The Lantern: A New England Folk Oracle set

Anchors Away!
3 days ago – Tue, Sep 29, 2026 at 10:19:03 AM

Hello everyone! 

Laura here - blowing in like this past week's Nor'easter to share a new update with you! 

The Lantern Oracle: 2/By Sea decks are on their way from the printers to the publisher. They are due to make landfall in mid-October and then from there, Stacey and Ken will begin the incredible Round 2 marathon of getting these beautiful decks out to you all. 

Also, here's a peek at the Mother of Pearl finish on the card edges! OMG!

It's been really wonderful seeing many of you in person at recent events: NecronomiCon, Salem Witchcraft & Folklore Festival, Templefest, and Anahata's Purpose (yes, I've been on the road a whole lot the last 6+ weeks!). I love hearing about how you've been connecting with the Land deck and I can't wait for y'all to dip into the Sea deck!

Also, if you're local to New England, I hope you will come out on Wednesday October 14th for the official Lantern Oracle release party taking place at one of my favorite venues: Myrtle in East Providence, Rhode Island. There will be live music, storytelling, dance performances, readings, burlesque, and more! Free to attend, doors at 6:30pm, main happenings from 7-9:30pm (so it won't be a late night!) Dress up as your favorite bit of New England mythology! More details at https://www.facebook.com/events/1035212099506835/ No cover, but tips are encourage for the performers and I'll have some merch for sale as well! I'll be happy to sign your decks too! 

Hopefully the Sea decks will arrive in time for the party, but if not, I do have a sample to share and read from that evening. It's also very likely they'll be here in time for the Witches' Night Out Market on 10/23 in Providence - which again, if you're local, you don't want to miss WNOM! What better way to celebrate fall and Halloween in New England then with some mythic magic!?

Once again, thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm about this project! It's been an amazing journey! 

much love and cider donuts, 
Laura 

How to check your delivery status
about 2 months ago – Wed, Aug 12, 2026 at 01:13:06 PM

Hi everyone! Stacey here.

We are so proud to announce... We did it! We have shipped all eligible "By Land" Oracles to just under 1,000 Backers, and if your package hasn't arrived just yet, it probably will very soon.

If you were due a "Lantern Oracle: 1 if By Land" deck, and it doesn't arrive in the next few days, here's what you do:

1. Ask yourself: Self, did I fill out my survey and provide my address?
2. If yes, then ask yourself: Could I perhaps log back into BackerKit and check status?

How do I check? 

The people who filled out their BackerKit surveys and paid for shipping are the ones receiving rewards. You will know what I mean when I say: after a few days check your BackerKit page. It will show status.

Your BackerKit page will show if your pledge remains unfulfilled or partially fulfilled.

Please do not reply or comment on this update with requests for individual help. (But why not?)

For the official record, we won't be answering the "Where is my package?" comments on this forum anymore. This is not because we're terrible, it's because that information is already here. We love you.

If you are lost, please look to a previous Update—specifically, Update #8 (link here) if you need detailed instructions. Or, write to [email protected] to get personalized assistance, and be sure to know your Backer number on Kickstarter and the email you use on this platform.

If the question is about a damaged package, please email me at [email protected]. 

Comments on Updates can easily get lost in the shuffle and it's harder to help you, and it eliminates your privacy.

Thanks everyone! Blessings and we hope you enjoy your cards.

Stacey

The Lantern Oracles are rising into life!!!
2 months ago – Wed, Jul 29, 2026 at 05:07:19 PM

"By Land" decks are on their way to you...

"By Sea" decks are on the way to the printing house!

As of this evening, we (and by "we" I mean "Ken") packed 700 boxes!! Just about 120 to go!!

The guy is a machine, wow. And I, Stacey, have been hard at work wrangling Laura Tempest's beautiful art + words into the form of an oracle deck and matching booklet.

And today—we managed to wrap it all, double- and triple-check for errors, and seal it with a blessing. We're ready to celebrate except Ken is still eyeballs-deep in packing tape. (Send pizza)

If all goes well, the printing house will have the "By Sea" decks manufactured by the end of August, and then ship them to us by September. We are in a good spot for you to have BOTH your decks by spooky season :)

Thank you for supporting this project! Thank you for your patience as we complete manufacturing on the second deck.

Thanks also to all of you who have received your decks, and taken time to comment on them.

Do Laura Tempest a favor, and post a positive review on Instagram, TikTok or elsewhere if you love them?? You can tag her at @owlkeyme.arts and hashtag it #lanternoracle or #newenglandoracle !! You can also tag us if you're feeling generous: @lapantherestudio 

Love you guys!

Stacey & the team

The first batch of Lantern Oracle decks has LAND-ed!!
2 months ago – Tue, Jul 21, 2026 at 07:33:25 AM

The Land decks... have Land-ed

We were so excited to receive these yesterday afternoon!

