‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the Looking Glass” are the books of fantasy and that fantasy is built around games – cards and chess. So it makes Alice’s story one of the best themes for making playing card decks. What about Tarot?
I was sure that Alice’s journey would fit nicely into the Fool’s journey in Tarot. It was of no surprise to me to find out a few ‘Wonderland’ Tarot decks on the web. All of them are inspired by the original book, their artwork is stunning though different.
The people who are actually familiar with Tarot will notice how the same character of the book represents different tarot archetype in various decks.
My assumption will be that the first ‘Wonderland’ Tarot deck was designed by Christopher and Morgana Abbey in 1989. This deck was based on the original illustrations by John Tenniel. It has suits of Oysters, Flamingos, Hats and Pepper mills (instead of the conventional Pentacles,Wands, Cups and Swords) and also includes Tweedledee and Tweedledum as the Lovers.
All the other decks that I’ve come across are either not yet published or self-published.
May be you will be interested in buying one of those. I feel like creating a Wonderland deck of cards can be a lot of fun!
Designed and illustrated by Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov, Baba Studio
Date:2011
Designed by Rodney Howington
Date: 2012
Country:Korea, Taiwan
Project Deck from Mike Mann
ARTnCULTURA 