Our latest interview is with Nils and Nadine from Hidden Realms Publishing, the creator of the Wisdom of Ancient Egypt Oracle - an oracle deck that will take you on a journey through one of the most powerful civilizations in the history of human kind: The Ancient Egypt. The illustrated cards feature the most well known and important deities, gods, goddesses, pharaohs, monuments and symbolism of the Old, Middle and New Kingdom. Dive deep into the Wisdom of the ancient Egyptians and discover how they can guide you in the present.
Hidden Realm Publishing is an indie publisher from Berlin, Germany, specializing in tarot and oracle decks
Kickstqrter - Wisdom Ancient Egypt Oracle
Where in the world do you call home?
First of all, my sister Nadine and I want to thank you very much for your interview request.
We both live in Berlin at the moment, but Nadine has also lived in Brisbane for a year and really enjoyed her time there. Australia is such a beautiful country! Where do we feel at home? I think that both – me and my sister are lucky to feel at home everywhere in the world. The world is so big and has so many beautiful places.
What was your first experience with tarot / oracle and when did you fall in love with it?
Oracle cards, tarot and astrology were given to both of us in the cradle so to say and that's why we both started quite early with it. I think I had my first deck when I was 15 years and Nadine was only 12. There was always a deck of our mothers lying around somewhere in our house and of course that made us curious.
What made you want to create your own oracle deck? What was your inspiration?
You know, if you deal with decks a lot, I think the desire comes almost by itself, especially because we both constantly equip ourselves with new indie decks. Nadine just confessed to me the other day that she urgently needs a new cabinet for her decks because she has no more space and if I'm honest, it's the same for me. As we both share the same passion for tarot and oracle decks – it didn’t take us long to decide that we wanted to create something together.
What would you say is unique about your deck?
I think the spirit with which we have created this deck is something special. When you start to deal with millennia of history, gods and pharaohs, this magic of fascination quickly jumps over to you. Also, it was and is important to us to provide the buyers of "WISDOM OF ANCIENT EGYPT ORACLE" with a great, high-quality deck with lots of details and extras and I think we did that. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank every single supporter and backer. Without your help, this would not have been possible! Thank you so much.
How long have you had the idea for the deck for and how long has it taken you to create it?
The first time we talked about it was in the summer of 2019, I think it was in June. As children, ancient Egypt fascinated us in an inexplicable way: the pyramids, the Nile, the wonderful temples, and all the imposing statues. The mysterious and magical culture that existed more than 4,000 years before us and who has left us such a remarkable cultural legacy filled with knowledge and spiritual wisdom. On several trips to the land of the pharaohs, our enthusiasm grew steadily and when we first started discussing collaborating on an oracle deck project together, we both quickly realized that it should be an Egyptian themed deck. All in all it has been a little bit more than 2 years including the completion which will start soon and this project will reach fruition in June/July this year.
We are living in such crazy times. How has the pandemic affected your creativity?
Everything in the universe has at least 2 sides I think and the fact that we found the possibility and time to fully concentrate on our project due to numerous and sometimes long lockdowns has definitely had a positive effect. A deck of 50 hand-painted cards takes a lot of time and also a detailed guidebook is not written overnight. So for the creative phases, the pandemic hasn’t been that bad, but of course, we both hope that things will go back to normal as fast as possible, for all of us.
What have been your challenges in creating this deck?
In fact, there have been some challenges. When you start to get into the mythology and history behind ancient Egypt, you quickly realize that there is a lot of information out there and some of them differ from one another. The reason for this is probably simply that we are dealing with records that are several thousand years old.
Why do you think Ancient Egypt is so fascinating to so many people?
We both think that the magical and mythical time of ancient Egypt inspires and interests so many people. Not only that the Egyptians were already a fascinating and advanced high culture - the buildings, the masks, the temples and pyramids - I myself was several times in Egypt and I can assure you, it is simply fascinating. In addition, already in ancient Egypt, about 4-6 thousand years ago, astrology was practiced - and this must be appreciated, right? Since we couldn’t really find an ancient Egyptian-themed oracle deck – there are certainly some wonderful decks out there - we have decided to change that.
How will you celebrate when the deck is finally published?
To be honest, we haven't really thought that much about celebrating yet. Right now, our work is still in full swing, and we're cheering every day as we look at the current numbers from our Kickstarter campaign. I think we will meet for dinner afterward to celebrate what we have accomplished. But first, there's still some work to be done.
What is on offer for people who pledge?
Our supporters during the campaign and also our customers after the Kickstarter phase can look forward to a high quality oracle deck. In addition, there is a comprehensive guidebook in two different versions and also many extras that you can select, such as the limited card deck with the gilded edges, beautiful altar cloths and much much more. And last but not least, there is a special price for our Kickstarter backers.
Nils & Nadine
To add the wisdom of Ancient Egypt to your collection:
Kickstqrter - Wisdom Ancient Egypt Oracle
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