ABOUT THE DECK 

The “Ariandne’s Thread Tarot” was born out of the need of holding onto my last shreds of sanity during the COVID-19 lockdown in March/April 2020.

This is a saturnine and mercurial deck which combines austerity and mischievousness to lead you through the intricacies of that maze that can be our life and our psyche as interconnected, co-dependent phenomena. All the Major Arcana are linked together by Ariadne’s red thread, to form a perfect circle. In the Court Cards, the red thread underlines some key elements or patterns which should be taken into account.

The Ariadne’s Thread Tarot’s major aim is to shed light over the all the doubts and the questions that we have the tendency to sweep under the rug of our subconscious mind. It is a blunt, outspoken and very frank deck that does not mince words.

My choice of taking inspiration from the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur is not the product of a simple whim. I like to identify Theseus, the monster-slaying hero, as our conscious self, the Minotaur as its beastly, instinctive counterpart, and Ariandne, the Minoan princess who helped Theseus to find his way out of the labyrinth, as our sensitive soul. In these dark times, there is nothing we need more than a beacon of light, which we might find in the depths of our own selves, simply by listening to what our soul sings to us.

• The cards are printed on a (M31) linen card stock, supple, easy to shuffle and extremely pleasant to the touch. 
• The tuck box is coated with a glossy, smooth UV film. 
• The deck does NOT come with a booklet. I will personally take care of sending a PDF file of the booklet to each and every one that will back up this project.
• Card stock will be upgraded if the stretch goal of $15000 is reached. 

WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE MAJOR ARCANA

As I have already mentioned in the introduction, all of the 22 Major Arcana of the Ariadne’s Thread Tarot are linked together by Ariadne’s red thread to form a beautiful, never-ending, perfect circle. The red thread highlights some key elements which you are invited to take notice of. Major Arcana only readings with this deck are the perfect choice for twin flames or couple readings, as well as for keeping on check what might be hindering you from reaching your objective.

All the cards in this deck need to be closely studied, as they are saturated with tiny, little details that are meant to drag you into a meditative state. The Major Arcana in particular are almost overwhelmingly detailed and hide “forests of symbols”, which tap into the RWS’s and Marseille’s tradition, with a dash of Thoth’s, of alchemy, and of personal, magical beliefs.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE COURT CARDS

The red thread is a commonality also in the four suits of Swords, Cups, Wands and Pentacles. As in the Major Arcana, it is meant to highlight some key elements to take into account during the reading. However, this time, each card is a world apart, the thread does not exceed the limits of the cards’ frame. This is a reference to the secondary role of the court cards, in comparison to the major changes brought forward by the Major Arcana.

My main reference for their making has been the traditional RWS Tarot symbolism, filtered through my keen interest for mythology. Here you will encounter fiery centaurs, deceiving “nagini” snake-women, industrious dwarfs, mermaids and nymphs, and all sorts of peculiar hybrid creatures.

REWARDS

•  “Four Spreads Postcard Set”: A special set of Tarot spreads that I have specifically designed for the launching of this project. The first three spreads are named after each of the three main characters in the “Ariadne’s Thread Tarot”, that is: The hero, Theseus, the princess, Ariadne, and the monster, the Minotaur. I like to see each of them as the archetypical image of (respectively): our conscious self, our soul, and our subconscious self. The fourth spread, “The Maze Spread” is a big, 15 cards spread and a synthesis of the three aforementioned spreads.

The postcards set will be printed on beautiful, 280gr Japanese “wagashi” paper. 

•  “Wyrd Postcards”: Weird and sort of dark-ish, original hand painted postcards. Japanese ink on high-quality “wagashi” Japanese paper.

•  One of a kind Japanese “Kokeshi” dolls: Hand painted original Japanese “Kokeshi” peg dolls. Mixed media (Japanese ink, ballpoint pen, colored pencil and lacquer) on sturdy, cedar wood. A limited number of 30 dolls  will be handed out as freebies to pledges of 60$ up.

 For all updates please follow my IG page:

• https://www.instagram.com/akaskywebtarot/

For an overview of the Little White Booklet please check my Gravatar page:

• https://ja.gravatar.com/elisaboccedi