Behind the scenes of the Oracle of the Lady of the Shadow

There are impulses that should not be underestimated, as they will likely lead you to places as adventurous as they are unexpected...

It's summer 2020, and a group of friends are gathering at home. The idea is floated: "Do you want to create our own oracle?!"

Occultism, it seems important to me to point out that for a very long time, I deliberately left the door to the invisible worlds tightly closed, padded. And despite the "anti-leak" coatings that I had taken care to fix between each gap, they would open at key moments. Then bam, I would slam the door in their faces, reassuring myself of their non-existence as best I could! Especially with regard to the deceased and divination.

It was a long process of agreeing to let go at my own pace, of letting come to me what presented itself, of bringing a touch of nuance to these certainties that had taken root in the very fertile ground that can be generated by unfortunate experiences mixed with modern rationalism. You see?

Peeling back one's own layers is a necessarily engaging and conscious process.

Creativity, your condition as a human being means that you too are endowed with this "power". You are therefore not unaware of how long it takes to find your own artistic identity, to weave this common thread that will allow you to develop. What interested me in creating was of course learning techniques, but above all authenticity, sincerity, the message transmitted. This search, I think, goes hand in hand with our own development, with also seeking out what our own guts are made of. You pull yourself up to the heights, while rummaging, stirring, unearthing your depths.

Then, over time, I found my creative anchor: mixing beauty and death, trying to overcome taboos and prejudices, highlighting diversity (human and non-human).

Hop, let's go back to our summer 2020, to the day when we said to ourselves "ok, let's make our own oracle!" We started by agreeing on the character we wanted to give to this object, aesthetic like a cabinet of curiosities and on what was important for us to convey, an oracle that was easy to use, accessible to as many people as possible, that could be used as much on the side of divination, as in introspection and psychology. We defined together a list of words that would constitute the essence of the cards. From that moment on, it was a real buzz! Very intuitively, I went on to put words into images. I took little time off. I didn't want to miss anything that was presented to me, nor betray anything.

After 6 months spent in my cave, in a very introspective and slightly crazy energy, I raised my nose for 5 minutes while realizing that this project had taken strange root in me and that it was important that it succeed.

My initial colleagues being busy with their own personal projects, I decided to go looking for a new partner for the writing work. I needed someone to respond, something concrete, and a shared passion. Then, hop, I met Solène, aka Nyx Tarot. After a few somewhat timid exchanges, I received her first texts and then, it was clear that I wanted to work with her! I really fell in love with her writing, her universe, and her energy. It was a perfect fit! I produced the illustration, and she would draw a written interpretation from it. And sometimes, it was the other way around. It was as if she took care to round, polish, and cut the rough stone that I gave her according to its veins and roughness. She managed to add nuance to my somewhat brutal illustrations. We were on the same wavelength when it came to bringing together shadow and light, defining a musical atmosphere, rather rock for each card, and proposing a tool borrowed from our styles and identities, certainly, but accessible. It was from there that I really let myself go in the choice of the designs that I was going to propose. I felt sufficiently in harmony with Solène to let my blunt and rebellious side express itself more. I certainly didn't want to mince my words in what I proposed. I also didn't want to worry about what would please or not, but rather what would speak to the greatest number of people in authentic terms.

On a technical level, I spontaneously turned to pointillism, also called "dot". I wanted material, contrasts, precision. It's a technique that requires a lot of time and attention to detail. There's something very rhythmic about this technique; you create a flow through the repetition of the gesture. This plunges you into a very particular state, which I would place between meditation and trance; you are there without really being there. You float in an in-between state while being in action. Your body is static, only your hand sets the rhythm. During this process, which lasted about 9 months, I had the sensation of diving very deep into my depths while being connected to what was happening far above my head. A motionless journey, as wonderful as it was trying.

Then there was the writing of the little introductory tale that I took great pleasure in creating and which was corrected, completed, and remodeled by each of us. The idea was to immerse you in an atmosphere while introducing the three of us, Solène, Geoffroy, and me, incognito.

Then comes the self-publishing phase with all that entails: creating a crowdfunding campaign, finding printers, graphic design, hazards, etc. And what a phase! A mixture of stress and satisfaction.

Finally, after two batches of self-publishing with 500 copies printed, we decided to hand our "sweet baby" over to Editions Animae (Le Duc Editions) to allow it to live its own life...