TEST PLAY INTERNAL v2.indd - Tarosophy Tarot Association

Transcription

Autumn 2014 Vol. 2 Issue 1
ISSN 2040-4328
TARosOPHIST INTERNATIONAL
Innovative & Inspired Tarot for All Professionals & Students
CUSTOM SPREADS
Turn a Question into a Spread
GOLDEN DAWN
A New Dawn for Tarot Studies
50 ESSENTIAL DECKS
We List the Decks You Need!
Tarosophist International
Volume 1 Issue 1
www.tarotassociation.net
Photograph by Viona ielegems, fashion and styling Alex Ukolov and Karen Mahony, Baba Studio - http://baba-store.com
TAROSOPHIST INTERNATIONAL II.1 2014 | 1
CONTENTS
We open the second volume of the magazine with this first issue featuring the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot, along with practical reading methods and our regular columns and articles.
Photograph by Jenna Matlin
VOUME II. Issue 1, Autumn 2014
06
THE ANSWER MAY BE IN THE QUESTION
An innovative method of Tarosophy to turn any
question or situation into a custom-spread for
every Querent, using Clean Lanuage.
08
COLOUR MAGICK OF THE
GOLDEN DAWN TEMPLE TAROT
How did the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn transform the
Tarot from European cartomancy to to a full-on magical system?
19
WARM UP YOUR TAROT HOUSE!
Get your Tarot House going with these Tarot teaching
games!
20
22
24
50 ESSENTIAL DECKS
COLLECTABLE DECKS
WHY LEARN KABBALAH?
What are the fifty decks that our professional readers and students find the
most essential? Do you agree with our
list?
What makes a deck collectable? We discuss some of the rarer decks that may
sometimes appear on auctions!
Seen as an essential part of the student
curriculum in magick, but by others as an
unneccesary complication, what is Kabbalah and why learn anything about it?
2 | TAROSOPHIST INTERNATIONAL II.1
Tarosophist International presents tarot, cartomancy & divination for readers,
students, professionals, artists, designers, collectors & enthusiasts worldwide.
All issues of the magazine are FREE to members of the Tarosophy Tarot
Association at www.tarotassociation.net.
25 THE TOWER IN POETRY
Marjorie Jensen looks at dierent poetic
perspectives on the terrible tower.
30 THE STANDING WOMAN
Dr. Ute Knecktys provides a creative
spread based on the Queen of Wands.
32 THE NEW WAVE OF TAROT
We take a look at the new ways in which
Tarot is being created and produced.
34 CITY MYSTIC TAROT : NYC
Virginia Jester and Chris Hopkins share
their new photographic deck.
36 THE KNAPP-HALL DECK
This classic decks gets a reworking!
37 TRENDING IN TAROT
What are the trends in tarot and publishing news of this quarter?
A PETITE LENOMAND
40 CREATE
03
Katrinna Wynne shows us how to make our
own Lenormand deck - and why we should.
Golden Dawn Temple Tarot (Wendrich ArtHouse)
44
TAROT SCENE WORLDWIDE
We visit Sphinx Tarot in London with an urban vibe!
47 AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
Tanya interviews Lenormand author, Rana George, and discovers why
the Bear is the Bear is the Bear ...!
THE VIEW FROM TAROSOPHY TOWERS
THE MAGAZINE FOR TAROT
When Tarot was first created, it was only for the richest of
families and as a showcase or pastime. What is it now?
When the Visconti family commisioned a deck of tarot cards in around
1451, they would have not expected
to have shuffled them. The gold
gilt-work and almost padded layers
of the cards would have been designed as a showcase only - a piece
of what is now called sequential art.
The idea of a print-on-demand deck
would have been a long way away
- in fact, such technology has only
been available within the last decade.
So we have a huge rise in self-published decks - particularly the Lenormand, which uses far simpler
iconography and has only 36 cards,
just under half that of a tarot deck. It
may be that as this technology becomes even more accessible, decks
start to change. We have already
seen “variant” decks, decks with
“extra” cards, even “booster packs”,
a concept taken from card-games.
Furthermore,
we
may
even
see other concepts borrowed
from online gaming - or decks
which are only available online ...
“Be always on your guard; he who
easily believes is easily deceived”.
Les Amusemens des
Allemands, 1796.
Night Sun Tarot (Lo Scarabeo, forthcoming 2014)
In future issues we will further round-up some of the latest tarot and oracle decks to be published, particularly by members of the
Tarosophy Tarot Association.
NEW DECKS
DECK
REVIEWERS
MARCUS KATZ
Author of Tarosophy, Marcus prefers his decks to be
unique, slightly off-the-beaten path and loaded with
occult symbolism. However,
his favourite go-to decks
are presently the Tyldwick
Tarot, the Lenormand (Original), the Psycards, and the
CBD Marseilles. If anything,
a deck for every purpose!
THE GOLDEN DAWN TEMPLE TAROT featured in this issue, this deck by Nick Farrell and Harry & Nicola Wendrich is perfect
for all esoteric practitioners.
YOU ADEPTI ARE IN THE PATH
OF THE CHAMELEON ...
The Golden Dawn Temple Tarot offers authentic colour symbolism and design according to the instructions of Book T of
the Hermetic Order. The cards are larger sized and beautifully
coloured, with GD-style Minor cards. A larger deck of the Majors has been produced for Temple or contemplative usage.
www.wendricharthouse.com
TALI GOODWIN
A little shy of being pinned
down to any particular deck,
Tali uses the Lenormand,
the Marseilles and the
Waite-Smith as her standby working decks. She is
presently using the Marseille Cats Tarot as a teaching deck in workshops.
WHAT PROFITS IT THE SUN
DOTH SHINE,
HAD I NOT EYES TO SEE?
From the artistic genius and esoteric
research of Fabio Listrani, the Night
Sun Tarot provides a truly occult
deck. The images of the Minors are
coloured to indicate their elemental
qualities at a glance, and the figures
in each support the Thoth-type
symbolism inset in each card.
WIN YOUR OWN NIGHT SUN
TAROT DECK!
With a surreal take on the Thoth deck, combining mechanical figures, occult symbolism, the I-Ching, and a dark tone, the
Night Sun deck is an epic tarot now available from Lo Scarabeo.
Simply send us a brief paragraph of what you liked about the
new style of Tarosophist International and we will choose one
winner to receive a NIIGHT SUN Tarot deck !
Entries to [email protected] by 1st November 2014.
TAROT QUOTE OF THE
QUARTER
TAROT BITES
“Over the last 10 years, Lantz has done a lot of work for a
number of companies, including D.C. Comics, but he said
for people who are looking to get started in the sci-fi art
world, tarot cards are a good way to gain recognition.”
Samantha Madison, The Sentinel Newspaper (May 21,
2014) - used with permission.
TAROT IN THE
NEWS
This quarter, Tarot was prominently
featured in the NEW YORK POST
(September 28th, 2014) covering a
statistical analysis by Walt Hickey.
Hickey, a writer for blog fivethirtyeight.com, analysed statistics for New
York City with regard to relationships
and compared them to a tarot reading he had in Union Square.
His conclusion, using statistics on relationships, job satisfaction, demongraphics, etc., was that “You don’t go
to a tarot card reading to accurately
predict your whole future; you go to
talk about what’s bugging you. The
bonus is that sometimes the reader
is right”.
He also contrasted predictive statements made by his reader against
his own life and liklihood of events
DECKS IN
DEVELOPMENT
- statistically. He viewed her safest
prediction as “meeting a woman with
brown or red hair”, which you may
think is quite a ‘specific’ prediction,
but is actually (statistically) quite
safe.
He viewed her prediction that he
was thinking about leaving his job
as being the most bold, as he did
not feel it likely nor did statistics for
his demographic make it a common
change at this particular point in his
life.
The original research and write-up is
very interesting for all tarot readers,
and quite open-minded in its view.
You can discover the full article at:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/
tarot-card-prediction-statistics/
Our header for this section shows the face
of the Queen of Pentacles in the Tarot
Illuminati, but keep an eye out for the Tarot
Apokalypsis!
Tarot Apokalypsis
A new deck in development from Erik C.
Dunne and Kim Huggens builds on their
partnership which was forged in the last
months of the Tarot Illuminati project.
The deck is being designed in a close collaboration and features mythic deities and
Erik’s strong visual style.
The text written by Kim Huggens is in the
first-person format which proved so spectacular for the full “Illuminati” guidebook.
For more details type “Tarot Apokalypsis”
into your Facebook search bar.
A Tyldwick Lenormand?
Neil Lovell continues to experiment in his
designs for a Lenormand deck, following
his popular Tyldwick Tarot.
You can follow Neil’s online visual musings
on Lenormand by typing in “Tyldwick Tarot”
into your Facebook search bar.
Tarot of Everlasting Day
Work continues on this epic eight-year
project to design three totally integrated
tarot decks, at beginner, intermediate and
advanced level. We are working on Court
cards at present and you can view images
on the Tarot Association facebook group.
