LUX Book of Sonnets - a sonnet for every card in the Marseille tradition
Most tarot books explain. This one writes poems instead. Linnea Gits composed an original sonnet for each card in the LUX tarot deck, rooted in the Tarot de Marseille. No keywords, no step-by-step instructions, just fourteen lines per card.
Published by Uusi, the studio Gits runs with illustrator Peter Dunham, this book draws directly from the same linocut artwork that forms the LUX tarot cards. Those images appear here as black-and-white plates, paired with the hand-typed sonnets.
What you see on the pages
Each spread shows a black-and-white plate of a linocut from the LUX deck, with the hand-typed sonnet alongside it. The linework is raw and expressive, quite different from the polished digital illustration common in many contemporary decks. The hand-typing gives the poems a crafted, almost personal quality on the page.
The book measures 15 by 15 centimetres and runs to 126 pages on premium paper. Small enough to sit beside the cards, and substantial enough to read as a standalone object.
What this book is not
There are no spreads here. No keywords, no reversed meanings, no instructions. This is not a reference book for someone learning the fundamentals of tarot.
Those who already know the LUX deck get another layer: how Gits translated each card into language. Those who read the sonnets without owning the deck read them as poetry grounded in the Marseille tradition.
Read the sonnet for a card you have just drawn and notice which line stays with you. The poems are short enough to read in one breath, but dense enough to sit with afterwards.
About Linnea Gits
Linnea Gits writes and co-founded Uusi. She works at the intersection of visual art, poetry and symbolism. For LUX she translated the archetypes of the Tarot de Marseille into the sonnet form, a classical structure of fourteen lines with a fixed internal logic.
Specifications
- Pages: 126
- Language: English
- Publisher: Uusi
- Author: Linnea Gits
- Edition: First edition
- Dimensions: 152 x 152 mm
- Binding: Paperback, perfect binding
- Paper: Premium paper
- Printing: Printed and bound in the USA
- Illustrations: Black-and-white plates of linocuts from the LUX tarot deck
Questions we often get
Do I need the LUX tarot cards to use this book?
No. The sonnets are written for the cards, but they also read as standalone poems about the Tarot de Marseille. Owning the cards is not a requirement. That said, knowing the linocut images does add a further dimension.
Does the book include card meanings or instructions for reading tarot?
No. This book contains only poetry and images. Anyone looking for card meanings, background on the Marseille tradition, or spread instructions will not find them here.