultimate fear of such a deeply controlled society.
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Plus, the classic card design even has the figures of the lovers on it! So, in the same way that the lovers was pon farr: the good ending, this one is pon farr: the bad ending.
It features Spock strangling Kirk with the ahn-woon, but instead of the scenery from amok time, I just used the imagery of flames in a blank black space. I did use the same wedding gong featured in the Lovers, but this time it’s broken the way it was in the episode, with the broken half falling behind our star-crossed T’hy’las.
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The Tower
This one turned out SO much better than I originally thought.
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I couldn’t think of anything architectural that really fit the bill for the tower, so I leaned more into the meaning, and used an event instead: the Sundering, or the point where the Romulans split off and left Vulcan.
In the sky, I have a tos-style Romulan warbird, which is kind of anachronistic, but at least it’s more recognizable! I also like how the base color of the ship kind of blends in with the color I’ve been using for the sky—it kind of reads as a proto-cloaking effect.
In the middle distance a Vulcan watches the ship leave. He might or might not be Surak.
In the foreground, a meditation lamp lies broken, the wick still hot and smoke trailing away. The lamps have represented peace, so this is broken peace and heartbreak.
The Star
The figure here is traditionally naked and pouring water from one chalice to another, which is a symbol of emotion.
So, I used T’Pol in her decon chamber outfit, meditating. Otherwise, I stuck pretty close to the traditional imagery, with a single large star among others, and they’re all reflected in water, though mine is a small pond rather than the edge of something larger.
It’s a card about intuition and being in touch with yourself.
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The Moon
“Vulcan has no moon”, says Spock in TOS, but no one passed that on to the artists, and that’s how Vulcan ended up with a “Sister Planet”.
I’ve spent WAY too much time thinking about the orbital mechanics involved, so yes, every time I use it it’s pointed towards where I’m picturing the sun. Someday I’m gonna use some of my headcanons I’ve developed about this sister planet in fics, but that’s neither here nor there.
I used rock formations in place of the traditional towers, a sehlat in place of the dog, a le-matya in place of the wolf, and absolutely nothing in place of the lobster.
It’s about illusion and mystery, and the anxiety of uncertainty.
The Sun
The Sun is just such a JOYFUL card that I had to use one of the emotion-embracing V’tosh ka’tur Vulcans from Enterprise. So this is Kov, also notable for being pretty much the only non-skinny Vulcan ever shown. I did try to represent that, but…my art style kind of already favors a bit of roundness in my humanoid forms, so I’m not entirely sure I succeed in that part.
The classic imagery is a naked baby riding a horse. Kov is not naked (sorry), mostly because outfits are the only way I have of suggesting who’s who. Instead of a horse, I have him with his arm wrapped around a happy little (actually large) sehlat.
Since I’m not doing faces, I couldn’t make him smile, but I tried to make his pose as happy as possible, reaching one hand up like he can touch the sky, feet spread apart, embracing his pet.
I honestly really love this one!
Judgement
This one was hard! The whole imagery of the original is based on the Christian idea of the Second Coming, which just….doesn’t fit.
So this one is another event, and I have my good friend Kelly to thank for this one! It’s old (kinda dead) Surak from enterprise, holding up the kir’shara, the pyramid-shaped object that held his true teachings, as opposed to the poisoned ones that had come to power since his death.
It’s not really my favorite plotline for assorted reasons, but it IS kind of the second coming of Surak, passing judgment on his society again.
The World
It’s the planet. I had too, okay?
There’s no naked figure like in the original, but there ARE, now that I’m looking at it again, a very phallic Vulcan ship and a rather yonic nebula. So. There’s that.
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The meaning is one of fulfillment and wholeness. It’s also well represented by the Vulcan concept of “the All” referenced in a few of the novels—basically, an acknowledgement that we are part of what exists.
The Wands
For this suit, the color scheme is apparently “cadmium”. All the fiery red-orange-yellow colors I’ve been favoring for it are apparently cadmium based. Please don’t lick.
