This abnormal deck of 99 cards features seasons in place of suits with unique courts featuring 3 Knights and 3 Ladies, the Maid, the Queen, and the Mother, as well as a completely strange major arcana :
The 3 Omens
The 4 Maidens
The 5 Dreams
The 6 Books
The 7 Dead Kings
The 8 Moons
And lastly, two jokers in the Nameless Goddess and The Masterless Knight.
What We're Funding
Today, we are funding not only the brand new 3rd Edition, but reprints for the first three versions of the deck as well. The gorgeous cards have been brought to life by Amy Smith, Samantha Dow, and now Ezra Kimbell across four unique takes on the deck.
Whether you're new to tarot or an old hand at it, you'll find something beautiful and challenging at every turn with this deck. The deck carries with it many omens, but do not mistake them for danger or worry. The deck will take your hand into the dark and show you what lives there.
It was designed by the academic occultist The Caretaker, most well-known for running the massive tumblr blog, Normal Horoscopes. The Caretaker reads in some unique ways, which they expound upon in the guidebook for the deck, their touch felt through every card description. The deck will not mince words, but it will never seek to hurt you. Kindness, even in the hardest spaces, is true. A deck made at its core with empathy to what it takes to live a life.
Each deck will feature a 2-piece hard box, a little white book of meanings, and will be printed on 350 gsm gloss cardstock. 1st edition will feature silver edge gilding, while 2nd edition will feature gold foil front designs and gold edge gilding, or silver foil front designs and silver edge gilding.
Sometimes, seeing is the best method of understanding. So I present to you cards from each deck, side by side. The pared down elegance of the First One in its black and white, the mystery and darkness of the Second One in Silver, the radiance and brightness of the Second One in Gold, or the full color softness of the Third One?
The greatest part of this deck is that each time, an artist has chosen to read the card meanings on their own, rather than basing their work on the previous deck's art. In this way, they mirror one another without being the same each time, exploring new focuses. Amy found beauty in simplicity, Sam in ornate pattern, and Ezra in ensuring bodies inhabit each frame, even in some cards that don't expect to see one, ala the Observatory.
Yes, the First and Second Silver are the same deck, but made darker and ornamented in silver foil.
In person, the differences are sometimes all the more obvious. Side by side, even the First and Second Silver bring such different experiences, though the art is almost exactly the same! Here we see the Equinoxes and Solstices.Â
All four editions will be represented in the guidebook, with the first edition, second edition gold, and third edition all side by side in the guidebook. This does mean the second edition silver won't be in the guidebook, but the art is the same (though darkened) as the first edition deck. So it should still be clear, I hope.Â
With all new, full-color art by Ezra Kimbell, this is the final edition of the deck to be printed. And at $40, it's the cheapest brand new deck I've ever published.Â
The Normal Tarot 2nd Edition
Along with the brand new 3rd Edition by Ezra, we are reprinting the Gold and Silver decks in all their foil glory. With new printers in mind, we're also going to be offering the decks at a discount from their first printing. At just $35 a piece, the Normal Tarot in foil has never been more affordable!
The Gold Edition was illustrated by Samantha Dow. The Silver Edition was an updated, darker version of the First Edition, spotted with gorgeous silver foil.
The Normal Tarot 1st Edition
And finally, we return home. The Caretaker has always felt that this original deck was the most closely connected to the original design they had made. Nostalgia? A sense of home? It's hard to say. But we're coming back with the deck to be printed with the silver gilt edges and original designs, in its box, with its little white book. And we're offering it at just $30.
The First One was illustrated by Amy Smith, as part of Inktober.
There are also wandering tiers that will come and go and offer cheaper options. You'll want to stay on your toes to get these as they come by. The Wandering Tier idea originated with the 1st edition Normal Tarot, so it seemed only right to return it for the final deck of the design. This campaign also has wandering pledge tiers. This means over time the tiers will change, prices will fluctuate, and some pledge tiers will appear for a limited number of backers before disappearing. This is just a fun way to engage with the campaign if you want to, no one is required to take part in parsing clues from updates or waiting for the right times. Sometimes there can be site errors or internet issues that cause you to miss a limited time tier. Remember this is just a fun bonus, don't get too deep into it or get yourself worked up over it! If it's fun, take part. If it's not, ignore it. : )
$45 - The Normal Tarot 3rd Edition w/guidebook $40 - The Normal Tarot 2nd Edition (Gold or Silver) w/guidebook $35 - The Normal Tarot 1st Edition w/guidebook $125 - The Chest of Decks (All 4 decks) w/ 1 guidebook $150 - Retailer Tier - This is a deposit to purchase more at wholesale pricing after the campaign, on the pledge manager. There is one guidebook that features art from all three editions.
Add-on single decks do not come with a guidebook. (The Chest of Decks add-on does include one.)Â Please add any additional copies you need separately.
$10 - The Guidebook $25 - Community Copy $30 - The Normal Tarot 1st Edition $35 - The Normal Tarot 2nd Edition (Gold or Silver) $40 - The Normal Tarot 3rd Edition $125 - The Chest of Decks (All 4 decks, with a guidebook)
$10 - The 3rd Edition Art Print Set $10 - The Gold Print Set $10 - The Silver Print Set
$50 - The Publishing Goblin's Oracle Dice Set $280 - The Publishing Goblin's STONE Oracle Dice Set $120 - The Alleyman's Tarot Set $150 - The Alleyman's Trove
At this time, we are looking to finish funding in April, finalize print files and head toward prototypes in June, fully print in August/September, and begin shipping in October. This timeline is subject to change at any time, but will be made clear to you in regular monthly updates as things shift. If we see a larger number of backers than expected, we are likely to push back to January/February of 2025 to avoid the holiday shipping costs associated.
