Illustration of a reimaging of the Rider-Waite Tarot design of The Moon with folkloric/cultural Filipino themes.
The border: a combination of two common patterns from the philippine tattoo tradition (batok), featuring snake skin (nod to the previous year of the snake) and the teeth design. The corners are a stylized combination of the sun and the national flower, sampaguita.
The name of the piece is written in Babayin script with translation (Bulan/Moon)
The face within the combined sun and moon is replaced by a charging gold fire horse, a nod ot the start of the Chinese/Lunar New Year of the Horse. It is partly framed by an eclipse, as a partial solar eclipse in Aquarius is happening in the same window as the Lunar New Year.
The 15 gold drops were replaced by 15 stars.
The clouds are in a woodblock type pattern with the Bakunawa (philippine moon-eating dragon) hidden among them, and appearing to be getting blown away by the horse.
The two towers are replaced by two balete trees, which were notorious for drawing spiritual entities at night, and being a home to various supernatual creatures like the Kapre or the Tikbalang.
The dog and wolf are replaced by the Philippine Forest/witch dog, the Asong Gubat. Theres 3 of them arranged to appear three-headed - not a reference to cerberus but to Hekate and her hounds. The single path was made into a three way crossroad to add to the symbolism.
The lobster was replaced by a golden crab with the astrological sign of Cancer on its back. it is also colored and luminous as the moon, as the moon is in its dignity in Cancer. However, there are two crabs underneath the waters holding the crab back from its path by dragging it back, symbolizing the notorious crab mentality some have, and something I've unfortunately experienced as well.
Everything is softly rendered in sepia tones to give this a dreamlike feel, as dreams are within the domain of the moon.
I'd love to illustrate more cultural themes this way.
Something deeply personal with heavy symbolism: a reimagining of the Rider-Waite tarot design of The Moon with Chinese New Year, the solar eclipse/♒new moon and folkloric Filipino elements as a nod to my ancestry. It's celebrated there too.
#ChineserNewYear #YearoftheHorse #FireHorse #tarotart #art