In May 2020, I had a dream. A fortune teller was reading my Tarot cards, but this was no ordinary deck. It was filled with beautiful and unusual images of revolution, pandemic, and other elements that seemed to reflect the extraordinary times we were living through.
When I woke up, I decided to bring that dream into reality. I invited my artist friends to join me in creating this collective deck. After several months, I had gathered 78 original images contributed by 23 visual artists.
Then, I had another dream. Once again, the fortune teller was reading my Tarot, but this time the cards were accompanied by poems. When I woke up, I began reaching out to my local poet friends, inviting them to become part of the project. After several more months of collaboration, 43 poets had joined the journey.
There is something extraordinary about having a community that believes in and supports dreams. Once brought to life, those dreams have the power to inspire new dreams and make new realities possible.
Eventually, I found a publisher for the project: J. K. Fowler of Nomadic Press. What began as a collective dream became a published book, and the project has since found a new home with Black Lawrence Press, opening another chapter in its journey.
I am deeply grateful to everyone who contributed their imagination, talent, and generosity, especially Renée Baldocchi. Through this project, I came to recognize something that feels more important than ever: that love, solidarity, and the act of making art together can themselves become revolutionary acts, even — and perhaps especially — in the midst of a pandemic.
Between March and April 2023, we presented Tarot in Pandemic & Revolution at CAST, with an event that brought together more than 1,000 people. The celebration included artists painting the Tarot arcana live on the walls, poets reading the accompanying descriptions, Tarot readings offered by seven of the participating artists and poets, live music, and an exhibition of the original artworks created for the deck.
In the image below: The Hermit by Pancho Peskador, Queen of Swords by Susan Matthews, Justice by Mara Lea Brown.
In the image above: The High Priestess by José Antonio Galloso, The Fool by Tania Esmeralda Padilla, and Judgement by Susana Aragon.
Article in Hyperallergic HERE
CAST page with Tarot release in 2023 HERE
You can buy a deck HERE
With support of Bonterra Organic estates, with their wonderful wine Vineyards, thank you!
