Forgive the not-so-great picture here – we are having yet another thunderstorm and the lighting in my house isn’t good. But I wanted to share a tarot deck created by Benebell Wen – the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot, in it’s latest (and greatest!) edition, the second printing of the Revelation edition which I think is the third iteration of the deck.
Before now I only had the original, first edition, black and white line drawing version, that Benebell somehow miraculously created in like, a few days – don’t ask me how she could do that. That edition is impressive for that alone, but also for how well thought out the system and the names of the cards are.
But now I have this latest edition, all I can say is wow! How it has evolved is nothing short of amazing. She took those black and white hand done line drawings and went digital on them, transforming them completely . I’m totally impressed. And I like, am the most pickiest of customers when it comes to tarot. No, I’m not at all one who nitpicks card stock or dents or minor production flaws and such as if I like it, I’m going to use the hell out of it anyway – but I hate shallow tarots where someone just copies RWS and calls it a day. This is not that. At all! And the art has really gotten a huge upgrade with the digital work she has done.
Everything and I mean everything, in this deck shows Benebell’s most thorough contemplation and consideration. It has her signature and sharp mind all over it. Do I agree with every single cards interpretation? Not totally in all cases, but they do all speak eloquently from a place of profound understanding of tarot. I’m really happy to see someone elevate tarot somehow when they create a deck, by including something to it that actually adds to a system and an understanding of tarot, instead of just changing stuff in a more personal way that is too specific to the creator.
The cards shown above in the top row are the three Fool cards the deck comes with, that you choose from as a significator based on your needs for the reading. The bottom row are just three cards I drew at random: Ace of Swords, the Golden Shield (Queen of Wands), and the Two of Chalices.
I love that it has three Fools, that the courts have their own unique system, and that the cards have the numbering system in the corner for doing the Opening of the Key (even though I only rarely in times of great need resort to that particular whole deal!)
The production values are awesome too. The “little white book” is actually a perfect bound book, and has tons of great information. Very well done. The cards are pleasingly matte printed, with really nice gilded edges – the mirror-like kind that doesn’t seem to flake. I wish I could do those but my printers don’t do that – I only print in US and that seems to be an overseas thing. The box is sturdy and attractive with a great quote from the Book of the Dead on back.
Plus it smells good – she personally anoints every outer deck wrapper with hand crafted herbal oil and a magnet to hold the magical charge. Lots of love there. Gotta love it!
So I think you can still order Spirit Keeper’s Tarot here, but probably not for long. Benebell sells more decks in a year than I can sell in 5 years, LOL seriously, so don’t wait as they are numbered and I’m sure they will sell out fast!
SKT is a very thoroughly researched deck and I respect the work Benebell has put into it. But even though they smell amazing, not one of the cards in that deck comes anywhere close to how beautiful and evocative Tabula Mundi is – your deck is truly breathtaking.
By contrast, every time I work with SKT I have to dampen my cringe reaction to the awful colors and poor composition in the overly busy imagery. I think the reason SKT is more popular is twofold – the public awareness through her books, blog and Youtube channels, and the supplementary material that explains everything for people with no previous occult knowledge.
Her supplementary material is impressive! I can’t imagine how much time it takes to create all that!
Thank you for the compliment on TM.
I think some of the “busy” look in SKT is just a consequence of coloring line drawings digitally using tiles and patterns. I’m always drawn to detail but am trying to learn to use less and less of it, which you can probably tell if you compare TM to my latest; I’ve stopped all the “stippling” and such and am learning to appreciate spare lines. The eye loves detail though and when working digitally it must get tempting to put in lots of it, as you can blow up the work and edit down to the pixel level, color with patterned tiles, and do all sorts of things not easily done or even possible with traditional materials, even with a magnifying device.
I’m a picky person when it comes to tarot – I don’t like many that I see, and generally don’t like much digital art in general, but I do like SKT and the knowledge and love put into it. It’s also more of a combination of digital and traditional drawing, as I think she hand draws the basic figures and then adds the detail and color digitally.
What is the Holy See ?
That might be a question for Benebell!