Bright splashes of vivid watercolor and a colorful cast of gender-queer merfolk give Llewellyn's soon to be released Seaborn Kipper deck a unique, seaside vibe. Most closely resembling Lenormand, Kipper is a 36-card divination system with origins in 19th-century Germany. Its direct nature makes it a powerful tool for garnering clear insights, and it can be useful to those seeking to understand present influences as well as future probabilities. The project is a joint effort between Thomas Witholt and Siolo Thompson, creators who have completed several other tarot, oracle, and Lenormand decks. Further honoring the spirit of collaboration, both creators answered a few essential questions about the Kipper system and more specifically about their project, Seaborn Kipper.

Why would a modern querent choose to work with a Kipper deck when we have an unprecedented number of tarot, oracle, and even Lenormand decks available to choose from? What does this relatively unknown system have that more mainstream counterparts lack?
Thomas: "Kipper cards tell a story about what's coming up in your life. With Kipper, you see the interaction of cards, a current of causes and effects that help you make the most of the potential in front of you. As with other divination systems, it gives you a glimpse of the possible future, but it specializes in flow. The cards create a scene or a story as people, places, and experiences come together to paint a clear picture. And because of the sequential and causal nature of the cards, you get to see not just opportunities and problems, but also the sources or influences around those opportunities and problems."

Siolo: "The fluid nature of the Kipper system was definitely a driving force behind our decision to create this deck with an ocean theme. Much like a body of water, our lives are influenced by myriad elements and cannot be understood as an isolated narrative. Kipper takes the holistic view and will often speak of the other people in your story."

Will a Kipper reading give you information about other people in your life or those adjacent to you? Does this system operate on the premise that, "Everybody's business is your business?"
Thomas: "While you may (or may not!) have certain ethical guidelines about reading into other people, Kipper is designed to show you how key players will be flowing in and out of your life. It's a way of seeing how other people may or may not be involved without losing sight of what you can control: your own life. Kipper includes cards that represent important people in your life, and your readings will show you where they're creating waves that could give you a little assistance or that might crash into your own intentions. If they're not involved, you'll see them at the edges of your reading, but if they are, Kipper will spill the tea.

What is an example of a Kipper card that in a reading may represent a person adjacent to the querent or someone affecting the querent's situation? Are archetypes employed in kipper as they are in tarot? And more specifically, how are these characters depicted in the Seaborn Kipper deck?
Siolo: "Kipper is a product of 19th-century parlor culture. Salons or parlor gatherings were generally the domain of upper or upper-middle class "society ladies," and aside from amusing themselves with card games, word play, and so on, their intent was often to display wealth, network, and find suitable matches for their progeny. And thus, Kipper decks are traditionally weighted towards a very gender-binary, class-conscious, mariage-motivated paradigm. Even now, the few Kipper decks that are commercially available trend toward Victorian imagery. That antiquated ethos is exhibited in the cards themselves—cards such as Rich Girl, or Young Good Lord. Thomas and I wanted to bring the deck away out of that gendered, Victorian shell. With each card we aimed to find the essential qualities the card represented, and where possible we separated that from gendered language and imagery. Rich Girl became Playful One, for example, highlighting the levity and insouciance of youth and privilege. And Young Good Lord, in Seaborn Kipper, is Ambitious One, and though he does present as rather masculine, I gave him quite a lot of rouge, which I think looks quite fetching."

Thomas: "The directness and everyday nature of Kipper cards speaks to your everyday experience, and with the Seaborn Kipper, you're bound to find yourself represented in lovely underwater form. The Seaborn Kipper was designed to be inclusive with updated titles to remove unnecessarily gendered references and extra significator cards to represent you and your primary partner (in love, business, underwater basket-weaving club, or whatever the concern of your reading). And the artwork lovingly captures a range of faces and bodies that will invite you to see yourself in this beautiful underwater world."

Siolo: "As first time artistic collaborators, Thomas and I were very pleased to quickly find common ground in our mutual commitment to the representation of diversity. Seaborn is a deck that celebrates the vast and fluid nature of the human experience—not just in regards to gender; we also chose to celebrate a plethora of shapes, sizes, skin colors, etc. Watercolor felt like the logical medium for the artwork, as it further expresses that fluidity that we set out to highlight."

Are you able to use Kipper in a predictive capacity? What other utilities does a Kipper deck have?
Thomas: "There is a current to time, and you're on it with Kipper, which makes it great for unambiguous, future-oriented readings. But that forward momentum doesn't mean that you can't also use Kipper cards for exploring the present moment and what may be influencing how the present is playing out. This may include the past, but Kipper helps you focus on how the past is affecting the present, not something you are powerless to change. And in the Seaborn Kipper, we've helped you connect with the cards in the present. The guidebook includes reflective questions for journaling or deeper understanding of the cards and how their concepts may be relevant, as well as affirmations to help you bring in the energy of the cards in an affirming way, even the tough ones!

However you want to use the deck, there's an easy point of entry—a tidal pool, if you will—and a seamless way to deepen the experience whenever you're ready. And trust us that you don't have to stay in the shallow end for long. We've lost count of the number of people who have said that they tried a grand tableau of all 36 cards for the first time with Kipper after only a month or two. For whatever reason, it's just so much less intimidating than other systems.

And if you're ready to try Kipper for yourself, we hope you find the waters of the Seaborn Kipper to be warm and welcoming. We do.