Good (card) Suit names?

Interesting properties of 120:

It has the most divisors of any number up to itself.
It is a 3-perfect number: its factors including 1 and itself sum to 360

120
=1*2*3*4*5 (5 factorial)
=1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15 (15th triangular number)
=1+3+6+10+15+21+28+36 (8th tetrahedral number)
=59+61 (twin prime pair)
=23+29+31+37 (4 consecutive primes)
=8+16+32+64 (4 consecutive powers of 2)
=3+9+27+81 (4 consecutive powers of 3)

120 was known as the "great hundred" to distinguish it from ten tens, the "small hundred"
 

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Hmm... possible other names could be:

Valet / Maid
Chancellor / Matron
Squire / Handmaiden

Hmm... maybe in stead of showing a progression in 'age' (what with the children etc.), split by aspect:

Knights/warriors etc: war/death (break)
Farmer/midwife/babe: life/birth (growing)
King/chancellor etc.: law/justice (order making)
merchant/sage etc: commerce/knowledge (exchange)
shamen/seductress etc.: magic/love (connecting)

Get three cards per aspect...
 

utopia27 said:
The I Ching yielding 8 basic states is based on its origins with 3 yarrow sticks or coins. Three components, 2 states each - simple maths gives us 2^3 = 8.

Really - it's that simple. The next question is... happenstance or design?

It's also a form of binary. Neat stuff.
 

Nifft said:
I'd also suggest the original ordering be their suit strength.

Superbia > Avaritia > Luxuria > Invidia > Gula > Ira > Acedia
(Pride > Greed > Lust > Envy > Gluttony > Wrath > Despair or Sloth)

Hope > all of them, and I actually like the original translation of Acedia so "hope" and "despair" act as book ends on the progression. :)

Idea! Keep Hope -> Sloth / Despair but do it with other kinds of symbols, so they can be stretched into positive and negative aspects but still show ways they are prone to causing conflict.

Hope: Suns
Pride: Crowns
Greed: Coins
Lust: Cups
Envy: Orbs
Gluttony: Bowls
Wrath: Knives
Sloth/Despair: Cloaks (crescent moon)
 
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Well, if you want them to be the building blocks of your world as well, then I think going with 8 elemental like forces is more logical IMHO.
 

Clarification: The 120 symbols are the building blocks - the 8 are groupings of those building blocks.

I'm pretty confident that the 120 are sufficient for "building blocks" based on their combination of gender (yin/yang), method (use force, resist force, permute force), season, and principle (Weaving, Crystalizing, Rooting, Breaking, and Osmosis).

The 8 are "groupings" that layer over that symbolism and add depth. So when I said I wanted them to be "building blocks" I meant "them" to refer to the 120, and that the 8 suits had to encompass the world in some way.
 

Ryan Stoughton said:
Gluttony: ??? (not Mouths, too creepy to have a disembodied mouth on the cards)

A burger? Turkey leg? Over-flowing bowl of something?

Remember that gluttony traditionally was not just limited to food. Having an over-abundance of anything, from food to clothing to horses, was considered gluttony. Don't know if that helps your brain think of an idea.
 



Ryan Stoughton said:
O (Scoundrel / Seductress)

How about, in place of seductress, you had something a bit more negative to match better with scoundrel? Trollop, harlot or whore all seem like they'd be good fits.
 

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