The Millenium Tarot: Tarot of the Four Worlds

Australia is not a country one immediately associates with Tarot cards. However, at least six Tarot packs were created and/or produced in Australia prior to 2014†. The earliest of these was The Millenium Tarot, thought to be the first Tarot pack designed and produced entirely in Australia. It was the result of a collaboration between Susi Chamberlain, the conceptual designer, and Ziba Vilmanis-Westenberg, the artist. A wide variety of cultures, traditions, races and time periods are represented in the imaginative and colourful designs. The card titles are the traditional ones apart from card 0, The Innocent, which replaces The Fool. The extensive booklet includes a full description of every card. The first edition of The Millenium Tarot was published in a limited edition of 1,500 packs of which 300 were numbered by hand and signed in gold ink by the conceptual designer and the artist.

Above: The Millenium Tarot: Tarot of the Four Worlds, designed by Mary Susan Chamberlain, with artwork by Ziba Vilmanis-Westenberg, printed by Sharples Printers, Australia, 1984. 22 cards + 1 extra card + leaflet + 43-page booklet + pale blue silk cloth in gold drop-lid box with paper sleeve. Size: 70 x 120 mm. © Artwork copyright 1984 Mary Susan Chamberlain and Ziba Vilmanis-Westenberg

The box is completely plain (without images or text) so I have not scanned it • See the sleeve • See the leaflet

References

† The Millenium Tarot (1984); Bohemian Tarot (1990); Tarot and You (1999); Garden Path: An Antipodean Tarot (2004); Jordan Clarke Tarot (2011); Nine Lives Tarot (2013).

Kaplan, Stuart R. The Encyclopedia of Tarot, Vol. III. Stamford, CT, USA: U.S. Games Systems, Inc.; 1990. pp 350-2.