Anyway, I’m using double symbolism here, including both the classic wands as the props that you can count to see what number card it is, and also the Vulcan game of kal-toh, but usually only one set!
This is the suit of fire and spirit.
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The Ace of Wands
I based this card on Dr Yuris from enterprise. That’s not my strongest part of canon, so I’m relying heavily on memory alpha, but he was instrumental in breaking the stigma around mind-melding, so I liked him for a card that’s about, like…beginnings, making a bold choice, the potential for something better to come. The Vulcan calligraphy banner says “the beginning of truth”.
The Two of Wands
In this one, a single figure looks out from a stark room into the outside world, where a shuttlecraft is approaching. He’s thinking about leaving his home to attend starfleet academy. In my head, this character is Sarda from a few of the novels.
He’s holding one rod while the other leans against the wall, much like in the classic card. But instead of a globe, he’s holding the kal-toh set, which has formed a cube—a balanced shape, but not a complicated one. He’s come to a decision, but he’s only just getting started.
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The Three of Wands
The same figure from the two of wands is now in the shuttle starting off on his journey. The kal-toh set is beside him on the seat, formed into another fairly simple shape as he continues his journey.
The Four of Wands
For this one, I made it a wedding! Instead of dancing, the two figures are finger-kissing in a grotto with red sand, in front of four wands covered in blue flowers. The blue symbolizes “I really need some cool colors in this piece”.
I based them on two of the novel characters, Cleante and T’Shael. Cleante is human, and from the Middle East, so I used some of the styles I found as a general guide to her dress; mostly the overskirt and wrap. T’Shael’s dress is based loosely on T’Pol’s wedding dress.
In the foreground, we’ve got two stone tables with kal-toh sets on them. Individually, they aren’t balanced, but together they are.
In the very back, the sun is rising, which works nicely symbolically, but is actually because I made the sand too dark and this makes it look shadowed. Also one of the other novels has a wedding set at sunrise for the comfort of humans.
The Five of Wands
I used four figures instead of the traditional five, but with one holding two staffs. This symbolizes the fact that I’m lazy.
They’re all wearing variations of the silver outfits from Amok Time.
The two figures in the back are watching the other two sparring with staffs. I figure it’s Stonn practicing, expecting to fight Spock.
In the foreground, we’ve got the kal-toh set. This card is about conflict and opposing forces, so the shape is chaotic, with each half trying to form a different shape.
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The Six of Wands
I don’t have particular characters in mind for this card. The card is about success, so the idea was “Spock being accepted to the VulcanScienceAcademy”, but of course he didn’t accept. So, the figure in the front is someone who actually wants the position. The other five figures are welcoming him to the academy.
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I used the general architecture of the Vulcan science academy from the 2009 movie, but I changed the color palette to the reds and yellows I’ve been using to represent fire (the element of wands). I made the ceiling clear to show the yellow sky.
The kal-toh set in the front figure’s hand is in a balanced shape, but not quite the final shape.
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The Seven of Wands
I used the Picard character T’Veen on this one, on the logic that she’d look badass in a fighting stance.
She’s holding one of the wands in a defensive pose, while the other six are coming in from the sides, presumably from unseen attackers.
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The kal-toh set is chaotic, with six rods clashing evenly in the center, and rest falling at random.
The Eight of Wands
The original card is literally just eight wands sort of flying through the air. So I have that in the background, though with a landscape instead of just sky, but I had fun adding the kal-toh.
This card represents motion, so I used two regular shapes in the kal-toh rods, but they’re intertwined at odd angles to give the impression of movement.
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The Nine of Wands
This card is about persistence in the face of adversity. I used the character Sakkath, Sarek’s aide in TNG.
I used the eight standing wands plus one held by the character from the classic card, but instead of standing, the figure is seated in a meditative pose in front of the kal-toh set, which is almost in the completed form.
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The Ten of Wands
I didn’t use a canon character for this one, but in my head she’s the sister of Sarda from the two/three of wands.
