Prophecy is tricky. In critical theory, huge quantities of recorded prophecy fall under the category of vaticinium ex eventu, “prophecy after the event,” which is a fancy way of saying somebody jotted down some historical events in a book but pretended it was written before those events occurred. Uncovering ex eventu prophecy is a useful method for dating a document. The trick is to look for the watershed moment when the prophecy switches from accurate to nonsensical. Voila: you’ve uncovered the instant the author stopped relating history and started penning revenge fiction. For two stellar examples, see the Christopher Columbus stuff from the Book of Mormon or the politicking diadochi of the Book of Daniel.

Arcana Prophetia is all about prophecy. The supposedly real stuff, not the ex eventu kind. Designed by the same team that gave us the imperfect but gentle Kawa, this is a gorgeous production that takes cues from tarot decks and splays to weave a story about old and new gods clashing over competing visions of destiny. Metal.

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