Tarot in the Tongass:
A Local Deck of Archetypes
This tarot deck is an exploration of place, identity, and archetype through a Southeast Alaskan lens. Each card is an intersection of personal connection and symbolic narrative, grounded in the rugged beauty and seasonal rhythms of Sitka, Alaska. My goal was to make a deck that doesn’t just depict universal archetypes—it lives in them, as they manifest in people I know and the land we inhabit.
What is tarot?
Its name is believed to stem from “tarocchi,” an ancient card game originating in the 15th century, akin to the familiar playing cards of today. Among the myriad renditions, the Rider-Waite-Smith deck stands as the most renowned, comprising 78 cards in total—22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana.
These works are Sarah’s interpretations of the Tarot de Marseille printed in 1760. Tarot cards originated in northern Italy around the 14th century. In the 17th-18th centuries card makers in France, and particularly Marseille, adopted a common model for the Tarot Cards. This became the standard of the traditional Tarot. Among the decks printed in Marseille, the one that became the most influential and best appreciated was published in 1760 by Nicholas Conver.
How do I read tarot?
It might be helpful to see tarot cards as a tool to connect with your intuition. The tarot can serve as a rich visual narrative, encapsulating a diverse spectrum of human emotions and experiences. Rather than a mere fortune-telling tool, tarot reading offers a framework for interpreting life’s complexities. Through the act of shuffling, chance intertwines with the selection of cards, creating unique narratives with each draw. These narratives, in turn, facilitate a departure from entrenched thought patterns.
The Papercutting Process
Queen of Coins
First, I conduct research on the symbolic meaning within the card. This knowledge is channeled through my experience of life in Alaska. I typically try out various compositions and seek input from Emily. Then I sketch the final for cutting. This allows me to begin with the end in mind.
Then, I can begin cutting. I tend to follow the sketch as I already have the vision in mind, however there are usually small modifications made at
this stage. I stop cutting frequently to hold the papercut up to the light to test composition.
Queen of Coins is near completed! The waves at the top are whale song and the queen of coins is a humpback whale. The mountain in the background is Mt. Edgecumbe in Sitka, Alaska. Following completion, this is then glued onto a piece of white paper, scanned, and resized for the tarot card.