This card is about, like, the last push towards success. There’s a lot of effort right now, but you’re almost there! So the kal-toh set is finally in the final shape (or as close as I could manage to depict it)
The Page of Wands
For this one, I used Tuvok’s son Sek. Mainly because Tuvok actually USED kal-toh, but doesn’t really fit the suit.
This is a card about young energy, so I have Sek holding the wand and facing right like in the classic card, but he’s holding a kal-toh set in the chaotic beginning state, to represent the start of something new.
The Knight of Wands
This one is Sakonna, the Vulcan arms runner from DS9.
It’s a card about brave but potentially reckless action, so she seemed like the perfect choice.
For the kal-toh set, I went with a cube, so it’s balanced but not complex.
The Queen of Wands
T’Lyn! She’s portrayed as a bit of a hothead, at least in Vulcan terms, which I think makes her perfect for the fire energy of the wands.
She’s sitting on a throne that’s supposed to look something like a captain’s chair, holding a wand in one hand and the kal-toh set in the other.
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Her outfit isn’t belted the way everyone else on her ship wore it, and in place of the cat on the original card I have a sleeping sehlat. The kal-toh set is in the complete form…theoretically, it’s very hard to paint that small.
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The King of Wands
For this one; I picked Sybok. Again, he’s kind of brash and goes against the flow…whether or not it ends up being a good idea!
There’s a lizard in the original, so I replaced that with a le-matya, and the kal-toh set is again in the finished form.
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The Cups
For this suit, I used meditation lamps, which…yes, adds some fire to the water suit. I like to think it’s because Vulcan emotions are just that fiery under the surface, but it’s really more because the lamps, like the tarot cups, are actually about emotion. Also they’re the right size and shape.
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I set a lot of these cards at night to let me use cooler colors!
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The Ace of Cups
This is one of T’Lyn’s unnamed crewmates, who’s better a more traditionally Vulcan relationship with emotion.
The Two of Cups
This card features two hands touching in a Vulcan finger-kiss over a pair of meditation lamps.
The original card has two figures maybe toasting in celebration of something, but it’s also a card about pairings and couples, so I liked the vibe of “meditation and chill” for this one.
The Three of Cups
The original card has three people dancing joyfully around each other, but I took it down a notch and have three nameless figures meditating together. They’re having just as much fun, I promise.
The Four of Cups
This card is about, like…contemplating choices, not taking opportunities, disappointments.
I used the character Koss, T’Pol’s would-be husband, who eventually makes the right choice to separate and not try to pressure her to marry him.
This is honestly a little more positive than a lot of the interpretations I’ve seen, in that the missed opportunity was the RIGHT choice.
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The original card has the character sitting apathetically against a tree, ignoring the cup being presented by a hand coming out of a cloud. I replaced the tree with a rock, and made it nighttime to get some cool colors in there, but more importantly I also made the figure kneeling semi-meditatively, but actively turning away from the lamp being presented.
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The lamp in the cloud-hand is lit, but the three in the foreground aren’t. That’s something like turning away from a sure thing in favor of the unknown.
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The Five of Cups
In this one, an old woman looks regretfully out a window into the night. A hanging on the wall says “kaiidth” in Vulcan calligraphy, which means “what is, is”. On the floor are five lamps—the three on the left have gone out, and one is broken, but the two directly behind the woman are still lit.
The classic card has three spilled cups and two still full, so that translates easily into whether they were lit!
This one isn’t a canon character, but in my head she’s the mother of novel character Sarda, who I used in the two and three of wands. Sarda faced rejection from other Vulcans for going into weapons design, so I’m imagining his mother being part of that and now regretting pushing her son away.
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But two of the lamps are still lit! She can’t see them right now, but if she looks away from her regret, there’s still hope.
The Six of Cups
This card is about nostalgia, childhood memories, that sort of thing.
The traditional card has two children on it, with one handing the other a cup filled with flowers.
