Victorian Oracle Cards
2023
Laser etched 3mm ply wood, designed in Adobe Illustrator
This 12-card deck combines the Victorian era’s obsession with the occult and their love for flower language. Similar to tarot cards, oracle cards are used for spiritual insight. When the user draws from the deck, the card’s meaning may give them an answer to a question or provide them with much needed advice and wisdom.
The process by which the deck is made also reflects the era that inspired it. Although the cards were designed by hand, they can easily be replicated and mass-produced, something the Victorians were all too familiar with as factory-made goods became favored over artisan crafts during the late 1800’s.
It makes us think — does our relationship with spirituality and the arts still hold value if the catalyst can be mass produced?
Lily of the Valley: New beginnings
Rose: An open heart
Honeysuckle: Fate
Daisy: Enlightenment
Bluebell: Faith, an open mind
Aster: Patience
Belladonna: Silence
Edelweiss: Steadfastness
Hawthorne: Hope
Daffodil: Self respect, admiration
Poppy: Breaking cycles
Moonflower: Intuition, perception
Card back
Process
The cards were designed in Adobe Illustrator according to specific laser fabrication settings. The artboard is the exact size of the ply wood on which the laser etches. The black negative space tells the laser where to etch and the thin blue outlines tell it where to cut. Etching and cutting the front and back of all 12 cards takes around 4 hours.
Process video made for Instagram Reels