The Black Tarot — Victoria Iva
The stock is the first thing you'll notice picking these up. Da Brigh prints on 350gsm Caidie art paper with a plain matte finish, rounded corners, and black-dyed edges, which is heavier and better-made than most decks in this price band. It holds up under repeated professional use rather than softening after a season of daily draws.
What you get
- 78 cards, standard tarot size, 4¾" x 2¾" (120 x 70 mm)
- 350gsm Caidie art paper, matte finish, rounded corners, black edges, black border
- Companion booklet with upright and reversed meanings for all 78 cards
- Card weight 9 oz (255 g) as published
- New, factory sealed
- ISBN 9780986089152, Da Brigh, Raleigh, North Carolina
- Shipping weight: .64 lb
About the deck
Victoria Iva illustrated all seventy-eight cards in black, grey and white. The work is heavy on chiaroscuro, with light used sparingly enough that when it appears it stands out. Iva names the Northern Renaissance revival as the tradition she measures herself against, and the deck shows figures emerging from deep grounds, with hard-edged light and an emphasis on the human body under pressure. Card titles are set in white type across the bottom, so nothing is left for you to guess at mid-reading.
Structurally the deck is Waite-based and easy to pick up cold. The Major Arcana keep their traditional names and numbering with Strength at VIII and Justice at XI. Courts are Page, Knight, Queen and King. Three suits are Cups, Swords and Wands. The fourth is renamed Spheres, standing where Pentacles usually sits, carrying earth and the material world.
The booklet opens with an introduction to reading, an explanation of the arcana and elemental attributions, a three-card past-present-future spread, and a suggestion to journal your way through all seventy-eight. Each card then gets a meaning, a short note describing what's happening in Iva's specific image, and separate upright and reversed keyword sets. The interpretations themselves are built on Arthur Edward Waite's, modified and expanded by Philip Young, PhD, with the symbolism notes written to Iva's artwork.
Da Brigh also hosts the booklet as a free PDF download.
Box art has changed across print runs, so the box you receive may differ from the photograph.
Provenance & tradition
Da Brigh is an independent tarot publisher based in Raleigh, North Carolina, working with a roster of illustrators rather than producing licensed properties. Iva is a working graphic illustrator who takes commissions across multiple publishers.
Who this is for
Shadow work, grief work, and any practice that goes toward the difficult material rather than around it. Readers who want a monochrome deck for its focus, without color pulling attention. October and Samhain-season reading. Professional readers who need stock that survives a full festival weekend. Anyone who already reads Rider-Waite-Smith and wants a darker face on the same bones. Beginners, since the guidebook gives upright and reversed for every card.