For mine, instead, I used the TAS episode Yesteryear, where Spock goes back in time to save the life of his younger self.
The two figures are surrounded by five lamps, all lit, while they both hold the sixth—it’s not clear who’s giving it to whom. One of the lamps is on a rock (a small platform in the original), and there are some little green flowers growing in the shade of the rock, a callback to the flower-filled cups on the original.
Not everyone has a happy childhood to look back on, and most of us can’t time travel to change that, but all of us have an inner child who deserves the happiness of this card, and maybe we can give that to ourselves.
Special thanks to Mirsi for helping me brainstorm this one!
The Seven of Cups
Seven lamps float in the sky, and each one has a symbol emerging from the flames.
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The symbols don’t correlate perfectly to the ones in the cups on the traditional card, but I did my best!
Head: one of the meanings was companionship, so this one is a wedding gong
Cloaked figure: a Vulcan salute, mostly because there were so many possibilities, and it was in the most central position
Snake: A le-matya. Both venomous predators, so a solid choice.
Tower: this one was home and stability, so a sehlat, as a guard animal.
Treasure: the kir’shara, which works on the “precious artifact” level and also the cultural importance of it being the teachings of Surak.
Wreath of laurels: it’s supposed to be honor and prestige, but there wasn’t a good visual for that, so I went with IDIC.
Dragon: violence and evil: a lirpa.
The card as a whole has to do with having too many choices, and not knowing if they’re all what they seem.
I also replaced the full figure reaching for then with just a pair of hands, mostly to give myself more room to work!
The Eight of Cups
This is a card about disappointment. A hunched figure walks away into the crescent-lit night, leaving eight unlit lamps.
This one isn’t anyone in particular, mostly because it’s really hard to do recognizable outfits from the back, and the format is almost identical to the original card—though that one had a stream flowing between two rocks and mine is desert, and three of the cups are stacked on top, where my lamps are set a little behind.
The Nine of Cups
This card is about wishes fulfilled, contentment, success. It also has happy relationships as a possible meaning…but the next card is more relationshippy, so I’m feeling it more as being happy within yourself, whether or not you’re in a relationship.
I picked Dr Selar from TNG for this one, because in one of the books, (contradicted completely in other books!) she divorces her asshole husband and follows her own dream into starfleet.
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She’s sitting on a bench in front of a stone wall with nine lamps on it, all lit to show the positive nature of this card. It’s still night in my version, but the sky behind her is getting lighter, as it gets closer to sunrise.
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The Ten of Cups
The classic card has a male/female couple with two children, but I made mine gay (and with only one kid, which represents that I ran out of room).
Two men with their arms around each other, and their daughter behind them, look up in celebration at ten lamps floating in a rainbow. The sun hasn’t quite started rising, but the sky is almost light.
This is a really happy card, where everything is right and good, and has a strong relationship and family component.
I didn’t use any canon characters, but I did base them on a cute couple from a particularly good fic!
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The Page of Cups
This was a hard suit to pick characters for, since it’s the suit of emotion! This card is about a young person, and creativity, and upcoming possibilities.
I ended up using Sethan, a minor character from one of the novels who makes musical instruments.
He’s standing in a room with some kind of geometric wall decoration that I made up, holding a lit lamp and a Vulcan lyre. I left out the fish from the original card.
The Knight of Cups
This card is about romantic interactions, among other things, especially more whirlwind romances.
So who better than Solkar, the first Vulcan to make contact with earth and immediately shake HANDS?!
Yes I already used him, shut up.
The Queen of Cups
I couldn’t think of a canon character that I liked for this one, so I cheated and used an original character. She’s a Vulcan healer/therapist, and I named her T’Kau after the word for wisdom.
Instead of a throne, I gave her a comfy chair in a calm room. I replaced the water in the traditional card with a blue rug, and gave her a bookshelf to cover up a big old smudge. There’s a wall art in Vulcan calligraphy that just says “today”, because that’s the most important time to focus on in therapy. She also has a lit lamp on an end table beside her.
