The Lepus Tarot by Witchy Cauldron, with illustrations by Artem Chernobai, arrived in my mailbox under somewhat mysterious circumstances. I’m not entirely sure how I came to receive it, but I sure am glad I did!

The deck’s namesake, lepus, means hares, or rabbits, and is also a reference to the constellation Lepus, eternally hunted by Orion. I love how the card back design even has constellation map vibes.

In Chinese astrology, Lepus corresponds with the Queen Mother of the West, or the White Tiger.

There is a creepy cartoon cuteness to Chernobai’s illustration work for this deck, and the extent to which the style and motifs remain consistent throughout all 78 cards is nothing short of impressive. As an amateur illustrator, I can attest to how difficult consistently of style can be.

Here, every card in succession is telling a story and features a set cast of characters. These are some devilishly slick ninja rabbits (hares? is there a difference? without googling I have no idea…) with martial arts prowess and superpowers.

Out of the box the Minors are ordered by numbered sets, so all the Aces were together, wands, Cups, Swords, then Pentacles, then all the Twos, and now all the Threes, Fours, Fives, etc.

The compositions stay very close to RWS, which is absolutely delightful here, because I love seeing how ninja rabbits (they’re not really ninja rabbits; that’s just what my mind is imagining) plugged into RWS scenes and set design.

I cannot rationalize why I’m reminded of Darkwing Duck (that cartoon I watched as a kid), but with hares, and yet I’m getting a dark comedic animated superhero action and adventure quality.

The companion guidebook describes the hare as being of the Earth, and with the hare’s high sensitivity, particularly adept at navigating the Underworld, to be able to move with great dexterity “in the dark.” Revisiting Chernobai’s illustrations with that in mind, suddenly it dawns on me that these are narrative depictions of the hares in the Underworld. These are scenes from the Underworld.

The guidebook that comes in the box with the deck is plenty for any tarot beginner to get started. I especially appreciate the “Advice/Action” section for all of the Majors.

Minors are covered four cards to a page spread, with concise upright and reversed keywords. Oh, kind of random– very cool that this deck was first published in 2022, which per the Chinese calendar and zodiac system, was the Year of the Rabbit.

You see it now? These illustrations are scenes from various regions of the Underworld, and the hare is your psychopomp, your animal spirit guide to this deep Earth realm.

You can order your copy of the Lepus Tarot direct from the Witchy Cauldron here, and it is a very economical budget-friendly price point, especially for an indie deck! Wow!

Also be sure to check out more of Artem Chernobai’s art here @chernobaiart. Either Chernobai is already leading illustration teams on video games and RPGs or will be. What an incredibly talented illustrator!