New Majors-Only Tarot Deck from Artist Emily Carding Features Imagery from the Country of Montenegro

Online, November 9, 2010 (Newswire.com) - With traditional Tarot decks - featuring Western European cultures, religion, and imagery - crowding the market, artist Emily Carding instead searched for the unexpected. Drawing inspiration from a tiny country bordering the Adriatic sea in Eastern Europe, her Tarot of the Black Mountain, will be published by Tarot Media Company in Spring 2011, is an exciting new major arcana Tarot deck that echoes the dramatic, mountainous region and rich Slavic culture that thrives there.

Mixing the complex history of the area with more modern touches, such as the shiny silver span of a contemporary bridge, Carding acknowledges the complex relationship between our daily life and our past ones. Likewise, she incorporates the rich variety of nature in the region - the aforementioned mountains as well as the sea, forests, meadows, and cliffs - with examples of architecture, religion, and historical figures from the area. Her artwork is vivid and dramatic, with lively brushstrokes invoking the feel of a luxurious stretch of beach on one card and a post-impressionistic take on an earth goddess on the next.

Carding happily shared her excitement about the upcoming release. "Tarot of the Black Mountain contains some of my best work and I am so delighted that it will finally be reaching a wider audience through Tarot Media Company. My research into the country of Montenegro opened up a world of inspiration in the magical landscape and bountiful, varied culture. It truly was a gift to work on, and I'm so grateful to Lena Ruth Stevanovic, the Montenegrin author who originally approached me to create this deck for the original and very limited Montenegrin edition."

Carding continued enthusiastically: "The original edition was a set of tiny cards on pull-out sheets...now we will really be able to see the detail in the artwork, bringing the myths, landscape, architecture and culture of this unique place to life through the gateway of Tarot."

Carding is a renowned artist and is best known for her Transparent Tarot deck - featuring illustrated transparent cards which can be layered for a multi-faceted, deeper reading - which took the Tarot world by storm in 2009. She has also created the Transparent Oracle (2010), and has an additional deck, the Tarot of the Sidhe, also in the works. Her artwork has appeared on book covers and magazines, such as Towards A Wiccan Circle, from Avalonia Books. She's been described by writer Ari Berk as a "mad-woman-visionary-artist...If this were the 13th century, she would be the old lady that lived on the outskirts of the village who might be seen dancing about the ancient stones by moonlight in her underwear." Carding seems halfway fae herself, with her pixiesh charm and fairy tale home in Cornwall, England where she lives with her husband and daughter.

"Working with Emily is an absolute delight", states Anastasia Haysler, President of Tarot Media Company. "Having the good fortune to present a work by an artist as talented as Emily, with her boundless creativity and enthusiasm for her work - and her love of Tarot - is truly a pleasure."

About Emily Carding:
Emily Carding is an internationally known and beloved creator of magical Tarot and Oracle decks, including the Transparent Tarot, the Transparent Oracle, and the forthcoming Tarot of the Sidhe. Ms. Carding lives in Cornwall, England, where she finds inspiration in the rich and ancient folklore of the area.

About Tarot Media Company:
Tarot Media Company provides mainstream production and distribution of works by Tarot authors, artists, and scholars. By managing the business of Tarot for our authors and artists, we provide them with an opportunity to send their work out into the world and to receive a fair and reasonable return for their creative efforts. By not having to manage the business of Tarot, they are able to concentrate on their writing, art, and scholarship, furthering the quality of Tarot resources available to everyone interested in the subject.