Birds Tarot by Fiona Marchbank

Twenty-two birds as the major arcana of a (lunar?) deck to watch carefully, as birds do.

Birds Tarot (2018) by the illustrator Fiona Marchbank (United Kingdom, Virgo) includes quite diverse birds. As in first ancient Tarot decks, there are only 22 cards (major ones).

1. Cards
2. Perspectives and areas of relation
3. Dynamics in relations
4. Relations in Astrology
5. Comments

I. Cards

The gallery below includes the cards along with a brief description of the species the author chose, as well as other drawings she added to the designs.

The Fool is a chaffinch egg behind a Greek cross. It's inside of a nest and the shell is broken.

The Magician is a magpie with the symbol of the infinite in the upper area. It flies upon flowers and the 4 natural elements.

The Priestess is a barn owl behind a cross of Maltese (8-pointed symbol). It looks at us on a rock. A kind of wood is in the background, and the bird is in between two drawings similar to the letters B and J. In the lower area of the card, we find a horizontal half-moon.

The Empress is a yellow wagtail watching 5 eggs in its nest, among wheats. Other drawings are the Water symbol, other ones similar to Venus' astrological symbol, and 12 stars as a fan in the upper area (which may be easily associated to Venus in Pisces).

The Emperor is a golden eagle standing up on the top of a rock. On both sides, we see an Egyptian cross -ankh or Key of the Nile- and a circle with a horizontal diameter -totality in active expression-. The card also holds within a drawing similar to Mars' astrological symbol.

The Hierophant is a partridge behind a Papal cross. With open wings, we see two white crossed keys at the height of its paws (Keys of Heaven).

The Lovers are two puffins united in chests, behind Fire & Water symbols. Upon one of the chests, we see a strange drawing similar to the antimony symbol or Huyri rune, with a little sun in the upper central area, and a vertical line with a little wide base).

The Chariot is a flying owl, behind an empty square with two little circles below it (one transparent, the other one white).

Strength is an egret among flowers. It's behind 4 vertically aligned drawings: the Air element symbol, the infinite symbol, another one similar to astrological Leo, and Earth element symbol.

The Hermit is a gull standing on a mountain's hillside (a sea bird on land?). From the mountain, a vertical line emerges and extends through most of the cards' height. Upon the upper extreme of the line, we see a 6-pointed transparent star.

The Wheel of Fortune is an English robin on a branch. It's behind a transparent circle with two crossed axes dividing the space into 8 equal sectors; at the same time, a second line encircles the first one. The final drawing is similar to a sight.

Justice is a crane flying to the sky. It's behind a 4-tower crown (visible ones) in the upper area of a square figure. The square holds within a little central circle. The 3 elements (crown, square and circle) are transparent.

The Hanged Man is a head-down goldfinch suspended on a branch with just one paw. A transparent circle surrounds its head.

Death is a crow. It's behind a transparent circle surrounded by strange curved lines that are surrounded by another circle although of an irregular perimeter. At the height of the crows' legs, a horizontal line is the base from which an almost half circle emerges (like sunrise or sunset, or maybe both, as a complete light cycle).

Temperance is an avocet at the edge of a water puddle, among reeds. It's behind the symbols of Fire & Water elements. In the lower area of the card, there's a 6-pointed crown (visible ones).

The Devil is a shrike (also known as executioner) standing on a thin element (hard to define what it is). The bird is behind a drawing similar to Capricorn's astrological symbol. In the upper area of the card, a reversed 5-pointed star points to the crow's eye with its lowest vertex.

The Tower is the artist's favourite illustration: a gannet in a descending flight is behind 22 transparent triangles (similar to Fire element symbol).

The Star is a glossy black probing ibis back to us although turning its head to give us a look. It's behind a transparent 7-pointed star, which is surrounded by other equal 7 stars in each one of the vertices.

Moon is a black flying owl on a big background moon. We see a transparent circle in the upper area (holding within another minor one, like an appendix), and the Water element symbol is in the lower area.

The Sun has a big background sun, with an osprey on a branch. The bird is in between the astrological symbol of the Sun in the upper area, and a draw at the height of its left paw (5 alternated vertical lines: two wavy ones among three straight ones).

