Just found this video in which Bea Nettles explains how she came to create, between 1970 to 1975, the first photographic and photo-collaged Tarot deck. A friend knew Bea Nettles and told me about the deck, so I was able to get a copy when it originally came out. It’s great to finally see the creator of this landmark deck. Follow the link to buy the updated version of the Mountain Dream Tarot.
This game is known as Le Tarot, Jeux de Tarot, Tarocchi, Trumps, Tarock, etc. These are the most basic rules; hundreds of variations exist. It’s easy and a lot of fun. Hands move quickly. Skill derives from play that maximizes points.
The Game: Tarot is a trick-taking game that can be played with two to six players (usually 3 or 4). The cards otherwise known as the Major Arcana or Trumps are a permanent Trump suit. Read the rest of this entry »
The original video I had here is no longer available on YouTube, but I found a second Tarot episode from the same soap. The deck that appears in this episode (see first 2:30 minutes) is the Sacred Circle Tarot by Anna Franklin and Paul Mason (Llewellyn). Kevin, the disgruntled querent, says to the reader: “Maybe you should try to predict more cheerful futures . . .”
The video I posted earlier featured the Enchanted Tarot from Amy Zerner and Monte Farber.
Using the Mythic Tarot to diagnose those pesky car problems: “There’s no way I’d think of touching a car without consulting the cards.” Those Welsh really understand what’s important on this and the other planes. Thanks to Val on Readers Studio NING.
A reproduction of a poster by Pamela Colman Smith is available at ebaystores:
POLISH RELIEF FUND POSTER VIRGIN OF CZESTOCHOWA 1008 or here.
Pixie’s initials can be seen in the lower left corner and the similarity to several of her cards is apparent.
The poster is from 1915. Pixie was a friend of the Honorary Secretary of this Fund, Miss Laurence Alma Tadema (daughter of the artist).
The reproduction is 10.5″ x 16.5″ and printed on 100 lb. glossy stock—suitable for framing.
Thanks to Holly Voley for telling me about this at BATS.
Here is a look at BATS (San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium) in pictures. I understand this was the biggest one yet with over a hundred people at the one-day Saturday event and around fifty at the Sunday Salon. A big thank you to Thalassa and the Daughters of Divination for another wonderful symposium. Here’s the newlyweds: Thalassa & Rydell (courtesy of Arnell Ando).
Read the rest of this entry »
This is the simplest, yet best, tarot game I’ve tried. I learned it in 1982 from David Quigley, creator of “Alchemical Hypnotherapy”.
It’s a great dinner party game that can be played by people who know nothing about tarot in that they are asked to free-associate about the images and symbols on the cards. A knowledgeable tarotist can act as guide and add insights and possibilities, but the ideal is to encourage each player to talk about what they see in the cards and in the other players. (Some shorter “ice-breaker” variations are described in the Comments.) Read the rest of this entry »
In my talk at the Los Angeles Tarot Symposium (LATS) this past weekend, I asked participants to draw three cards that would predict something specific that would happen to them within the next week. They were to get suggestions regarding what this might be from other tarot readers at the symposium and write these down. Then I asked that they watch what actually happens and what most relates to these three cards over the next two or more weeks (timing is not one of tarot’s best features), and report back here in the comments section of this post.
I invite anyone else who wants to “play” to comment here. Please state:
- what three cards you drew,
- the specific prediction made for the following week,
- and then tell us how these three cards most relate to what actually happens.
Feel free to come back later and add anything else to the comments section that seems relevant down the road.
Thanks to Barbara Rapp-Geerling and The Crystal Cave in Costa Mesa CA for making this event possible.
Here’s a photo showing one of the moments missed if you didn’t attend this year’s LATS (please come next year). A great time was had by all with many talks on the theme of happiness. From the left: James Ricklef (see his self-published deck Tarot of the Masters), Thalassa, and Sandra Thomson (read an interview with her) click on their names to find out more about what they’ve contributed to tarot.
When does a traveler stand concurrently at both the beginning and the end of his journey . . . ready to embark, yet puzzled by the dust of travel already on his shoes?
from The Last Days of Madame Rey: A Stephan Raszer Investigation by A. W. Hill.
The answer can be found in the comments section. Don’t look until you think you’ve got the answer.
Went to hear Coleman Barks read poetry last night. It was food for the soul! I was especially struck by the first poem he read—“The Water You Want”—from Rumi. It began
“Someone may be clairvoyant, able to see the future, and yet have very little wisdom,”
which, of course, caught my attention.
The poem speaks of a man who sees water in a dream and, still in the dream, convinces others to follow him toward this mirage, when all along he is sleeping next to a river of pure water (ultimately no further than the blood in his veins). This points up how we live in a dream, and we are advised to:
“Give up subtle thinking, the twofold, threefold multiplication of mistakes. Listen to the sound of waves within you.”
To me this speaks of the paradox inherent in reading tarot, where we miss seeing the, often simple, import; we miss the sound of waves within. Nevertheless, I sometimes let myself wander in the dream, drawn by a mirage or two or three. In the case of The Best Cities for Singles reading, I even encouraged several people to wander along with me. Yet, there is a point when I wake to the rhythmic pulse of the water within (of which such poetry serves to remind me).
Without the dream and without the peregrinations, I may never have come to know the pure water for what it is. The tarot takes me through a labyrinth, a winding in and out, back and forth, to reach a center that is no further than the next heartbeat, yet known all the better for the journey to it. Yes, I lie next to the water I want, but I value it more for having followed the mirage, and knowing that, too, for what it is. Photo: Walking a Chartres-style labyrinth with friends.
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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