PRACTICAL READING
THE ANSWER MAY BE
Photography by Matt Glover © 2014 Used with Permission www.mattgloverphotography.co.uk
IN THE QUESTION ...
“Have patience with everything unresolved and try to
love the questions themselves”. - Rilke
Using Questions as Spreads
“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches,
but to reveal to him his own”.
- Benjamin Disraeli
In Tarosophy we talk about two important principles; incorporation and utilisation. These are taken from the pioneering work
and approaches of Milton H. Erickson, father of modern hypnotherapy. We also talk about Clean Language and metaphor.
Clean language is a system of working with metaphors which was
modelled by Lawley and Tompkins, based upon the work of the
therapist David Grove (1950-2008). This system has been introduced into a diverse range of communications including the work
of many teachers, trainers, coaches, researchers, and the police.
We have applied Clean Language to the process of exploring a question in tarot reading, incorporating the structure
of the question and utilizing it to create a custom spread.
This spread speaks directly to the unconscious structure of
the situation as it is represented by the client in their own
mind. As a result it is incredibly powerful on many levels.
When someone expresses their question, it usually has an
emotional content, and this can be turned into a metaphor by
a specialized but straight-forward series of “clean” questions. It
only takes a minute, and then you have a precise metaphor of
the question against which to design your spread in real-time.
The sequence of questions is as follows, with the essential
sequence highlighted in bold:
Querent: My question is X [including some emotional content, such as “and I’m concerned that I may not make the right
choice”]
Reader: … and your concern. Where is your concern?
Querent: In my head [or Querent will gesture unconsciously
even if they say “I don’t really know”]
Reader: … in your head. Is it outside or inside?
Querent: Inside, in my head.
Reader: … inside, in your head. I’m wondering how you’d best
describe the shape or size of that?
Querent: Well, it’s just everywhere and it’s rushing about.
Reader: … rushing about? And that’s like what?
Querent: It’s like a bull in a china shop, really.
So now you have a metaphor, the bull in a china shop!
Sometimes this will arise even earlier in the question sequence, so you can stop as soon as you have a metaphor.
You can frame the questions in any particular way, following the Querent’s own language. The faster you do it, and
the more you pay attention to their whole communication,
including non-verbal gestures, the more noticeable it will
be that the question suggests its own spread in response.
You can then apply the “Bull in the China Shop” as a reading method.
We will provide an example here, simply using cards to represent
different aspects of the metaphor in relationship to the question.
Let us assume the Querent has asked whether to take an early retirement. They have described their question and given a metaphor
which represents how their worries are rushing about like a bull in a
china shop.
We take the symbols of bull and china shop to quickly lay out a
reading.
1. The Bull cards. What is it that drives the client? [3 cards]
2. The China Shop card: What is it they will gain or lose from
taking early retirement? [3 cards around the Bull cards]
3. The China Card: What will be broken by taking this step? [1 card]
Or any other variant that may strike you at the time of the reading, or
as the Querent explains their question, or as the cards are laid down.
Here are many such individual and unioque spreads that have
arisen from this method:
The Whirlpool Method
The River Spread
The Broken Glass Shards
Crystal Baby
Whilst the titles may be enigmatic or possibly evocative, each of
these readings provided a unique and complling experience for
the querent. In some cases, the reading and the cards reflected
the metaphor even within the symbolism of the card images.
In the case of the “broken glass shards” reading, we read more
into the light passing through the cards and the shadows, than
any of the other symbols being presented.
Be inclusive to your Querent’s own engagement to this process.
In the “Whirlpool” method, two circles of cards had been laid out
to represent how the Querent described the two choices they
were facing. We continued to expand the circles with cards, and
then they sudddenly met in the middle. I said to the client, “I
wonder what happens now” and they replied, “well, we need to
lay out cards to show the interference between the two ripples”.
In this approach, we are using our intermediate experience
to be more responsive to the question in our divination rather than forcing it into a pre-determined spread. It also allows
us to be more flexible and promotes an active dialogue with
the deck and an engaging unique experience for the Querent.
Further Reading
This is Method 71 of 78 new methods for tarot included in Tarot
Twist by Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin, Forge Press, 2013. Available in paperback from LULU press and Kindle from Amazon.
Havens, R. A. The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson. Crown House
Publishing: Carmarthen, 2003.
Lawley, J. & Tompkins, P. Metaphors in Mind. The Developing
Company Press: London, 2003.
Short, D. , Erickson, B. A. & Erickson-Klein, R. Hope & Resiliency:
Understanding the Psychotherapeutic Strategies of Milton H.
Erickson M.D. Crown House Publishing: Carmarthen, 2005.
Sullivan, W. & Rees, J. Clean Language: Revealing Metaphors and
Opening Minds. Crown House Publishing: Carmarthern, 2008.
FEATURED ARTICLE
THE
COLOUR
MAGICK
OF THE
GOLDEN
DAWN
TEMPLE
TAROT
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn took European
Tarot decks and transformed them into a magical system
of colour, symbolism and initiatory significance. Nicola &
Harry Wendrich present us an analysis of the colour symbolism of the Order and its use within their deck designed
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,
founded in 1888, formulated a structured
system of magical study in the Western
Mystery Tradition, which included the
Kabbalah, Tarot, Astrology, Geomancy,
Enochian magic, and Hermeticism. Its
history as an Order is a complex and fascinating story and while it ceased to exist under that name in 1903 (its members
spawning the organizations of the Stella
Matutina and Alpha et Omega), the HOGD
can be considered the original source of
several other Orders which have since
been established to further the study
and survival of these esoteric teachings.
In this 21st century, there exist branches upon branches throughout the world
under many names. One such Order,
appropriately, the modern-day Hermetic
Order of the Golden Dawn, claims initiatory lineage to the original Order through
the late Dr. Israel Regardie, who, along
with Chic Cicero, resurrected this branch
of the original Order in 1977, in Georgia,
U.S.A., following its traditional teachings,
grade structure and ethos. In 1997, Nick
Farrell visited Chic and Sandra Tabatha
Cicero in the US, joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and proceeded
to co-found a Temple of HOGD in the
UK, of which Harry Wendrich became a
member in 2006. It is from within this
Order that the Golden Dawn Temple
Tarot was birthed. [Also see side-box].
The Golden Dawn Temple Tarot is a modern deck resulting from the collaborative
working of a triad. For the Major Arcana,
Nick brought his decades of experience
and research of Golden Dawn ritual and
symbolism to the table. The GD’s Book T
was to be the basis for the symbolic structure of the Minor Arcana although there
was to be some departure from that particular system when it came to the Court
Cards. Harry painted the Major Arcana,
I painted the Minor Arcana, and we met
in the painting of the Court Cards. We
used meditations specifically developed
to engage and communicate with the
archetypal forms and forces within the
Tree of Life, as presented by Edwin C.
Steinbrecher in his book The Inner Guide
Meditation, and proceeded to pictorially translate and incorporate the material
received from the Inner Planes to build
upon the framework provided in the traditional GD documentation. We also found
that, at times, certain relevant information would be imparted in dreams. One
major theme which presented itself via
dreams was the need to revise and update the traditional Golden Dawn colour
assignments to the Tree of Life diagram.
There are differences in opinion in many
areas of Golden Dawn Tarot assignments,
be it the naming and placement of Kings/
Knights/Princes, the subtleties of the colour scales, even the assignment of the
Major Arcana Keys to the Paths of the
Tree of Life themselves, and despite all
the debates and reasons put forward, it
is of our humble opinion that there is no
fixed and hard rule regarding such things:
as was confirmed when Harry enquired
in meditation about W. Gray’s Tree of Life
assignments in The Talking Tree, “The
differences do not matter in themselves
– that which is important when working
with the Tree of Life is one’s intention.”
The Tree of Life and the
Golden Dawn Colour Scales.
The Golden Dawn Temple Tarot is available from
www.wendricharthouse.com
The Golden Dawn Colour Scales exist
today in several forms. From Florence
Farr’s colour tables of the late 1800’s, to
those of Crowley and Regardie, to the
more modern colour tables suggested
by Pat and Chris Zalewski and Chic and
Tabatha Cicero, each have their differences, yet each carries the same intention: to evoke through colour, along with
the other associated symbolisms, the
inherent nature of each Path or Sephira.
Each version shares certain fundamental
criteria, laid out in a Golden Dawn document entitled “Ritual W – Hodos Chamelionis” (or “The Path of The Chameleon”).
Within the constraints of this article, let it
suffice for now to say that there are four
Golden Dawn Colour Scales, consisting
of King Scale, Queen Scale, Prince Scale
[1]
While this project was underway, Nick
Farrell left the HOGD to set up The
Magical Order of the Aurora Aurea
(MOAA) – a modern magical Order which incorporates techniques
drawn from Golden Dawn, Whare
Ra,
and Dion Fortune’s tradition.
