I love an occasional erotic tarot decks, in fact, one of my favourite erotic tarot decks is Aquata Dujour’s Dick Pic Tarot Deck (not very subtle!). Erotic tarot decks usually fall into one of two traps. They either become shock value, or they become oddly sanitised. The sexuality is technically there, but flattened into something decorative.
I feel like maybe Eros Tarot sits in its own category. Created Chain Assembly, the deck first appeared in 2020 during the pandemic and quickly found an audience despite, or perhaps because of, how direct it was. The current Kickstarter campaign marks the third edition of the project, returning to the Rider–Waite system through an explicitly erotic lens.
While there is nudity everywhere, the deck does not seem particularly interested in being “sexy” in the polished, commercial sense. The deck’s imagery is often doing something more complicated than simple eroticism, it’s almost like sex is a narrative language rather than a theme.
The creator appears genuinely interested in how sexuality intersects with archetypes, identity, instinct, and emotional experience. The cards are asking what happens when you stop treating desire as separate from spiritual or psychological life.
The third edition also reflects how much the project has evolved. They write that the original deck taught them a great deal about design, writing, and the power of tarot as a medium. Since then, they have expanded into oracle decks, games, and publishing projects, all stemming from the support the first Eros Tarot campaign received.
My favourite artwork of all is probably The Emperor. In traditional tarot, The Emperor represents authority, structure, control, leadership, and the ability to shape the world according to one’s will. He’s the ruler, the decision-maker, the person who sets the rules.
Eros Tarot takes that idea and makes it impossible to ignore.
Instead of showing a king in armour or sitting on a throne, we see a naked man seated in a position of complete confidence. He’s not hiding anything. He’s literally exposed, yet he doesn’t appear vulnerable. The crown tells us who he is and the pose tells us he knows it. How is that for power?
Support the project here from $35: Kickstarter | Eros Tarot Third Edition by Chain Assembly
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