March 23 - 3 of Cups

Three of Chalices, The Astrolabe (150 BC - 1650). The card consists of three round, golden devices with intricate mechanical parts, pointers, and dials. The center of the illustration says "Persian Astrolabe, 1208." Below, it says "An Astronomical computer for predicting and locating positions of the sun, moon, planets and stars. Functions: Astronomy, astrology and navigation. Used in classical antiquity, the Islamic golden age, the European middle ages and renaissance. Used in the Islamic world to calculate the Qibla and time for prayers

A card of creativity and collaboration! Cool.

The Astrolabe is one of the oldest and most overlooked predecessors to digital computing... it's also wild to imagine their use spanning from 150 BC to the Age of Enlightenment. Like the equally impressive old school water clocks and earthquake detectors, the complexity and capability of these devices show that humans were working together on problems and preserving and passing down knowledge long before digital technology or even what we now consider empirical science.

There's also something more open and friendly about devices that just, in themselves, work. They feel admirable, like something that works with you, and that you can build on and fix yourself. Many of these amazing devices, if they don't come to us in the present intact, can be understood or even rebuilt from the pieces and schematics left behind... how much of modern computing is this true about?