Comparison of the Court Cards
In this post, these are the photos of all of the court cards from three editions of the deck. Art v1 is referred to the first successful campaign - which is the one with the deck sleeve. I would also like to tell the story of the characters presented in the court cards.
Clubs
Cain - Jack of Clubs
Cain is the first son of Adam and Eve since the banishment from the Garden of Eden. Cain has a little brother named Abel. In the first family, Cain is the farmer, while Abel is a shepherd. One day, both of them made offerings to God. Cain offers grains from his farming, while Abel offers his best lamb. God favors the offering of Abel's, which made Cain jealous. So, Cain ends up calling Abel out in the fields, and murder him. There are debates of how Cain murdered his own brother: was it using the knife to stab, or a rock to bludgeon, or simply beaten to death with fists? We never know... but Abel's lifeless body is hidden. In the end, God punished Cain to roam in the wilderness alone like a lone wolf.
Eve - Queen of Clubs
Eve is the first woman, made from the ribs of man. She is made to be Adam's partner in the Garden of Eden. Both of them are instructed to take care of the garden, and they are allowed to eat every fruit from the trees except the Forbidden Tree. But, the evil disguised as a Serpent approached the woman and seduced her to eat the fruit. "You will be the same as God once you eat the fruit." the serpent said. Thus, Eve ate the fruit, and in turn gave it to Adam. She is seen standing on the beautiful garden with the serpent coiling on her, holding the apple.
Adam - King of Clubs
Adam is the very first man. He is created after God had created the World in 7 days (which inscribed in the first Chapter of Genesis that is overlayed on the tuckbox of the Art v1). The man is created from dust and earth, and air is breathed in to give him life. Adam is later to be accompanied by Eve. Much later, both of them had finally sinned by eating the Forbidden fruit. Their eyes are opened and they become ashamed, quickly take leaves to cover themselves. As punishment for the sin, God had banished them from the Garden of Eden. He is standing in the wilderness, dropping the bitten fruit as a sign of regret of what he has done.
Spades
Samson - Jack of Spades
Samson is one of the Judges amongst Israelites at that time. He is the judge gifted with super strength. He is able to beat a lion with his bare hands and defeat a lot of Philistines armies with only the jaw of a donkey. The secret to his power is his hair, as he never cut his hair since young. Sadly, that secret has been revealed because of love, and he got betrayed by the woman he loves. At his downfall, the Philistines want to ashamed him by having him bow in front of an idol. But, God hears over Samson's repent, and give him one last strength to beat the enemies, and died a hero.
Delilah - Queen of Spades
Delilah is the woman who Samson loves. For three times, she tried to ask Samson about the secret to his strength. Eventually, Samson gave away the secret to her in order to keep the relationship. But, little that he knows, that Delilah is doing this for money - 30 pieces of silver. When Samson is asleep, the woman discreetly trim his hair, and have the Philistines armies ambushed him. Powerless, Samson can't fight back and finally captured. As a cruel act, the Philistines gouged his eyes. The hero downfall for trusting a woman.
Abraham - King of Spades
Abraham is the father of the nation. He is chosen by God to go to the promised land of Canaan and make families to filled up the earth. God helped him along the way. One day, God granted him a son, despite both him and his wife Sarah being old. The boy is named Isaac. One day, God tasked Abraham to sacrifice his own son. With a heavy heart, Abraham does as tasked. Though, the task is simply a test of faith, and God can see that Abraham is totally faithful.
Diamonds
Noah - Jack of Diamonds
Noah, along with his family - wife Naameh and children Sam, Hem, and Jafet, are chosen to be the people that God decided to save, as He will summon the Great Flood to banish all of the evil people that had filled the earth. Noah is instructed to build an ark which is able to contain his family along with the animals (each a pair of male and female). As the Great Flood comes, Noah and his family stays on the ark, waiting for a year until the water receded. A dove brings an olive branch as a sign of peace.
Miriam - Queen of Diamonds
Miriam is Moses's sister. During the troubled days, when the Pharaoh ordered all Hebrew sons to be slaughtered, she foresee Moses in a basket flowing on the River Nile, watched him as he is picked up by the woman in the Palace. Years later, she with Moses leaded the Hebrews out of Egypt and into the Promised land. Miriam is leading up all the women in the troupe.
Moses - King of Diamonds
Moses is choses by God to help the Hebrews to go out from Egypt and released them from slavery. He with Aaron faced the Pharaoh and asked him to release the people. But, the Pharaoh is too stubborn, so God smites the kingdom with the Ten Plagues. The plagues totally ruined the Kingdom, thus the Pharaoh released the Hebrews. Moses led the people, guided by the Pillar of Clouds and Pillar of Flame, and crosses the Red Sea.
Hearts
Joseph - Jack of Hearts
Joseph is the husband of Mary. He is meant to be married with Mary, but after learning that Mary is suddenly pregnant, he is hesitant about it. But God comes to him through an angel, saying that he will the father of the Son of God.
Mary - Queen of Hearts
Mary is the woman who gives birth the Jesus, the Son of God. It was one day that Gabriel the angel comes to her to bring the news. She though it is impossible as she is still a virgin, but God's promises are never wrong. Thus, she with Joseph goes to Bethlehem, and gives birth to Jesus. Shepherd and Three Wise Men comes to witness the boy.
Jesus - King of Hearts
The Son of God, the Savior of HumanKind. This is the scene where he is transcended and blessed on the mountains, where he is standing with two people besides him, prophet Elijah and Moses. Three of Jesus's disciples witness this event, and promised not to tell about it to others.
Jokers and Gaff
Angel and Demon - Jokers
It is the Good and the Evil. The Good is represented by Angels, the warriors of God; while The Evil is represented by Demons, the minions of Satan. The Angel holds up the Ace of Hearts card, while The Demon holds up the Ace of Clubs card.
Samson - Gaff
This is Samson's state when he is betrayed by the woman he loves over 30 pieces of silver - short uneven cut hair, blindfolded with stains of blood - indicating his eyes had been gouged. This made a good card for magic trick.
Aces
Jonah - Ace of Spades
Jonah is tasked by God to go to Niniveh to warn the people there that God wants to destroy that city unless they repent. But, Jonah is planning to run away, going to Tarsis instead. A storm hits the ship he is on, thus he voluntarily removes himself to save the other people on that ship. A Big Fish is summoned to swallow Jonah, where he stays in there for three days and three nights, repenting for his actions.
Heart of Christ - Ace of Hearts
This is the Heart of Christ, the embodiment of kindness and blessings He gives to people. His sacrifice on the Cross proves His love for us.
Forbidden Tree - Ace of Clubs
The tree that is located in the very middle of the Garden of Eden. This tree bears the Forbidden Fruit. According to the Serpent, this fruit will help to differentiate Good and Evil.
Ten Plagues of Egypt - Ace of Diamonds
God smites Egypt because of the Pharaoh's stubbornness to let the Hebrews go. All of the Ten Plagues are gathered up to form inside one big Diamond pip. The Plagues are, in order: Water turn into blood - Frogs - Mosquitoes - Flies - Pestilence - Boils and Blaines - Hail, Fire, Thunder - Locusts - Darkness - Death of First Born Son.
Notes about the Versions
Art V1 - one way court, background with borders, characters that looked popped out of the frame.
Classic - two way court with a monstrance background
Art V2 - one way court, full bleed
The Art V1 deck is supposed to looked like those of the Art V2, but due to the technical problems of the matte golden gilding, changes have to be made.
