SKT Book of Readings for the Revelation First Print Run

The second print run of SKT: Revelation will come with a complimentary Book of Readings, a workbook of 22 practica. But what about those with the first print run Revelation?

Many of the journaling exercises in this workbook build on previous exercises, and all based on the Immortal Order (there are a total of eight) that your Revelation deck will be assigned or sorted into.

As for those with the first print run Revelation deck– Can you still work through the Book of Readings with a first print run Revelation?

Yes, with the following preliminary divination exercise.

Continue reading “SKT Book of Readings for the Revelation First Print Run”

Book of Readings (Add-On to the SKT Revelation 2nd)

For the First and Vitruvian Editions of the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot, I included a complimentary add-on with your order, and that was the Twenty-Two Weeks with the SKT workbook.

For the first print run of the Revelation Edition, I adjusted that workbook so that it was no longer confined to a specific time frame, and it became a straightforward SKT study journal.

For this second printing of the Revelation, I’m changing that SKT study journal and turning it into something that transcends all its former iterations, and I’m calling it the Book of Readings.

Fleshed out into a sequential journey of self-discovery while also guiding you through basic primers of various esoteric traditions tangential to the tarot, the Book of Readings is now a course. A journey.

You can read my work-in-progress placeholder web page for it here.

I’m super excited about the Book of Readings. I’m so excited that I can hardly wait to print out my own spiral-bound journal of it and get started, going through a journey of my own and documenting it in a video series.

Continue reading “Book of Readings (Add-On to the SKT Revelation 2nd)”

Pre-order the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot, Revelation Ed. (second print run)

Click Here for Pre-Order Information

First off, I apologize for the convoluted, loopity-doop link after link organization (or lack thereof) to these web pages. I had initially put the pre-order information page here, but it doesn’t make sense as a blog post, so I moved it here:

And now I’m going to re-write this page into an informal chat to give you some of the behind-the-scenes.

Continue reading “Pre-order the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot, Revelation Ed. (second print run)”

DIY your own SKT study journal

click to download high-res 4 MB journal cover (back and front), for spiral-bound production

If you have MS Word, then you can use all the templates in this post to create your own spiral-bound tarot journal keyed to the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot.

Convert your final document to PDF and upload it onto a third-party print-on-demand publishing site like Lulu.com.

The above cover design is for 6″ x 9″ trade paperback size journals, spiral bound.

Continue reading “DIY your own SKT study journal”

Reflecting on My SKT Tarot & Art Journey

Evolving from the pen and ink line drawing you see above to the digitally-remastered in-color version of The Priestess was a journey. As 2021 comes to a close and I send out the final shipment of first print run decks of the Revelation Edition, I’d like to share my reflections on this journey.

Fair warning upfront: This is going to be a looooong blog post. I also share some tips, from direct personal experience, to aspiring indie deck creators.

Completing the Revelation Edition is one of the coolest things I’ve ever achieved, because I leveled up so much in terms of my own art. I did something I didn’t even know I was capable of doing.

Continue reading “Reflecting on My SKT Tarot & Art Journey”

How Do We Value Art? What AI art means for tarot and oracle deck publishing

On AI Art

  • 2021 Dec. 5, How Do We Value Art? What AI art means for tarot and oracle deck publishing
    • Playing around with wombo.art
    • Is AI art indistinguishable from human-made digital art?
    • What principles determine great art?
    • Socratic & Platonic philosophy on art
    • Taoist & Confucian philosophy on art
    • Art composition: design theory
    • Disegno (Italian Renaissance)
    • Confucianist aesthetics
    • AI’s creative process vs. human artist’s creative process
    • Is AI doing a better job than humans?
  • 2021 Dec. 6, I Ching Oracle Cards with AI Generated Art (Free Download)
    • Having fun with AI generated art apps
    • AI art doesn’t “lack soul”
    • Who is the creator when it’s AI art?
    • Free download of I Ching oracle cards (AI generated art)
    • Zip files of all downloadable image files for hexagrams
  • 2022 Sep. 14, AI Generated Art + Tarot and Oracle Decks with AI
    • Personal dabblings with AI art
    • Does AI art lack soul?
    • Rising popularity of AI generated art decks
    • AI art won’t replace fine art (but may impact illustration)
    • What artists are saying
    • IP implications of AI art
    • Valuing AI generated art
    • More of my thoughts

