The Hive IV Tarot by various artists

For the 4th year in a row the Hive Gallery & Studios in Los Angeles held their Tarot themed exhibition at the beginning of the year and produced the major arcana decks from the cards in  a limited edition of 100 sets.

As with previous decks/years and as can be expected from a collaborative deck the cards portray a wide range of styles and used techniques, and yes some do work better than others, but then these are artists, not tarot readers/thinkers who are also artists.

Entries for previous editions are to be found here:

• The Hive I & II Tarot's 
• The Hive III

The Original Oswald Wirth Tarot Of 1889 published by Adam Maclean

Adam McLean continues to procure us all with wonderful decks we collectors love to have - and this time it's a reprint of the original 1889 edition of  the very first and still used esoteric deck created by Oswald Wirth. The tarot is published in a limited edition of 100 decks

At the time the deck was published they where colored by hand by unskilled (and badly paid) hands, often children. The used techniques namely by stencils means that the effect was often sloppy with colours overflowing and a messy look.

Adam has cleaned up the deck and is offering it on his website here and proceeds from this deck will go towards the Centre for Tarot Art.

Dark Carnival Tarot by Rachel Paul (aka J-Rach)

If I'd use one word to describe this deck it would be attitude, and this deck has lots of it! Born out of the Juggalo subculture (yes i had to look it up myself, apparently it's a movement based around the Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records hip hop group)

The artist did more than just create another niche deck - based upon the WCS yes but merged it with her own lifestyle, a deck by a juggalo for juggalos this gives us fresh images to look at, wonder over - and at times even be puzzled. 

To extend and maximise the transformation of the tarot into this culture the artist renamed the suits into: Gats (Wands), Axes (Swords), Duckets (Pentacles) and Faygos (Cups) and also changed the court cards into Joker, Warrior, Queen and King.

Does all this mean it can only be truly be enjoyed by those it was created for? Not at all everything from our well know classic WCS-deck is there only spiced-up to become this new incarnation.

 It's a tarot that makes no concessions, it's strong, wild raw in your face no way avoid it! If after all this you are curious about it the deck has it's own Facebook page and on Etsy  (where you can choose between differen pouch designs and preferred colors)you can buy them directly from the artist, and it's also availlable at Tarot Garden .

2 Sola Busca Tarot edtions by Wolfgang Mayer; Giordano Berti - Osvaldo Menegazzi

Yesterday was a special and memorable day for my collection, 2 new decks arrived or to better put it 2 editions of this historical important deck.
Both editions are high quality reproductions of the deck faithful to the original! The difference are ever so slight between both editions of the Sola Busca, there where both are offering the deck in it's original size the Mayer/Berti cards have a very discrete border around the cards rendering them a bit larger than the one reproduced by Osvaldo Menegazzi, the second difference is that the Il Meneghello Sola Busca is a bit darker in hue.

The Sola Busca is an important deck for many reasons, first it's age at the beginning at the official history of the Tarot, and it is the only complete 78 cards deck that has survived into our age. It was also the FIRST deck (and only for many centuries) to portray all minor arcana cards as ilustrated images not solely as a numerical representation of the suit emblems + court cards. The deck is said to have been a great inspiration to Pamela Colman-Smith who has drawn the Waite-Colman Tarot one of the best known, used, sold and used as inspiration for other tarot's deck of the 20th century, the influence can for example be seen in the 3 of Sword.

As a food starting point more information about the Sola Busca visit the Tarotpedia page dedicated to it.

The edition printed  in 1998 by Wolfgang Mayer is the full 78 cards deck, published in a limited hand numbered and signed (on the information card that is on side in German the other in English) edition of 700 decks and is now being offered by (tarot) historian Giordano Berti who obtained some copies and commissioned an Italian artisan to create a book shaped box for the deck.There is also a LWB provided with it by senor Berti
You can find more out about this deck at Berti's Facebook page here or contact him via email here.