Judgement is a white landing pigeon approaching other three ones that see it coming from below. The last ones are mostly grey, two of them are paired (the other one remains a little far), and they're behind a drawing similar to Pluto's astrological symbol, which is upon a transparent circle on the background.

The World is an arctic tern among snowflakes. It's standing on just one paw on a vertical tree trunk that has been cut horizontally, behind a thin and transparent circle surrounding its head and most parts of the body.

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II. Perspectives and areas of relation

We have to look at Fiona's deck by wondering: is the bird in motion or landed? Where is it oriented to? Where are their paws? By perceiving these characteristics, birds start to have a meaning and show themselves as being part of groups, while we also find other singular relations between cards.

One common characteristic of all of the birds is that they look at us or, at least, we're inside of their vision angle. Exceptions are The Fool (there's no chaffinch or is not visible), the wagtail in The Empress (she's looking at its own eggs, and we look at it from above), the puffins in The Lovers (they look at each other, and we have a one-sided vision of them), and the crane in Justice (we don't see its eyes).

Birds are usually flying or landing, or on mountains or peaks of rocks, on branches, near water, among reeds or inside nests.

The 12 birds on feet can be seen across a 180° dynamics according to their heads' turn. For instance: only the arctic tern in The World turns completely the head to our right side, although the robin in The Wheel of Fortune is 45° oriented (on the same way), and the owl in The Priestess has a straight look. Staying on the same orientation (to the left side), then we also find 8 birds with heads turned 45° to the left of The Priestess (or watcher), whereas the gull in The Hermit is completely 90° oriented (so it remains opposed to the tern in card XXI). Fiona's deck places cards in such a distribution that The Hermit and The World are contrary to each other.

In the group of 8 birds landed at 45°, the golden eagle (IV) is on a rock; the goldfinch (XII) and the osprey (XIX) are on branches; the egret (VIII), the crow (XIII) and the ibis (XVII) don't show where they're standing on; the avocet (XIV) is on water; and the shrike (XV) is on an element hard to identify.

Like the other birds, the group of 8 as a whole stand on a perimeter, at 45° view angle (between The Hermit and The Priestess) but, if we read them one by one, we should consider them as not being on the perimeter but in the spaces or areas in between cards, like mediators or rulers of those other angles of vision. The 8 birds are part of a special subgroup, to be placed in a singular area, for instance in the central drawing we see in The Wheel of Fortune in card X (the circle surrounding the central part).

The area to place a card is not set according to where the bird stands on but other elements in the card. If you look at them, you'll see the 8 birds are paired as opposite ones: how would you connect the osprey in The Sun to the shrike in The Devil? What is the relation between the golden eagle in The Emperor and the crow in Death?

Now leaving behind the 12 landed birds, we find 7 flying birds, with 4 of them going towards the main cardinal points: the magpie to the West or left side of a watcher (The Magician), the owl to the East or right side (The Chariot), the crane goes up (Justice) and the ganner is in a hunt (The Tower). The other 3 flying birds are landing: the partridge is facing the watcher (The Hierophant), the pigeon is at 45° to our right side (Judgement), like a middle card between the partridge (V) and the owl (Moon at 90° to the right).

Each orientation indicates basic relations for cards, depending on the type of motion. For instance: if you get The Magician (I), you have to read it as opposite to The Chariot (VII), and the same goes for Justice (XI) related to The Tower (XVI); whereas Judgement (XX) has to be considered as a middle-way card, a connector or intermediary between The Hierophant (V) and Moon (XVIII), which might be somehow related to the matter you're interested in.

A special card is The Lovers (VI), where we find puffins. Since each one of them faces each other, the card includes two (opposite) orientations, so both landed birds might be associated to the tern (XXI) and the gull (IX).

