Egyptian Gods and Goddesses (1870), 12 Prints

On By benebellIn create your own deck, divination, free download, grimoire, Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality6 Comments

Download zip file:
Twelve Ancient Egyptian Deities

These twelve images are sourced from an 1870 publication, Bilder-Atlas – Ikonographische Encyklopädie, a multi-volume compendium of reference books in German. The images are formatted to print at 5.0” x 7.0”, but the resolution isn’t the sharpest. Nonetheless, they still printed okay.

Oops! Please ignore the typo.

After you unzip the file, you’ll see four folders for four different versions of the twelve images. I’ve included the originals, a version where I converted the images to a warmer sepia tone, then two versions with borders for printing.

I’m sharing the files here for those who are fascinated by these sorts of finds.

If you want about 3 mm of patterned border to show and you’re using makeplayingcards.com to print your deck, then go with the 6 mm margin files.

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Comparing the First and Second Printings of SKT: Revelation

On By benebellIn Spirit Keeper's Tarot4 Comments

The current version of SKT open for pre-orders is the second print run of the full-color Revelation Edition. For ordering information, please click here.

Also, there continues to be confusion around the editions, print runs, etc., so I’ll try to clarify again.

In 2018, I printed a limited edition black and white SKT, with a print run of 1,000 copies. After those copies were sold, that’s it. Hence, limited edition.

In 2019, I printed a limited edition sepia-toned SKT Vitruvian, with a run of 2,000 copies, where each and every one of those 2,000 decks was given a name.

Both the black and white First and the sepia-toned Vitruvian are out of print. If and when you see them on second-hand markets going for astronomical prices, that’s not me. That has nothing to do with me.

In 2021 I released the third and final full-color Revelation edition of SKT. The Revelation is open edition. That means there will be various print runs. A first print run of 3,507 copies came out in 2021.

Now in 2023 there is a second print run of 3,168 copies.

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SKT: Revelation 2nd – Printing Status Update

On By benebellIn Spirit Keeper's Tarot10 Comments
Tarot Uncut Sheets

On our production milestones, we’re at the stage of cutting. The uncut sheets have all been printed. After cutting, the next stage will be gilding.

Our factory informed us that they are projecting May 7 for delivery outbound, which means we hope to receive it on our front doorsteps by July 15.

Card back design for the Certificates of Authenticity (noting assignment of Orders)

Interspersed throughout this status update post will be photos our factory sent to us. They’re really good about keeping us in the loop and providing full disclosure of the process, so for that I’ve been grateful.

Just love catching the partial glimpses of the printing machinery!

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Tarot Tube and Classism

On By benebellIn opinion, tarot, tarot community26 Comments
The photos interspersed throughout this post are totally random, just for Pretty.

It would have made more sense for me to present this topic in video form on my YouTube channel, but I’ve been a bit under the weather with the flu, so my voice is scratchy, my nose is stuffed, and I don’t feel like putting on makeup. A blog post will have to suffice.

Tarot Tubers of Reference

I follow Mixtress Rae on YouTube, which is how I saw her video, “Do I have a shopping addiction or am I just poor? Income equality in the tarot world.” My pathway of clicks must’ve alerted The Algorithm to feed me Nightsong Tarot‘s “Money, Consumerism and Tarottube, VR to MixtressRae” and I am glad for it! I’m also subscribed to MasculineIntuitionReadings, so I caught the replay of “Witchin’ & Bitchin’ about consumerism and entitlement in [the] tarot community.” Sorsha Soaring also makes great points in “Double Standards in ‘Community’ – Tarot Tube.”

You’ll have to watch these videos first because what they have to say is what I’m referencing throughout this write-up. By the way I hope you’ll like and subscribe to them all as I have. ❤

UPDATE: I’d also like to amplify these important voices to the conversation: “An Update and Some Thoughts on Tarot Consumerism” via Elisa’s Magickal Space; “VR to Mixtress Rae & Tarot Tube: Reacting vs. Responding” via Highly Sensitive Tarot; Sylvain’s Deadly Sins responds to both Mixtress Rae and this blog post here, “Goblins & Gardens, Trolls & Tolls (a VR)“; and “Income Inequality VR to Mixtress Rae” via Faith of Cardinal Spirit Readings.

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Complete Book of North American Folk Magic, edited by Cory Thomas Hutcheson

On By benebellIn book review, Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Taoism, traditional witchcraft2 Comments

Cory Thomas Hutcheson, author of New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic (2021), has brought together an incredible assembly of folk practitioners from across North America– Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

You will get an own voices insider perspective of Appalachian mountain magic, brujeria, curanderismo, Detroit hoodoo, Florida swamp magic, French Canadian sorcellerie, Irish American folk magic, Italian American magic, Melungeon folk magic, New England cunning craft, New Orleans voodoo, Ozark folk magic, Pennsylvania powwow and braucherei, Slavic American folk magic, Southern conjure, and more.

North America stretches five thousand miles across, nestled in between two great oceans, and within that space, frozen tundra, glaciers, pine forests, deciduous rainforests, blooming deserts, prairies, and towering groves of redwood.

This is the homeland of hundreds of Indigenous nations for millennia, a land ravaged with invasions and displacements, of dark legacies but also a hope for and collective effort to forge a brighter future.