Il Meneghello obtained from the Ministry of Heritage and Culture and Pinacoteca di Brera (where it is housed) the exclusive rights to reproduce the deck directly from the original cards, and is offering it in a limited edition of 400 majors only decks.
For more information about this edition see the Il Meneghello Facebook page here, this deck's Facebook page here or contact Christina Dorsini here.

Both decks deserve my 2 thumbs up and made this collector extremely happy and proud by their presence in my collection.

The Gypsy Palace Tarot by by Nora Huszka.

Yesterday I was contacted by miss Huszka about her crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo to fund her deck. The artist is from Hungary, living in Berlin and at the moment travelling through Italy, and yes she is also a tarot reader herself so it seems she is living the gypsy part of her deck's name herself, isn't it.

Curious to see it, a bit sceptical perhaps, one hears lots of themed decks comming out each day that are for the most part just flat uninspired images but here  I must admit I like what I see, it's fresh, innocent looking but also playful and yes bathing in the gypsy atmosphere. 

You can see her indigogo campaign here and if interested help in funding it.

Journey into Egypt Tarot by Julie Cuccia-Watts

After 4 years of working on it Julie Cuccia-Watts' new deck is finally ready for pre-order.

A voyage started with the Blue Moon Tarot published more than a decade ago and continued with the MAAT Tarot ,  seems to have found a new and interesting culmination (dare I say oasis seen the Egyptian theme?). 

But behold this is not 'just another pretty Egyptian themed deck' to use the artists own words (and who better to describe her creation to us): "Four years in the making this new deck explores the idea of RealSky Astrology using the ancient 12 month/3 ( 10 day) week calendar of ancient Egypt. Explore ancient Egypt thru the lens of 4 different cultures that once ruled in Egypt. Experience the astrological signs from an Egyptian point of view." So a deck with a mind of it's own and that dares to be (very) different of those around not a clone but an original creation!


To find out more about it, see some images, read her post about how some of the images came into being, learn about the system behind the deck and/or yes also to pre-order the deck you can visit her website here.

Triomphes MMXII by Bertrand Saint-Guillain

Bertrand Saint-Guillain who back in 2001 created the Triomphes De Paris a back to the roots version of the Tarot de Marseille inspired by Jacques Viéville has also created this deck on the complete opposite of the spectrum where the first one was traditional, this deck looks modern and sharp.
This deck I'd categorize as Neo-Marseilles is one nice addition to my collection

Both decks are forming a nice contrast to each other and at the same time a good couple (opposites attract they say...) and dispite their differences there are many aspect that bind them together also, better fitted than many human 'relations' I dare to say!

This is a deck with a personality and with living personalities in it, some personal friends of the artist, among who one may easily recognize Enrique Enriquez, as the Magician; Mary Greer as the High Priestess - even the creator of the deck himself is represented as card number 16.

This majors only tarot was published as a limited edition of 200 deck and is still available at the artists website here.

I Nuovi Tarocchi Dell'amor Sacro e Profano - Franco Coletti

Almost a year ago I made a post here about the 'I Tarocchi Dell'amore Sacro E Profano' the deck that was inspired by the passion of the artist for his muse D., so overwhelming this desires for her are that almost at the same time as the first, Il Meneghello published the second instalment of this trilogy. 

The  entitled I Nuovi Tarocchi Dell'amor Sacro e Profano - (aka A New Tarot of Sacred and Profane Love) continues in the same style and vein as the first one, reigning from poetic to a bit...explicit. One can see each card has been executed by a skilled artist who's form of expression lies somewhere between gentle elegance, brute and raw strength, between wild passion and calm rest. Indeed the way I described the used the art is the way I would describe the whole set of 78 cards, the entire Sacred & Profane trilogy and by extension the whole body tarot-creations from Coletti inspired by his feelings for his muse, the always secretive D.

