Elvira Talks Creating Her Debut Tarot Deck in Our Exclusive New Interview
There’s no shortage of celebrity wellness and mindfulness brands out there right now, from Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, which currently offers everything from Vedic astrology sessions to psychic vampire repellent sprays, to a steady stream of influencers promoting crystals and cleanses online. But very few have thought to place their own likeness on a set of tarot cards. Except, of course, the Mistress of the Dark herself, Elvira—aka Cassandra Peterson. And if there’s anyone I trust to guide me through the unknown, it’s the woman who’s spent years making the darkness fun and irresistible.
With the launch of the Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Tarot Deck, Peterson isn’t simply joining the metaphysical-slash-spiritual boom. As the sexy horror hostess and cult icon Elvira, Peterson has always existed in that space in some capacity, even if it looks less like a minimalist wellness studio and more like a velvet-draped dungeon.
“Through my work, I’m no stranger to the occult and its adherents,” says Peterson. “Tarot has such a rich history through the centuries, and has long been an interest of mine. This project has been in the making for a while, and has come together perfectly with all the collaborators involved.”
The Elvira Tarot, now live on Kickstarter for a limited time at an exclusive introductory price, is a 78-card set illustrated by legendary horror illustrator and children’s book author, Gris Grimly. It comes with a guidebook by Renee Watt, a leading expert on astrology, tarot, and witchcraft.
As someone who’s used tarot for years to make decisions, check in with myself, and entertain friends (and admittedly, many, many dates), I know from experience that selecting a tarot deck isn’t nearly as simple as going online or to a new age shop and just getting one off the shelf. Years ago, when I was selecting my first deck, another shopper stopped to tell me that I should let my spirit choose, not my eyes. She was definitely right—I still use that deck regularly and find it to be the most comforting—but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using your eyes to select your deck. And not only is the Elvira Tarot gorgeous, but it also captures the magic and playfulness that made her an icon in the first place.
“There are a lot of decks out there and I think getting [one] that you really connect to is super important if you’re going to be doing readings,” Peterson tells me over the phone. She’s joined by Watt.
Everything from the cardstock (“I think we looked at 12 different ones,” says Peterson) to the artwork was carefully considered.
“[Gris] really kept the integrity of the deck and the symbols, but added Elvira’s personality and vibe into each card, which is a really tricky mashup. It’s also really fun to see the character and different colors and costumes that reflect a different archetype,” Peterson explains.
My favorite card, The Empress, features the Mistress of the Dark nonchalantly lounging on a red sofa, Gonk the poodle at her side. The Lovers card finds Elvira very cozy in the arms of her skeleton lover. The Hanged Man is by far the most humorous of the bunch—Elvira seems quite content, even amused, that she’s upside down. It reminded me that seeing a card that looks negative doesn’t always mean that it is negative. Sometimes, you have to surrender control and embrace the unknown. Bonus points if you can make sexy.
While Elvira the character has always lived in the shadows, Peterson admits her own personal tarot journey started, like many of ours, with teenage curiosity and no previous study.
“I decided I was going to start reading tarot when I was about 14 or so,” she says. “I think I read the pamphlet and then I went out and started doing tarot readings, and I kept pulling the Death card. I would say to my friend, ‘Oh, wow, you’re gonna die soon!’ So, I really didn’t have a grasp of it, but I’ve always been really interested in it.”
Peterson prefers to leave the interpreting to Watt, whose guidebook helps readers interpret and better understand the cards. Watt’s own introduction to tarot happened as a young girl as well. “I have a sibling about 10 years older than me…he had a girlfriend and I looked up to her. She brought over a tarot deck one day. This was around the time The Craft was happening, so I was already interested, but I really didn’t think about it as something I would have access to. So I saved my allowance and she took my sister and I to a new age store and we both started learning together.”
I couldn’t help but tell her how much that mirrored my own life, especially since I passed down my own interest in divination and the occult to my sister, who is 12 years younger than me.
“[Tarot] brings people together,” Watt says. “It really does.”
Watt recalled a reading she received just before moving to Los Angeles. “[The reader] pulled the Magician card and told me, ‘You’re going to meet a magician in LA, and he’s going to open doors for you.’” Soon after moving, Watt walked into an occult shop where the owner asked her if she’d like to do readings there. It was through that shop that she’d meet her fiancé, and eventually, Peterson—a match made in the stars if there ever was one.
While this is the first time Elvira has entered the tarot sphere, Peterson is certainly no stranger to the lifestyle world. Earlier this year, she released Elvira’s Cookbook from Hell, a spooky collection of recipes and spooky party ideas that have turned her into a sort of domestic goddess of the dark side. Will there be an Elvira version of Goop one day? That might be a question for the cards.
“Elvira comes from a place of the occult,” says Peterson. “I think anybody who is into tarot and anybody who likes Elvira will be very happy with this.”
Categorized: Interviews