And now the hard work of shipping these decks to 1,000 people begins. Thank you all so much for supporting Laura Tempest's newest oracle—actually a set of two oracles— and making it possible for us to manufacture them using the highest-quality materials.

They came out gorgeous.

So what's next?

      How soon will I get mine?
          Have you shipped them out?
                 What about mine, did you ship mine?

The answer to all of the above questions is: we start today, there are a thousand, and we are doing them in batches. A reminder: we are not a warehouse, we are a home-based business with thousands of products in our garage. We ask for your patience. Thank you for sacrificing the immediacy of online shopping for the satisfaction of hand-made and hand-packaged spiritual products.

How will I know? 

The people who filled out their BackerKit surveys and paid for shipping are the ones receiving rewards. You will know what I mean when I say: after a few days check your BackerKit page. It will show status.

Your BackerKit page will show if your pledge remains unfulfilled or fulfilled.

Please do not reply or comment on this update with requests for specific help. (But why not?)

For the official record, we won't be answering the "Where can I find my survey?" question on this forum anymore. This is not because we're terrible, it's because we are packing boxes and it's because that information is already here. We love you.

If you are lost, please look to a previous Update—specifically, Update #8 (link here) if you need detailed instructions. Or, write to [email protected] to get personalized assistance, and be sure to know your Backer number on Kickstarter and the email you use on this platform.

We aim to get all 1,000 packages of the Land Oracle out the door by the end of July, but it's possible we might take longer, and still be working in early August. 

Most "By Sea" Decks Get Shipped Separately

A reminder: Laura only just finished the work on the "by Sea" deck, which means it's not even at the manufacturing facility yet. We have to format them into cards and a book, which takes time. That deck only exists in digital form right now. Please be patient.

What We Are Shipping Now

• The Lantern Oracle 1: by Land
• The land-themed reading cloth
• The sea-themed reading cloth (if you ordered one)
• The commemorative pewter coin
• Stickers
• Bookmarks
• (basically everything but the "by Sea" decks, which ship this Fall)

Who Will Not Receive Two Shipments

• Our European customers (to avoid double-charges of import fees)
• Those who have contacted us by email to request a single, delayed shipment
• Those who simply did not order the "By Sea" Lantern Oracle

If you have a question for us after reading this carefully, please resist the urge to interrupt our packing of boxes, and start by doing the following:

1. Re-read this email and ensure it's not covered.

2. Go back and read Update #8 about surveys. Use the instructions in that email if necessary to get help from BackerKit. Also consider emailing [email protected] 

3. Read the project FAQs, where we already tried to predict what issues you might have.

4. Read the Shipping section on the main project campaign page. It's got detailed information about how shipping is being handled.

If your specific issue still isn't covered, go ahead and email [email protected]. That's me.

And now if you'll excuse me... I GOTTA PACK BOXES! YAYAYAYYAY!!!

(send donuts!)

Stacey

Take a Look-Sea!
3 months ago – Tue, Jun 30, 2026 at 10:30:33 AM

Hello all, Laura here! 

As we await the first deck to make landfall...I've been diving deep into the 2nd deck. 

(I'm sorry, there's just way too many opportunities for puns with these decks lol!)

The art for 2/By Sea is about 60% done, and I'm aiming to finish up the last group and guidebook in the next two weeks. I've made several excursions out to the coast for reference photos. I've taken endless photos of tidal pools, lighthouses, boats, rocks, waves, and well, all things seaworthy! There is a stack of marine/coastal folklore books in my studio that almost reaches my hips. Max (one of our cats) insists on sleeping on the small pile of reference seashells I have. 

As I've focused into the spirit of this deck and discovered even more cool folklore in the process, I've made some adjustments to the categories and expanded the number of them to 7 (which happens to also match the number found in the Land deck). 

The official categories are:
- Denizens
- Sealife 
- Curios & Crafts
- Landmarks
- Vessels
- Provisions 
- Liminal (name still in the works, it's almost there)

This expansion and reconsideration took a while to sort out, but was definitely worth the time and effort. I had over 60 ideas for cards, and really needed to dig deep for what was most potent and symbolic for New England. Now, I feel the deck embodies the folklore of the coastal region as best as it can in 48 cards. 

My revisiting of the categories and cards came after a dream where I was worried that I had put too much cacti in the Land deck. (There are NO cacti in the Land deck, but this was dream logic, so of course there were cacti EVERYWHERE.) 

Here's a photo of my patient partner Nathan on our trip out to Beavertail Lighthouse last week in Jamestown, RI. 

I hope you've enjoyed this little check in. I've got to get back to playing with the water(colors). If you'd like to get really behind the scenes, over on my Patreon (at all paid levels and few freebies) I'm posting 1-2 cards almost daily now as I finish them. You can see them develop from washy bits of color on little sheets of paper into the fully formed images at https://www.patreon.com/owlkeyme - often with little bits of insight and musings. 

Thank you so much for being a part of this journey!

Laura Tempest Zakroff