The cards in the major arcana are where the artist poured his own writing into each image while each of the 4 suits is given a literary backbone by:  Goethe for coins; the Italian poet, essayist and philosopher Biacomo Leopardi for Wands; Emily Dickinson for the suit of Cups and John Keats for the Swords.

As the previous set in this trilogy this one is published in an extremely limited edition of only 12 decks, to learn more about it (and why not see if it is still available and if so order one) you could contact Christina through the Il Meneghello Facebook page or look up the page Arnell Ando has created for this deck here. 

Fundraiser: Stolen Child Tarot, the 78 CARD DECK!

I'm back after some time having taken a break from my blog, during a period I could describe using the following quote: "Double, double toil and trouble" picking up where I stopped to once more share my love of tarot and present some of my finds.

Returned and already  with some good news, one year after her first passage by the kickstarter site to fund the majors only version of this deck, tarot artiste Monica Knighton is back and this time its for the whole shabam, a full 78 cards edition of the Stolen Child Tarot is awaiting funds to manifest itself.

You  can find the campaign and all the information needed to form an opinion, and I hope be enthusiastic enough (as I am) to contribute to this wonderful project an the Kickstarter page

KENZO Tarot Cards by Michael Willis

This deck was created by London based artist Michael Willis in collaboration with/and for the fashion label KENZO for being used at live Tarot readings at Kenzos pop up store at Maria Luisa in Paris earlier this year.

With a subtitle as "Psy Chic" and produced for a fashion label the item could not be anything but classy (and I'm sure will be very sought after and collectable - for both tarot lovers and fashionistas).

The images of this limited-edition majors only deck are true to the expression of Willis and combine well classic tarot symbols with 60ies style, printed in Ben-Day dots to augment the feeling and rendered in the KENZO palette using the label’s latest Jean-Paul Goude campaign as backs.

Exclusively on sale on their online shop here this deck comes just in time for the holidays at the sweet price of only € 25 and will be gone for good afterwards I fear... only to be found at auction sites like eBay at an inflated price.
The artist showcases this deck and other of his works here.

Warning: fake Bohemian Gothic Tarot

It has come to my attention that there are bootleg  Bohemian Gothic Tarots for sale coming from Russia/Ukraine.

This is what Karen Mohony one of the wonderful creators of this and many other great decks wrote today:

"WARNING. There are fake Bohemian Gothic decks on the market now. These are illegal bootlegs from Ukraine/Russia and are very badly done. Please beware and warn people. How to tell the fakes. Please look at the photos here. (Facebook Link)
1. All prints are over-exposed, glaringly wrong colours and fuzzy. 
2. Deck is smaller and to make the images fit they have just cropped them (yuck). 3. Box is different. 
4. Weird typo on box Poe's death date is very, very wrong! 
5. Russian LWB 
6. Most ironic of all - our copyright notice on the box has been removed."

The quality of these decks is clearly very bad and has nothing to do with the excellent quality that Baba studio is so very well know for.

Here is the page they have made with some images so everyone can see the difference in quality between the original and the fakes.
 

The Zombie Apocalypse TaROT by Joe Frost

This is the second tarot that I know of that has been published this year,  and both decks are on the most opposite places of the spectrum possible.Where the other zombie tarot was tong in cheeky and kitschy in a good kind of way this one goes all the way in gore and horror.

With a subtitle like "The Deck That Puts The ROT in TaROT" the tone has certainly been set...and one can not say the artist didn't go all the way, he went even in full overdrive! Using photographs of fanatical gruesome zombies makes so that more realistic and dark that it may scare away the more faint of heart...

Joe Frost used photo's from a variety of artists around the zombie-theme to link to the 78 arcana + one extra card named Undeath, fact is that the images do not always speak for themselves. Due to as good as no identifiable elements from the major arcana or suit symbols, any esotheric pointers linking a card to an imaes is not always simple or logical,  where some images can clearly be linked to a card others can only be identified by the title printed upon them and are mutually interchangable.