Harry Wendrich remained with the
HOGD and thus the Golden Dawn
Temple Tarot, from its publication,
services Temples of more than one
Order: indeed, the deck’s inherent
traditional symbolism, colour magic,
and archetypal influence offers instruction, innovation and ritual use
to a universal service of Temples and
individual practitioners worldwide.
and Princess Scale, which correspond to
the Four Worlds of Emanation, the Four
Hebrew letters of the Divine Name Yod
Heh Vav Heh, and the Four Elements Fire,
Water, Air and Earth, which in turn relate
to the Four Suits of Wands, Cups, Swords,
and Pentacles. The scales are laid out in
a table of the 32 Paths of the Western
Hermetic Tree of Life: the first 10 of which
equate to the 10 Sephiroth, and thus the
Minor Arcana, as shown in the table below.
Referring mainly to Regardie’s and the
Ciceros’ colour tables, the GD Temple
Tarot was painted accordingly.
I began by painting the four Aces with their
white backgrounds, and white flecked
gold for Pentacles, using the traditional
ritual colours for the elemental tools of
Wand (Red and Yellow), Cup (Blue and
Orange), Sword (Yellow and Violet) and
Pentacle (the colours of Malkuth through
the four worlds, consisting of Black, Yellow, Gold, Citrine, Russett, and Olive).
Upon completion of the four Aces I had
a dream in which I was instructed by an
angel to continue painting the remaining cards using only the three primary
colours of Magenta, Yellow and Cyan,
and White on my palette. In so doing, I
would experience the generation of the
full range of colour mixes throughout
the Sephiroth from the magic of mixing
colours from primaries. The process of
such mixing takes a considerably longer
time than selecting a tube of pre-mixed
paint, which, although convenient, denies
the artist/magician a fuller attunement
to the density of each field of consciousness represented within the Minor Arcana.
But wait! Before proceeding any further,
we have to consider the nature of the
three primary colours. We come now to
one of the major components of the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot, which is the updating of the traditional colour assignments
in accordance with modern advances in
colour theory and pigment production.
The
True
Primary
Colours
We know, through the demonstration of
computer printer cartridges if nothing else,
that the three Primary Colours (i.e. colours
which cannot be mixed) are Magenta, Yellow and Cyan (Pthalocyanine Blue). I consider myself fortunate to have been shown
during my days as an art student that Magenta mixed with Yellow produces Red, as,
sadly in this 21st century, Red is still mistakenly taught from primary schools to art
colleges, as being a primary colour (fig. 1).
nine Blue was not discovered until 1935).
It was certainly known about by a few: in
1908, J. Arthur Hatt in his innovative work
The Colorist
published an accurate colour wheel with Magenta as a primary
colour and Red as a secondary colour.
However, the pigment Magenta was at
that time only available in fugitive form i.e.,
it would fade in the light, and thus such
knowledge, as indeed Hatt’s accurate colour wheel itself, would have been pretty
much kept in the dark (pardon the pun).
REF: J. Arthur Hatt, The Colorist;
republished 2010, Kessinger Publishing
Members of the Golden Dawn at that
time would have most likely been familiar with any of several colour wheel
theories
which
inaccurately
pinned
Red as a primary colour, including:
Figure 1: Mixing Red from the Primaries Magenta and Yellow
However, when the Golden Dawn first
published its colour theory over a century ago, the primary colour Magenta was
unavailable as a non-fading pigment (Magenta only became available as a non-fugitive colour in the 1970’s, and Pthalocya-
1. 1666 Opticks by Isaac Newton: the first
colour wheel, with seven segments of the
light spectrum (in which magenta does
not show up), based on the accurate
observation that a prism splits white light
into the colours of the visible spectrum
KING SCALE
QUEEN SCALE
PRINCE SCALE
PRINCESS SCALE
WANDS
CUPS
SWORDS
PENTACLES
Kether
1 (ACE)
Brilliance
White Brilliance
White Brilliance
White flecked gold
Chokmah
2
Soft Blue
Grey
Bluish Mother of
Pearl
White flecked red,
blue, yellow
Binah
3
Crimson
Black
Dark Brown
Grey flecked pink
Chesed
4
Deep Violet
Blue
Deep Purple
Deep azure flecked
yellow
Geburah
5
Orange
Scarlet-red
Bright Scarlet
Red flecked black
Tiphareth
6
Clear Pink Rose
Yellow(gold)
Rich Salmon
Gold amber
Netzach
7
Amber
Emerald
Bright yellow-green
Olive flecked gold
Hod
8
Violet-purple
Orange
Red russet
Yellow-brown flecked white
Yesod
9
Indigo
Violet
Very dark Purple
Citrine flecked
azure
Malkuth
10
Yellow
Citrine, olive, russet,
black
Citrine, olive, russet,
black, flecked gold
Black rayed yellow
Regardie, The Golden Dawn, 6th Edition; p. 95 - 99 Llewellyn Publications, 1989.
(but which however does not translate
into pigment).
2. 1708 Traite de la Peinture in Mignature, attributed to Claude Boutet: the
oldest example of the symmetrical 12hue artists colour wheel, but using Red,
Yellow, and Blue as the primaries.
3. 1755 Tobias Myer: a colour triangle
with primaries indicated as Red, Yellow,
and Blue.
4. 1809:Zur Farbenlehre [Theory of Colours] by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
a double intersecting triangle depicting a
6-segment colour wheel with no magenta or cyan.
5. 1880 Ewald Hering: Six primary colours, coupled in three pairs: red–green,
yellow–blue, and white–black.
6. 1919 Die Farbenfibel (Color Primer)
by Wilhelm Ostwald Die Farbenfibel: a
24-segment colour wheel with Red, Yellow, Blue, and Sea-Green in the quarters.
There are many more examples –
as late as 1961, Johannes Itten in his
Farbkreis taught that Red, Yellow,
and Blue were the three primaries.
Thankfully, in 1996 Don Jusko in his Real
Color Wheel demonstrated how the colours of light, crystals and pigments are
joined, using the true primaries of Magenta, Yellow, and Cyan. Using this information, we we re able to construct the
12-segment colour wheel, shown in fig. 2.
I am deeply indebted to Mr. Don Jusko,
Maui, Hawaii, artist and colour theorist of our modern era, for information
on his website www.realcolorwheel.
com regarding colour discoveries and
theories throughout the ages, and
Figure 2: Wendrich 12-segment Colour Wheel with pigments.
of course, for his Real Color Wheel.
It becomes easier to see why so
colour theories were put forth,
we consider the pigments which
actually available during the
od in history that the theorists
many
when
were
perilived.
1705: Prussian Blue became available
1826: Permanent Alizarin was discovered
1860: Cobalt Violet was made
1909: Cadmium Red was made
1935: Cyan Blue (Pathalocyanine) was
discovered, the true primary.
1970s: Liquitex made a perfect transparent magenta, called “Acra Violet”.
Nowadays, the correct name is Quinacridone Magenta (code PR:122)
Magenta & Cyan in the
Golden Dawn Colour Scales
Given that I had dreamed about the
need to use the true primary colours
in the painting of the Minor Arcana, it
seemed obvious that the first area of
application would lay within the formation of the colours of Queen Scale (in
which the Cups suit are painted and bordered), because within the Queen Scale
table, the colouring of the Sephiroth includes a formula based upon the mixing
of primary colours to make secondary
colours, which are further mixed to produce the colours of Malkuth (see fig. 3).
The Path of the Chameleon eloquently
describes the colours of the Sephiroth
in Queen Scale, and from these descriptions come the colour attributions.
and depth and silence, and yet, it is the
habitation of the Supernal Light.
Regardie and the Ciceros attribute
the Sephira of Binah with Black; Farr
and Zalewski call it Blackish Red
(the logic of which can be deduced
when reading further); the Wendrich
Scales name it Black, which is the colour produced when the three primaries are mixed together. This colour
predominates in the Three of Cups.
Farr, Regardie and the Ciceros attributed Queen Scale Chokmah with Grey,
but as the (Pure) Soft Blue of King Scale
Chokmah is supposed to be mixed with
Grey of Binah to produce Blue pearl
grey, Mother of Pearl/Bluish Mother of
Pearl, we have in the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot attributed Mother of Pearl to
Queen Scale Binah. Thus Soft Blue +
Mother of Pearl = Bluish Mother of Pearl.
to Tiphereth, which the Ciceros shortened to Yellow, being the third primary, with which we concur – Six of Cups.
[Illus. 5, p. 13]
The beams of Chesed and of Tiphareth
meet in Netzach and thence in Netzach arises a green, pure, brilliant,
liquid, and gleaming like an emerald.
Farr and Regardie attributed Netzach
with Emerald Green; the Ciceros renamed it Green for clarity, with which
the Wendrich Scales concur – Seven
of Cups. It is the Green formed at the
mid-point of the mixing of Cyan with
Yellow – the true secondary colour (opposite Magenta on the colour wheel).
