Currently on Kickstarter: The Nigredo Tarot Deck

Many moons ago, when I received my much-anticipated copy of the Alleyman’s Tarot, I selected The Magician card by Roberto Papavero Crusca as one of my favourite cards. I liked it so much I did some sleuthing on the artist, and was disappointed to see that they had historically designed a Majors deck, but it didn’t meet its Kickstarter funding target. What felt like bad news at the time turned out to be good news for Future Lucy, as Crusca has now gone on to design a full 78 card deck that has met its KS target (back it here), which means I’ll soon have a gorgeous Majors and Minors deck in my hot little hands!

The deck focuses on using Tarot as a tool for introspection and personal growth (which chimes with how I engage with my Tarot practice) and takes its name from the alchemic process of nigredo. Many alchemists believed that nigredo, or blackness, was the first stage in creating a philosopher’s stone, with the core idea being that matter needs to decompose down to its purest form before it can be rebuilt. In analytical psychology, the term then became a metaphor for “the dark night of the soul, when an individual confronts the shadow within“. Crusca explains that “this stage is often experienced as a period of deep introspection, struggle, and confrontation with the darker aspects of the self”, and adds that, “this deck does not aim to cure, but to be a tool of self-consciousness, and it is my sincere hug to all of you”.

The Nigredo Tarot is a black and white deck with silver foil edges and matte finishing, that will be printed on 350gsm art paper. Prices start from pledges of €70 (about £61) for a full deck, and you can back it here.

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