May 19, 2015 - We're down to the last few hours of this campaign, and we're SO CLOSE to having it 200% funded--my mind is STILL spinning from how quickly we hit 100% just four days after it started. Let's make the last day an awesome one, and hit the big $10,000! Many thanks to everyone who backs this campaign :D
April 20, 2015 - Hey, all! So we hit $7,000 (actually $7,030) this morning on the official Tarot of Bones IndieGoGo campaign, just two weeks after it went live--woohoo, and THANK YOU!!!!!! This means that we're now over 140% funded, AND we've reached the first stretch goal, and I will be adding a Happy Squirrel card to the official Tarot of Bones deck.
I'd also like to announce the next two stretch goals:
If this IndieGoGo campaign reaches $9,000 before it ends, once the Tarot of Bones deck and book are out, I will offer a free Livestream class on how to use the Tarot of Bones exclusively for IndieGoGo backers. For those who can't make it, I will email the video to you afterward, and I will wait a month before I put it up on YouTube for everyone to see. This will happen in the latter half of 2016 (unless for some unknown reason I have to release the deck and book later than Summer 2016).
And if the campaign reaches $12,000 before it ends, I will record an audiobook version of the Tarot of Bones book! This will be useful not just for people who are better audio learners than readers, but also for people who may have limited vision. I will be recording it at home, so this will not be a pro-level audiobook, but I promise to do the very best that I can with freeware like Audacity. I plan for the audiobook to be released within a year as both a downloadable file and a CD after the hardcopy deck and book are out. All IndieGoGo backers will get the file version of the audiobook for free.
13 April , 2015 - Can you believe it? We funded this thing in its first 100 hours! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who chipped in, whether by backing the campaign or spreading the word or being moral support through this crazy week. So now that we've got our first $5,000 (and change) what's next? This:
Bringing the Tarot of Bones to Life!
My name is Lupa; I am an author, artist and amateur naturalist living in Portland, OR. I have been pagan since 1996, and started reading tarot and other divination systems shortly thereafter. In 1998 I began incorporating animal hides and bones and other natural items in my artwork and spirituality, and caring for these sacred remains became central to my life. I've written several books on nature spirituality, among them
Skin Spirits: The Spiritual and Magical Use of Animal Parts (Megalithica Books, 2010) and
Plant and Fungus Totems: Connect With Spirits of Field, Forest and Garden (Llewellyn, 2015). I have been self-employed full-time since 2011 and am the breadwinner of my household, though I make time to go visit my beloved Oregon wilderness which inspires so many of my works.
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(Note - this is a mockup; final card may look different.)
Now I'm bringing together the threads of my creative career in an ambitious project: The Tarot of Bones. This deck and book set combines the nature-inspired symbolism of animal bones with the tarot's well-loved archetypes to create an unparalleled divination set for the 21st century. For each of the 78 cards I am creating permanent assemblage artworks featuring carefully chosen and legally acquired animal bones and other natural materials reflecting the cards' messages. High-quality photos of these pieces will be used for the card art. The full-length companion book, available both in paperback and ebook form, will explore the symbolism of the cards in detail and my inspiration in creating each.
While I have been professionally published multiple times over, this is an intensely personal project, and I have opted to self-publish the Tarot of Bones. My goal is to have all 78 assemblage pieces completed by the end of 2015, and to publish the deck and book in Summer 2016. I've already made a lot of progress and acquired many of the materials I need to keep going, You can help me achieve my goals with this project by backing me here on IndieGoGo!
Get the Deck, Book, and More!
So what sorts of goodies can you get by backing this campaign? Here are a few possibilities for you to choose from:
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The Tarot of Bones Deck (with the companion paperback or ebook)
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Prints of select cards, approximately 8" x 10" in size
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A hand-sewn (by me!) leather bag to keep your deck in
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Original assemblage pieces used in the making of the Tarot of Bones
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A one of a kind, custom-made assemblage piece made to your specifications
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Copies of my other books, your choice of which one(s)
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A special thank you in the Tarot of Bones companion book and on the official website
If you can't decide which one you reallllly want, keep in mind you can claim multiple perks by making bigger and/or multiple contributions--more information here.
Also, please remember that perk amounts include my costs for materials for fulfilling and shipping them, and also account for IndieGoGo and Paypal taking out their fees!