The beams of Geburah and Tiphareth
meet in Hod and thence arises in Hod a
brilliant pure and flashing orange tawny.
Figure 4: Ace, Two, Three of Cups: Golden Dawn Temple Tarot
Figure 3: Queen Scale Sephiroth
(Wendrich revision)
In Kether is the Divine White Brilliance,
the scintillation and corruscation of the
Divine Glory that Light which lighteth
the universe….
Traditional GD Scales attribute the term
“White Brilliance” to Kether, with which
the Wendrich Scales concur.
This
placement equates to Ace of Cups.
In Chokmah is a cloud-like grey which
containeth various colours and is mixed
with them, like a transparent pearlhued mist, yet radiating withal, as if
behind it there were a brilliant glory….
In the Wendrich Scales we have attributed Chokmah (Two of Cups) with
Mother of Pearl, which holds the primary and secondary colours within a silvery-grey holographic eect.
In Binah is a thick darkness which yet
veileth the Divine Glory in which all
colours are hidden, wherein is mystery
The Sephira of Chesed, Geburah,
and Tiphareth are written of thus:
In Chokmah is the Radix of blue and
thence is there a blue colour pure and
primitive, and glistening with a spiritual
Light which is reflected unto Chesed...
The traditional GD colour attribution
for Chesed is Blue; we have updated
this to Cyan, the true Primary, which affects the colouring of the Four of Cups.
In Binah is the Radix of Red, and therein
is there a red colour, pure and scintillating and flashing with flame which is
reflected unto Geburah….
Traditionally Red, we have updated
the attribution for Geburah to Magenta, the true Primary, which aects
the colouring of the Five of Cups.
In Kether is the Radix of a Golden Glory
and thence is there a pure, primitive
and sparkling, gleaming golden yellow
which is reflected unto Tiphareth….
Farr and Regardie attribute Yellow (gold)
Tawny is an example of a colour description used in times gone by but less common in this century. It is described as being a brownish-orange colour, from the
Anglo-Norman tauné associated with
the brownish-yellow of tanned leather.
The Orange tawny was shortened to
Orange in Regardie’s Colour Scales,
the colour formed by the mixing of Red
and Yellow. However, with the true
primary Magenta now being mixed
with Yellow, we have in the Wendrich
Scales attributed Hod with the colour of Cadmium Red, a very deep Orange bordering on Red, which we have
termed Red-Orange (again, the true
secondary colour, opposite Cyan on
the colour wheel). This colour is predominant within the Eight of Cups.
The beams of Chesed and Geburah
meet in Yesod and thence ariseth in Yesod a brilliant deep violet-purple or puce,
and thus is the third Triad completed.
Puce is another colour term which is
rarely used in modern language. The
French word for flea, Puce is a brownish purple, or a dark reddish-brown. It is
said to be the colour of the bloodstains
remaining on linen or bed-sheets, even
after being laundered, from a flea’s droppings or after a flea has been crushed.
This is interesting, as pigments were often obtained by the crushing of the bodies of insects – even today we have the
example of cochineal, an insect from
which the crimson-coloured dye carmine is derived (although I have found
no reference to puce pigment being obtained from crushed fleas!) The description of Puce illustrates how in the past
a browning element came from the impure addition of Yellow to the assumed
primary Red, which was then mixed
with Blue to make ‘a brownish purple’.
In fact, with the absence of Magenta
on one’s palette, it is impossible to mix
the most vivid of purples and violets.
Regardie’s colour tables attribute Yesod
with the colour Violet. Violet, as will
be examined in the forth-coming book
A Sephirothic Odyssey, is a somewhat
problematic term, as there is much confusion as to its actual hue. We can safely assume that Regardie mixed Red with
a Blue which was not the true primary
Cyan, to make a colour which was attributed to Yesod. The Wendrich Scales
attribute Yesod with the colour Blue-violet (in pigment terms, Ultramarine
Blue, Red shade). It is the secondary
colour directly opposite primary Yellow,
and may be seen in the Nine of Cups.
[Figure 6, p. 13].
From the mixing of the three secondary colours are the four colours of the
Malkuth Square derived. The Wendrich
Scales have altered the colour attributions of Geburah, Hod, and Yesod,
so we can expect to find further alterations within the colours of Malkuth.
From the rays of this Triad there appear
three colours in Malkuth together with
a fourth which is their synthesis. Thus
from the orange tawny of Hod and the
green nature of Netzach, there goeth
forth a certain greenish ‘citrine’ colour,
yet pure and translucent withal. From the
orange tawny of Hod mingled with the
puce of Yesod there goeth forth a certain red russet brown, ‘russet’yet gleaming with a hidden fire. From the green of
Netzach and the puce of Yesod there
goeth forth a certain other darkening
green ‘Olive’ yet rich and glowing withal.
The synthesis of all these is a blackness
which bordereth upon the Qlippoth.
All previous GD Colour Scales use the
terms Citrine, Olive, Russet, and Black
to describe the colours formed by the
mixing of the secondary colours in
their various combinations. Within the
GD, Citrine is sometimes taken to be
a greenish-yellow colour, and sometimes a yellow-brown. The first recorded use of citrine as a colour in English
was in 1386, and the original reference
point for the citrine colour was the citron fruit. However, it has since been
used to describe the brownish-yellow
colour of the variety of quartz crystal
which bears its name, and this colour
is what we have found in the Wendrich Scales to be the most accurate
form of Citrine. This upper quadrant of
the Malkuth Square takes on the yellow-brown colour of wet sand, something like the pigment yellow ochre.
The Russet colour of the left-hand
quadrant we find has a slightly less
yellow tone to it, as would be expected whenever Magenta replaces Red
in a mix. Such a colour exists in rocks
with iron content, such as red ochre,
which takes its reddish colour from the
mineral hematite, an anhydrous iron
oxide. Significantly, the left-hand position links this quadrant with the Sephira
of Geburah and its attribution of Mars.
The term ‘Olive’ we find to be quite misleading, with its additional description
of dark green. Even with the traditional colours, the mixing of Green with
Violet produces a colour which has
more blue than green (after all, one is
mixing Green (Blue + Yellow) with Violet (Blue +Red), thus getting a double
portion of Blue in the mix. The resultant colour, when making the correct
primary substitutions, is something
very close to black, but of a bluish
shade – the colour of sloe berries, the
colour within mussel shells, the colour
of certain forms of slate when wet, but
not the colour of any olive that I have
seen, and certainly not green. However, in Wikipedia we read that “…Slate
(sometimes called olive) is an equal
mix of purple and green pigments.”
John Lemos, 1920, “Color Charts for the
School Room”, in School Arts, vol. 19, pp
580–584
The Wendrich Scales rename the Olive
quadrant Slate, as Welsh Blue Slate,
when wet, holds this hue. Note, however, that the colour of this quadrant
is not Grey, as it contains no white.
The final Black, the synthesis of all the
colours, is a warm earthy Black, the
deep brownish-black of soil, rich in decomposed matter – quite apt when we
consider that this lower quadrant “bordereth upon the Qlippoth.” Indeed, we
have found that each of the colours
of the Malkuth square exist as colours of the rocks and minerals of the
Earth herself (but not the greening of!)
– appropriate for the Sephira of Earth
[Figure 7, p. 14].
These four earthy colours are used
in the Ten of Cups, and also border
the Court Cards of the Pentacles suit.
The Prince and Princess
Scales
The colours of the Sephiroth of Prince
Scale (in the backgrounds and borders of the Suit of Swords) are formed
in a logical fashion by mixing those
of the King and Queen Scales, eg:
The Amber of King Scale (7 of Wands)
mixed with the Green of Queen Scale
(7 of Cups) produces the Bright Yellow-green of Prince Scale (7 of Swords):
Figure 8 (p. 14):
Amber + Green = Bright Yellow-green
Therefore, bringing Magenta and
Cyan into the Queen Scale also affects the colouring of some of the
Swords cards, eectively Five of
Swords, Eight of Swords, and the Nine
and Ten of Swords, to a lesser degree as we progress down the Tree.
The origins of the Princess Scale
seem to be intuitive rather than rational. Sandra Tabatha Cicero, in her article, “The Chameleon’s Coat: Colour
Theory in the Golden Dawn,” writes:
“I personally believe that the flecked
colors of the Princess Scale are meant
to portray the congealing or crystallizing of the energies from the three
upper spiritual worlds coming into
manifestation in the physical world of
Assiah. It’s also been suggested that
the flecked colors are related to the
colors of certain gemstones, musical
notes, or some other correspondence.”
The King Scale Conundrum
Thus far we have examined the Minor Arcana according to the colours
assigned to Paths 1 – 10 (we allocated
the Court Cards the elemental colours
of Red for Wands, Blue for Cups, Yellow for Swords, and as was noted earlier, the Malkuth colours for Pentacles).
