A tarot deck painted from the living desert and sea.
Many tarot decks are built to unsettle you. Heavy shadows, gothic figures, and a visual language borrowed from fear. If you have ever held one and thought it was beautiful, but not quite yours, you are not Alone. There is another way to read the cards - one that begins in light, not darkness.
My name is Kristen, and I came to Baja California the way a lot of people come to the things that change them, as an outsider. I grew up far from here, and I spent years looking for a place that felt like home. I found it in the light and silence of this peninsula, in its animals, its water, and its stubborn, blooming desert.
I painted all seventy-eight cards by hand, one at a time, in watercolor. I did not study tarot first and illustrate it second. I painted my way into it, card by card, until the whole deck was here. It follows the Rider-Waite tradition, so if you already read tarot, it will read the way you expect. And if you are new to it, it is a gentle place to begin.
Every suit grew out of Baja itself.
The major arcana are its animals, the wands are its desert wildflowers, the cups are its bodies of water, the swords are its cacti, and the pentacles are its rock formations. The card titles are in Spanish, a reflection of this place, and the guidebook is in English so the meanings stay close at hand. El Loco, the card most decks call the Fool, is a coyote howling at a full moon. He’s my Favorite.
What To Do If You Want a Deck
Purchase the Deck and any Add-Ons Here
I’ll Sign and Package the Decks by Hand
You Get Your Own Piece of Baja
Signed Tarot Deck
A signed copy of the full seventy-eight card deck with its English guidebook, in the box. The deck is printed by Shuffled Ink, a premier printer of playing and tarot cards. The cards are printed on a sturdy, linen stock, the guidebook fits into the box, and the box is printed inside and out with images that show the magic of Baja. $55
Tarot Deck + Bracelet
A signed copy of the full seventy-eight card deck with its English guidebook, in the box. Plus one, limited edition bracelet handmade by the artist. Each bracelet is strung with natural stones gathered in Mexico, and the clasp is silver plated and textured like the ocotillo, the tall desert plant that throws red flowers against the sky after the rains. There are four to choose from, each named for the pro. (limited stock, order early!) $85
Balance, in natural opal and iolite.
Courage, in leopard skin jasper and clear topaz.
Healing, in rhodonite and black spinel.
Positivity, in lace jasper and iolite.
