Vibrating Tarot
Vibrating Tarot is a forthcoming Tarot deck based on the 1909 illustrations of Pamela Colman Smith, featuring popular sex toys and adult pleasure products in place of all the people and iconic imagery.
The world of Vibrating Tarot builds upon the traditional Tarot themes, transforming the essence of the deck as a whole, while paying homage to many different sub-genres within the world of kink, BDSM, and sex positivity.
The concept clears away stigma with its initial humour, but the deck of cards can also be looked at in a much deeper way and should be used as a serious tool of divination to engage in, solo or with friends and trusted partners, in search of knowledge about their sexual selves.
With sex positivity at its core, acceptance, and embracing of everyone across many spectra, Vibrating Tarot starts the types of conversations that bridge the gap between sexuality and spirituality.
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Recently endorsed by US Games, publisher of the Rider Waite Smith Tarot deck.
Vibrating Tarot takes its visual direction from the RWS Tarot deck, so an endorsement from US Games is worth a lot to us. It shows the dozens of companies that appear in our project that we have nothing to worry about in terms of copyright infringement upon the original deck, published over 100 years ago.
In fact, the actual quote from US Games is “I don’t see how [Vibrating Tarot] has anything to do with Rider Waite. This deck has nothing to do with US Games. Good luck with it.”
—VP, US Games
Who Am I?
My name is Frank Lawrence (he/they). I’m a freelance typographer and independent artist from Hamilton, Canada, designing Vibrating Tarot in my spare time, on my iPad Pro.
Vibrating Tarot is not funded or commissioned, so in order to make it a reality, I’ll run a Kickstarter campaign when we’re ready for it, and I hope that everyone involved will pull together to make it a huge success.
Please join my mailing list to get notified when our Kickstarter campaign goes live, and follow my process work on social media @VibratingTarot
On the Vibrating Side of Things
Community Informed Approach
What toys do you want to see featured in Vibrating Tarot?
This is an open call for anyone who has some great list for toys that should be featured in the deck of cards.
It’s important that I include a variety of diverse voices in the conversation, and I’m happy to be reaching out to important people in our community for guidance.
I come to this project predominantly from a graphic design standpoint and secondly from a Tarot and divination standpoint. What I need the most help with are the sex toys.
Toy companies
Over the past year, I’ve had the chance to reach out to dozens of the world’s leading companies in the sex toy industry to secure permission to use imagery of their toys in the Tarot deck, and everyone you see on my page, plus many more, are on board!
I owe a lot to all of these toy companies. Without their permission, we wouldn’t be able to do this kind of work. Thank you to everyone out there who has decided to be involved in our Tarot deck.
Follow this link for a list of companies who have given us their support.
Sex Educators
One of my goals is to be able to consult with a variety of health care professionals along the way to build a more comprehensive understanding of the important decisions that need to be made in a project like this. Provided here is a list of sex education professionals who are well known members of the community.
Toy Reviewers & Sex Bloggers
Part of getting all the details right in Vibrating Tarot consists of tapping into the wealth of knowledge that is found within the community of sex toy reviewers and bloggers. The genuine guidance they give is invaluable, especially to a project like this. Listed here are some of the most important voices in this field.
On the Tarot Side of Things
Deck Reviewers
What are the first things that you look at when reviewing a new deck? What are the top things you take into consideration? What are some essential things that I don’t want to neglect? What are some of the faux pas that I want to avoid?
The community of Tarot and Oracle deck reviewers has been a hidden gem for me, and I'm grateful to be in a position to learn from them on multiple levels. Listed here are the names that have stood out for me.
Card Designers
I’m particularly interested in chatting with other card designers in an attempt to uncover what our different processes look like when it comes to releasing independently made decks of cards.
Right now, I have my hands full trying to learn as much as I can about crowdfunding, figuring out where and how I’ll print the deck, trying to build my email list, finishing the design process, thinking about marketing, and wondering what I’ll do about distribution and a second print run when we get on the other side of the Kickstarter campaign. I have already learned so much from those who have come before me. Thanks to everyone for forging this path.
On the Business Side of Things
Businesses Big and Small
It’s a major goal of mine to feature small businesses and independent artists alongside the big companies so that everyone can share the spotlight in this project. This way, the landscape of the deck will resemble a truer depiction of the unique nature of our own personal toy collections.
Here again, is this full list of all the companies who are featured in Vibrating Tarot. Thank you to all of them. Without them, this project would not be possible.
Charitable Donations
As a way of giving back to the community that has helped make this project possible, I’d like to donate some original pieces of art to silent auctions that donate their money to charities that work with matters pertaining to sex education, sexual assault survivors, and 2SLGBTQIA rights. I’m in discussions right now with some of the toy manufacturers in order to obtain permission to do so.
Vibrating Font
Vibrating Font is very close to being finished, but I’m still in the process of seeking approval from every company involved. When they agreed to be part of Vibrating Tarot, the didn’t agree to be included in this font, so I need to touch base with everyone first in order to get the green light.
The font will be free for non commercial use, so we’ll all be able to use it in personal projects, or for educational purposes, but we won’t be able to print the images on t-shirts or coffee mugs and sell them for a profit.
I’m a typographer and graphic designer, so I just naturally came up with this idea. I wanted to follow through with it as just a small way of giving back to the community who has helped make this project a success so far. Plus, I’m hoping it’ll catch the eye of others in the industry who have not yet heard of Vibrating Tarot, in order to expand my base as we lead up to the Kickstarter campaign.
Read the full story at our Vibrating Tarot Font page by following the link below.
Crowdfunding through Kickstarter
Additional Information Coming SOon
We'd all like to see Vibrating Tarot made into a commercial project, with availability online as well as in adult retail stores, but the project is not funded or commissioned.
The only way to make it a reality is to crowdfund it through Kickstarter.
Many popular decks of cards have been funded in this manner, and as an independent artist who has never taken this route before, I'm currently studying up on this method so that I'll be able to run the most successful campaign I possibly can.
As soon as our Kickstarter Preview Page is ready, I‘ll let everyone know.
Until then, please join my mailing list to ensure that you’ll be notified when our Kickstarter goes live.
Thank you
I can’t thank everyone enough for their support. From the humble encouragement I get from the toy companies, to the excited voices in the community who are responsible for making the industry thrive, to the sex educators who have made me realize the greater responsibility at hand, to the enthusiasm from the Tarot community, and to the everyday people who are a cross section of everyone mentioned above, you are all responsible for my progress with Vibrating Tarot.
Thank you.