If you haven’t played around with the wombo.art app yet, then check out this link and have fun. You type in some keywords– any instruction you’d like to give the AI, be that themes, subjects, nouns, adjectives, colors– then choose an art style, like ukiyo-e, pastel, high fantasy, dark fantasy, medieval, etc., and the AI will generate a work of art based on your commission.

And the results are rather stunning. Human artists, in particular those who work primarily with digital art techniques, are now wondering what this means for the future of their vocation. No, not necessarily because of this app specifically, but just in general, this inevitable supplanting of human artists with AI.

More notably, I think, this is going to have an irreversible impact on tarot and oracle deck artists.

Take, for instance, these I Ching oracle card illustrations generated by the AI in a ukiyo-e art style. I typed in keywords for each corresponding hexagram, plus keywords for the two trigrams, selected Ukiyoe for art style, and hit the Create button. Then I did the design layout, added the hexagram image, number, and key phrase. Voila.

Oh, and if you’d like to download the digital image files for all 64 of these AI generated cards, go here.

Continue reading “How Do We Value Art? What AI art means for tarot and oracle deck publishing”

SKT Revelation: First Printing Sold Out

The first print run of the SKT Revelation deck has now sold out.

We sold out on December 2, exceeding our projections. Based on the numbers from the First and Vitruvian editions, plus the number of pre-orders for the Revelation, we did our best to project the print run quantity we would need to ensure that anyone who wanted a deck in 2021 could get one, and have some surplus to last us until Spring of 2022. Oops.

Second Printing Waitlist

CLICK TO JOIN THE WAITLIST

Although you probably won’t get e-mails from the waitlist newsletter anytime soon, other than that initial canned introductory message, if you are sincerely interested in purchasing the SKT Revelation deck, second printing, please be sure to put your name on the waitlist.

This is very useful to us, because it helps us to gauge interest, what to do with production, the pre-order process, timeline, everything. So if you’re interested in getting a deck in the future, join the newsletter group.

Shipping Status

Everyone who pre-ordered prior to Oct. 6, 2021 has already received their decks or your deck is in-transit and heading your way now, with the exception of some Australia orders.

Some Australia orders are sitting tight while we wait for the US post office to resume mailing to your country. (The private UPS mailing option is still available for those who are in Australia, but the cost of it is pretty crazy.)

We are now making our way through the post Oct. 6 orders. Our ship-out date, meaning when your deck is packaged and sent out by us, is still set at late December.

Continue reading “SKT Revelation: First Printing Sold Out”

SKT Ongoing Packing & Deliveries: Quick Update

Just a quick update, and then I’ll be out, because lots of work. =) If you want to see progress photos, check out the Instagram account @bellwen. It’s much easier and faster for me to just snap some pics of what I’m doing while I’m doing it, peck out a caption, and boom, post.

As of this writing, we have about 500 decks left, give or take.

We also removed the “Standard Package” and “Premium Package” distinction. Now the only option is the deck + Book of Maps e-book (formerly the “Premium Package”). Shipping costs have also gone up.

Continue reading “SKT Ongoing Packing & Deliveries: Quick Update”

Tarot Court Cards Reimagined in the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot (Revelation Ed.)

Here’s a dedicated video in the 10-part orientation series just on the Empyrean Court. That video shares my intentions behind the renderings of the court cards in the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot and how I approach them, or at least quick, snapshot points on each card so that the video doesn’t get interminably long. =P

Or…

I am hopeful that you can simply transplant the way you currently read tarot court cards into the Revelation Edition, but for a few minor mental adjustments. Like just remember:

  • magic squares = Kings
  • shields = Queens
  • septagon elementals + horses = Knights
  • scrolls = Pages

Continue reading “Tarot Court Cards Reimagined in the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot (Revelation Ed.)”