The Luminous Void Tarot

Luminous Void Tarot has been selected for preservation in the prestigious MIT Distinctive Libraries, which houses a collection of the rarest historical art Tarot decks in the world.

Luminous Void Tarot is featured in TASCHEN’s: The Library of Esoterica: Tarot, out now!

Luminous Void captures the subconscious shamanic realms of consciousness. It loosely follows the structure and symbolism of the Rider-Waite Smith Deck. It was created by Laura Zuspan an artist, meditator and healer creating on Ohlone land. All art is original watercolor. Read a thoughtful review by the author and mystic Benebell Wen.  

The deck is 100% watercolor.  I chose this medium for its combination of lush, ethereal, emotional color, and organic accident.

I was already painting when, as a small child, my maternal grandmother and aunt introduced me to the Tarot and psychic realms. I combined my artistic career with my healing practice at the San Francisco Art Institute while earning a bachelor’s degree, then went on to practice evolving forms of art and mystical practice in New York City, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2014 I created, in my art studio, a dedicated Tarot reading room, and began seeing clients there. This led to the merging of my two passions into an all-encompassing art project.

Mainstream culture has a distorted picture of the Tarot, of flashing neon signs and shady ‘fortune telling'. My practice involves re-contextualizing this ancient art form as an ethical, emotionally intelligent healing practice,  viewing the Tarot as a cycle of universal archetypes and symbols, which map human psychology and consciousness. Inspiration for the Luminous Void arose from Tibetan Buddhist concepts of Crazy Wisdom and the Rainbow Body, Trickster Medicine, and mystical Medieval manuscripts, as well as the modern art world. My intention is to create a playful, contemporary, artistic deck infused with spiritual and historical context.

The deck has rounded tops and bottoms resembling medieval playing cards from the 15th century, found at the Cloisters in NYC.

This is a unique deck following its own voice. I really only had so much control over the outcome. My hope is it can induce a state of play, hope and a deepening of your own intuition, insight and wisdom.