I’ve been super intrigued by Margrave Lucian for a while now and when I found out that they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign for a tarot deck, I was in.
In true Lucian’s form, the Threshold Tarot isn’t traditional in the way most tarot decks are. According to them, the deck is inspired by “queers with messy love lives, ancient and gorgeous gods, anti-assimilationism, chaos magic and blood.” As you can tell, it certainly doesn’t follow the usual visual language too closely, and that’s what makes it interesting. You can see the references to tarot structure, but the way it’s interpreted feels more personal than faithful.
What stood out most for me was the materiality of it. The brown paper gives the deck a slightly worn, almost lived-in feel. It doesn’t look pristine or precious. It looks like something that’s already been handled, worked with, maybe even carried around for a while.
That changes the way it comes across. A lot of decks try to feel polished. This one leans the other way. It feels closer to a working object than a display piece.
Lucian’s inspiration comes through quite clearly as well. You get the sense that the deck wasn’t built to fit into a trend, but out of a specific way of seeing and thinking about tarot. That makes it easier to connect with, even if the imagery takes a bit more time to read.
It’s not a deck that explains itself immediately. You have to spend some time with it, and figure out how you want to approach it. But that’s also why it holds your attention.
I’d pick this up. It feels like one of those decks that grows on you the more you use it.
Support the project here from £42: Kickstarter | The Threshold Tarot by Margrave Lucian
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