The Moonlit Underground

As of right now, I am going through my deluxe set and slowly scanning in each card at 600dpi. (For those of you who don’t know, dpi = dots per inch.) At 600dpi, it should be easy to get a good quality print–however, the files are big. I’m currently saving them in photoshop format (.psd) and a high-quality .bmp format.  An example of a resized .jpg format is to the left in this post.

The .bmp and .psd formats both come out to about 19.9 MB each. So, once I do get every card scanned in, I’m going to have to think about ways to offer them for download (whether you try to print them out, use for webpage designs, play around with ‘em in photoshop–I won’t know and I don’t care). 53 images x 20mb = 1.06 gb, or 53 x 40mb = 2.12 gb. Right now I’m thinking of using Rapidshare, because I can’t put that kind of strain on my host. O_O;

So, one question for you guys: what would you be most likely to use? Photoshop format (.psd) or a plain old high-quality .bmp format?

Now that that’s out of the way, I am also rewriting the translation and redoing the .pdf version as well. I originally wanted to keep it as close to the original Japanese as possible, but on reading over the finished product again… I can see where some things are redundant or confusing. The new version of the .pdf will have two versions–one full of images, and one more ink-conservative.

I’ve been MIA lately, haven’t I? School’s started up, and I’ve been busy with homework / finishing a new design for sunshinebernese.com (I live nearby).

As you can see, I’ve changed the theme again. I finally found an image that I liked, so I switched back to Mandigo and made it into a header!

Also: the categories have shrunk.  I did a bit of weeding. ^^;;;  So, for clarifications sake:

*Articles = Random things about the Clow Cards / Cardcaptor Sakura I may observe.

*Clow Card Info = Clow Card list, inside cover of the Deluxe Set, comparison pictures, the intro of the fortune book, and any other general info I may come up with.

* Fortune Telling Methods = The Fortune Telling methods described in the fortune book. I also merged the shuffling and cutting method into this category.

*Guides = Any helpful guides I may come up with (different methods of shuffling, how to ask the Clow Cards questions, different spreads, etc.).

*One-Point Advice = The One-Point Advice sections from the book. (How to use the cards as talismans, tips for better readings.)

*Site = Anything that pertains to the site itself… like this! Usually includes eBay alerts as well.

*Videos = All of the video examples of the fortune telling methods.

Look forward to some other updates sometime soon. :)  I’m planning on making a few more videos, and some more guides. Might also test bbPress out and see how well it integrates with Wordpress.

http://divineclow.blogspot.com/

You may or may not have stumbled upon this wonderful Clow Card Fortune Telling resource that I have in my blogroll. Let me just say that I love what Christine is doing and am rooting for her!

Divine Clow is a collection of Clow Card meanings that Christine has interpreted herself.
Go! Go visit and read what she has! D:   I’ve found it very useful myself.

You may have read on the Project page the following statement (well, something close to it):

Since Clow Cards are not a Tarot deck, but are considered an Oracle Deck, they have no reversals.

Well, I’ve recently been studying Brian Froud’s Faery Oracle, and I can now say from experience that the above is not true. I originally took that from Lester’s Clow Card Fortune Book translation post, since I thought it was stated somewhere in the book.

In fact, reversals aren’t mentioned anywhere in the book! Alright, let’s look at this from both sides of the coin.

Evidence against reversals: Not mentioned anywhere in the book, including examples of readings.

Evidence for reversals: The shuffling method, messages compared to warnings.

Let’s look at this a little more closely! (Read more to find out!)

Read the rest of this entry »

So, are you intrigued yet? Have I aroused your curiosity? Yes? Good.

Alright… where to begin? Well, as you may already know, the fictional creator of the Clow Cards was a half-Chinese half-English magician named Clow Reed.

Now, the English occultist behind The Book of Thoth and the Thoth Tarot, is of course Aleister Crowley.

What I want you to pay close attention to is his last name, Crowley. Compare Crowley to Clow Reed (or kurou riido, romanized). The similarity is uncanny. XD

And there you have another instance of CLAMP putting in references to Tarot.

(Short article, I know. My laptop’s been sent in for repairs and I’m on this ancient desktop from hell until it’s fixed.)