Throughout time, humans have sought to answer some common questions. Who am I, where did I come from and perhaps the most frequently asked (and most perplexing) what am I here for? From the earliest of recorded history mankind used various methods to try to connect with its spirituality. As the human race has evolved, so too the tools of divination.

While the tarot deck has been around since the early fifteenth century, there is no historical data to support its use as anything more than a card game before the 1790s. While there is much speculation and oral history, the specific details of how it evolved from “The Game of Triumphs” to its current use is not documented, yet evolve it did. The Waite-Smith deck (also known as “Rider Waite”) was created in 1909. For many years it was the only deck available in the United States and became widely popular. While there is truly no such thing as a “definitive” version of the tarot, this deck is still held in high regard. The deck before you is based on the structure and symbolism of the Rider Waite deck.

So then, why a new deck? Because, humans continue to evolve. While the characters of the traditional deck are familiar to many of us, how do they relate to our current state of existence? Most of our life experience lies far outside palatial homes and most of us don’t ride horses or bow to a crown. Modern life has brought about many changes, both wonderful and horrific. We can now easily cure diseases that used to be fatal, but haven’t found a way to prevent the sickness that allows an adult to molest a child. We have methods to keep food edible for years, while the flies crawl over the corpses of people starving in the streets.

Most choose to blithely go through the motions of their lives, denying the sickness coalescing around them. But not all. Some see the truth, and desiring to make some sense of the chaos, search for understanding. They don’t flinch when the view is unpleasant. They seek out knowledge, even when it hurts. To those who would face the darkness with the same eagerness as the light, comes a gift. Do with it what you will, this new evolution – The Savage Tarot.