Each group of cards (flying birds, landing birds, those standing on) is part of a specific scheme that we may consider as well like angular relations on birth charts:

sets of cards

• birds not looking at us: 0 (not visible) - III (on feet) - XI (on a flight)
• flying birds:
  • to 4 directions: I (West) - VII (East) - XI (up) - XVI (down)
  • landing motion: in the 2nd quadrant, V (0°) - XX (45°) - XVIII (90°)
• landed birds:
  • IX - XXI (180°)
  • [IV - VIII - XII - XIII - XIV - XV - XVII - XIX] - X (90°)
  • IX - X , [IV - VIII - XII - XIII - XIV - XV - XVII - XIX] - XXI (135°)
  • II in the middle point between IX and XXI (90°, in a T square)

tensions

• The Hermit and The World (landed) are two middle points in a conflict between Justice and The Tower (on a flight), and vice-versa; the four cards are part of a grand cosmic cross
• The Priestess (landed bird) is the middle point in a conflict between The Magician and The Chariot (on a flight); the three cards form a T square
• Justice (on a flight) is the middle point in a conflict between The Hermit and The World (landed birds); they also form another T square
• the group of central ones (8 landed birds) are in a tense relation with flying birds (Justice, The Chariot), a landing bird (Moon) and another landed bird (The World); Justice is in a tense relation with Judgement (landing) and The Wheel of Fortune (landed); Judgement and The Wheel of Fortune are in a tense relation with The Magician (on a flight) and The Hermit (landed); all of these relations are 135°, an aspect mentioned in the next item

Considering the groups' meetings, then the puffins in The Lovers that were associated to the gull (IX) and the tern (XXI), now are also associated to another opposition: that of the gannet in a descending flight in The Tower and the crane in an ascending flight in Justice. Card VI would be placed in the central area, since is the one representing itself the oppositions of perpendicular axes: an axis to fly (XI - XVI) and an axis to stand or land on (IX - XXI).

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III. Dynamics in relations

You'll find many other relations if reading sequences of cards in clockwise direction (and counterclockwise, too). For instance: there's a dynamic sequence between the owl in The Chariot, flying closer to the arctic tern in The World although landing as a black owl in Moon. In the time sequence (clockwise), it will find on its way the osprey in The Sun (one of the landed birds in the group of 8, and ruling that area). Later, it will find the English robin in The Wheel of Fortune (another landed bird) at the end of a judgement that involves the partridge (V) and the black owl (XVIII), since the white pigeon in card XX is landing on The Wheel.... Another dynamic relation in the axis where birds stand on shows the flight of the magpie in The Magician, without landing and overflying the gull in The Hermit. Finally, a descending dynamics involves the gannet in The Tower going down as if hunting the owl in The Priestess, although landing as a partridge in The Hierophant.

About the aspects involving points of view (perimeter), you've seen now that cards are distributed in a graph that represents the lunar cycle as an 8-phase cycle. If you don't know it, it describes the birth, growth, development and decline of a seed (and 4 more intermediate times). In the image, it starts on the left extreme with the new Moon, and goes counterclockwise. Each new phase begins after translating 45° in the arch or perimeter: new Moon, new waxing Moon, waxing Moon, gibbous waxing Moon, full Moon, gibbous waning Moon, third quarter, and waning Moon.

Inside of the cycle, the group of 8 central birds (considered as a whole) would be related to the new waxing Moon (at 45°, between The Magician or The Hermit in the new Moon, and The Tower, The Hierophant or The Priestess in the waxing Moon). In the same crescent lunar hemicycle, The Wheel of Fortune and Judgement would be connected to the gibbous waxing Moon (135°), and the full Moon would be related to The Chariot, Moon and The World. In the second hemicycle, Justice would be the third quarter (270°), although we see there are two phases with no perimeter rulers (gibbous waning Moon at 240° and waning Moon at 315°).

The group of 8 central birds is not just ruling the new waxing Moon but also the areas between phases (one card per area). For instance, if we get The World next to The Wheel of Fortune, then we should read the subject as the full Moon moving away from the axis where it stands on (horizontal line) and coming back to the gibbous waxing phase, by going through situations related to The Sun (the osprey ruling the area between those phases).

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IV. Relations in Astrology

The 8-phase lunar cycle implies several types of astrological relations to get familiar with, so we may take them into account in spreads. Planets relate to each other according to arch distances: at 0° (conjunction), 45° (semi-square), 90° (square), 135° (sesqui-square) and 180° (opposition).

