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In 1935 the British magazine and book publisher Tomson-Leng produced a set of “Tarot Fortune Cards” that were given away to the readers of “My Weekly”—a women’s magazine. This unusual set of 79 cards (including this verse) is partly based on the Rider-Waite-Smith deck but with some significant differences, especially in the suit of Rods [Wands], which owe some of their symbolism to designs published by Eudes Picard in Manuel Synthétique & Pratique du Tarot (1909). The suits are Rods, Cups, Swords and Pence, which, according to Picard, correspond to Fire, Air, Water and Earth‚ respectively, which is why so many Swords cards have water and Cups cards have a butterfly as an air symbol. The Fool is numbered 21 and comes before The World.
This deck is also notable for being chaste and family-friendly with no nudity. The The LWB [little white booklet] is one of the most interesting and original works from this period, having spreads that I’ve never seen elsewhere. None of the spreads list individual position meanings. There are card interpretations for both upright and reversed orientations and often special meanings when the card appears near one or two other cards.
Here is a “reclaimed spread” from the 1935 booklet: Read the rest of this entry »
Phantasmaphile Presents: Layered Orders: Crowley’s Thoth Deck and the Tarot, a personal narrative by artist Jesse Bransford, at Observatory, 543 Union St., Brooklyn.
“In an image-soaked personal narration Bransford, whose research-based artwork has delved into many of the territories Crowley sought to unify, will discuss some of the basic concepts of Tarot symbolism, returning to Crowley’s deck as among the most total example of the cards’ syncretism and as the most controversial.”
Bransford is a Master Teacher and Undergraduate Director at New York University where he has been teaching since 2001, as well as a member of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism. See some of his Tarot and Qabbala-based art here.
Thanks to John Coulthart and his blog, { feuilleton }, where you’ll find an interesting article on the art of Pamela Colman Smith.
If anyone from here goes, please post us a report in the Comments section.
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I know that tarot web oldtimers will be thrilled to hear that Diane Wilkes’ website, Tarot Passages, has been resurrected by Diane, with new deck and book reviews, links and a monthly spread. Those who haven’t been there before—do yourself a treat and check out all the great resources.
The site was originally started in the mid-1990s by Michele Jackson as Michele’s Tarot Page and then expanded when Diane Wilkes took over and it became Tarot Passages. For many years it was “the source” for what was happening in tarot—on the web, in publishing and through conferences. Diane also created the concept for The Jane Austen Tarot (Lo Scarabeo) and wrote the book – a real tour-de-force of Austen research, involving all the favorite books and characters.
Welcome back, Diane! We’ve missed you.
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I highly recommend this interview by Arlene deWinter with Paul Huson.
Long ago (1971) Paul wrote a book on tarot called The Devil’s Picturebook: The Compleat Guide to Tarot Cards: Their Origins and their Usage. It was one of my earliest tarot books and gave me a better sense of the true tarot history then most other books of the time. Along with his Mastering Witchcraft, I got a rich sense of classical and pagan witchy lore out of a more sophisticated European sensibility than was usually found in the U.S. Read the rest of this entry »
Probably my favorite tarot music video. How many cards can you find in “The Wheel” by Roseanne Cash? List them in the comments.
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I’m so excited. My Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Tarot Set has arrived from U.S. Games. The book of Pixie’s art is delightful—full of colorful images and showing a full range of her work, including a couple of pieces from late in her life. Waite’s Pictorial Key to the Tarot (included) is the same-old book in a new cover but with no pictures (huh?). The postcards are great to have—a very nice bonus. Read the rest of this entry »
More and more tarot deck creators are creating “trailers” promoting their tarot decks and posting them to YouTube. Here’s a couple. Let me know about ones you like and I’ll post more. Read the rest of this entry »
Tanya (Marlene Dietrich), a cigar-smoking brothel-keeper, refuses to read the cards for Detective Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) in the film noir masterpiece, Touch of Evil (1958; re-edited/restored 1998). The music is “Tanya’s Theme” by Henry Mancini. It looks to me like a Swiss 1JJ deck.
Check out other tarot media appearances here.
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Pre-Raphaelite artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s first published poem, “The Card-Dealer,” was based on a painting by Theodore von Holst (1810-1844) called “The Wish” or “The Fortune-Teller” (1840). The poem, which epitomized Rossetti’s fascination with the theme of the femme fatale, was inspired by the painting that he described as being of “a beautiful woman, richly dressed, who is sitting at a lamp-lit table, dealing out cards, with a peculiar fixedness of expression.” In his poem, the woman (Death?, La Morte, in Rossetti’s Italian) plays with men as she plays with the cards, which, we are told, represent the heart that craves the more it feeds, the diamond that makes even the base seem brave, the club that smites, and the spade that digs a grave.
Read the rest of this entry »
Mary K. Greer has made tarot her life work. Check here for reports of goings-on in the world of tarot and cartomancy, articles on the history and practice of tarot, and materials on other cartomancy decks. Sorry, I no longer write reviews. Contact me
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