For anyone really into zombies, with a sub-categorie of realy dark decks in their collection or who just want to have the most distressingdeck for those halloween readings this might be the deck for you.
The artist self-published this deck trough the Gamecrafter where it can be bought 

Alchemy 1977 England Tarot

Alchemy 1977 is a brand well know for its gothic and steampunk imagery and products,that enjoys a vast number of followers and has a big catalogue of images.

The house-style is a mixture of sexy temptresses, sculls and skeletons, mystical creatures like dragons (lots of them - they even replaced the Kings in the courts by one) and all other kind of monster from popular culture all set in a world that is set in a magical medieval period with steam-punk elements (quite an explication isn't it - for something that seems to be very pomular and guarantee to sell well). Fitting into the old school fantasy book genre the decks is guaranteed to have it fans both from fantasy lovers as tarot lovers with a taste for the darker stuff

They matched pre-existing art to the 22 majors and court cards, what in most cases produced sometimes a great card (I love the Fool) but mostly just satisfiable good nor bad, giving a 'pretty' card that happens to correspond to...some can make you wonder why they used it, but never in a shocking way. The minors 1-10 are beautiful, elegant and...non-scenic only x times the suit symbol (wands have become roses, and i can see why a black rose is so much elegant than a stick..)
Every image is set within ornamental frames augmenting the cohesive feeling between the cards and also the dark gothic feel of the set.

All in all a very nice deck, no deep mystical secrets hidden in it, no high art, just 78 dark cards for those into something more dark.

The decks is available from the usual places like Tarot Garden or Alida or other shops near you or on-line that sell tarot.

The Zombie Tarot by Stacey Graham and Paul Kepple

It seems that zombies are back these days from never really gone, only buried just below the surface, and you know these things come back when you don't expect them ...and with a vengeance.
So the tarot-world could not stay behind to our (or at least mine) delight - and in my collection this one went.

One of the authors behind the Zombie Tarot was also behind the "Housewives Tarot" and together with Stacey Graham he has applied the same style, feeling and tongue-in-cheek humour as there to this deck. Bathing in a fifties to sixties B-movie  atmosphere with matching colour palette sure to work upon both the nostalgia as the sense for  pleasantry.

The whole vintage undead theme is well worked out from the sturdy casing reminiscent of a ammunition box with the following tekst printed upon it: "insight & ammunition for surviving the undead uprising" the tone has been set and in this vein it will continue in the most hilarious way throughout the deck iself and its instruction manual.. The setting for the deck (and the one using it) is an apocalyptic world with zombies taking over the world and the remaining humans trying to survive - provided with this deck and the boockled and it's wicked sense of humour you sure will, and while doing so staying cool and good-looking! 

A fun deck to play around with for Halloween or among Zombie lovers or hunters 

Published by Quirk Books you can find it at the usual places like for example Tarot Garden (always a great service) or others...

Wormweird Tarot by George Higham

Time for real horror gore and darkness, the subtitle of this deck says it all: "The path to enlightenment has never been so dark" and believe me it's not just a marketing slogan, but the reality for each and every card of this deck, beware my friends there be monsters there....The whole atmosphere breathes a mixture of steampunk, classical horror absinthe and

The images where created using good old Victorian style stage-illusion techniques, waxwork sculptures and the interplay of light and shadow, no photoshop or other digital manipulation after the images where taken was applied- perhaps this too contributed to the power of this images, no slick or polished cards but pure horror and madness.

The deck follows the downfall of the town of Wormwood (as the herb used to produce the ill-famed liquor Absinthe that is present in almost every card and dragging everyone down into insanity ) and its inhabitants into a hell the story of it described in the codex that gives a kind of biography of each card/personage of the deck,  information also about its divinatory meanings at the same time.