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The card is very calm and compassionate, with a maternal kind of vibe to it.
The King of Cups
For this one, I picked Tavin, the captain of the V’Tosh Ka’Tur ship from Enterprise—aka, the sect of Vulcans who embrace emotions.
This card is the king of emotions, representing a kind of emotional maturity that a lot of Vulcan characters, especially the strawman type that shows up in pop culture osmosis, really lack.
I have him sitting by a giant window on a spacecraft, with the teal color represented in a passing nebula. His lamp is sitting next to him on a small table, but otherwise the room is bare.
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The Pentacles
The color scheme for this one isn’t super well defined, but I did aim for browns and deeper neutrals with splashes of color.
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For the symbol of the pentacles, also known as the coins, I used the classic IDIC—infinite diversity in infinite combinations! It’s the right shape, for one thing, but on a symbolic level, the pentacles are about the material world and prosperity. This is supposed to take place in a moneyless future, so I actually really like the idea that “material good” is based on diversity and inclusion instead!
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The Ace of Pentacles
For this, I used D’Tan, one of the Romulans that Spock was teaching Vulcan philosophy to in Unification I and II. Turns out he also becomes the leader of the newly-formed Romulan Republic in Star Trek Online, too!
He’s holding up an IDIC, with the emblem of the Romulan Republic on the other side. On either side of him is a table, one of which has the dice Spock was using as a teaching tool, and the other, the flowers from the episode. In his other hand he’s holding a book that says “Surak” in Vulcan.
The card represents the beginning of something new in the realm of prosperity and abundance.
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The Two of Pentacles
The classic card here has a figure juggling two pentacles that are surrounded by a figure eight.
My version is much closer in, only showing two hands, one tossing an idic in the air, and the other catching one as it falls.
It signifies good news in partnerships, especially in the material/financial realm.
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The Three of Pentacles
The classic card shows a stonemason working on a cathedral while the architects, who might be a monk and a nun, look on. The card is about teamwork and everyone doing their part.
For my version, I have the three IDIC symbols carved into the arch of an alcove, while the stonemason has paused his work on the decorative edge of a smaller alcove (one that might be meant for a statue), to talk to two women, one of whom is holding the plans for the temple.
Both women wear head coverings reminiscent of nuns, but one of them is pregnant—this isn’t a Christian temple. In my head, it’s a temple dedicated to life in all its forms—the sacredness of life is a common feature of Vulcans, and fits well with the theme of IDIC. The Vulcan calligraphy down the column in the middle says “all life”.
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The Four of Pentacles
This card is about greed. The classic card has a figure that’s clutching a coin/pentacle, with two more beneath his feet, and one above his head.
For mine, I’m leaning less into the material wealth aspect (since it’s a post-scarcity future), and more into the idea of diversity. So, I picked V’Latak; the logic extremist who tried to kill Sarek in Discovery.
He’s crushing two IDICs beneath his feet, and clutching one in his arms, trying to hoard all the benefits of inclusion for himself without actually including anyone. The fourth IDIC over his head is broken in half. The floor is green to signify blood, and V’Latak is glowing red and about to explode, a martyr to his own bigotry.
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The Five of Pentacles
This is another one where I stretched the meaning due to the whole “post scarcity economy” thing. The original card has two figures in rags, one of them using crutches, out in the cold under the light of a stained glass window, and represents poverty and exclusion, though there’s an idea that this isn’t necessarily permanent.
For mine, I have a single figure (not a specific character) sitting under the stained glass window of five IDICs. It’s the same “temple of life” from the three of pentacles—there’s a popular headcanon that there are temples where Vulcans can go to ask for help if they hit pon farr without a plan in place. But he’s not at the door, he’s hiding away at the side of the building, too ashamed and afraid to admit he needs help. What if they say no?
Anyway, the moral of the story is “no one can help you until you admit you need help”.