We shall now turn our attention to Paths
11 – 32, which equate to the 22 Paths
which connect the Sephiroth – in Tarot
terms, the Major Arcana. The colours
of all four scales may be found within the relevant Majors Arcana Keys,
but it is in King Scale that we find the
predominant colours associated with
these Paths. There are three main colour formulae within the King Scale
which, when Tarot cards are coloured
accordingly, allows the reader to make
astrological or elemental connections
via the colour symbolism. For example:
• The Paths associated with the 12 Zodiacal signs of King Scale hold colours which
fit to a colour wheel (albeit it an out-of-
Figure 5: Four, Five, Six of Cups: Golden Dawn Temple Tarot
Figure 6: Seven, Eight, Nine of Cups: Golden Dawn Temple Tarot
Figure 7: Malkuth Square Borders in Golden Dawn Temple Tarot
Figure 8: Amber + Green = Bright Yellow-green
date colour wheel). The Cicero Colour Scales bring great clarity to this pattern, as their King Scale colours are named accordingly:
[See table]
MAJOR ARCANA KEY
ZODIACAL SIGN
COLOUR
The Emperor
Aries
Red
The Hierophant
Taurus
Red-orange
The Lovers
Gemini
Orange
The Chariot
Cancer
Yellow-orange
Strength
Leo
Yellow
The Hermit
Virgo
Yellow-green
Justice
Libra
Green
Death
Scorpio
Blue-green
Temperance
Sagittarius
Blue
The Devil
Capricorn
Blue-violet
The Star
Aquarius
Violet
The Moon
Pisces
Red-violet
• The Paths of the Seven Planetary Signs in King Scale hold the colours of the rainbow or electro-magnetic spectrum of light
through a prism:
MAJOR ARCANA KEY
PLANETARY LINK
COLOUR
The Tower
Mars
Red
The Sun
Sun
Orange
The Magician
Mercury
Yellow
The Empress
Venus
Green
The High Priestess
Moon
Blue
The Universe
Saturn
Indigo
Wheel of Fortune
Jupiter
Violet
• The Paths associated with the three Primary Elements of Air, Fire, and Water, in King Scale also correspond to the three Hebrew Mother letters. Here, the worded colour descriptions in the Regardie and Cicero Colour Scales illuminate a dierence
in thought within the Golden Dawn across the board – should these three Paths tonally suggest the elemental colours of Air,
Water and Fire? Or should they carry the three primary colours, according to their status as bearing the three Mother letters?
Regardie followed the colours almost as laid down by Florence Farr (who described Judgement as Glowing Scarlet-orange),
illustrating the elemental nature of these cards:
Card
Title
Element
Hebrew
Colour
The Fool
The Spirit of Ether
Air
Aleph
Bright pale yellow
The Hanged
Man
The Spirit of the
Mighty Waters
Water
Mem
Deep blue
Judgement
The Spirit of the
Primal Fire
Fire
Shin
Glowing orange-scarlet
The Ciceros simplified the colour names with the result of slight changes which place emphasis upon the primary nature
rather than the tonal quality, thus:
The Fool = Yellow
The Hanged Man = Blue
Judgement = Red
In the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot, we coloured the borders of the Hanged Man and the Fool according to Regardie’s tables, but
we used Magenta for the Spirit of the Primal Fire of the Judgement Key, rather than Glowing Scarlet-orange or Red. Initially, we
felt reluctant to make such a drastic change to the established GD colour theory, feeling somewhat like novices standing in the
shadow of Chiefs, which partly explains why, in our earlier publication of the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot Mediation Set (an A5 set
of the Major Arcana with meditation guide) the Judgement border denotes Glowing Scarlet-Orange instead of Magenta (the other
reason being that at that time we had associated this card with Elemental Fire). Only in the final days of completing the 80 paintings of this deck did the pressing point of placing Magenta in her rightful place as Primary for Judgement/Shin lead us to ask in
meditation which colour should be used, and it was confirmed that the Judgement Key should be coloured Magenta because its
title ‘The Spirit of the Primal Fire’ refers to a Spiritual Fire in Man, otherwise known as the Kundalini, rather than Elemental Fire.
So the colouring of the Judgement Key was modified using computer software. (We did not, however, alter our colouring of the
Fool or the Hanged Man.) The two images in Figure 9 show how great a part colour plays in the depiction of energy within a card.
Figure 9: Judgement Key: before and after [Golden Dawn Temple Tarot Meditation Set (left) and Deck (right)]
Introducing Magenta and Cyan as the true primaries aects the colour wheel. Although it was necessary for a new colour
wheel to be drawn up, from which accurate complementary colours could be deduced, we did not feel that this was the time
to alter the colours attributed with Zodiacal signs. Such changes would require testing and meditation prior to application.
Aries would become Magenta instead of Red, which would call for an Emperor card with a Magenta border colour, and this
colour did not seem to fit with the traditional symbolism incorporated within the Emperor Key. We opted instead to increase
the amounts of Magenta in the two adjacent cards of the Emperor and the Moon, and highlight Magenta as the correct complementary colour to the Green of Venus, hence the Magenta-coloured dress worn by the Empress (fig. 10). Additionally, the
colours of text within the borders of the cards show the correct complementary/flashing colour to the main border colours.
Figure 10: The Emperor
and The Empress, Golden
Dawn Temple Tarot
The subject of the Golden Dawn Colour Theory is complex. In this article I have attempted to give an overview of
some of the elements of the traditional GD framework, with an explanation of the subsequent modifications within
the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot. The book A Sephirothic Odyssey: Painting the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot will further
explore the subject of colour symbolism, along with the nature of the elemental make-up within the Court Cards, and
an in-depth investigation into the Paths and Sephiroth of Tree of Life. In the meantime, it is our hope that the Golden
Dawn Temple Tarot deck will inform and delight the reader with its inherent colour magic, touching the intuitive
centres within and bringing something of great value from a remarkable study system into the lives of all who use it.
The Four Colour Scales (the 10 Sephiroth): Wendrich Revision:
KING SCALE
QUEEN
SCALE
PRINCE
SCALE
PRINCESS
SCALE
WANDS
CUPS
SWORDS
PENTACLES
White flecked
gold
Kether
1 (ACE)
Brilliance
White
Brilliance
White
Brilliance
Chokmah
2
Soft Blue
Mother of
Pearl
Bluish Mother White flecked
of Pearl
magenta,
cyan, yellow
Binah
3
Crimson
Black
Dark Brown
Grey flecked
pink
Chesed
4
Deep Purple
Cyan
Deep Violet
Deep azure
flecked yellow
Geburah
5
Orange
Magenta
Red
Red flecked
black
Tiphareth
6
Clear Pink
Rose
Yellow
(Lemon
Yellow)
Salmon
Gold Amber
Netzach
7
Amber
Green
Yellow-green
Olive flecked
gold
Hod
8
Violet-purple
Red-orange
Russet
Yellow-brown
flecked white
Yesod
9
Indigo
Blue-violet
(Ultramarine)
Very dark
Indigo
Citrine
flecked azure
Malkuth
10
Yellow
Citrine, slate,
russet, black
Citrine, slate,
russet, black,
flecked gold
Black rayed
yellow
Copyright © Nicola Wendrich, 2014
Images copyright © Wendrich artHouse 2014
The Golden Dawn Temple Tarot Deck and Meditation Set are available to purchase from www.wendricharthouse.com
Harry and Nicola Wendrich, A Sephirothic Odyssey: Painting the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot; to be published by Wendrich
artHouse
Notes
[1] Regardie, The Golden Dawn, 6th Edition; p. 95 - 99 Llewellyn Publications, 1989.
A NEW DAWN
FOR TAROT.
In this ground-breaking book, you will see for the first time in a century almost one hundred of the original documents and drawings of the Order of the Golden Dawn (founded 1888). The authors reveal the contribution of the Order to the tarot tradition, with
unparalleled access to the archives of the original Order.
With 192 pages and images of the tarot drawn from the sketch books of the members, the book also includes previously unpublished work by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Florence Farr, in addition to new photographs of W. W. Westcott, and new
discoveries of the tarot actually used by the founders of the Order.
A New Dawn for Tarot also includes an image of possibly the only surviving original "tracing board" sized Tarot image used in the
Orders initiation rituals.
With commentary by the authors and images lovingly reproduced in full-size on high quality lustre paper to provide the closest
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TAROT HOUSES
HOW TO WARM UP
YOUR TAROT HOUSE!
With Tarosophy Tarot Houses opening worldwide, you may like to explore some of the
many teaching methods that are unique to our approach. In these two sample exercises,
we play warm-up games that quickly install powerful new ways of appreciating tarot.
1. Alphabet Keywords
2. Ace of Base
Choose a letter such as “A” or “M” and give it to all the House
members, working individually or in small groups if you have a
larger House.
The Aces represent Seeds, they are the “nascent” energy of
their element; the moment even before the “beginning” which is
represented by the Two’s.