0° Conjunction...

It indicates unions of qualities, events and actions in some particular area. There's a kind of mixture of variable intensity although both planets "go together": where we find one of them, we find the other one as well (with greater or lesser visibility). We see the aspect between...

• The Hermit and The Magician
• The Priestess, The Hierophant and The Tower
• The Chariot, Moon and The World
• the 8 central cards
• Judgement and The Wheel of Fortune

// Parallel...

It's similar to a conjunction, and we find it by folding the chart's Eastern hemisphere with the Western hemisphere. The Eastern one is birth into this world (sunrise, the rising Sun or new Moon in the deck's distribution, from third quarter to waxing Moon). If planets are "together" when folding the birth chart, they form a parallel.

• Cards include parallel lines near the right and left borders, and the aspect is especially referring to the group of 8 central birds: besides the couples relations to rule areas, we find a parallel aspect between:
• The Star and Death
• Temperance and The Sun
• The Devil and Strength
• The Emperor and The Hanged Man

45° Semi-square...

It means constrictions from the "objective world", oppression, frustrations, doubts, uncertainty, fears, confusion and nagging inner conflicts. These are the characteristics of the relations of all of the cards placed in that arch distance from each other. Due to the lunar distribution scheme, it's an intrinsic meaning of each card, and becomes more intense if those involved are next to the other one in the spread.

• The Chariot, Moon and The World related to The Wheel of Fortune and Judgement
• The Wheel of Fortune and Judgement related to The Priestess, The Hierophant and The Tower
• The Priestess, The Hierophant and The Tower related to any of the 8 central cards
• any of the 8 central cards related to The Magician and The Hermit

90° Square...

It's the angle of widest separation and big estrangement about other people's qualities. Birds have chosen quite different ways, and find almost no mutual reference but the fact of being born into the same world. As time passes by, estrangement increases and is even harder to find things to share. This would be the relation between all of the cards placed in the extremes of perpendicular axes.

• between The Hermit or The Magician, and The Priestess, The Hierophant or The Tower
• between The Priestess, The Hierophant or The Tower, and The Chariot, Moon or The World
• between The Chariot, Moon or The World, and Justice
• between Justice, and The Hermit or The Magician
• between any of the 8 central cards, and Judgement or The Wheel of Fortune

135° Sesqui-square...

It's mainly associated to obstacles, demands and requirements, also coming from "the real world"; ideals, imagination and over-confidence would be problematic traits if we stand alone against the world. This type of relation is in...

• The Chariot, Moon and The World related to any of the 8 central cards
• any of the 8 central cards related to Justice
• Justice related to The Wheel of Fortune and Judgement
• The Wheel of Fortune and Judgement related to The Magician and The Hermit

180° Opposition...

It's the most polarised angle across space. It's like a balance alternating weights in extremes, periodically. In the deck's distribution, we find the angle in...

• the horizontal axis where to land on: between The Hermit or The Magician, and The Chariot, Moon and The World
• in the vertical axis where to fly: between The Priestess, The Hierophant or The Tower, and Justice
• in the rulers' areas: The Star - The Hanged Man, Death - The Emperor, The Sun - The Devil and Strength - Temperance.

Anti-parallel...

It's similar to an opposition, and we find it by folding the chart's North Hemisphere with the South one. The North one starts with the 1^st House (Moon's waxing hemi-cycle in the deck). If planets are "together" when folding hemispheres, they form an anti-parallel aspect.

• Temperance and The Devil
• The Star and The Emperor
• Death and The Hanged Man
• The Sun and Strength

By considering these basic relations, we may find patterns if at least 3 planets are related by at least 2 different aspects. If cards were planets, then the deck could be related to several patterns.

A T square is formed by two planets in opposition and a third one at 90° to each of them (for instance, The Magician, Justice and The Chariot). It produces a big amount of tension, especially on the squared planet. The ruler of the opposite area to it is usually useful to channel the energy more fluently (in the example, opposite cards to Justice are The Tower, The Hierophant and The Priestess).

