Deck Review: Fat Folks Tarot
I feel like I’ve been waiting aaaaaaages for this deck (its Kickstarter campaign finished on 01/02/23), so I’m very excited to finally have it in my chubby little paws. It is, of course, the second (and final) edition of the Fat Folks Tarot. The creating team note that, while Tarot is “meant to depict the entire realm of human experience”, many people have been left out of the imagery in traditional tarot decks, including fat people. Historically, as one of the co-creators, Cassandra Snow points out, when we see fat people in Tarot they are associated either with “gluttony or motherhood”. And that’s it. That’s all we get. So here we have a 78 card deck made by and for fat folks, featuring lots and lots of glorious fatness (with a chonk of the profits go to support Trans Lifeline). It’s a smorgasbord deck with lots of different artists contributing. Despite all the different art styles, the deck has a very cohesive feel. Snow notes “these cards come from different pockets of the fat community and yet when we read them, we see their united front“.
Somehow I still believe that Tarot can absolutely teach us to love ourselves. To be gentle with ourselves. To let our bodies love what they love, hate what they hate, seek what they need or want at any given time. Those answers do lie in these 78 cards.
Cassandra Snow
You can’t buy the deck at the moment, but I get the strong impression it will soon be available via the website, once all the Kickstarter orders have been dispatched.
The deck comes in a fairly hefty display box (I’m personally a fan of smaller clamshell boxes, and I always find the cardboard insert thingies to hold the deck in these bigger boxes annoying and a bit flimsy, but that’s just me). As well as the deck, the box contains a very comprehensive colour guidebook, which includes an introductory essay by Snow on Tarot, fatness, and intersectionality, a guide to learning and reading Tarot, and then an overview of each card in the deck, including a brief quote from each artist on what inspired them / what they hoped to achieve with their card. (NB in case you’re looking at my photo and being like “that looks pretty black and white to me, Lucy”, the final pages contain colour prints of all the card art).
The cards are very slippery (easy to shuffle, annoying to stack) and have shiny silver gilding (looks pretty, will definitely chip!) The back design is lush (shiny, happy fat folks in the sky).
Here are some of my favourite cards from the Fat Folks Tarot.
I love the infectious joy portrayed in this Fool, as she leaps full throttle into the unknown. Inspired by Duane Bryers’ Hilda character, the uninhibited pleasure she takes in her body is really inspiring. Such a happy, positive way to start a deck 😊.
I’ve spoken about my love for BabyPanPan‘s blooming, boobing Empress over on my Empress deep dive post. In their book ‘Wild Card‘ Jen Cownie & Fiona Lensvelt note that the Empress’s “presence has weight and gravity: she is of the earth, bound to it, and greatly pleased by it. She is languorous and beautiful and radiates fecundity and richness… She invites you to think about nurture: about the things you care for until they ripen into lusciousness” – and I think this beautiful card really encapsulates that idea.
I LOVE the bloodied knee on Tina Speece‘s Justice figure. They write, “the idea that Justice sometimes gets roughed over but still persists seemed right”, and I couldn’t agree more. The image reminds me of one of my favourite quotations on the subject of Justice, an Eric Holder riff on the MLK Jr original: “the arc [of the moral universe] bends toward justice, but it only bends toward justice because people pull it towards justice. It doesn’t happen on its own”. The scrappy, tenacious figure here reminds us that while Justice may be a natural law, it’s also a very human struggle. If we want a fairer world we have to get out there and *make* it happen.
Readers of this blog will know how much I love some Queer Love on a Lovers or Two of Cups card – STICK IT IN MY VEINS! The Eight of Cups speaks to the familiar imagery of someone walking away from the cups that used to bring them pleasure, but really hammers the point home by having the figure pictured actually tipping the cups out back into the river from whence the water came. For me, this emphasises the purposive energy of the card.
The Ten of Cups usually depicts joy and fulfilment found in family (typically heteronormative bio family), so I really appreciate this fat and furry fabulous woman enjoying her own personal happy ever after. As the artist explains, this image is meant to symbolise the “freedom to live widely, take up space, and splash around“. I love how the Two of Wand’s wands are magic wands, as she sits and contemplates how to make her adventure happen. The colour and composition in this image is also just *chef’s kiss*. I feel I am there, on those steps at sunset, contemplating the lighthouse, and beyond that the wild ocean and distant shores.
I love the Queen of Swords, looking at you askance down her fabulous pink sword. Then the Five of Pents (hooray for more leg hair in art 😍) brings a great modern twist to the theme of the card, by having its figure slumped, head in hands, surrounded by final reminders and unpaid bills. Takes my back to the dark days of PhD life (shudder).
And here’s my favourite card in the Fat Folks Tarot, the Seven of Pents by daftpatience. This card is just so damn cute! When you’re working so hard you’re a sweaty mess with dirty hands but you still need to find a way to push your hair out of your eyes. The whole card also has a lovely, warm, gentle energy. The artist explains “The Seven of Pentacles represents growth, perseverance, patience, and results. To me this card felt like it encapsulated the process of creation, dedicating yourself to the labour, love, and time it takes. As a ceramicist, this card reminded me of how rewarding it feels to make something tangible“.
Pre-orders for this deck have now closed, but I imagine the remaining stock will shortly be for sale via the deck’s webpage (? – please note, I don’t KNOW this, it’s just what I’ve inferred!) Either way, you can follow the deck’s Insta page for updates.
.
.
.