Tarot of Delphi

Every once in a while, I get asked to write about something. Sometimes it's just ad agencies looking for people to write about some completely random project, sometimes it's people who came across something awesome and thought they'd help by getting the creator the exposure of my blog and sometimes, the creator of said project contacts me directly. I don't always say yes. Most of the time, these projects are too far removed from Hellenism or even my brand of it for me to concientiously back it. In this case, however, when Janet contacted me to do so, it felt like an honor to me.

Today, I would like to give my support for a Tarot deck, filled with art inspired by our mythology. Now, divination is a rather loaded subject within Hellenismos, especially when employed to divine the future. After all, a human interpreting the will of the Gods smacks of hubris. Yet, creator Janet D.H. Hinkel seems to have anticipated this kind of trepedation with the divination tool.

The Tarot of Delphi is a full 78-card tarot deck illustrated with Neoclassical fine art from the Victorian era--art from the late 1830s to the early 1910s. Like the paintings used to create the deck, Janet envisions the Tarot deck to tell your stories and give you a tool for interpreting your past, your present, and your dreams for the future.

What I love about this project--and Janet's approach to it--is that it is designed as a tool to get to know yourself better. It's even in the tag line of the deck. The focus is on the present, which is invariably linked to the past and future. With that attitude, the deck comes much closer to the ancient spirit of divination and takes away much of my worry to bring a modern concept into a Hellenistic practice.

Janet has created a short two-miute video to promote the Kickstarted campaign linked to the project, which I think, perfectly illustrates her vision for the project. I will be backing the project and getting my own set of the Tarot deck (once I work out how to get this thing shipped internationally; the Kickstarter is predictably US based). For those of you looking to pledge a little more than the 30 dollars the deck will cost, Stephanie Robb Jewelry Designs and fashion designer Maura Simmonds Price offer gorgeous, handcrafted rewards with Hellenic and Victorian themes inspired directly from the paintings. These rewards have been designed exclusively for the Tarot of Delphi and range from jewelery to clothing, to Tarot bags. There is something for everyone.

The money pledged to the project go towards procuring image rights where nessesary, for printing costs and towards shipping. Speaking of copyright (which can be a great concern when using art created by another), Janet has been hard at work in that departement as well:

"It’s extremely important to respect the copyrights of artists and their estates, so I am working with a copyright lawyer to verify the copyright status of each image. So far, selected paintings are in the public domain in the United States. I have secured about two thirds of the images from open sources. The final third, however, are not available to the general public in high resolution. Private companies, museums, and other organization provide these images for a fee and sometimes sell limited rights to them (this is a slightly gray area of copyright/public domain law). In these cases, I have identified sources and costs for the images."

Janet seems to have it all worked out, and I am inspired by the deck, although it has been at least a year or so since I last touched my Olympos Tarot. I know a lot of my readers enjoy Tarot or divination in general, and I hope some of you will be willing to pledge an amount towards the completion of the project. Janet estimates she needs 8,800 dollars to cover costs, of which a little under $5,000,- is now pledged. There are still 22 days to go on the Kickstarter and I hope the remaining funds are gifted in this time span. Again, here is the link to the Kickstarter, and here to the official website. My best to Janet and once this project is a success, I hope you enjoy your deck!