Welcome to
THE ATOM TAROT
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The Atom Tarot explores a new universal symbology through a reimagining of the 22 cards of the Tarot’s Major Arcana. Each archetype reveals signs and patterns to cultivate internal reflection and help orient readers to achieve agency through insight.
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​Reimagining the Tarot
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As a tool for predicting futures, the Tarot has for centuries captivated people with its cards that are rich with symbology and cultural motifs.
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The most famous tarot deck, the Ryder-Waite Smith Deck, was beautifully illustrated and co-produced by artist Pamela Coleman Smith. Published in 1909, it is a work of true craftsmanship, containing imagery and concepts that have largely stood the test of time. Smith’s fluid portrayals of gender and sexuality were groundbreaking, as were her representations of power structures and our connections to the spiritual.
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As humanity has evolved and changed over the last century, however, including our understanding of gender, culture, nature and power, a new universal symbology emerges.
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Drawing on archetypes based on different cultures and beliefs, as well as themes of nature, the Atom Tarot explored this symbology through a reimagination of the Tarot’s 22 Major Arcana cards.
“In a world increasingly characterised by polarisation, disparateness and destruction, a new universal symbology and dialogue is essential to unite people with themselves and with each other.”
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Alexandra Ncube and Aura Freeman,
the co-creators of the Atom Tarot
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​If you would like a physical deck, please email info@atomfutures.com
The Art Behind The Atom Tarot
​Aura Freeman is the artist behind the Atom Tarot Deck. Using watercolours, ink and bamboo paper, the artistic process behind the Atom Tarot combines visions with semiotic research to create reimagined symbology and archetypes.​
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Inspiration: Craft As Expression
A key tenet of Atom Futures is that art is a crucial and transformative medium through which to shift perspectives and create more equitable and sustainable futures. It is true of craft as well. Inspired by our year-long residency with Craft Central, a studio and gallery space home to craftspeople of both traditional and modern craft, we began an exploration into the Future/s of Craft. Using semiotics and futures thinking tools, we wanted to understand how emerging concepts of gender, power, technology, culture and nature are expressed through craft mediums, and whether these expressions could be captured in the form of a new universal symbology.
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Craft is not just a technique or process, but a way of living, thinking and representing cultures, identities and belief systems. The contributions of craftspeople have historically shaped our human experience through political, economic and social expressions of craft.
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​The craftsperson who inspired us on this explorative journey is Pamela Colman Smith, an artist who revolutionised the divinatory form of Tarot through her vivid depictions of the human condition. Like many female artists, she did not receive due recognition for her work at the time. But in her cards lie her legacy, a legacy which we honour through the Atom Tarot Deck.
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