Rooted Shadows Tarot | Suit of Coins
Knight of Coins — Rooted Shadows Edition (Baltimore Setting)
A determined, light-skinned, bald Black figure sits atop a sturdy, matte-black electric motorcycle, positioned firmly in the center of a Baltimore street lined with historic red brick rowhomes. The facades are familiar — stoops, wrought-iron railings, and murals faded by time. Their armor is textured like soil and bark, part protective shell, part living memory. They wear a long duster coat with root-like tendrils at the hem that tangle with the cracked asphalt and grass breaking through the city pavement.
In their hand: a verdant, glowing coin embossed with ancient glyphs and modern circuitry, symbolizing legacy and future investment. Behind them, shadows stretch long, and from those shadows emerge translucent silhouettes of ancestors — watchers from the past. Around them, urban gardens sprout between rowhomes, showing regeneration in forgotten spaces.
Color palette: grounding greens, deep browns, rust red (matching Baltimore brick), muted charcoal, and gold highlights to echo dignity and persistence.
Queen of Coins — Rooted Shadows Edition (Baltimore Garden Matriarch)
A regal, light-skinned, bald Black woman sits in a weathered throne made of reclaimed brick, clay, and vines — as if the materials were pulled from the Baltimore rowhomes around her. She is surrounded by an abundant urban garden flourishing in a once-abandoned lot, now lush with vegetables, medicinal herbs, and sunflowers.
Her gown is layered like tree rings, each fold etched with ancestral faces and seed patterns. Her hands are in the soil — one planting, the other holding a shimmering green coin engraved with natural fractals. Her gaze is soft but steady, offering both nurture and protection.
Behind her, shadows of generations stretch across murals on the red-brick walls, whispering guidance. Chickens, bees, and a small child with gardening tools appear nearby — symbols of care, legacy, and self-reliance.
Color palette: copper, deep soil brown, grounding green, soft sunlight gold, muted rose.
King of Coins — Rooted Shadows Edition (Baltimore Wisdom Steward)
The King of Coins stands beside a custom-built throne that fuses Baltimore rowhome masonry with natural elements — brick, iron, vines, and polished black stone. He is a dark-skinned elder with locs threaded in gold wire, wearing a cloak of layered bark, copper-threaded wool, and verdant moss. His posture is firm but compassionate — a protector of land, legacy, and future.
He rests one hand on a large coin embossed with concentric rings and roots, the other on a staff shaped like a tree branch, grounded deep into the sidewalk that has been cracked open by new growth.
Behind him, a Baltimore mural honors neighborhood elders. An intergenerational community garden flourishes around him, and a muraled truck-turned-farmstand sells produce nearby. Long shadows on the buildings carry the faded figures of ancestors watching with pride.
Color palette: oxidized copper, soil black, sage green, rust red, and sun-dappled gold.