The Six of Pentacles
This is a continuation of the previous card.
While the original card has two beggars (perhaps the same ones from the five of pentacles?) being given alms by a rich man, I continued the story of the man hiding outside the temple.
He’s now come to the front door to ask for help…and instead of money, the woman opening the door is offering two fingers in a Vulcan kiss.
This card is about generosity, help offered or received.
The Seven of Pentacles
This card is about hard work paying off, and the satisfaction of a job well done.
A single figure holding an IDIC stands with his hand on his hip, surveying the bounty he’s grown: six more IDICs ready to harvest from a vine.
I had some fun designing the plant! It has wide, flat leaves to take advantage of the sun and provide shade, and it’s growing in the shelter of a large rock. I was thinking mainly of squash, which can either climb OR cover the ground in leaves to keep scarce water from evaporating, but I gave it bifurcated leaves (a less common pattern on earth).
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The Eight of Pentacles
A crafter sits at their desk, assembling an IDIC out of what might be wooden pieces. Five finished ones hang on the wall and another sits on the floor, while one more lays in pieces behind them.
The Vulcan calligraphy on the wall says “make something”.
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The Nine of Pentacles
The classic card has a woman and a bird. I didn’t have a whole lot of inspiration meaning-wise, but I used T’Pring’s dream-wedding dress as the inspiration for the outfit, and the bird I made a raptor, which has to do with the Romulans.
I really like how it came out, I just don’t have a lot to say!
The Ten of Pentacles
This one was fun. The original has a family scene in a garden with a tower in the background—and since my Tower was the leaving of the Romulans, and this is the completion of the idea of IDIC, I decided to set this card on post-Unification Ni’Var.
I simplified the council chamber a bit for my sanity, but we have the giant rock centerpiece with the round steps down to it, the open glass wall looking out on the mountains, and that cool looking light fixtures.
There are the figures based on some of the Ni’Varians from the episode—the one in the foreground has distinctively Romulan forehead ridges, but all three are wearing the same uniform, united again at last.
The Page of Pentacles
For this one I picked “honorary Vulcan” Michael Burnham. I posed her standing between Earth and Vulcan, holding up an IDIC.
Even though the pages are cards of beginnings, I didn’t paint her with season one hair and outfit, where she’s trying the most to be Vulcan. Instead, I depicted her season three self, where she’s really come into her own and begun accepting her human self as well as her Vulcan upbringing.
The Knight of Pentacles
This one is Discovery Sarek. The knight of pentacles is hard-working and disciplined, but also very conservative and strict. He hasn’t come into his own and found that balance yet, but he definitely gets results.
The Queen of Pentacles
T’Pol’s mother T’Les seemed like the perfect fit for the maternal energy of this card. The courtyard of her house was a lot of fun to paint…the ridiculous chair, less so!
The King of Pentacles
I knew who I wanted for this one MONTHS before I got to it: Mestral, the Vulcan who stays behind on earth in Carbon Creek. He fits really well with the diversity theme I’m going for here!
The Swords
Lirpas, I had to use lirpas.
This was actually the suit I started painting WAY back in 2015. I got to the five and realized I just didn’t have it in me to finish, and set it aside. Seven years later, though, doing art full time and happily medicated? I got this.
This is the suit of air, logic, and intellect/mind, and for the color scheme I went with light neutrals and pale colors.
The Ace of Swords
This one took a fun little tangent in my brain. There’s this great shot in enterprise where T’Pol kisses Trip on the cheek…and there’s this Vulcan in the background who’s utterly frozen in shock.
Anyway, I like to think that was the moment she realized you could kiss ANYONE you WANTED and that if anyone objected, she could hit them with a lirpa.
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This is actually one of my favorites, visually!
The Two of Swords
A blindfolded figure holds two lirpas crossed in front of him. For this one, I mostly just recreated the one from 2015! It indicates a challenging decision where you can’t see the right path.
