Tarot Boxset, 'The Son Tarot. Mysticism, Meditation and Divination for Gay Men'.

Chris Butler is a local gay artist, born in 1967. He grew up in Warrington in a fairly non-religious household, but went to a radically conservative Christian school from the age of five to 16. As a teenager in the 1980s he had gay relationships but remained firmly in the closet. Unable to accept being gay, he turned to radical religion but later rejected Christianity altogether after being exorcised and forced to attend 'gay curing' classes. He later joined the Radical Faerie Movement and began to practice tarot reading and developed a tarot set for gay men. This tarot deck was made by Chis in 2012 and was dedicated to his former partner, Simon. "Creating the artwork for this deck and writing the book were both important parts of my journey towards self acceptance. By exploring what each individual image would look like if populated by gay men, I was, without realising putting myself at the heart of each card. The Tarot images are powerful archetypes of human nature and experience so the figures on the cards became my blue prints and my role models as I explored what it was to be a healthy, fulfilled gay man. This is a deck that celebrates masculinity and that particular brand of manhood that proudly flies the rainbow flag. It's about being who you are and valuing every minute of it." Chris Butler, 2017