Currently on Kickstarter: The Axiological Tarot

The other deck I’m backing currently is The Axiological Tarot by Silas Plum (the nom de guerre of artist David Zachary Witt). Plum makes weird art (in a good way!), and this is a weird deck, lol, and, once again, I’m struck by how well Tarot works as a medium for what artists want to explore. For example, Plum writes about how, at age 12, he won the East Coast POG tournament – and took home 500 identical cardboard discs as his prize. That moment sparked an obsession: what gives something value? Why do we care about objects that serve no purpose beyond sentiment or symbolism? Why does meaning cling to things that shouldn’t matter – and fail to stick to things that should?

For me, it’s easy to see how a design philosophy like that would eventually lead you to create a Tarot deck, as Plum has done here. After all, what is Tarot if not 78 little cardboard discs? Yet we imbue it with a great deal of meaning and value. He describes his deck as one that interrogates – not just your choices, but the values behind them. Rooted in axiology (the study of worth and meaning), each card is a provocation: What do you value? Who taught you to value it? And what did it cost?

“This is not a gentle deck. The Axiological Tarot does not assume moral clarity – it interrogates it.”

The deck comes as the standard 78 cards, printed on luxe, ultra-smooth stock, and a copy of The Black Diary of Silas Plum, part guidebook, part grimoire.

I know AI is a hot topic in the Tarot world (as in academia), so it’s important to note that the artwork in The Axiological Tarot was created through a deliberate collaboration between artist and machine. Each image began as a hand-made painting (you can see Plum’s original, unaltered paintings here), and was then passed through a digital process that acted not as author, as Plum explains, but as instrument. As I’ve stated on previous posts, I do feel that working with AI to refine your own artwork is very different from using AI to generate artwork for you. This deck doesn’t pretend the machine isn’t present – but it doesn’t hand over the brush, either.

I’m kind of obsessed with this image fragment which I’m guessing is from the Seven of Cups. I love the idea of the card as a sort of fairground target-shooting game. It captures that feeling that sometimes, the real warning in this card is that we’re treating what should be a serious, life-changing decision like a frivolous fantasy, a game.

The Queen of Wands is a funny one here – her falcon + veil + blank white seer’s eyes are not things I’d typically associate with this card. They’re giving High Priestess energy (or maybe Queen of Pents at a push). This certainly isn’t the warm, charismatic Queen of the court cards who lights up a room. This Queen is watching, or, rather, seeing without eyes. The falcon suggests precision and sovereignty, but paired with her blank white eyes and veiled mouth, she becomes something much more mysterious. She’s not speaking, she’s receiving. This is intuition without performance, power without spectacle. I’m kind of into it… I think? Or at least it makes me curious to see the rest of the court cards!

I have a much more straightforward love for this Hermit, with his tiny star dancing in the palm of his hand. And I love how haunted his reflection looks. The Hermit always walks that fine line between solitude and loneliness, and this one really leans into it.

And then there’s the Ace of Pentacles, which honestly looks like it’s been pulled from a mound of plasticine 😂. The whole deck is weird and spooky in the way of childhood fever dreams, with its odd blue-faced Medusas and weary-eyed philosophers, and I’m looking forward to seeing the whole thing.

You can back the deck here. Prices start from $60 (about £45) for the deck plus guidebook.

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