Get them to shuffle their decks and select a card.
So, have everyone take out their Aces from a deck. Lay them
out in any order in a row of four cards – if you want a rule, place
the Ace of Pentacles to the left, then in order to the right, the
Ace of Swords, Cups then Wands. [This is a Kabbalistic order
up the four worlds and prepares people who may go on to learn
the Opening of the Key method]
Give them 3-4 minutes to write down as many words as possible beginning with the letter that would match the card.
For example, the letter “S” and the Queen of Wands: Stormy,
Sultry, Sad, Stiff, Stuck-up, Sane …
You may wish to give a small prize to the person/group who
have the most words.
Then shuffle the rest of the deck, (you can do this with a real
question or situation), or do it as a group first before breaking
everyone up into individuals or small groups.
Then pick another letter and ask them to pick another card,
coming up with new keywords for the new card and the new
letter.
Lay out four cards, each one overlapping each Ace. So you
might draw the Three of Swords above the Ace of Pentacles, for
example.
Ask if there was any difference in doing it a second-time. Was it
easier? Harder? Are some cards turning out to be more difficult
than others (like a Major card) and so on.
Read each pair in the same way, starting with the Ace.
Now have them go back with the same letter chosen for the
second card and apply it to the first card.
Ace of Pentacles: “The seed of my resources and health is to
be found in … “ [choose one word or sentence for the other card,
e.g. for the Three of Swords, it would be … “in separating myself
from anxiety”].
You will then be able to show them that they can generate
keywords for any card starting with almost any letter of the
alphabet.
Ace of Swords: “The seed of my education and lessons in life
right now is to be found in …” [describe pulled card overlapping
the Ace of Swords]
You can encourage them to provide an A-Z keyword list for a
particular card as homework inbetween one House gathering
and the next. For example, the Ace of Swords:
Ace of Cups: “The seed of my emotional growth is to be found
in …”
A: Ace, Alert, Ambition (maybe), Attack
B: Bright, burning (maybe), biting
C: Clarity, clear, clean
D…
Ace of Wands: “The seed of my ambition and way in the world
is to be found in …”
From an esoteric point of view, these are the four elemental
foundations of work, and here a single card denotes how we
can work with each “tool”.
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TAROT BEGINNERS
YOUR FIFTY
ESSENTIAL
TAROT DECKS
COMPILED BY TALI GOODWIN | TAROT ASSOCIATION FACEBOOK GROUP
Taking it Up a notch with Tarot Illuminati.
To become truly essential, a
Tarot deck has to work as a
piece of unique sequential art
which is able to be read in a
creative fashion.
UNIQUE
ACCESSIBLE
CREATIVE
In this deck, we see the Waite-Smith
symbolism of Pentacle and Rabbit on the
Queen of Pentacles given a luxurious and
vibrant treatment. These two symbols
were taken by Waite and Smith from the
designs of the Order of the Golden Dawn
which were only ever hand-drawn by
members.
Tarot Illuminati, Erik C. Dunne.
The Magician, from Tarot Obscura
If you ask any reader for their essential decks,
you are going to find yourself quickly experiencing what we call the diversity of divination!
Every reader will tell you that if you’re
asking them, you really must have a
Thoth deck - or a Waite-Smith deck - or
a Fairytale Deck suitable for younger
people - or a Marseille deck ... and before long, you’ll wonder why you asked!
So we gathered our Tarot Association
facebookers together and asked them - all
13,000 of them - to tell us their essential
01
1 WORKING
Most readers have a working
deck that serves as their favourite workhorse deck in readings
for clients or friends and family. This deck is often personally
meaningful to the reader and has
a history unique to that reader.
02
2 PERSONAL
Some readers have a deck or
two which they consider for personal readings for themselves,
but may not actively use when
reading for others. This deck is
sometimes reflective of a private
side of the reader and their life.
decks and then we collated the results together. The results are as divserse as you
might expect, even though we clipped the liist at the most commonly mentioned top fifty. We could easily have made it the top one
hundred, or maybe two hundred and fifty.
We’ve grouped decks together into historical decks, Lenormand, Oracle decks,
etc., and realise that each of the categories
could also have a Top Fifty. This list is intended to represent a fair collection of diverse decks, giving you a good idea of what
other readers may have on their tables.
03
3 MAGICAL
In addition to working and personal
decks,
some
readers
have decks which they reserve
for meditation, contemplation,
dreamwork or magick. These
decks are often more abstract or
loaded with esoteric symbolism.
50 ESSENTIAL DECKS
1. Waite-Smith Tarot by A. E. Waite &
Pamela Colman-Smith (US Games) –
produced in different editions, such as
Commemorative, Radiant and Original.
Also small and large sizes.
19. Osho-Zen Tarot by Osho with illustrations by Deva Padma (Newleaf, 1994)
35. The Blue Owl (Blaue Eule) (US Games,
2011) and in different versions.
20. Housewives Tarot by Paul Kepple &
Jude Buffum (Quirk Books, 2004)
36. The Gilded Reverie Lenormand by Ciro
Marchetti (U.S. Games Systems, 2013)
2. The Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley &
Frieda Harris (US Games & Others) – produced in different editions and sizes.
21. The Hermetic Tarot by Godfrey Dowson
Experimental Decks
3. The Mythic Tarot by by Juliet Sharman-Burke, Liz Greene and Giovanni
Caselli (St. Martin’s Press, 2011) – originally produced by a different artist, the older
version is now scarce.
4. Deviant Moon by Patrick Valenza (US
Games, 2008. Also borderless edition,
2014)
5. The Wildwood Tarot by Mark Ryan,
John Matthews, Will Worthington (Sterling
Ethos,2011) – a popular revisiting of the
Greenwood Tarot, which is now extremely
rare.
6. The Druidcraft Tarot by Stephanie
Carr-Gomm and Will Worthington (St.
Martin’s Press, 2005) – a popular pagan-themed deck.
7. The Morgan Greer Tarot by Bill F. Greer
(U.S Games, Inc., 2012)
8. The Golden Tarot Deck by Kat Black
(U. S Games Inc., 2004) – an incredible
collage work of art.
9. The Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert (Llewellyn, 2011)
10. The Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti
(Llewellyn 2012)
11. The Steampunk Tarot by Barbara
Moore and Aly Fell (Llewellyn, 2012)
12. Tarot Illuminati by Erik C. Dunne and
Kim Huggens (Lo Scarebeo, 2013)
13. The Enchanted Tarot Deck by Amy
Zerner and Monte Farber (Connections,
2009)
14. The Mary-El Tarot by Marie White
(Schiffer, 2012)
15. The Jungian Tarot Deck by Robert
Wang (Marcus Aurelius press, 2001)
16. The Lo Scarabeo Tarot by Mark McElroy (Llewellyn, 2007)
17. The Hanson-Roberts Tarot by Mary
Hanson-Roberts (US Games, 2012)
18. Tyldwick Tarot by Neil Lovell (self-published, 2013)
New On The Scene
37. The Transparent Tarot by Emily Carding (Schiffer Books, 2008)
22. Tarot of the Zirkus Magi by Doug
Thornsjo (Duck Soup Productions, 2014)
38. The Tarot of the Nine Paths by Dr. Art
Rosengarten (Self-Published, n.d.)
23. Chrysalis Tarot by Toney Brooks &
Holly Sierra (US Games, 2014)
39. Tarot in the Land of the Mystereum by
Jordan Hoggard (Schiffer, 2011)
24. City Mystic Tarot: NYC by Virginia
Jester & Chris Hopkins (Self-Published,
2014)
40. The Voyager Tarot by James Wanless
& Ken Knutson (Fair Winds Press, 2008)
41. The Word of One Tarot by John Starr
Cooke (1992)
Oracle Decks
25. The Psycards by Nick Hobson & Maggie Kneen (US Games, 2002)
Our Picks
26. The Philosopher’s Stone by De Es
(Currently out of print)
42. Tarot of the Silicon Dawn by Egypt
Urnash (Lo Scarabeo, 2011) – there is no
other deck like this.
27. Oracle of Visions by Ciro Marchetti
(US Games, 2014)
28. The Oracle of Initiation by Mellissae
Lucia (Self-published, tarot-sized edition,
2014)
Historic Decks
29. Grand Etteilla – produced in different
versions, for example, The Book of Thoth:
Etteilla Tarot (Lo Scarabeo, 2003).
43. The Alice Tarot by Karen Mahony &
Alex Ukolov (Magic Realist Press, 2013) –
head down the rabbit whole.
44. Darkana Tarot by Dan Donche
(Self-published, 2013) – Tarot with a
Grunge Vibe.
45. Sun and Moon Tarot by Vanessa
Decort (US Games, 2012) – Simple and
Profound.
46.. Tarot de St. Croix by Lisa de St. Croix
(Devorah, 2014).
30. Visconti Sforza Tarot – produced in
different versions, for example, the Visconti Tarots (Lo Scarabeo. 2000).
