The Magic Beans Tarot deck was a collaborative endeavor that manifested over the span of six months back in 2008.

Jonathan Denny and Asa Jones were living in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn with several other artists after graduating from the Pratt Art Institute around the corner. One day they decided to tape some drawing paper on the coffee table and just let it flow. The first result was epic. It evolved like an oracle in front of their eyes. Their styles all blended together in a psychedelic swirl depicting an otherworldly 6th dimensional landscape. They called this “New Texas” based on a dream Asa had of the paradise that awaits us all once we activate our latent super powers (more on that another time). Amazed and invigorated by how well this collab came out, they decided to begin a series. They wanted a theme to build on, and Asa just happened to find his first Tarot deck “The Lover’s Tarot” with two books on the subject in a box, while walking home from the Brooklyn Museum. To him, this was an auspicious gift from the Curb-Side Gods, and he began to give his friends readings while learning everything he could about the symbolism in the cards. The subject of their collaboration was clear, they would illustrate the Major Arcana. Little did they know this undertaking would change the course of their lives. By the time it was completed, around 40 artists had contributed, loosely directed by Denny and Asa. Within a year, they bought their own Epson printer and started making decks. Before they knew it, Asa along with Denny’s “Gangsta Funk” acoustic band “D-Money” formed the “MAGIC BEANS CIRCUS”. Asa was the art director, fortune teller and eventually fire breather, and Denny, Asa’s cousin Leon and Dan “Bernard” Mountain were musician/clowns. They invested (hastily) in an RV named “Rainbow Sparkle Magick” with two powerful fire dancing aerialists they conjured, and they all promptly headed west. This Odyssey led them first to the San Francisco Bay and then to New Orleans where Asa has lived for much of the last decade. These cards began a ripple effect that altered the course of countless lives, and the secrets illustrated into them continue to reveal themselves. After veering into other story lines for 10 years, we are bringing these cards back for this surreal paradigm. The cards are the story of us. The Wheel of Fortune is always turning, We are Kings and Queens, Popes and Priestesses. We are sometimes Hanged Men and often Lovers . Death is ever at our side with the Devil hot on our trail. Judgement stands before us all but The Sun, Moon and Stars forever illuminate our way home. The Fool’s journey never ends, but it does get stranger…

Quevvin Baqun, August 16th, 2020 AD