Now for a little more detail on some of these perks:
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Prints: I'll be creating prints of three of my favorite cards to date: Justice (above), Magician (the piece shown in the mock-up card above) and the Ace of Pentacles (shown under the Timelines, Risks and Challenges heading below); you'll get your pick of one of these, or a collection of all three. The photos shown on this campaign are just to show the work; the photos used for the prints will be the same ones used for the final card art, and therefore the prints will be printed at the same time as the cards so all can be delivered at once in Summer 2016.
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Leather Pouch: Leather pouches were one of the first projects I learned to make when I initially started working with hides and bones. You can choose to claim a deck with a leather pouch made just the right size for it. US folks will get one made of deerskin; international folks will get cowhide due to customs restrictions. Pouches will be shipped when the decks are shipped in Summer 2016.
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Original Tarot of Bones Assemblage Piece: There are three different options for people in the U.S. who want to buy one of the original assemblage pieces used in making the Tarot of Bones. There is an additional option for international buyers to get one of a very limited number of the assemblage pieces that do not include wildlife or plant parts and can therefore be sent out of the U.S. While I will ultimately choose who gets which piece, you are welcome to contact me with your five favorites at the end of 2016 once all the assemblages are completed. Also, as I will be displaying some of these originals at galleries and other art venues in the latter half of 2016, they will not be delivered to their new homes until sometime in 2017. (You will get your deck and book set plus the three prints in Summer 2016.)
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Note: This is not one of the assemblages for the Tarot of Bones. It's Flora et Fauna II, a piece I did in 2014.
Custom Assemblage Piece: A very limited number of backers can opt to get a custom assemblage piece made by me, in addition to one of the originals from the Tarot of Bones. You can look at my portfolio to get some idea of the work that I do. Please keep in mind that the laws governing your location may limit the materials I'm allowed to work with for your piece; some substitutions, such as resin skulls, may be available. (You will get your deck and book set plus the three prints in Summer 2016.)
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Books: I've written and published several books prior to this project. You can choose to bring home one or more of these titles, shipped along with your Tarot of Bones set in Summer 2016:
Fang and Fur, Blood and Bone: A Primal Guide to Animal Magic
DIY Totemism: Your Personal Guide to Animal Totems
Skin Spirits: The Spiritual and Magical Uses of Animal Parts
New Paths to Animal Totems: Three Alternative Approaches to Creating Your Own Totemism
Plant and Fungus Totems: Connect With Spirits of Field, Forest and Garden
And you can even preorder my next book, due out January 2016 from Llewellyn Worldwide (your copy will be shipped with your Tarot of Bones set in Summer 2016):
Nature Spirituality From the Ground Up: Connect With Totems in Your Bioregion
Please note that my anthologies are not included in this special offer.
$howing You the Money
The Tarot of Bones is a very resource-intensive project, both in terms of materials and time invested. To date I have already put around $1500 of my own money into the skulls, bones and other materials for the 78 permanent assemblage pieces, and will continue to invest funds into materials, printing, shipping and related costs.
While the money I've already spent has covered a significant amount of what I'll need, I still need to purchase more materials in order to complete the assemblages. The skulls (and in some cases high-quality, handmade skull replicas) are the most expensive components. Most of them are high-quality collectibles, many cannot be found secondhand except on very rare occasion, and some are quite expensive even at wholesale prices.
I've mitigated the costs some by making most of the other materials secondhand, haunting thrift stores and yard sales in Portland and beyond for old cutting boards, half-full tubes of acrylic paint and other salvaged art supplies. I collect a lot of the plant material and other natural materials myself, to include when walking around my Portland neighborhood. I am seeking secondhand skulls and bones from private collections when I'm able, and when I do buy new I often buy directly from the individuals and small businesses who reclaim and clean these bones. However, I'm still making almost eighty individual assemblage pieces--that's a lot of art supplies to bring home!
This is a flexible-funding campaign, which means that if I do not meet my goal, I still get the money (but IndieGoGo gets to keep a much larger percentage of it, 9% as opposed to 4%, not including Paypal's fees on top of that). Even if I don't raise $5,000, I will continue with the project with the goal of having the deck and book released summer 2016; the successful completion of this campaign will make that much easier. Here's where your contributions will go:
If I raise $2,500, after fees I will be able to purchase the most expensive skulls (real and replica) I still need to obtain. Some of these cost a few hundred dollars, a significant amount of money for me to spend at once. I can get these pricier skulls into my studio and breathe a little more easily about the costs.