31. Sola Busca Tarot – produced in different versions, for example, the Sola Busca
by Wolfgang Mayer (1998), offered by
Giordano Berti.
32. The Minchiate Tarot – produced in different versions, for example by Lo Scarabeo, 2011. A deck of 97 cards running
parallel to the development of Tarot.
Marseilles decks
33. The CBD Tarot de Marseille by Yoav
Ben-Dov (2012). A version of the Conver
(1760) deck with clean lines and colours.
Lenormand decks
47. The Aquarian Tarot by David Palladini (US Games, 1988) – or the later New
Palladini Tarot (US Games, 1996)
48. The Burning Serpent Oracle by Rachel
Pollack & Robert M. Place (Self-published,
2014) – a modern interpretation of antique oracular systems.
49. Tarot by Dennis Fairchild (Running
Press, 2002) – a mini-deck with simple
but universally accessible symbolism.
Good for travel.
50. Revelations Tarot by Zach Wong
(Llewellyn, 2012) for its take on reversals, or Tarot of the New Vision by Pietro
Alligo, Raul Cestaro & Gianluca Cestaro
(Lo Scarabeo, 2003) for its reversal of
perspective on the Waite-Smith design.
34. The Original Lenormand (Forge Press,
2012) – based on the original Game of
Hope located in the British Museum by
Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin.
COLLECTORS
WHAT MAKES A
COLLECTIBLE DECK?
From first edition Pamela Colman-Smith decks to decks produced in limited editions of
twenty-five or less, there is much to tempt a collector of tarot. What makes a collectible
deck, and what aspects should you consider when collecting tarot as a pastime?
WRITEN BY. MARCUS KATZ | PHOTOGRAPH BY. MARCUS
ASESSING
DECK VALUE
1
RARIITY &
UNIQ
QUE
ENESS
Whilst obvious, a deck which only
exists on the entire planet as one
or two physical decks will add to
value. There are only 2-3 orginal Waite-Smith decks anywhere!
The Thompson-Leng Deck (1935). This deck was produced and given
away with a woman’s magazine so it is relatively scarce. The designs
are wonderully dated to the era, making it very collectable.
2
HIS
STORICAL
WORTH
A deck which is attached to a
now-historical figure or transition point of tarot, will acrue value over time, such as the first
photographic deck, for example.
3
STO
ORY
A back-story which adds to
the richness of a deck will usually make it valuable. A specific deck used by a famous
actress in a film, for example.
Are you a Collector?
The average number of decks
owned by an engaged tarot
enthusiast - someone likely
to be in online groups, attend
courses and conventions, Tarot Houses and so on, is forty-four. Anything over that,
you are likely to be a collector!
The largest collections (see
below)
have
approaching
2,500 items, so that is the upper-end of collectable tarot. If
you have 100+ decks, you are
most certainly a collector - it
would take two years alone
to read with each deck, reading a different one every week!
When you are running out
of storage space for your
decks, you are approaching collector-status, particularly when you start storing decks in sealed boxes!
Collectors will also spend
many hours on Ebay and
other online forums and auctions looking for decks, and
if there is just one deck - just
one deck - that you feel would
make your life complete, yet
which remains totally out of
your grasp, like a Holy Graal
- and even when you have
it, there is another ... then
you are definitely a collector!
This has recently changed
with the acquisition of the K.
Frank Jensen collection by
Roskilde University. The Jensen collection is one of the
largest in the world and includes many antique playing cards as well as tarot. It
is hoped that the University
will make the collection avaiilable to researchers in future.
Other collections are being
sold off piecemeal or appear
to have little plans for distribution or inheritance should any-
PAM-A VERSIONS
The first 1909 and 1910 issues of the Waite-Smith Tarot
produced by Rider are extremely collectable. They have
been variously termed PAM-A to PAM-D depending on
the issue.
BIG CO
OLLE
ECTORS
There are perhaps less than
ten very large collections of
tarot in the world and virtually all of them are in private
collections. This means that
there is no one central repositary of tarot items for research or viewing purposes.
COLLEC
CTABLLE DEECKS
thing happen to their collector.
TAROT OBSCURA
There have also been famous sales of parts of large
collections, such as that by
Christies of the Stuart and
Marilyn Kaplan collection in
June, 2006. So extensive
were the items, the illustrated
catalogue for the sale itself
is a bit of a collectors item!
Other collections remain private other than the occaisonal photograph shared out
onto social media. The increasing number of decks
means that it is a very expensive proposition to have
a
“comprehensive”
collection, particularly with storage.
One of the limited edition Majors-only decks produced
by Adam Mclean of Glasgow, the Tarot Obscura is outof-print and was produced in only a few hundred copies. Many of these decks are now rare & collectable.
TAROT OF INITIATION
One trend may be to specialise in collecting; for example,
collecting all “pagan” decks.
MOS
ST WANTED DECK
KS
It is difficult to tell what might
make a deck most desirable
and rare, but there are several
decks that cause a froth when
they become listed in auctions
- other than those immediately rare due to being museum
pieces or genuine antique
works of art in themselves.
tion team; the Light deck and
the Dark deck, were sold in
limited quantities and went
somewhat unrecognised at
the time. Since then, their detail and beauty has been remarked upon enough to make
them “most wanted” when
they turn up for auction - rarely.
One such deck is the MAGNA
VERITAS deck by Boltcutter
Design. This deck, and two
others by the same produc-
There is presently a Magna Veritas deck on Ebay for
$999 at the time of this issue.
Sometimes a deck may be relatively and entirely unknown, and almost lost. A few copies may come up for
auction, often mislabelled or bundled with other decks
from house clearances. An example might be The Tarot
of Initiation by Steven Marshall, Illus. Emmett Brennan.
This version in our collection was coloured partly by
hand, making it a curious and unique collectors item.
An Illustration of the Tree of Life by Tarot
The Tarot of the Secret Dawn can be
overlaid onto the Kabbalistic Tree of Life,
revealing universal patterns of correspondence and meaning.
The Tarot of the Secret Dawn (planned for December 2014) by Janine Hall (art), Derek Bain (original research), Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin (design and text).
This deck of 22 images has been constructed from the instructions left in a secret paper written by an Adept of the original Golden Dawn - a paper which has lain
undiscovered for a century in the Order archives.
The Path of Gimel, the Moon.
In this image below we see the Pharos or obelisk of seven stages, uniting Kether above and
Tiphareth below. At each side are the Sephiroth
of Geburah (the pentagram) and Chesed (Jupiter).
This card image corresponds to the High Priestess of the Tarot. Whilst this may not seem obvious at first glance, we should consider that the
High Priestess
embodies the hidden light of
the divine (Kether) in consciousness (Tiphareth),
i.e. intuition. In this vision of the path, the same
aspect is
seen as a Pharos, a
lighthouse.
IS AM HIL IS DDOLORERE PERNATIA
seri in exerovi duntia vent. Ilitatque
dolecto enet lam accae nobitincid eatur.
Whyy Learrn Kabbalaah?
Med
dittatio
on & Divinaatio
on
The deck images were scryed by
a member of the Golden Dawn using a technique known as “rising
on the planes”. The booklet accompanying this new deck will contain instructions on using the deck
for pathworking, guided visualisation, dream-work, magick and contemplation - as well as divination.
Firstly, there is no neccessity to learn Kabbalah, the system of Jewish mysticism which has been integrated into Western Esotericism over the last
two centuries. Indeed, it is a comprehensive system in its own right, totally
independent of Tarot.
However, learning Kabbalah can provide a unique structure for the Tarot
through correspondence - which illuminates many aspects of the spiritual
path and patterns in everyday life.
The Tarot could be said to be an illustrated picture-book of the Tree of Life,
and Kabbalah, through the fact that both systems arise from the same
considerations of life both seen and unseen.
CARD BY CARD
THE TOWER FROM
M DIFF
FERENT PERSP
PECTIV
VES
Yeats, Piercy, & RWS Clones by Marjorie Jensen
WRITEN BY. MAJORIE JENSEN | TOWER IMAGE FROM PAM-A DECK IN PRIVATE COLLECTION
William Butler Yeats is at the nexus between poetry and Tarot. It’s intimidating
to write about Yeats because he is so famous—his lines about the “rough beast”
slouching towards Bethlehem have been
quoted in a number of TV shows, movies,
and books. For many scholars of literature,
Yeats is the only recognizable member of
the Golden Dawn. And he is an inspiration to
contemporary poets such as Marge Piercy.
The Tower from the Waite-Trinick Tarot
J. B. Trinick produced 22 Majors for use in
A. E. Waite’s secret Order, the F.R.C.
One intimidating symbol that Yeats uses
in his poetry is the Tower. He looks at it in
“Blood and the Moon” from one perspective, and Marge Piercy looks at the same
symbol from a different perspective in her
poem “The tower struck by lightning reversed; the overturning of the tower.” The
change in poetic perspective between
these works can be compared to the differ-
ent artistic perspectives in the classic Rider-Waite-Smith deck and its clones Tarot
of the New Vision and The Goddess Tarot.
