Tarot Deck Spotlight: The Carnival at the End of the World.

Written By Callum Veitch

The Carnival at the End of the World deck and Madame Lulu’s Book of Fate Guidebook

I’ve been a tarot reader for many years, and during that time I’ve had the privilege of working with lots of different tarot decks. I’m sure you’re also aware of how easy they are to collect! But there is one that has always stood out to me as my favourite deck and the most valued member of my collection. I knew when I first put my hands on its thick, glossy card-stock and gave the cards an introductory shuffle that this deck would be a close companion for life.

The Carnival at the End of the World is a unique tarot reading experience. Conceived by the Masters Orlofsky and Falke of the Truppe Fledermaus, AKA artists Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick, the deck presents an artistic vision combining tarot iconography, traditional folkloric elements, and an environmentalist political message. When I first found this deck on the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic’s online shop I was immediately struck by the stark, otherworldly beauty of the illustrations. The colours are often muted and there is no frivolous embellishment wasted on backgrounds or borders. Many of the figures featured in the cards have a sort of washed-out, watercolour feel to them. And yet, the designs in this deck possess a potency that many commercially produced tarot decks seriously lack.

The Insubordinate Arcana

The tarot deck is accompanied by “Madame Lulu’s Book of Fate”, a playful guidebook that channels the feisty spirit of one Madame Lulu to produce some truly unique card interpretations. Novice and experienced readers alike will gain new and surprising insights when using the deck and guidebook together, not least from the 6 extra cards specific to this deck dubbed “the Insubordinate Arcana”. I found the addition of a whole new arcana to the traditional major and minor arcana to be a bold move, but a risk that very much paid off. As their name suggests, they defy any other categorisation and really shake things up when they appear in a reading. They each have an ambiguous and totally specific personality, giving the experienced tarot reader some exciting novelty to look forward to.

Each and every card of this deck  presents an image rich in small details, allowing for high levels of nuance to be gained in a reading. While some of these details can be seen in traditional Rider-Waite-Smith decks, the artists haven’t been afraid to go off-piste and offer new interpretations of cards that traditionally get a bad reputation. For example, this deck contains my favourite depiction of the Tower that I’ve seen. A giant being formed of stacked high-rise buildings looms over a green vale, an uprooted tuber plant in one hand, a tall sunflower in the other.

The deck’s unique depiction of the Tower

Much meaning can be gleaned from just these two elements; a sometimes violent uprooting of your circumstances can be required to allow for new growth, but growth is an inevitability. Madame Lulu speaks of why might one wish to build such a bold structure as a tower: perhaps as a considered effort to take up less ground space and be a beacon of isolated study; perhaps as an exercise in pride for the fragile ego to compete with the very trees around him. Her description warns that either way, lightning will come, but your original intent and your pride will determine whether that lightning brings destruction or inspiration.

This deck was an ambitious artistic project that, in my opinion, has been realised spectacularly well. While the cards are fun to read on their own, the “Book of Fate” is what allows this tarot deck to truly shine, providing the reader with a uniquely immersive experience when read together. See below for some links to check out this deck for yourself.

Callum Veitch
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