Jane Hudson Cuts the Deck
Tarot on the Go
By: Jane Hudson - Sep 02, 2023
Making this deck is a dream come true for me. I have been a practitioner of the Tarot since my 20’s. A lover introduced me to the Tarot and other esoteric practices in the early 60’s appealing to my artistic sensibilities and my love of cosmic mystery. Through many changes in my life I carried on with the practice, using it mainly for self reflection. I never became a reader for others.
I am a painter, a mystic and an adherent of the wonders of sacred geometry. I am also a fan of early modernist uses of geometry (Russian Constructivism) as well as the Spiritualist works of Hilma af Klint and Annie Bessant.
In late 2019 I made a piece (later to become The Chariot) and a friend suggested that I pursue a series based on the Tarot. Up to that point I had not worked in series, allowing myself to explore developing imagery as it occurred to me. Of course when Covid hit, I was faced with isolation and focused studio time, so the project took shape then.
I have to say much of what I produced came to me intuitively, not necessarily in strict adherence to the traditional illustrations or definitions. I was on a spiritual journey that grew in power as I worked through the regimen of the Major Arcana and it’s rigorous demands for honesty, reflection and deep surrender.
This brings me to the current project. Two years ago a little shop opened here in Williamstown, the most westerly town in Massachusetts, offering Tarot readings, crystal and herbal treatments, alternative lifestyle books, teas and a host of other wonderful mystical offerings. This is Wild Soul River. The proprietors, Rebecca Guanzon and Justin Adkins, are remarkable, kind, generous, enfolding folk. They are revolutionaries of culture and gender and invite collaboration and community with open arms. They have given me, and a host of others, a spiritual home, and the chance to grow into our larger selves without judgement.
They were kind enough to offer me a place to show my Tarot paintings, a first opportunity to share this piece of myself with the community. Our relationship has grown into deep friendship, shared spiritual aspirations, and , now, this project of my cards. Therefore, I will be selling the cards through them, sharing in the profits and the joy of our collaboration.