Where every major, court card and the extra card "baron Alchymus (around who's actions and experiments everything evolve and drags the down into decay, insanity and a world full of abominations of man and nature) depict a person who's story represents it, the minors 1-10 show dark-inimistic scenes.

The images on the cards and the stories in the codex are miles away from the classic tarot but yet for a coherent system and for those into some (or much) darkness it is something they might get into their collection.

you can see more of the deck and the artists other work at his website here

Halloween Tarot by RAH (Rodney Howington)

From the same artist as the "Wonderland Tarot" I mentioned here last July, in the same style colorful, playful and with a large dose of healthy madness.

Featuring all kind of Halloween creatures and settings ranging from the adorable to the creepy and everything in between, yet due to the style and flashy images it still remains a deck you can take out and show to adult and children alike without leaving the behind disturbed and  in shock.

This majors only deck is a fun interpretation of the Halloween-theme without giving us dark settings and horror, yet one thing I found surprising is that cards that in other decks are dark and menacing looked here more sweet and fun (like for example death) yet cards that otherwise have a soothing imagery looked more dark in this one (for example this deck has the most disturbing Star card I've seen in times)

This Halloween Tarot can still be obtained at the artist's Etsy store here

Bohemian Gothic Tarot

This is one of my favourite gothic decks, elegant even seductive yet with a darkness that gets deeper every time you look into it...and the better you look the more disturbing elements you notice.

Already into its  second and revised edition (the first edition printed in 2007, in a normal an an silver edition where elements of the cards got highlighted in silver ink, was immediately voted "Deck of the Year" on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum, the second edition followed in 2010 and is now sadly  out-of-print) the deck is and remains a very popular item. The artists hope to reprint the deck in 2013.

As with every the Bohemian Gothic Tarot came with an extra card for the 1st edition this was the "Danse Macabre" for the second one it was the "Memento Mori card"

Combining Victorian elegance, restraint and dark drama, without being over the top or kitsch. Insane persons, monsters of every kind and genre, grand scenes composed of many many elements perfectly collaged to form a new, darker vision upon the WCS-tarot.

and below are the extra cards from th first and second edition

The studio that created this deck can be found on-line here  the deck has his own page here and a Facebook page here

Seasonal decks: Halloween

Halloween is one of those special times of the year when we like to dress everything up, ad a pinch (or much more) to every aspect of our life, also when it comes to tarot.

So I decided to  make a series of Halloween-themed posts showcasing those decks that are perfect for this time of the year, each new deck I post about will be listed here with a link to the blogpost.

Some of the decks I'll show are well know best selling tarot's, other are out-of-print and/or extremely hard to get by and thus expensive, but do merit to get mentioned here - so here are my Halloween-feel-decks

Alchemy 1977 England Tarot

  Bohemian Gothic Tarot 

 

Demons Tarot  

Gli Arcani di Elisabetta 

Halloween Tarot by RAH

  Lost Tarot Cards of Dominic Murphy 

Wormweird Tarot

The Zombie Apocalypse TaROT

Zombie Tarot

I Tarocchi Di Antonio Possenti

Earlier this year in April (from the 7yh to the 29) there was be an exhibition of the major arcana paintings by Antonio Possenti (1933° - ), these where printed into a limited edition of 1000 decks celebrating the inauguration of the new headquarters of the Vallardi Galleria D'arte where the y where shown.

The cards are airy and have a certain sense of humour (perhaps coming from his his background as a political cartoonist), combining this sense of humour with his poetic surrealistic style the 22 resulting arcani are vibrating with a semi-wild/untamed energy and a light and joyful outlook.

The images display also a somewhat gentile chaotic, in a sense childlike innocence ...while at the same time showing the master-craftsmanship of the artist not unpleasing to me, but perhaps not everyone's cup of tea.. 

The deck can be obtained from the Vallardi Galleria D'arte  or from the gallery's eBay shop at the very democratic price of € 25 + shipping.

