The Tarot Arcana

This project was suggested and voted by our subscribers.

The series brings to sculpture the Major Arcana in two specular readings : upright on one side, reversed on the other.

Fair warning: these are not “the classical” Tarot Arcana, these are my personal interpretation of the Arcana.

Instead of a reconstruction, think of it as a symbolic translation.

In this project I deliberately moved away from conventions.

These cards borrow meaning from multiple cultures (sometimes faithfully, sometimes freely) using their symbolic vocabulary to express an idea rather than to recreate a myth.

The Hierophant (V)

Where the Hierophant risks becoming mere authority, this one is constructed as access.

Upright, the gate stands clear, and the figure’s gesture is an invitation into the passage: not chaotic revelation, but knowledge transmitted through teaching.

The figure carries an Egyptian priestly register —an Atef-style crown becomes a triple sign of office, and the ankh-like key proposes initiation as a passage into knowledge rather than a barrier against it.

Her face is revealed and her gesture inviting—teaching staged as transmission, not command.

One hand rests on stone tablets, binding her role to preserved doctrine.

Behind her, the passageway stands open, presenting truth as structured, guarded, and attainable.

Reversed, the path collapses.

The figure shifts into the silhouette of a false prophet, borrowing from Slavic–Siberian shamanic textures—charms, pendants, and heavy ritual clutter—only to repurpose them as noise.

Masks layer over the face, turning knowledge into performance, hiding the true identity of the teacher.

The staff twists into a parody of guidance: an emblem of direction that can no longer point.

Books and scrolls are trampled underfoot, and the scattered pages read like a verdict: knowledge is not debated, it is abandoned.