This is a guest post from artist Oli StarFrosting, whose new deck, Talisman Tarot, is currently being funded on Kickstarter.
I chose lithography as my method because I wanted the cards to be crafted in such a way that their power shines through: the cards themselves are like seals and stamps, where every cut counts and leaves an indelible mark.
Tarot is experiencing a popularity boom of late, but for me, Tarot transcends trends: it’s about refining the power, clarity, and insight into talismanic imagery to unlock practical wisdom.
Following the success of my Jewish deck “Hidden Light Tarot”, my new Amulet Tarot is inspired by magic, card divination and the Tarot of Marseille.
This deck conveys deep, powerful power and insight through compelling single prints, pen and ink, and paint that convey fiery imprints of symbolic power.
How will the finished card look like?
As a strange descendant of the Marseille Tarot, the Amulet Tarot participates in its iterative tradition – passed down through the centuries through woodblock prints, artists’ innovations and printers’ errors – riffs on TdM and shoots it with raw subtle magic, cross-pollinating its visual vocabulary with the direct-fire language of card divination.
Ace begins as a sigil drawn in pen and ink while in a trance state. The intention was to allow their power to manifest in a recognizable improvisational form over their established form, but with a casual looseness that did justice to their divine arrival. The cards are initially presented as inspired ink strokes and can then reveal themselves more fully through the cutting and stamping of monolithic prints.
I chose lithography as my method because I wanted the cards to be crafted in such a way that their power shines through: the cards themselves are like seals and stamps, where every cut counts and leaves an indelible mark. While the deck is stylistically uniform, the attentive eye will notice some subtle differences, as the Aces range from Aether to Ink, the Court cards subtly express themselves according to their position and style, and the Points arrange themselves kaleidoscopically. Ebb and flow. Their respective suits.
The power of the Fiery Portal, the Ace of the Tarot, is bold, stark, and shining: macroscopic, archetypal, if you like, anchoring you in a specific qualitative state, if you will. But the important thing to remember is that, like all powers, they are relational and contextual: you don’t read them through fixed meanings, but rather according to what they activate in a particular context, their power What does it mean to be there, in this pattern, in this order, in response to this stated or unspoken inquiry. Talisman Tarot invites you to understand the power of the Ace as an individual and inescapably relational card.
Points are drawn from the streams of card divination, suits boil down to black (spade and clubs) and red (hearts and diamonds), the court cards boldly depict the power of their composition, and simple numerical intervals illustrate the immeasurable power of lived experience. Complexity. So the sword and wand are indigo, and the cup and coin are ruby:
Amulet Tarot is infused with the Cataumantic tradition as a way of honoring the earthy roots of divination inquiry. If divination is an exercise in discernment, alignment, and coordination, then being good at it will tempt you to be impeccable, clean, and sharp, even if it’s just for the time it takes to read. The ultimate goal is to take increasingly perfect actions—otherwise, why bother asking? Amulet Tarot invites you to engage in divination and hone practical wisdom.
This deck and accompanying booklet will be crowdfunded, so I need your support to make it happen! (Possible special bonus target: Very limited reprint of the Hidden Light Tarot.)
Please contribute in any way you can and spread the word. Support the Talisman Tarot on Kickstarter here!
