This signboard measures approximately 1 foot tall and 18 inches wide, mounted on wood a quarter inch thick. A metal bracket is affixed to the back to make hanging simple.

Each wooden signboard is handcrafted at Studio Carnivalia!

This particular Arcane Signboard was in the planning stages for a long, long time before I settled on its design. The tarot expresses a multifaceted narrative, and it took me that long to focus on a particular theme. Like the cards themselves, I wanted this sign to have something to say, something beyond the blunt advertising of mystical services. Primarily, I wanted to show boobies. Therefore this image represents the women of the tarot, women strong, wise, magical and sexy. Consequently I have subtitled it 'Virago.'

The images themselves were altered from the 'Vacchetta' tarot. Designed by its namesake Giovanni Vacchetta, it illustrates the influence of classical art and emphasis on mythology prevalent in 1893 Turin, Italy.

This signboard measures approximately nineteen inches wide and twelve and a half inches tall, mounted on wood a quarter inch deep. A metal bracket is affixed to the back to make hanging it simple.

Each wooden signboard is handcrafted at Studio Carnivalia by the artist, Chas Bogan.

I have often been envious when seeing the signs of local psychic readers. I'm not talking the garish neon variety, but the more original fair that one finds among psychics stylish enough to house themselves in old Victorians--such as pepper the neighborhoods of the Bay Area where I have lived all my life. On more than one occasion I have even stopped in to get a reading, as much to see the decor of the parlor as to learn that for few hundred dollars I could have some dreaded curse lifted from me that I had been woefully unaware was plaguing me.

Aside from an uncanny ability to guess what Simpson's episode will be rerun before I sit down to watch, I do not fancy myself to be psychic, yet that does not mean I cannot display such a signboard, and perhaps such a statement present in my environment might coax latent psychic talents to surface in me.

And if not, I find this sign to be fetching nonetheless. It looks as though it is of another age, and its subject matter is eccentric, and that is the sort of thing I enjoy surrounding myself with. Perhaps you will as well.

This signboard measures approximately seventeen and a quarter inches tall and twelve inches wide, mounted on wood a quarter inch deep. A metal bracket is affixed to the back to make hanging it simple.

Each wooden signboard is handcrafted at Studio Carnivalia by the artist, Chas Bogan.

The earliest record of this magical word appears in the poem 'De Medicina Praecepta' by Serenus Sammonicus, physician to the Roman emperor Caracalla in the 2nd Century A.D. Recommended as a preventative against disease, amulets featuring this word were written in the form of an inverted cone. Just as the word itself diminishes, sympathetically the ailment was expected to fade away.

Like many ancient words, the Etymology of Abracadabra is in question. although several possibilities have been suggested, such as:

-Aramaic: derived from 'avra kedabra' or 'avra K'Davarah' which means 'I will create as I speak.'
-Aramaic: from 'abhadda kedhabhra' meaning 'disappear like this word.'
-Hebrew: 'ha-brachah' meaning 'the blessing.'
-Hebrew: 'avar k'davar' meaning 'it will be according to what is spoken.'
-Gnostic: from one of God's names 'Abraxas.'

Other sources claim the name to be that of a demon or angel.

The powers attributed to this talisman are numerous, athough most hold the purpose to be to diminish the power of something, or someone, if not an ailment then a curse or demonic force. Beyond the ballyhoo of prestidigitators, this name is also said to weaken an enemy's energy to the point of death. Often it is used as a protective talisman, and to enhance that connotation I have given this version the shape of a shield.

The word is also thought to be of numerological significance. Influenced by this latter school of thought the sign board presented here draws from the power of eleven, present in the eleven-pointed star featured at the top, and the numerals 11x11 at the bottom (which have a significant role in several occult traditions, often representing the pillars of Tubal Cain through which one passes to reach enlightenment).

The word itself, while rooted in an ancient occultism of the sort that often inspires me, has a connotation that evokes flamboyant hocus-pocus such as I adore. Unlike my more sepia toned signs, I got to play somewhat with color on this one.

