Outsider Tarot — Bobby Abate

THE OUTSIDER TAROT
AN ARTIST CREATED Tarot for beautiful and perplexing creatures who live beyond boundarieS

A queer-artist created deck
10 years in the making
Reinterpreting every single card, the Outsider Tarot fuses ancient esoteric systems with the vibrant, revolutionary spirit of Outsiders past and present. Inspired by the wisdom of our beautifully eccentric, forward-thinking predecessors, this deck was designed to guide us through obstacles and toward enlightenment.

From divas to drag queens, poets to hustlers, rebels to hacktivists, essential workers to young migrants, renegade filmmakers to Queer tattooists, transgender icons to uncompromising revolutionaries—the Outsider Tarot is an indispensable divination tool for those who live beyond society’s boundaries.

Today, as our diverse communities face increasing threats, it is more important than ever to channel the revolutionary spirit of these Outsiders and resist all attempts to erase our identities.

The 750-COPY first EDITION IS sold out!
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Guidebooks and readings can be purchased here.

“OUTSIDER SELFIES” | In 2020, the project gained a diverse and enthusiastic following on social media. To raise awareness for the Kickstarter campaign, I mailed single cards from my test printings to Outsiders around the world, inviting them to take selfies. The results were stunning. Thanks to this support, the campaign was fully funded in just a few hours.

A COMPLETE REINTERPRETATIONRather than updating Pamela Colman Smith’s iconic artwork from the popular Smith-Waite deck, I wanted to go back to the underlying framework that inspired her designs, known as the Hermetic Qabalah, and create an entirely new lexicon of symbols and imagery.

The Hermetic Qabalah marries ancient esoteric systems such as astrology, the Tree of Life, and the alchemy of the four elements with the 78 cards of the Tarot deck. Using this formula, the Outsider Tarot reinterprets each card from the ground up in a modern and inclusive context. Drawing from the political uprisings of the 1960s to the present age of the internet, social media and evolving personal identities, I added a unique factor to the equation: Outsider Realness.

THE MAJOR ARCANAThe Outsider Tarot removes all human figures from the Major Arcana, which makes room for each person to envision themself within each card. The design for the sequence of Majors has been pared down to a simple yet powerful illustration of costumes, props, or set pieces for the reader to imagine themselves wearing or interacting with. For example, The Magician offers a top hat and sketchbook with the fire of inspiration burning above reflecting the importance of getting ideas out of the mind and onto the page.

THE MINOR ARCANA The suits of the Outsider Tarot are represented by everyday symbols that we see everywhere but don’t pay much attention to: LIGHTS, BOTTLES, EYES and ROSES. These objects, at once omnipresent and overlooked, offer profound ways to meditate and contemplate the power of each suit. The Outsider Tarot likens each suit to the properties and magical powers of the four elements: fire, water, air and earth.

THE SUIT OF LIGHTS is where personal identity is forged in the element of fire. It is the suit where we are inspired to begin new projects and go on to new adventures. It is the suit where our passions burn, consume and transform us, for better or worse. It is the realm of sex and parties, projects and ventures, obsession and rage, travel and an insatiable hunger to learn something new — most importantly, it is a place for new beginnings.

THE SUIT OF BOTTLES is where we nurture ourselves and others in the element of water. The suit of Bottles offers a container that gives shape to everything that is formless, like consciousness, intuition, emotions, knowledge and memories. By giving these matters temporary form in the suit of Bottles, we are able to contemplate their complexity, significance and power. Bottles allow us to share the healing qualities of water and exploit its destructive powers. This is the suit of love, nurturing, incubation and meditation.

THE SUIT OF EYES is where we have an opportunity to connect to our soul, the spirit that animates us, in the element of air. The origin of the word spirit is ‘to breathe,’ to fill the body with air, movement and life. In the suit of Eyes, we interact with others, with society, in person or virtually. Like the element of air, these interactions can be as calm as a breeze or as forceful as a tornado. Because these external interactions have the power to soothe or stir our emotions, Eyes is also the suit of mental health. The suit of Eyes is where we learn that seeing isn’t always believing, and that we must balance our senses and develop intuition. This is where we get out our tools, and we make our ideas into reality. The suit of Eyes is where we fight for our ideas, for justice and for equality.

THE SUIT OF ROSES we deepen our connection to the natural world in the element of earth. The flip side of the natural world is the material world, so the suit of Roses also speaks to our wealth, investments, belongings, home and financial stability. When there is little connection to or interest in nature, there will always be more attachment to the material plane. The suit of Roses lets us know when this axis is out of whack, when material concerns and labor dampen our spirits and our ability to enjoy what’s right in front of us. This is also the suit where we complete and release our creations into the world after conceiving, nurturing and forging them in the other suits. We can also learn about our physical bodies in this suit. The rose’s ability to survive and thrive depends on the quality of the roots. As Above So Below, the quintessential hermetic adage, reminds us that the beauty of the rose strictly depends on the health of what’s hidden beneath the surface of the soil — root systems that depend on the quality of our expertise, the nutrients we provide, and our observance of the magical properties of nature.

THE ELEMENTALS

THE KING, QUEEN, KNIGHT AND PAGE, EVICTED! A lovely band of eccentrics known as THE ELEMENTALS to take their place. While monarchies are built on the principle of entitlement through blood and thrive on the exclusion of everyone else, the Outsider Tarot was created on the core truth that all beings are equal and deserve equality. The four Elementals are the Spark, the Billow, the Fathom and the Root. Each Elemental embodies one of the four elements of fire, air, water and earth, bringing all those properties into its suit.

THE GUIDEBOOK

The 225-page guidebook is the essential guide to the symbolism, meanings and framework of the Outsider
Tarot. In addition to in-depth information and background on every aspect of the deck, this guidebook also includes a two-page discussion for each card, instructions on how to do readings, a brief history of the Tarot, and a selection of spreads designed specifically for the Outsider Tarot.

The 750-COPY first EDITION IS sold out
Guidebooks and readings can be purchased here

Please visit the Outsider Tarot Instgram Page to learn more