In recent years there has been an explosion of crowd-funding campaigns for tarot decks, and we’ve happily promoted a few close to our hearts, such as the Twin Peaks Tarot and the Ufology Tarot (not least as the artwork for the latter is by our very own Red Pill Junkie!).
One can never have too many tarot decks though, and for those that collect this particular occult tool (or memorabilia, if that’s how you roll), a new Kickstarter project will surely be of interest: the wonderful folk at Strange Attractor Press are raising money to reproduce the ‘lost’ tarot deck of the legendary occultist and artist Austin Osman Spare!
The back story: almost a decade ago, curator and artist Jonathan Allen discovered a 79-card, hand-painted tarot deck created circa 1906 by the famed 20th century artist and mystic, which had lain virtually unnoticed in the collections of The Magic Circle Museum in London. In 2016, our good friends at Strange Attractor Press published Lost Envoy – the Tarot Deck of Austin Osman Spare, a limited edition hardcover (now a much sought after collectible) that featured over 200 full colour images reproducing the lost deck in its entirety alongside written contributions from a host of writers and occultists.
And now, by popular demand, Strange Attractor Press are aiming to produce a physical edition of the deck itself, along with a paperback edition of Lost Envoy – but they need funding to do so, hence this Kickstarter campaign.
We’ll be working with one of the world’s most experienced printers of playing cards to create this hand-on facsimile edition, and ensure that the overlapping divinatory motifs found on many of the cards – a distinctive and unique feature of the original deck – are reproduced as accurately as possible. The deck’s missing Strength card, of which only a black and white photograph survives, will be recreated in full colour and included in the facsimile deck.
We’ll be offering bonus materials, including an enamel badge of one of the unique marginal motifs, a set of postcards and a cloth bag, and a few extremely special stretch goals – all of which will only be available to Kickstarter backers. Once published, the deck will be exclusively available directly from Strange Attractor Press and no other online sellers.
Interested in getting a deck for yourself (and perhaps some extra kit and a paperback copy of Lost Envoy? Head on over to the Austin Osman Spare Tarot Deck & Book Kickstarter campaign and choose your reward!
