Month: December 2020

Last SKT III Update for 2020: Revelation

On By benebellIn personal, Spirit Keeper's Tarot17 Comments

Going in the order of the cards I’ve presented here, I’m ending 2020 and beginning 2021 on the Ten of Swords. Hmm. Yah I’m not going to read into that. =) Moving on.

While the style and approach for the earlier editions asked of you to journey inward, this third edition, which I’m calling The Revelation, asks of you to journey outward. If my earlier editions were about depth, then this third edition is about expanse.

Realm of Sevens

The Revelation Edition can be treated as an entirely different deck from the First and Vitruvian Editions. It’s within the SKT family, hence the deck name remains the same. And while it shares the same DNA, SKT III has really evolved to solidify its own unconnected identity.

Realm of Eights

I cannot wait to share with you the companion guidebook. It’s basically a new Book of Maps, because it had to be. I go into detail explaining the who, what, where, when, and why for each card illustration, and then for interpreting it, the how.

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Grogu Does a Tarot Reading (Fan Art)

On By benebellIn free download, tarot, tarot community6 Comments
(click to download JPG)

You can click on the above image to download the 4.26 MB, 500 dpi art print, if you want. It’s 8″ x 10″, which you can print centered on a standard US Letter 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper. Make sure to check your printer settings. You could also select “print to fit” and print the drawing borderless.

And if you want to make your own Stuff with this cute little doodle, click on and download the below.

(click to download)

You can create your own custom T-shirts, coffee mugs, stickers, whatever. You do you.

If you don’t like my saturation, color, or contrast levels and you know a thing or do about photo editing, then go ahead and edit the images until you’re satisfied.

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Tarot of the Thousand and One Nights Walk-Through

On By benebellIn deck review, tarot8 Comments

The Tarot of the Thousand and One Nights was published back in 2005 by Lo Scarabeo, with the artwork collection edited by Pietro Alligo. It’s art deck featuring the works of the late 19th and early 20th century French painter Léon Georges Jean-Baptiste Carré, living around the time Waite and Crowley.

Carré moved to Abd-el-Tif, Algeria and concentrated his body of work on Orientalist subjects. (Orientalism is the European and Western study and commentary on Middle Eastern culture.)

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The Lua Tarot by Maree Bento of DivineMuses

On By benebellIn deck review5 Comments

The Lua Tarot created by Maree Bento is a black and white collage deck of 19th century engravings. Lovers of the Victorian Era, you are going to adore these cards. “Lua” means “moon” in Portuguese, which is the perfect name for this deck, given its style and how the grayscale speculative aesthetics induces inner reflection.

Bento is the creator of the Divine Muses Oracle, which I’ve reviewed here. There’s this mystical-alchemical dream quality to her art style, and while Divine Muses was more mystical, Lua Tarot is more alchemical.

From a compositional standpoint, Bento layers the imagery with seamless perfection. There are clear stories going on in the foreground, midground, and background. You get a strong sense of earth and sky in every card image. Bento balances detailing and space in such a way that your eyes are always relaxed.

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Button Soup Tarot: A Cult of Tarot Collaboration Deck

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, tarot, tarot community4 Comments

I’m intrigued by the strong opinions that tarot readers can hold for collaborative decks. Collaborative are decks where the artwork is done by a cast of different artists and illustrators, often of varying experience in art, from the amateur or self-taught to the professional. The Button Soup Tarot was organized by the Cult of Tarot forum members and the result turned out really well.

I speculate that the collaborative deck appeals mainly to a rather special, rare, eclectic, and liberal-minded personality. Each and every card is going to feature a different style, created with a different medium, ranging from traditional to digital art. I’m loving this particular collaboration. It feels celebratory and there’s such a joy to it.

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Pistis Sophia (Majors Only) Goddess Tarot by Kim Huggens and Nic Phillips

On By benebellIn deck review4 Comments

Pistis Sophia: The Goddess Tarot is a 22-card Majors only deck by Kim Huggens and Nic Phillips, published by Schiffer. Pistis Sophia is the sequel to Sol Invictus: the God Tarot published by this duo over a decade ago.

The namesake for the deck comes from the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia, a compilation of narratives on the aeons and cosmology told through the stories of a feminine figure, Pistis Sophia.

The intention set for this deck was to take on a more hard polytheist approach to the goddesses, where the named goddesses are not mere faces to universal divine feminine concepts, but rather, are the goddesses themselves, in their own individual identifiable right.

What also sets Pistis Sophia apart from other goddess decks on the market is the creators’ scholarly approach. This becomes most apparent in the companion guidebook, which is a treasure trove of knowledge and impressively well-researched insights. The book itself, before we even get to the incredible artwork on the deck, is well worth your investment.

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Selling Art Prints & More Diary Notes on Learning How to Art

On By benebellIn create your own deck, personal2 Comments
benebellwen.com/artprints

I’m now offering my art prints for sale, and if you’re interested, click on the above hyperlinked banner to go straight to the art descriptions page and instructions on how to order. But this is a blog post, so I want to get a little more cas (casual, pronounced “kage,” where “ka” is like “cat” and “ge” is pronounced like “george” omigod why am I taking so much time and text explaining something so stupid) and ramble about that process.

The above banner thing was totally just for fun, to amuse myself. I didn’t bother following any art composition principles, other than, well, the one I made up myself, which is “more is more.” =D Every single feature you see in that banner comes from the illustrations for the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot, The Revelation (my name for the third edition of SKT).

This blog post is just to share some of the behind-the-scenes art journeying.

Continue reading “Selling Art Prints & More Diary Notes on Learning How to Art” →