tarot
Animalis os Fortuna
Macabre black-and-white self-published tarot using animals and bones symbolism.
by Megan Weber · 2015
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The Canon's read
Tarot Canon's own assessment, written for this catalog.
Megan Weber self-published Animalis os Fortuna as a full 78-card tarot rendered entirely in black and white, built around animals and bones standing in for the traditional cast of human figures. The archive's reviewer draws a careful line between dark atmosphere and outright horror, closer to a naturalist's cabinet of skulls and specimens than to anything gory, a distinction that matters given how easily bone symbolism slides into shock value in less careful hands. Each major arcana card gets its own animal, a structure that echoes how many single-artist decks handle the trumps, one creature or figure per archetype rather than a repeating motif across the whole deck.
It suits readers comfortable with bone and skeleton imagery who want that starkness without gore, and anyone drawn to self-published decks with a clear, singular artistic vision. Readers who read a deck's emotional register through color rather than pure value contrast should look for a full-color deck instead.
From the archive
An excerpt from a review at the Aeclectic Tarot archive, in the original reviewer's voice.
The Animalis os Fortuna Tarot is a macabre but not gory 78-card black and white tarot deck that uses animals and bones to represent each card. Each major arcana card features a different animal and the suits have also been...
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