Tarot for the Misguided including the Off-Kilter Deck Volume 1 &2

Created in 2024

Volume 1 7.6” W x 11” H x 1.7” D

Volume 2 7.6” W x 11” H x 3.4” D

Custom Slipcase with French tray: 5.75" W x 14.5"H x 7.75" D

Price: Contact myself, boundbycooksey@gmail.com, or my book dealer, Lux Mentis Booksellers.

Materials: Fabriano Unica (text). St. Armand paper (cover). Encaustic wax. Leather dye. Acrylic. Acrylic spray paint. PVA. 

Letterpress printed at Springtide Press with photopolymer plates.

A two volume set covering the history of tarot and the major arcana in the first volume and the minor arcana in the second. The idea of creating my own tarot deck came about because of a tiny songbird called a shrike. These lovely little morticians stick their excess prey on thorns or barbed wire for later consumption. I thought that the shrike would make the perfect Death card for a tarot deck. Then I wondered how tarot even came to be. Who created it? Why did they create it? Why is the art so iconic? Time would eventually make the idea into a physical book for people to enjoy and learn for themselves about the divinatory meaning of the cards, about the organism’s I chose for each card, or about how a man in the 18th century created what we know today as tarot.

I started the process of drawing the cards by compiling four to six reference photos of the organism, putting them into Midjourney, an AI art creator, and seeing what rococo style would come out. A lot of the organisms no longer looked like their true selves so I took parts of the real organism and Photoshopped them on top of the AI art. I added extra eyes, legs, feathers, arms, or whatever to make things a little off. Then I printed out this image, traced it with ink and pen, scanned it into Illustrator, and finally cleaned up the drawing to what you see in the cards today. The layering of the actual card starts with a stencil in gray spray paint of the traditional image corresponding to a specific card such as a star for The Star or seven coins for 7 of Coins. Once it’s dry, a pearlescent encaustic wax is wiped over the whole card, then put into the laser engraver to be engraved and cut. After this, I dyed the card, spray varnished it, and finally glued the backs of the cards to the front. 

In Volume 1, the first twenty or so pages cover the history of tarot and what it means today. This took most of my time to research because there are not a lot of books on it and everyone has an opinion. Tarot started off as a trick-taking game and slowly morphed into a divinatory practice. I wanted to showcase the changes of the cards as time went on and people’s views changed. As you go through the book, the cards are slotted into the right hand page. Behind the card is an image depicting the traditional card such as Strength has a lion somewhere on it, the Wheel of Fortune shows a four pronged wheel, and so forth. The text on the left hand side shows the divinatory meaning, following the history of the card, then the animal that was chosen to represent the card, and finally, a reasoning of why I chose this organism. At the base of the text is a small quip to sum up the card if it was tldr (too long, didn’t read). I wanted to highlight vulnerable or endangered animals as much as I could.

In Volume 2, there were not individual histories of each card so I chose to showcase specific aspects of tarot. In the suit of swords, I explore tarot pilgrimages from around the world. These would be museums or libraries that own original tarot decks, or an abundance of tarot decks. The suit of cups writes about inspiring humans who have helped tarot from illustrators and authors to video game developers and tarot readers. The suit of coins examines sacred realms that are otherworldly, just like tarot. Finally, the suit of wands delves into alternative practices to tarot, from palmistry and MASH to mood rings and tea leaves. 

There is something for everyone in this book. I truly think you'll have a chuckle and learn something. 

Happy divining!