While there are many versions of the Tarot deck, the one style and design that is heralded as “the” tarot deck is the Rider-Waite deck with illustrations by Pamela Coleman Smith. In fact, it is the one that I have and use. I chose it because the amount of information about it available online made it the easy choice for my first deck to learn with.



It is this iconic imagery that Belgian artist Alice Smeets chose to recreate in Haiti. As a photographer, Alice has spent many years documenting and even living in Haiti. She partnered with a local artist collective ATIS REZISTANS to pull this off within in the ghetto of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince using only locally sourced materials. All the artists grew up in this atmosphere of junkyard make-do, survivalist recycling and artistic endeavor. The artists often made the needed props on the spot and even used their own previously created artworks if relevant to the spirit of the card.



Now while the images have been created the deck has yet to be made. In fact, it has an active IndieGoGo page (8 days left as of the posting of this article on 5/18/15) where they are still accepting funding. It is over 400% funded at the moment but I highly recommend adding to the pot as the featured perk is the first edition of the full 78 card Ghetto Tarot deck for 32 Euros or about $37 USD, a great price for such a unique deck! And, if you’re wondering why it is called The Ghetto Tarot:

Our idea behind choosing the term “Ghetto” as a name for the deck, is to provoke a discussion around the topic, to have people question their own assumptions about what the ghetto really is and to change the often negative connotation that the word implies in our culture into a positive one.

Check out below for a video below for a look into the creation process and a deeper understanding as to why the word “Ghetto” is used lovingly by the artists and citizens of Haiti.

If you would like to get your own Rider-Waite deck, click here. I know this is to Amazon but this is where and how I got my deck! Yes it is said that it’s best to feel the energy of the deck before you buy but I just set the intention that I will receive the deck that will benefit me most and promptly cleansed and familiarized myself to them (and them to me) as soon as I got them. I use them frequently and I get nothing but positive feedback on my readings.



Thanks for reading and take care!