If I raise $3,500, after fees I'll be able to buy all the remaining materials I need for the assemblage pieces, which will help me stick to my production schedule and possibly beat my deadlines since I'll already have everything I need to make the magic happen!
My primary goal of $5,000, after fees,will allow me to purchase the rest of the materials I need. It will also help me to fund other costs for this project, ranging from printing and shipping costs for the deck and book, prints and other perks, and compensating myself for time spent collecting materials, taking photos, writing the book manuscript and online updates, and other time invested in this project. While the IndieGoGo campaign is not my sole source of funding for this project, it will allow me to divert a lot less money from my everyday income and help me compensate for the time that I spent working on the Tarot of Bones. In short, by backing this campaign you'll be keeping a roof over my head while I dedicate myself to this great work.
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While the majority of costs will go to the production of the set, I will be donating a to-be-decided portion of the proceeds to nonprofit organizations that benefit wildlife and their habitats. I am already a regular contributor to several of these organizations, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and the Nature Conservancy, including making monthly donations to a select few. While the exact amount I give varies from month to month depending on my income and expenses, I do what I can to help these organizations keep up their good work.
Timeline, Risks and Challenges
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I've published several books and run a yearly arts festival in Portland (
Curious Gallery), so I am well acquainted with deadlines and the importance of meeting them. To that end, I've laid out a timeline for production of the Tarot of Bones:
End of 2015 – Deadline for completing all 78 assemblage pieces for the Tarot of Bones. I will be working steadily on these throughout 2015; I have to complete 6 1/2 pieces per month to meet this deadline, and I’m going to try to get out ahead of that, particular once festival season starts in summer.
January 2016 – Send the Tarot of Bones book to an independent editor (I will be self-publishing the book); it will likely go through multiple editing sessions throughout spring.
January – April 2016 – final photographs of art pieces for card art; final card designs
May-June 2016 – Have proofs of the 78 cards and the book ready to send to the printers for approval
June-July 2016 – Publication and release of the first printing of the Tarot of Bones deck and book
I started making assemblage pieces in mid-January. As of April 7, 2015 I have already completed 20 of the 78 assemblage pieces. When I finish creating an assemblage, I write about it in the manuscript for the Tarot of Bones companion book, which is already over 8,000 words long. So in just four months I've made a tremendous amount of progress. Additionally, as I am 100% self-employed I have more time and schedule flexibility than many creative folks, and I've been able to leverage that well so far.
Time is the scarcest commodity. In addition to working on the Tarot of Bones, I am currently in the editing process for my next book with Llewellyn Worldwide, Nature Spirituality From the Ground Up: Connect With Totems in Your Ecosystem, due out January 2016, and putting details on another manuscript as of yet unclaimed by any publisher. I vend my art and books at several events throughout the Pacific Northwest and am constantly looking for art shows and galleries to submit my assemblage work to. I maintain two blogs, a very busy Etsy shop, and a healthy social media presence. And I try to go hiking once a week to maintain my sanity.
All that being said, this is not a case of if the Tarot of Bones will happen, but when. Barring my unlikely disability or demise, it will happen even if I have to pay more out of pocket for the expenses, and even if it comes out later than anticipated. Your backing will help me stay on schedule, and is greatly appreciated!
Why Is This Important?
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The Tarot of Bones is born out of a creative career spanning nearly two decades, embracing both writing and art, and challenging me to excellence not only in familiar media but in new skills as well. At the end of it, I will be able to offer others a valuable tool in divination as well as a beautiful work of art.
Moreover, it's a reminder that we are still a part of the natural world. I chose bones as the primary material for this project because throughout the entirety of the body of a vertebrate animal–human included–the bones are the strongest portions. They provide a scaffolding on which the rest of the animal is built, and they remain long after flesh and sinew have gone away. Likewise, although generations of people come and go, the desire to connect to something greater than one’s self and to engage one’s intuition endures. Through bones we can speak with our evolutionary ancestors; through divination we create patterns that help us make sense of the world around us–and the worlds within.
Finally, whether you're able to back this campaign or not, please help spread the word! Use the share tools that IndieGoGo provides. Post a link on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and elsewhere. Email people you think would be interested. Contact alternative, art and other media sources who may be interested in covering what I'm working on here (I have a press release available if you need it!) The more people who know about this campaign, the merrier--and the stronger the Tarot of Bones will be!
Thank you to all of you for your help,
Lupa
http://www.thetarotofbones.com
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