The Lost Tarot Cards of Dominic Murphy

Autumn has arrived with its cold wet grey days and early evenings so it's time to present some decks that fit the feeling one gets from all this time of the year.
The The Lost Tarot Cards by British artist Dominic Murphy positions itself at the darker side of the autumn/end of summer spectrum (and although Halloween is still a month away this deck would be perfect for that) , no surprise knowing that the artist describes the inspiration to become a painter (seeing Bacon's portrait of pope Innocent) as "Francis Bacon ruined my life"

Murphy a prolific artist who also created some card decks before has now turned his attention to the tarot, his extended tarot deck (the majors plus 'lost cards' of the artist own imagination)  is executed in his own style that I'd call dark surrealism and shows the art of a schooled accomplished artist.  Showcasing lot's of sculls, alchemical & occult symbology and grim/severe facial expressions this is not a deck made to make you smile or feel better,  but one of those deck that feel magical and bizarre in a 'good way'.

The deck presents itself as a Major Arcana + Oracle deck, so on the one part the artst had he structure he had to follow for the first 22 cards, but could let his imagination run wild in any direction it wanted for the rest of the deck, and Mr Murphy sure has an interesting imagination to say the least...

This 36 cards edition (the artist still works on some more cards, not a 78 but rather a 54 cards deck, in the same structure as now 22 majors + extra cards) was only printed in a very limited edition of 10 because 2 cards: The devil card and the Hesperus card where misprinted, namely with a to small white border.


You can get his artwork friom his ebay store or his Facebook shop and also look at his work at his website

Update: o coincidence the same day I post about this version of the deck the artist starts selling his completed deck on his eBay store! 

The Fialko Tarot by Jeff Fialko

Rejoice tarot collectors of all nations, Adam McLean, fellow collector of tarot (with a truelly HUGE) collection has restarted to produce limited edition tarot decks in his  Artwork Tarots, after his project was stopped because of the theft of the Intellectual Property rights by scrupulous people sharing these free on internet thus making it unprofitable for Adam to continue the project.

Earlier this year he started experimenting with the new high quality printer and discovered a way to produce very good quality tarot cards in a way that is both more cost effective and faster than before, resulting in the fact he can now sell them at half the price of his earlier editions. Other changes he made are that he no longer prints card backs,  has reduced the size of the editions from 100 to only 50 and finally the customized boxes are replaced by clear plastic ones. This all will result in the fact that editions will sell out very faster and be followed by new ones, and based on how successful this edition was he is considering putting out more decks.

Indeed I wrote "was" because deck number 24 in the Artwork Tarots series the "The Fialko Tarot" by American artist and singer Jeff Fialko (hence the name) is already sold out, and it has only taken a bit over a week to do so, speaking of a succes, this is one! You can see some more of the deck at Adam's page about it...sadly that is all no more decks for sale.

The deck itself is filled with attractive looking slender yet believable normal humans, esoteric images and filled up with flowing lines, curves and roots(?). personally..the style reminds me a  lot of American comic books from the 70ies and 80ies( and to some extent the) 90ies.....

Robo Tarot by Pete Hague

I admit it I have e nerdy, geeky or whatever you want to call it side,I love sci-fi (both books, movies, as...whatever) so when I found a deck that combines my passion for tarot with my sci-fi love I just had to grab it!

Originally designed only to be featured upon T-shirts but the demand upon the artist for a 'real printed deck'  became that big he finally went along t make one - something I've been very happy about!

All the characters in the deck have been replaces by those wonderful 'living machines' who are portrayed in a wide array of shapes and poses,so to fit best the 'role' they are playing.
All are executed in a style I'd call retro Science Fiction (remember those old posters from the '40ies, 50ies and 60?) and each one of the 23 majors (yes 23, the artist created 3 versions of the Fool, each as funny as the other, it would have been, a shame not to see them) and 56 minors  is produced within a limited pallet up to maximum 4 I think  which accentuates the retro elements while giving the image a strong and solid feel.