Chas Bogan

This signboard measures approximately nineteen inches tall and twelve and a half inches wide, mounted on wood a quarter inch deep. A metal bracket is affixed to the back to make hanging it simple.

Each wooden signboard is handcrafted at Studio Carnivalia by the artist, Chas Bogan.

An old photo of my great grandmother inspired this piece, as well as memories I have of having attended Spiritualist meetings at the local Odd Fellows Hall when I was a youngster.

What I like most about this particular signboard is it's shape. It looks wonderful hanging on my wall, and will be a focus for conversation should you decide to hang it in your own home.

Contiuning to be inspired by falsehood, this design features a 'spirit horn,' such as were once used in the darkened Victorian parlors where early séances were hosted. Such horns were associated with the angel Gabriel, who as Heaven's messenger was believed to aid souls on the other side to communicate to the living. Often a reflective band surrounded the horn, so that in the dark it appeared to float—far enough from the medium that s/he could not be accused of generating the voices that spoke through the horn (although a stiff rubber pipe could easily connect the horn to the medium's mouth, as well as allow for it to seemingly hover in the dark).

The history of trickery and the romance of more mysterious times give this piece a delightfully strange aura. Like a voice from beyond the grave, it is at once familiar and yet not of this world.

Chas Bogan

 

This signboard measures approximately nineteen inches tall and twelve and a half inches wide, mounted on wood a quarter inch deep. A metal bracket is affixed to the back to make hanging it simple.

Each wooden signboard is handcrafted at Studio Carnivalia by the artist, Chas Bogan.

The idea for this sign struck me as I was reading about the ressurectionists (grave robbers) and anatomists (surgeons and scientists).

Corpses were once in rare supply, though much needed by the medical and scientific professions. For reasons religious and cultural too few people were willing to donate their bodies for dissection upon death. This need provided ressurectionists with a thriving profession, and terrified many with the fear that they would be exhumed shortly after their internment. An excerpt from a poem by Robert Southey titled 'The Surgeon's Warning' from the early nineteenth century expresses the fear of an anatomist concerning the fate of his own body.

All kinds of carcasses I have cut up,
And the judgment now must be--
But brothers I took care of you,
So pray take care of me!

I have made candles of dead men's fat
The sextons have been my slaves
I have bottled babes unborn, and dried
Hearts and livers from rifled graves

And my Prentices now will surely come
And carve me bone from bone
And I who have rifled the dead man's grave
Shall never have rest in my own.

To end this fear, it was recognized that a supply of bodies should be legally provided for, so that the lack of demand would prevent the need for thievery. The debate raged concerning who among the populace should have their corpses appropriated. Prostitutes and perverts, assorted criminals, drunkards, suicides, and simply the poor and lower classes were seen by many as ideal candidates, either because while alive they had abused the bodies God had given them, or else because God had not provided them with wealth or breeding in life and so surely must not have favored them.

In 1832 the British Parliament passed the 'Anatomy Act.' This act, still the law of the land to this day, allows for unclaimed bodies to be sold by the churches or hospitals in which they perished. Often, this law applied to the lower classes and various minorities, who otherwise would have been put into pauper graves.

Today, enough people donate their bodies that those of the poor are not in great need.

Chas Bogan

Some of those who liked the design were nevertheless superstitious about having a witchboard in their home, and at their behest I now offer this similar design.

To make this piece unique, significant changed have been made, most notably the addition of a skull and cross-bones featured at the hourglass' bottom, where the sands have run out.

This piece receives its name from Latin, and is interpreted as 'Remember Mortality.' There is an artistic tradition of using this terms, along with iconic images such as skulls and timepieces, to remind the viewer that this life is temporary. Often the message is 'live while you can.'

Another term come to us from this same tradition, 'Tempus Fugit,' which translates as 'Time Flies.' It also is a reminder that our lives are fleeting.

This piece, although admittedly morbid, serves the greater purpose of reminding the viewer that every moment counts.

Chas Bogan

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