Another pattern is the grand cosmic cross, formed by a couple of oppositions with squares connecting the planets involved (for instance, between The Magician, The Hierophant, Moon and Justice). The configuration creates big tensions although, at the same time, provides great potential, creativity and dynamics that generate constant motivation and motion.

Other three patterns are very important and involve 45° perspectives, although these relations must be avoided or prevented in a reading. Since they're too negative, they're not usually included on graphs. The patterns are formed by at least:

• a sesqui-square (135°), a square (90°) and a semi-square (45°), for instance between The Hermit, The Star and The Wheel of Fortune. To the meanings mentioned above, we have to include a big detain and lack of progress over time, misunderstanding people and ourselves, all types of incompatibilities (about experiences, about perspectives) and propagation of problems at the base; all of that usually produces a big paralysis in life situations, mainly related to physical experiences
• a grand negative pattern formed by an opposition between Justice and The Priestess, both related to The Star and The Wheel of Fortune (the two last ones in a square, in semi-squares with The Priestess and in sesqui-squares with Justice); the final pattern is theoretically among other positive ones (a kite and a boomerang), and indicates to concentrate all of the negative energy on the planet in between semi-squares (The Priestess)
• another negative pattern is formed by two planets in square (90°) and a third planet forming sesqui-squares (135°) to both, for instance Justice in square to The World, and The Star at 135° to both cards; the pattern especially subtracts dynamics, fluency, vitality, development and projections for the future; in summary, it cuts off pathways and annuls or causes impediments that will be very hard to be reverted

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V. Comments

Certainly, Fiona's deck is a quite singular deck. On one hand, it provides a system of regencies (lunar phases and areas between them) inside of several dynamics (the clockwise time sequence, the counterclockwise direction, an overflying sequence in new Moon, and three sequences of flying - landing - standing on moves between waxing Moon and full Moon).

About the lunar cycle, the deck is mainly focused on the first hemicycle characterized by growth, since there are no cards ruling the gibbous waning phase and waning Moon. But there are other more specific details showing contradictions about the way of representing rulers inside of a cycle that provides life to Earth. For instance:

• new Moon (associated to birth or the beginning of new life) is represented by a landed gull that is half-way between the top and the bottom of a mountain;
• waxing Moon (associated to leaves growth) is represented by an already developed owl landed on the top of a rock (The Priestess);
• an only grand pattern concentrates all of the negativity in the waxing moon, annulling physical growth and followed by the crow in Death
• full Moon (associated to development) is represented by a tern landed on a cut trunk (The World); in a cycle of increasing light, that would be the product of the dynamics of flights and landings in the 2^nd quadrant; since it's the only bird completely oriented towards the right side (which is the classic reference about upcoming times), the deck is indicating the future starts from those circumstances (we don't know what future is but is certainly not that of the second hemicycle); another way to read the dynamics of flights and landings, more related to real birds' motion, is by following a darkening orientation (clockwise): from the owl's fly (Moon) towards the landing partridge (The Hierophant);
• third quarter (associated to growing roots, in the darkness of the soil, for the next life cycle) is represented by a crane in an ascending flight to heaven (Justice);
• the only two cards including nests and eggs are not ruling! (a chaffinch's egg in The Fool and the yellow wagtail in The Empress),

The deck is nuclearly antagonistic to its own references (characters and lunar cycle). Firstly, birds are animals representing lightness by far (flight, air) although, from an astrological perspective, they are displayed as characters in a scheme of total tension between cards. At the same time, the Moon's cycle as a matrix is lost by reducing it to a hemicycle not leading to development, not assigning cards to phases in the waning hemicycle (even the crane in Justice has no roots), and including an absolute most of rulers oriented to initial phases. Then, we may easily wonder about the broken shell in The Fool: is it a sign of birth or of death of the life about to be born?

Where is the birds' spirit? What about life? These and other questions remain unknown in this first meeting with Fiona's Birds Tarot but, if you want, you may leave below your own opinions, questions and comments, and we'll share readings and perspectives!

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To contact the artist, you may find her on deviantart.com, Inprnt, Instagram, ArtStation, Ko-fi, LinkedIn, Behance, Tumblr, Etsy o right on her website.

Lunar phases images by ©2010 Fred Espenak on www.astropixels.com.