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The Three of Swords
Aka “the sacred heart of Surak”. A green heart floats in the sky, being stabbed by a lirpa from below while two more are crossed behind it. It’s a card about heartbreak and pain, but like everything, it’s only temporary.
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The Four of Swords
The classic card shows a tomb, so I replaced it with a katrik ark—basically a Vulcan soul jar, where they put their spiritual essence when they die.
It’s actually not as sad a card as one might think—it represents a time of rest, even relaxation! Eventually you’ll have to get up and get going, but it’s okay. You can be a little dead right now. As a treat.
The Five of Swords
For this one, again I copied my older version. It has a figure holding three lirpas and two on the ground, but I left out the defeated figures from the original. It’s supposed to be a card about defeat, or about Pyrrhic victory, so I kind of wish I’d added them back in, but c’est la Kaiidth.
The Six of Swords
The original card shows a boat on a river, which is tricky when you’re trying to use desert imagery. In fact, it’s where I got stuck the first time around.
But it carries a sense of being led to safety, even if you regret leaving behind what’s in the past.
I used my own characters again for this one. There’s a whole story behind it, but the short version is that the woman, T’hy’la, is leading the two men behind her to safety. The way there is lined with lirpas, but they’re almost to their safe haven!
The Seven of Swords
Vulcan gangster, had to be.
This is a card about getting away with things, or doing what you have to do, or general connivery. So I used Krinn from Picard, stealing some lirpas.
The background was HARD because his scenes are so damn dark, but I think I managed to do okay with the neon lights!
The Eight of Swords
For this one, I used T’Shael from the novels, who you might remember from the much happier four of wands.
Here, she’s blindfolded and in rags, and surrounded by lirpas, barefoot in the cold.
This card to me is about trauma, specifically the actual traumatic events—the next card is a continuation.
The Nine of Swords
In this one, T’Shael wakes up in bed from a nightmare. Where the last card seems to be more about actual bad things happening, this one is more about the aftermath. Trauma sucks, and it doesn’t just go away when the bad thing stops happening.
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But my card is less desolate than a lot of versions—she’s not alone, her t’hy’la Cleante is sleeping beside her.
The Ten of Swords
I couldn’t make the lirpas all stab the body like in the classic card, so none of them are just standing around. As for who it is…yeah, I had to go with Tuvix.
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This card generally represents a violent or painful but necessary ending. Which, regardless of what you think Janeway should have done—Tuvix's death was at least necessary from a meta standpoint, so the actors’ contracts could continue!
The Page of Swords
For this one, I used T’Shanik—one of Wesley’s competitors to get into starfleet academy! I picked her because of the young energy of the card. She also works well with the intellect side of the symbolism, since it’s an academic competition.
The Knight of Swords
This one is a very driven, ambitious sort of card, always trying to prove something. I picked Saavik, with her half-Romulan side never quite feeling like she’s good enough. There’s some great novels that give her more story!
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The Queen of Swords
For this one, I used ambassador V’Lar from Enterprise.
It’s a card about directness and forthrightness, boundaries, and knowing your own mind. Some of the older interpretations are kind of negative, but…I like to think of it as being a bitch in the best kind of way.
The King of Swords
Yes, Tuvok is also on the Lovers, but he didn’t have his OWN card yet!
I really liked him for the Swords. In a lot of ways, he’s the best of what Vulcan culture has to offer—calm rather than coldly repressed, and quietly expressive rather than stonefaced.
The classic card has butterfly imagery—mine has the “we appear to have lost our sex appeal” creatures!
Special thanks
To my parents, for being proud supporters of the arts by letting me live at home while I try to make this art thing happen.
To Kelly, my chief Vulcan idea bouncer.
To Jules….ur gay.
To Mirsi, that was a fantastic idea for the six of cups.
To all my friends and fans who supported this project—with money, with words of encouragement, with ideas, with excitedly showing your friends! I deeply appreciate all of it and I love you for it <3
….but ESPECIALLY those who bought original paintings so I don’t have to store 78 of them around the house!