Steven Archers - Apophenia Tarot

I'm happy to announce that these are now shipping!

More info including images of all the cards can be found here.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/158513650/steven-archers-apophenia-tarot-cards

Below are my thoughts on the project.

A bit of an explanation...

Re: the whole Tarot thing.
I've had a few people asking me to do readings for the with the deck that I'm making. Just to be clear, I'm not a believer in the hocus pocus (walla walla Washington) of the whole thing. So I would not be a good choice for that sort of thing.

However if they work for you, more power to you.

Well, why are you making them?

For a number of reasons.
1. I have had people suggesting that I do a deck for years, and I want them to shut up about it.
2. Cash grab.
3. It's one of my "put up or shut up," projects. In that it requires a massive amount of effort to complete. Creating something like this with the level of quality that I want it to have is a massive undertaking. One I did not feel I was able to tackle until recently.

To put it in perspective, doing just the physical artwork for it has taken me about a month and a half. I could have done 20-30 large paintings in that time.

And 4...
I love creating environments where the viewers brain is left alone to do its whole "connection machine" thing.

The name of the deck is the "Apophenia Tarot."

Apophenia is the term for "seeing recognizable data in random noise." Like the face on Mars, the rabbit in the moon or finding recognizable shapes in the stars.

Do I think you can use the cards to predict your future? No more so than any other form of divination. Do I think you can use an environment of random symbolism as a way of making connections between different ideas more obvious to the individual? Sure. In the same way any form of good art (hopefully) resonates on both a universal and personal level, so too will someone looking for meaning find it in a symbol rich environment.

If the act of doing so helps them make better choices for the future, then more power to em...

I had to figure out a way of making it clear what my own personal beliefs are if I am going to make something like this with a clear conscious.

Creating and selling something that directly or indirectly implies or encourages a belief in powers beyond yourself without personally believing in those powers is one step away from being a snake oil salesman.

Doing so would be dishonest to the people who bought them and to myself and it would turn me into one of the things I hate most in life. People who use spirituality and the promise of insight into the divine for personal gain.