Between Worlds is an inquiry into what it means to be human — a template to pursue both the known and the mysterious.

Neither tarot nor oracle, Between Worlds is something else entirely. Rooted in archetypal frameworks and intuitive wisdom, the deck is an invitation into a realm between the inner and outer, the upper and lower, the physical and spiritual. Perhaps a more accurate name would have been “Among Worlds,” for truthfully, the cards pull you into a dynamic, poetic world of multiplicity. 

  • "The Beginning is lost;
    the End stretches into eternity.

    Don’t bother with them, they’re all irrelevant.

    And since all is really nothing,

    then nothing is truly everything."

    —

    Farid al-Din “Attar” Nishapuri

    The Conference of the Birds
  • between-worlds-3401.myshopify.com image
  • between-worlds-3401.myshopify.com image

The Concept: Inquiry, Archetypes, and Birds

Birds have always had a central place in my formal art practice, and I knew this deck would be rooted in their world. I felt I had no choice in this. Birds are profound symbols across cultures and histories. They are messengers, ancestors, and travelers between realms. Their fluidity between the terrestrial and the celestial lends them a unique vision and an innate freedom–things I have always wanted for myself.

The structure of the deck drew from archetypal frameworks, particularly those found in spiritual texts like Attar’s The Conference of the Birds and Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching. I wanted to create a deck that would feel both timeless and contemporary, a tool for reflection that spoke to universal truths while leaving room for personal interpretation. The deck’s categories—Valleys, Aspects, Guides, Wisdoms, and Universal Forces—reflect this vision, offering a layered cosmography of experience.

Mirror and Medium: The Role of AI

I am an artist and designer, as well as an educator of both disciplines. I think constantly about what makes a powerful image, and how to control for that. But part of the genesis for Between Worlds was an interest in the collective, archetypal, and uncontrollable possibilities of generative AI. I approached this not as a replacement for traditional artistic techniques, but as a collaborator—a partner in exploration. Using written prompts, I began by asking the program to generate imagery that reflected specific ideas or feelings. I moved between the representative and the abstract, combining prompts and inquiries like “a luminous bird in a surreal desert” and “a sense of unity among discordant beings.”

The results were often surprising—sometimes startlingly aligned with what I imagined, sometimes wildly unexpected. This unpredictability made the process even more engaging. What did I need to see reflected in the image? Where was I willing to be surprised? Working with AI felt like looking into a mirror, or perhaps a kaleidoscope: it reflected fragments of intention, cultural memory, and randomness back at me, demanding that I sift through the outputs to find resonance and meaning.

Refining the Images: Layering and Collage

The raw AI outputs were the starting point. Rarely did an image emerge fully formed or ready to be used as a final card. Instead, each output was a fragment. A tile in a future mosaic. It was the process of combining, refining, and transforming these fragments that the cards truly took shape.

For many cards, I pulled elements from multiple outputs, weaving them together to create images that spoke to the themes that emerged as I worked. Sometimes this involved layering several images, collaging them into a single composition. Other times, it meant isolating a single detail—a wing, a beam of light, a pattern—and using it as the foundation for further edits.

Ethical Considerations: Questions of Influence

Throughout the project, and even still, I have thought deeply about the ethics of generative technologies. Tools like the one I used are trained on vast datasets, often “learning” from the work of countless artists. It doesn’t copy directly. Instead it “learns” through diffusion—absorbing patterns and structures and mapping out billions of data points. This all raises complex questions. 

Given the diffusion method, how do we frame the program’s role in the creative process? Would generating something entirely new through statistical probability absolve it from concerns of direct appropriation? And if diffusion isn’t copying in the traditional sense, then is it closer to how humans learn—through observing, synthesizing, and iterating? Or is that comparison too generous? How does this process differ meaningfully from how artists, myself included, have historically borrowed, referenced, and remixed cultural materials? I can’t help but wonder: Are these ethical dilemmas fundamentally new, or do they echo older debates about appropriation, capitalism, and exchange in art?

Ultimately, this project didn’t provide answers to these questions—it deepened them. Will I be using AI in future creative projects? Likely no. But the tension between the tools we use and the choices we make as creators is an evolving conversation, one I believe all artists engaging with AI must consider. The ethics of creation, after all, are not just about the final product but about the intention and integrity of the process itself.

The Deck as a Whole: A Tool for Reflection

Each card eventually found a home inside a broader system–a context, a landscape. I decided to create a set of categories that each touched on a different dimension of our lived experience. Between Worlds thus becomes more than a collection of cards; it’s a space for inquiry, connection, and an exploration of each of these realms.

The deck’s categories are: Valleys, Aspects, Guides, Wisdoms, and Universal Forces. The Valleys represent overarching chapters or themes in our personal journeys, while the Aspects (placed within specific Valleys) offer glimpses into everyday moments, challenges, and choices. The Guides act as archetypal energies, offering support and perspective, while the Wisdoms invite stillness and contemplation. Finally, the Universal Forces remind us of the larger, cosmic energies that shape our lives, grounding us in a sense of interconnectedness.

Still, there’s also an element of the unknown woven into the deck. Between Worlds does little to prescribe answers. The cards are tools for reflection, not solutions. While its symbols and categories are carefully considered, the act of using the deck transforms it. Each reading becomes a conversation between the cards and the person holding them, shaped as much by the reader’s inner world as by the deck itself. Meaning is thus co-created in the act of looking, asking, and interpreting.

At its heart, the deck is an embrace of mystery. It honors the liminal spaces where clarity and ambiguity coexist, where answers may dissolve into new questions. This may sometimes be a tool for predicting the future or solving problems; but mostly it’s a companion for the curious, the contemplative, and the seekers of deeper truths.

Authorship: It Just Isn’t About Me

By now, you may have noticed something unusual—my full name name doesn’t appear anywhere. This was a deliberate choice; not for secrecy—but for creating space.

The deck was designed as a tool for reflection, connection, and exploration, and I want it to stand on its own. By leaving my name off the site, I aim to keep the focus on the cards themselves and what they evoke, rather than on the creator (or the assumptions and narratives people might attach to them). By putting some distance between me and the deck, I hope that it can belong more deeply to all of us, and to you, the reader.