It began with a simple desire: a tarot deck so steeped in the aesthetic that it was nothing but spot gloss on black, with only small labels as a concession to utility. It evolved into a deeply personal deck about power, community, and transformation. The Dimlit Tarot is a 78-card tarot deck inspired by (but frequently diverging from) traditional Rider Waite Smith designs, with an accompanying digital guidebook. Printed on 270gsm black cardstock and cut to the standard 2.75"x4.75" tarot card size, the minimalist designs appear only with close study and the right perspective. The result is sure to provide a reading experience unlike any other deck currently available.

/ Thought

What's Special About the Dimlit Tarot

Let's start with the obvious things. Many of the major arcana have been renamed, such as the Fool becoming the Void, the Hanged Man becoming Consideration, and the Sun becoming Voice. Additionally, the Aces, Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings have become the Fonts, Practices, Balances, Thoughts, and Actions.

Digging deeper, however, each suit (major arcana, Cups, Pentacles, Swords, Wands) has a shifted set of interpretations from a more traditional deck. For example, where many decks associate the Swords suit with emotionless reasoning, justice, and truth, the Dimlit Tarot brings a harsh lens to the numbered cards and reveals the deeper root of the Swords suit: the fear of, desire for, and danger inherent to power. Each suit and card is described in detail in the accompanying guidebook, bringing novices and experts alike to a unique perspective.

Backing Rewards

Updates — All backers will get regular updates about the progress of the deck, including printing, delivery, and the availability of community copies.

Digital Book — Backers at the $10+ levels get access to the digital PDF guidebook before it is publicly released. This book includes descriptions of each individual card and the narratives that connect them across a suit.

The Dimlit Tarot Deck — The centerpiece of the project, the Dimlit Tarot is a deck of 78 2.75"x4.75" cards, with spot gloss designs and white labels printed on 270gsm black cardstock. This deck provides a particularly queer perspective on tarot while serving a uniquely mysterious aesthetic. Shipped in a cardboard box by priority mail (US) or first class (international). $50/deck + $10/$30 shipping (US/international).

Community Copies — $60 for a deck (after shipping) is undeniably a steep price. If you want to guarantee that copies will be available to those without the means to afford this deck, you can pledge an extra $60 and add a deck to the community pool, regardless of the final funding amount of this project.

Retail Quantities —If you run a store and want to stock copies of the Dimlit Tarot, I'm willing to provide. By default you can purchase a bulk quantity of 5 decks, but at this point I'm having to use a larger box for shipping that can hold many more, so just reach out to me directly if you want to order extras. Unfortunately I'm already running this project fairly close to at-cost, so the price is still $50/deck + $20/60 shipping (US/international).