Continue reading “Complete Book of North American Folk Magic, edited by Cory Thomas Hutcheson” →

Love Oracle of Eden by Abusua Pa

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, divination, oracle deck1 Comment

The boutique indie publisher Abusua Pa, who printed the Tazama African Tarot, has released an absolutely exquisite and divine oracle deck, the Love Oracle of Eden. This is the second deck by the Black-owned publishing house, whose mission is to increase Black representation in tarot and art.

“Joy is the essence of my being.” – from the Love Oracle of Eden guidebook (2022)

With the Love Oracle of Eden, writes the creators Bjorn Franklin and Chiria Da Luz Fortes, “We had the idea to create a deck about love and relationships, as we did not come across many decks that covered this important subject while including people of colour.”

“To encourage honesty and love with oneself no matter how painful it may be. . . . Even my worst day is a sincere blessing and an opportunity to show myself and those around me grace.” – from the Love Oracle of Eden guidebook

They stumbled upon the art of A.J. and Chantelle Hamilton, the artists of the Love Oracle of Eden. 56 incredible models posed for these photographic compositions, each meticulously curated by the artists for this deck.

Let’s start with the production value. Holy smokes I’ve never seen anything quite like this. The caliber of thought and, like, at this point that deck box is some sort of origami, the level of care that goes into the craftsmanship is impressive. Every design element is not only beautiful, but serves symbolic purpose.

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SKT Revelation 2nd Print Run: Production Begins

On By benebellIn Spirit Keeper's Tarot9 Comments

Our printing company in Shenzhen heard our concerns crystal clear and immediately kicked into action to address those concerns. We got new samples printed and they’re great.

I’ve already approved them and production has commenced. We received the physical samples yesterday on the March equinox and production begins today with the new moon in Aries.

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Practice Pays Off: An Etteilla Doodles Update

On By benebellIn Etteilla Tarot, personal, tarot community11 Comments
Left: RWS-based Key 13 Death card drawing, entirely by hand pen and ink sketch. Right: Etteilla-based Card 17 Death card drawing, mostly digital, including hand-drawing with a digital paintbrush.

The above side by side isn’t a fair comparison, but let’s compare anyway. The left was entirely hand-drawn in pen and ink back in 2018 when I first picked up drawing after not having done anything artsy for over 20 years. Well, I did do technical drawings in fashion design, but like creative artsy art. That I hadn’t done in decades.

The above right began as a thumbnail sketch by hand (I still feel better doing it that way, even after going digital), I scan in the rough sketch and then clean it up digitally. Then the illustration is colored digitally as well.

Gradually, I’m doing less and less by hand analog and more and more digitally in software. For example, even near the tail end of completing SKT Revelation art, I was finalizing almost the entire composition of each card by hand, scanning it in, and then digitally coloring, tweaking, etc.

At this point of the Etteilla project, however, there’s less than 1 hour of drawing by hand analog before everything goes digital and I take it to the finish line in Paint Shop Pro.

I will say, though, notwithstanding the boost you get from tech, my actual line drawing by hand has improved a great deal over the last 5 years. Almost every day for the last 5 years, but for a few exceptions, I’ve been practicing my drawing skills. I keep a sketchbook and make sure I draw something every day.

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Spanish Lenormand by Eugene Vinitski and Elsa Khapatnukovski

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review1 Comment

First, Eugene Vinitski and Elsa Khapatnukovski took us to Venice of Italia with the Golden Venetian Lenormand and now to Spain with the Spanish Lenormand. This  is a Petit Lenormand Oracle based on Johann Kaspar Hechtel’s Game of Hope, circa the late 18th century. The deck consists of 36 cards-symbols expressed through brilliant Pyrenean colors and cast with the mystery and magic of Iberian witches–las brujas (Iberia being the Land of Rivers).

What’s most standout about this deck is the art. Note how Vinitski adds a lot of texture to his work, a la the Post-Impressionist painters of continental Europe. You get the sense that the artist is a Romantic at heart. As I go through these illustrations, they call to mind early Modernists such as Marc Chagall (1887 – 1985) and stylistic traces of Jean Metzinger (1883 – 1956).

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Unifying Consciousness Tarot by Lori Lytle and Leo Scopacasa

On By benebellIn deck review4 Comments

The Unifying Consciousness Tarot by mystic Lori Lytle and illustrated by Leo Scopacasa is premised on emissions of loving forces to unify collective consciousness. These works of art are intended to “activate the soul of the viewer,” by “achieving resonance with the inherent vibration of love” (notes the guidebook).

Bonus Card: Arcana 22, Activation

This tarot is molded from the conviction that we are all one and we are the eternal. Readings with this deck empower you as a being of Light. The All-Seeing Eye becomes a recurring theme throughout the illustrations and is also the motif on the card back design. The Eye in every iteration you’ll see is crafted to activate your soul memory, wisdom, compassion, memories, and to be securely guided by the unifying consciousness of Love.

The pack of cards is a cosmic crew of otherworldly and divine beings, freeform entities, and universal forces framed into the Waite-Smith Tarot structure, with a total of 79 cards. The extra card in this deck is Arcana 22: Activation. This is the key that attunes your All-Seeing Eye to this deck as the window through which you’ll See.

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