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“For in truth, this story begins not with bones in a Parisian graveyard but with a deck of cards.
“The Devil’s Picture Book.”
—from Sepulchre, p. 5.
Kate Moss, author of Labyrinth, has written a new novel called Sepulchre about the lives of two women who are linked through a tarot deck. Here Kate Moss discusses her use of tarot in the novel. You’ll find other video discussions of the work at youtube. You can see the eight tarot cards created for the deck here and an explanation of how the characters relate to the cards here.
Added: I finally finished Sepulchre and don’t even feel like writing a review of it. The core idea of an original deck linking two women across time was interesting and the evocation of 19th century France was okay, but ultimately none of the characters was particularly likeable and the ending was meaningless. Moss really needed someone to ask her, while she was still writing, what the point of the story was, as ultimately it led nowhere.
Ciro Marchetti, creator of the Gilded Tarot and Tarot of Dreams, has just released the final version of his video introduction to his new deck, Legacy of the Divine Tarot. This deck features an entirely new approach in that it is based on a short story about the demise of a people through a planetary catastrophe and the seeding of their wisdom throughout the galaxy—a message carried down through the ages. The video was created as a project by students at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. You can see sample cards at Marchetti’s website.
Like getting your history from a visual medium? Here’s one of the best brief video overviews of early tarot history out there, despite the incorrect prounciation of the Italian (not French) word tarocchi (correct: “tah-ROH-key”)—plural form of one of the oldest names for the cards, which is still used in Italy. However, when it comes to the later occult and divinatory tarot, videographer Mark (tokarski21) couldn’t resist falling into the occult-as-Devil trap. This is really too bad for someone who professes to deal straight with history. Mark promises to delve more into the subject later so I hope he gets better sources (me!?) and treats the subject with more historical objectivity. Catch up with Mark’s other videos here and here.
. . . With my gypsy ancestress and my weird luck
And my Tarot pack and my Tarot pack . . . (at minute 1:43)
See more Sylvia Plath videos here (then search on her name).
Added: It turns out that the original manuscript of Sylvia Plath’s book, Ariel, was ordered according to the Tarot and Qabala—with the first twenty-two poems associated with the Major Arcana and the next ten with the ten pips and sephiroth followed by the four ranks of the Court and then the four suits. This ordering is now apparent in Ariel: The Restored Edition (2004). All of this is explained in an article by Julia Gordon-Bramer for the journal Plath Profiles. Download a pdf of Gordon-Bramer’s article here.
There’s a professional video biography of Aleister Crowley available in 5 parts on YouTube – here. Despite a few attempts at balance, it strongly emphasizes the most shocking and depraved aspects of Crowley’s life and works. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there’s nothing about tarot in the film.
To get the other side, and perhaps erring on the side of sweetness, try this commentary featuring Lon Milo DuQuette – here.
Check out these art exhibits featuring the art of Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris – here.
Frieda Harris’ alternate versions and sketches for the Thoth deck can be seen here. Harris’ use of Synthetic Projective Geometry and friendship with Olive Whicher is here. A bio of what little is known about Frieda Harris is here. (Note: Harris spent her most of her last years in India.)
A collection of the letters between Crowley and Harris regarding the creation of the Thoth deck are available here.
A feature film on Crowley written by musician Bruce Dickinson is scheduled to open this month. In this supernatural occult thriller, the spirit of Crowley possesses a modern Cambridge professor (Simon Callow). I don’t know if there is any tarot in it. See the trailer (which I’ve heard is better than the movie):
Added: the official website – here.
Hear Bruce Dickinson talk about making the film here.
Read a review of the film by Ivor Davies here (warning: spoilers): “This is the crux of the problem that this film has – just what would someone possessed by the late Aleister Crowley do all day long? ‘Sex and murder’ unfortunately is this film’s disturbing answer.”
An interesting article on how Crowley has been fictionalized in literature can be found here.
Jodorowsky is, perhaps, best known as director of the cult film El Topo. He has been a life-long student of the Tarot and worked with Phillipe Camoin to restore lost details to the Marseille deck, as described here. Jodorowsky wrote a major work, La Via del Tarot, which is only available in Spanish and French. You can also see him on many You-Tube videos, but not in English. This video lecture, with interesting graphics, has English subtitles which makes it great for the rest of us who want to learn from this tarot master.
Chicago Public Radio “This American Life” features a 12 minute audio essay “Act Two: Bar Car Prophesy” in which
Writer Rosie Schaap tells the story of how she ingratiated herself into the adult society of the Metroliner commuter train bar car as a teenager. She would cast Tarot card prophesies for riders, in exchange for beer. This was fun and made her feel grown-up, until the cards showed her something she wasn’t really ready to see.
Listen to the free streaming audio 
here. This episode starts at minute 22:00 (that magic tarot number!); the tarot material at minute 25:00.
Rosie Schaap is an editor and writer at Guideposts, an inspirational magazine started by Norman Vincent Peale.
Check out this interview I did in 2006 on the Tarot, hosted by Paul O’Brien, on his Pathways Radio program (out of Eugene, Oregon), now available as an MP3 Podcast. There’s stuff about how I got into Tarot, a bit on the history, an overview of the court cards and much more.
While there you might want to check out some of Paul’s other interviews.
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
Mary K. Greer's Tarot Blog 
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