We are not charging shipping on your pledge at this time, but we will add it in the pledge manager a little closer to the shipping date. You will have to pay shipping to get your items.
I wrote a contract that all five of us signed. The Caretaker, Amy Smith, Sam Dow, Ezra Kimbell, and myself. In it, we agreed to more or less split the earnings of this project equally for each deck we had a hand in. When someone pledges for a first edition deck, the profits we would make aside from manufacturing cost are split 3 ways between Amy Smith, the Caretaker, and I. Guidebook sales are split 5 ways.
So your money is going to go to the artists! And, well, platform fees, marketing fees, manufacturing, shipping... but generally speaking, this project isn't going to my business and then partly to others. It's just entirely getting split between us.
Community Goals
Community Goals will do two things for this campaign. For one thing, they can unlock bonus copies for the Community Pool, which lets people who otherwise couldn't afford the decks receive a copy of any deck they want from the project!Â
Additionally, they will prompt the Wandering Oracles to approach. When we hit certain community goals, these sporadic, temporary pledge tiers will swing in, as will some limited time add-ons. These will be items offered on the project but at a much cheaper price!
Each time a Community Goal is met, I will post an update about it to let people know what it unlocked. For extra Community Pool copies, I'll add a number to the pool and let you know plainly. But for Wandering Oracles, I will leave a riddle or set of clues in the update to let you know when and where you might be finding the temporary cheap tiers!
Stay tuned for updates where you'll find out what our community goals are, and how to partake!
Can't afford a copy of the deck, but want to get in on the project? At certain Community Goals we'll add more copies to the community pool for people who can't afford one themselves, and people can purchase Community Copies to go into the pool as an add-on.
Amy began illustrating the Normal Tarot entirely for fun during Inktober, and continued on with the project once we realized this could be a real deck. As such, Amy's original illustrations became the first edition Normal Tarot, and then a bit over a year later, the darkened and mysterious Silver Normal Tarot.Â
Sam Dow is an illustrator, graphic novelist, and tall ship captain from coastal New England, whose work explores themes of the fantastical meeting the mundane. Most recently they have illustrated the Gold Normal Tarot, the Literary Tarot's Major Arcana, and contributions to F(r)iction Magazine, as well as a number of shortform comics.
Ezra Kimbell is the artist behind the Lords of my Oracle Dice, the incredible packaging for the Alleyway Oracles, and now the 3rd Edition of the Normal Tarot! A friend and incredible artist, Ezra is an awesome person who has leant us amazing talent and skill.
The Caretaker is a weird skeleton in California, an academic occult historian and researcher, and the caretaker of the stars. Caretaker designed the Normal Tarot, wrote the guide, and was the inspiration for all of this existing at all. Without their incredible mind, Amy wouldn't have drawn the deck, and we wouldn't be doing this!
and finally, Seven is me! I'm the Publishing Goblin, the one doing the administrative work and campaign management and running to make the items real! I write the contracts, organize the manufacturing, and layout and edit the guidebook and print files for the decks. The Normal Tarot to me has always been the most strange thing I've made, because I did almost none of the creative work for it! But it's still got a special place in my heart.
Refunds I will refund any pledges within 30 days of the campaign's finish date no questions asked, from April 4th to May 4th 2024. After that time, no refunds will be granted for any reason, and if you choose not to fill out your survey or pay shipping on time, your pledged amount will be considered a donation towards the project.
Shippingand Fulfillment We will be charging shipping costs closer to actual fulfillment. That means you are not being charged for it now, or for VAT or IOSS or any other taxes or fees unique to your country. That will be done closer to the shipping date here on Backerkit. You will not receive your items if you do not pay shipping and any other relevant taxes or fees, and you will not receive a refund for your original pledge if you choose not to pay the shipping costs. This notice is here from day 1 of the campaign.
We are planning to ship to people in October of 2024, but that may move sooner or later. You will be made aware of any changes in regular, monthly campaign updates.
Fulfillmentand Survey Deadline Once the first wave of backer items has been sent out around the world for people who get their surveys and shipping charges in on time*, remaining backers will have 30 moredays to complete surveys to then receive their rewards. Any who do not dosoin that time forfeit their rewards, and funds they paid into the project are considered donations to the project. As noted in refunds, no refunds will be made at thattime for people who do not get their surveys in.
*Thiswill be made clear in updates when we know for sure that we're moving to shipping, and will be clarified in multiple updates prior to starting the 30 day final reward claim timer.
Damagedor Missing Items, Lost or Misdelivered Packages You will have 30 days after your package arrivesto you to report to [email protected] if you need replacement items or have missing items in your order. For packages that go missing, you will have 45 days after the item is sent (60 for international packages) to report lost or misdelivered packages to have us resend or follow up on the items.
Backersare responsible for providing proper and up to date email addresses on Backerkit, and for reading updates as they come out to inform them of this information and the deadline dates. Tracking info will be automatically sent to provided email addresses, and it is the backer's responsibility to followup on their packages should problems arise.
Backing this project is a pledge of support to the project itself, it is not the purchasing of items. I will be doing everything I can to deliver all pledged items as part of fulfilling this project with your help, and have a track record of a dozen plus projects of doing so, but there is no 100% guarantee that you'll receive your items with crowdfunding. By pledging you are recognizing this and agreeing to it.Â
