Spirit Keeper's Tarot by Benebell Wen - 1st Edition with the Book of Maps

Limited Edition, 1000 copies. Out of print.

Rudimentary knowledge of either the RWS or Thoth should be more than sufficient for operating Spirit Keeper's Tarot. Apply your approach to tarot reading to the cards and go from there. From the early Egyptian and Greek mystery traditions down the ages to Freemasonry and even in the reconstructionist mystery traditions of the modern era, the science of the occult traditions that the Seeker undertakes knowledge of are veiled in allegory.

Symbolism encoded into rituals, the tradition’s religious iconography, religious and alchemical texts or grimoires, and parables are designed to instruct an Initiate on the tradition’s teachings. In other words, it is through imparting symbolism that esoteric and occult teachings take place, not in the literal transmission of ideas or practices.

Pictorial keys, not spoken or written words, illuminate the mind’s darkness.

The intricate or “busy” art styles of the medieval and Renaissance periods were deeply symbolic and intended to transmit esoteric knowledge. Alchemical texts are a classic example: illustrations of lions, eagles, serpents, eggs, etc. interacting with one another were symbolic of specific alchemical instructions and processes. The illustrations were by necessity intricate and detailed because a significant amount of instruction was being conveyed through that single leaf illustration.

It is with that spirit that the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot is cast: to amplify a tarot reader’s psychic power through symbolism.

The artistic style of Spirit Keeper’s Tarot is rendered in the spirit of Renaissance humanism (circa the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries), a time when Christian mysticism and paganism merged. Thus, Hermeticism, traditional Western astrology, Platonic philosophy, alchemy, and the Kabbalah are the heavy-hitting influences over the imagery of this deck. The historic art styles that inspired Spirit Keeper were in turn inspired by Byzantine, Islamic, Viking, Carolingian, Celtic, Romanesque, and Gothic art styles, so those were the classic works of art I studied and referenced while drawing Spirit Keeper’s Tarot.