For some the unillustrated pip cards might be a downside but with such a deck rich in colour these do have a soothing effect upon the eye, just enough to be ready for the courts. An other aspect that keeps the theme up to the very last (or very beginning as you open the parcel they come in) is the metal tin they come in an that's held together with a metal strap, nice touch and wraps the whole up very well.

You can find the tshirts, prints and deck (in 2 sizes) at the artists Etsy shop, and on the tarots Facebook page, and for those who want there is even a website (very creative man isn't he and really passionate about his art and the works it produces).

Alexander Daniloff's 78 card deck

The second of May   I posted about the impressive majors only deck created by Alexander Daniloff, tarot he was still working upon finishing a minor arcana at the time. Now a few months later the finished version is almost reaching the point where it can be printed, Mr. Daniloff expects it for this autumn, some of these finished cards can be seen at his website here . 

The cards are 78 pieces of stunning work of art, each one of them. As one can notice some of the majors underwent ‘some’ changes, a few differences are small other very noticeable, but every one of the new ‘versions’ look wonderful to me!! One thing that did not change between this and the majors only version is the way the artist uses color and contrast in a way that make the images come alive, vibrant with energy ready to pop of the paper and right in your face.

The price and number of decks printed in this edition will off course depend upon how many people are interested in getting one (or more) decks, so let me advice you to contact the artist, that way he will have an idea of how many to print – and I’m under the impression there will be only one print run….(so the more interested, the more printed & the more affordable it will become, simple laws of economics), afterwards it’s too late to say there were not enough available….

Triomphes De Paris - Fac-Simile edition

Sadly for collectors and all other kind of lovers of 'old styled' tarots the original hand-made edition is now OOP (one can not start to wonder how long it will take before these will pop-up on eBay and other similar sites at at least double the price they originally went for...).

But O rejoice all how procrastinated to long, heard to late about it, didn't have the necessary money at the moment or all those who want a double .....Bertrand has decided to make it available in a modernly printed edition

This 'industrial edition' is more resistant and can be handled without taking special care and are up for a good shuffling. The cards are a bit smaller than the hand-made edition (at 6cm x 4cm), yet the images themselves are approximately the same size because the resizing is mainly a result from cropping the formerly impressive white borders (that fitted the original, hand-crafted very well, giving them the look of 22 individual works of art).

You can get it directly from the artists on-line shop. 

The Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery - fundraiser

A project that has been in the making for many many years has finally come to it's conclusion, a 78 cards deck in Robert place's style and filled with alchemical and mystic  links and can be viewed as his masterpiece, a synthesis of all his knowledge and the artistic style he has gained over the years.

Robert has become over the years an 'household-name' with a well deserved positive reputation and who has fathered quite some decks with very varied subjects (Tarot of the Saints, Angels Tarot, Buddha Taro & Vampire Tarot) but executed in a immediately identifiable style. For this deck besides his own knowledge and craftsmanship he took inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones, who in his turn was inspired by the paintings of Botticelli and Michelangelo, rolling back into time towards a mythical golden age of mystique and mystery so to speak and towards the cradle of the tarot.

Back in 2009 Robert already published a major’s only version of this deck under the title ‘Annotated Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery‘ showcasing a larger size version of the cards at 8½" by 5½". That ‘deck’ was not intended for divination but showcases the Neoplatonic mysticism and symbolism expressed in Robert’s tarot, his magnum opus so to speak. Each one of these prints brought together the words and images that make up each individual archetypal power, so to form a magical unity in one print, to meditate upon and study from.

Robert is now wanting to self-publishing the finally finished 78-cards version of his latest deck, the 'Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery' (isn't that a wonderful name that holds a promise of great discoveries and wonder), as he did with the third edition of the deck that made him famous in the tarot-world the 'Alchemical Tarot' and to do so has turned towards Indiegogo to raise the needed funds.You can find the page here with all information and funding options.