My Silicon Dawn

Silicon Dawn, LoSarabeo 2011

The above photo is what you face when you open the box for Silicon Dawn. At the top of the photo, there is the box itself (with ribbon, space to store the rather thick deck in two halves, a magnetic flip-top lid). To the left of the box you see the companion book. In a large arc beneath the box are the 78 tarot cards. Then in a small arc next to them, the 'extra' cards that I've decided to include in my permutation of the deck (8 extras). To the right of the box are the remaining 'extra' cards -- 11 of them. There was also a title card in there somewhere, but I always take those out and use them as bookmarks, so it's probably stuck in a book somewhere.


When you first open the box, after you've finished wondering who the insane person is who created this deck, and who's crazier, the artist for making it or you for buying it, you notice there is an explosion diagram on the inside of the lid, showing how the cards fit together. You study it gratefully. Then when you start to read the companion book, you notice how the companion book does not follow this diagram. You are puzzled and annoyed. You shuffle the whole train wreck (which is what the creator herself calls it in the companion book) together and try to use it. Then eventually you remember this is your deck and you can use it any way you want--and what a relief that is.

So my Silicon Dawn includes:
22 majors
56 minors
3 extra Fool cards (each one a slightly different take)
an extra major called 'History'
a black card with a tiny white butterfly flying into it called '0 of Void'
a card that contains the card back on both sides (a white swirl on a black background)
a white version of the double-back card
a card called 'Aleph 4: November' which could be considered the transcendent Fool or 'higher self'

The extras that I left out of my deck are:
the 4 '99 of'' cards for each of the suits
the Court of Void (4 cards)
She is Legend (androgynous manga figure)
Vulture (a vulture)
Maya (a spread-eagle, naked hermaphrodite prostitute/temptress with her two minions at her feet)

Why did I include the ones I did? They make sense to me and I can see how they would work in readings, adding interesting dimensions to the sort of work I do with tarot.

Why did I reject the ones I did? The author says the 99s started out as a joke during the creation of the deck (and I have the feeling that the entire deck is one big joke, the kind of joke where you get punched in the eye and the person who punched you says, 'Aww I was only kidding around, don't you have a sense of humour?'). Having read the '99 of' bits in the companion book again and again, although the idea of suit card that seems to represent 'ad infinitum' appeals, I cannot make head or tail of the explanations nor see what they add to the deck, so after a few attempts at using them in readings, out they went. The Court of Void cards are unrelentingly bleak, and personally a smack to the face that I do not need. Queen of Void is described as 'the departed mother, the love you should feel but can't'. King of Void is 'the wisdom you cannot pass on.' Chevalier of Void is 'lies and giving up hope'. And Progeny of Void is 'Lost...a child alone, abandoned. Where is the child you never had?' I mean, who needs that from a tarot deck peopled by manga serpent creatures with multiple boobs? She-is-Legend, Vulture and Maya were all created because of the 'vagaries of the printing process.' The author says, 'We've filled the blanks with potent but not-necessarily-proper images...consider these the songs that only ever showed up as B sides. They're part of what you get when you download the whole discography, but do they need to be part of your daily listening rotation?' My answer to that question is: No.

And so, this is the version of Silicon Dawn you will see me working with this week. If you wonder why some of those other cards don't turn up or are not mentioned, that's why. (And if you want a gander at that Maya card, maybe you could Google it).