Yeats is known for being a symbolist poet, and for using the symbol-laden Tarot in his poetry as well as in Golden Dawn magic. In Yeats, The Tarot, and
The Golden Dawn, Kathleen Raine asserts:
For Yeats magic was not so much a
kind of poetry, as poetry a kind of magic, and the object of both alike was evocation of energies and knowledge from
beyond normal consciousness. (31)
He evokes these energies with symbols such
as the Tower. His poem “Blood and the Moon”
explicitly renders the act of symbol-making:
I declare this tower is my symbol; I
declare
This winding, gyring, spiring treadmill
of a stair is my ancestral stair
The speaker is taking possession of
the symbol, making it personal. He
enters into a lineage of symbol-makers, and brings the Tower to his specific time and place. In a dedication for
the edition of The Winding Stair published by Macmillan & Co, Yeats writes:
I think that I was roused to write…
‘Blood and the Moon’ by the assassination
of
Kevin
O’Higgins,
the finest intellect in Irish public
life, and, I think I may add, to some
extent, my friend. (Finneran 462)
He deals in both the universal and the
individual; the word-magic includes a
symbol that has been used for centuries in the arts, and its use is inspired
by a personal and political event.
Marge Piercy uses the same symbol
in her sequence of poems based on
a Celtic Cross Tarot spread; her perspective is articulated in the title of the
collection: Laying down the tower. In
this spread, the Tower card is reversed:
The Tower will fall if we pull together.
Then the Tower reversed, symbol of
tyranny and oppression,
shall not be set upright.
We are not turning things over
merely
but we will lay the Tower on its side.
We will make it a communal
longhouse.
Piercy’s transformation of the traditional symbology of the Tower shifts it from
vertical to horizontal. This is a reflection
of gender politics in shape; the masculine, phallic upright (or reversed) Tower
is turned into a more feminine, vaginal
longhouse that holds life inside of it. The
speaker is not arguing for inversion or
restoration of a structure but for a new
structure to be created out of the ruins.
Like Yeats, Piercy makes her political
motives explicit. In other lines of the
same poem, she condemns the military, the Rockefellers, and General Motors for their destruction of lives and
the environment. The symbol of the
Tower not only transcends her time
and place, but its reinvention is key
to transformation within her time and
place; it is both specific and universal.
A shift in perspective like the one between Yeats and Piercy can be seen most
literally in the Rider-Waite-Smith clone,
Tarot of the New Vision, created by Pietro Alligo with artwork by Raul and Gianluca Cestaro. Rather than move the Tower from vertical to horizontal (as Piercy
does), the Tarot reader is moved 180
degrees around the image. This reveals
the back of the burning structure and an
apple tree with a snake around the trunk.
The tree in the Tarot of the New Vision
is a Biblical allusion, visually referencing
the snake on the Tree of Knowledge in
Eden. The shift in perspective accentuates the connection between the card’s
falling man and woman and the fall of
Adam and Eve from paradise in Genesis.
Furthermore, this allusion reminds the
reader of another story from Genesis—
the Tower of Babel. Both Yeats and Piercy
allude to Genesis 11: 1-9. Piercy writes:
The Tower of Baffle speaks
bureaucratic and psychologese,
multiple choice, one in vain, one
insane, one trite as rain.
This refers to a modern incarnation
of the Biblical splitting of a single language—the creation of dictions for bureaucrats and psychologists. Both in
Genesis and in the 1970s when Piercy
first published this poem, the language
split arose from vanity or pride. Yeats,
in the 1930s, speaks to the same sin:
Blessed be this place,
More blessed still this tower;
A bloody, arrogant power
Rose out of the race
Uttering it, mastering it
The “arrogant power” is one built with
pride, and it rules through mastery of
language (utterances). Raine describes
this as the hybris of Self over Soul,
which results in being struck by “divine lightning which reduces to ruin”
all constructs (52-53). The Tower cards
in both the RWS deck and Tarot of the
New Vision include this lightning strike.
However, the story of the Tower of Babel doesn’t explicitly mention lightning.
In the Bible, the Lord’s punishment is to:
confound the language of all the
earth: and from thence did the Lord
scatter them abroad upon the face
of all the earth. (King James Version
Genesis 11:9)
The lightning in the RWS Tarot and its
clones is from another source (perhaps
from the hand of Zeus who was a frequent
visitor in Yeats’ poetry). In other words, the
lightning is part of a different perspective.
Tarot historians such as Helen Farley as
well as Kathleen Raine have noted the
eclecticism of the Golden Dawn and its
members who created the RWS deck.
Eclecticism is one way to join the personal and the universal. In the introduction
to Laying down the tower, Piercy writes:
We must break through the old roles
to encounter our own meanings in
the symbols we experience … What
we use we must remake. Then we
are not playing with dead dreams but
seeing ourselves more clearly, and
more clearly becoming. The defeated in history lose their names, their
goddesses (118-119)
Creating a deck based on the Rider-Waite-Smith is a remaking—a way
to “break through the old roles.” Kris
Waldherr’s The Goddess Tarot remakes the RWS by uncovering Goddesses from a wide variety of cultures.
It can be argued that The Goddess Tarot
is not a “clone” of the RWS. I am using the
term “clone” to mean a 78-card Tarot deck
with illustrated pips. Switching the numbering of Strength/Justice points to other
influences for Waldherr’s deck but, overall, the imagery of her deck (especially the
pips) most closely resembles the RWS.
The traditional Tower (XVI) is replaced
with The Wawalak, or Oppression, in The
Goddess Tarot. The Wawalak is a pair of
Australian aboriginal sister goddesses.
In the accompanying book, Waldherr
summarizes their myth—after accidentally polluting the sacred waterhole of
Yurlungur, the Great Rainbow Serpent,
with menstrual blood, the sisters and
their children are swallowed by the serpent and eventually reborn (49-50).
The Great Rainbow Serpent connects to
the Biblical snake revealed by the shift
in perspective of the Tarot of the New
Vision; both clones bring a snake to the
Tower. Janet and Stewart Farrar, in The
Witches’ Goddess, note that the “Great
Rainbow Snake” is in “some areas [of
Australia] female, in others male” (263).
This kind of gender-shifting can be seen
in Piercy’s reimagining of the phallic Tower symbol (snakes and towers both being phallic) as a more vaginal longhouse.
Drawing (down) pre-Christian Goddesses is a personal and political act
for many women. Taking up ancient
symbols of the Divine Feminine to
approach modern issues is a blending of the universal and the individual.
Both poetry and Tarot are vehicles in which
one can move around symbols and see
them from different perspectives. Yeats
would argue that the symbols themselves
are the drivers. He wrote to Florence Farr:
symbols and formulae are powers,
which act in their own right and with
little consideration for our intentions,
however excellent (Raine 31)
Poets and deck designers allow these
powers to work through them. Readers
can benefit from seeing symbols from
a wide variety of perspectives; learning about these different viewpoints
will help reveal magical “knowledge
from beyond normal consciousness.”
Works Cited.
Farrar,
Janet,
and
Stewart
Farrar. The Witches’ Goddess. Custer:
Phoenix Publishing, Inc., 1995. Print.
Piercy, Marge. Circles on the Water: Selected Poems. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1982. Print.
Raine, Kathleen. Yeats,
The
Tarot, and The Golden Dawn. Dublin: The Dolmen Press, 1972. Print.
Waldherr, Kris. The Goddess Tarot. Stamford: U.S. Games Systems, 1999. Print.
Yeats, William Butler. The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats. Ed. Richard Finneran. New York: Macmillan
Publishing
Company,
1989.
Print.
Marjorie Jensen is editing an anthology of poetry about Tarot. More information about the project can be found at:
tarotpoetry.wordpress.com
Photograph by Viona ielegems, fashion and styling Alex Ukolov and Karen Mahony, Baba Studio - http://baba-store.com
MAY A FULL DECK OF POSSIBILITIES BE YOURS
NEW TAROT METHODS
THE STANDING
WOMAN
Dr. Ute Knecktys shares a spread inspired by the late
Hajo Banzhoff ’s method of creating a spread from a
card image.
1
2
3
4
WRITEN BY. DR. UTE KNECKTYS | CARD: PAM-A WAITE-SMITH TAROT (1909)
5
6
7
Looking at the Queen of Wands Simply select nine cards into the
8
you see her sitting on her throne. positions shown and relate them
9
In spite of this I called this spread to the meanings I provide here.
“Standing-Woman” because in our
daily life a woman who stands up Using Dierent Meanings.
for her rights doesn’t have a throne
to sit on as the Queen of Wands. In correspondence to diffferent decks
But the women in our every-day-life
should be respected as a queen and
if they are persons with dignity and
sovereignty they will get the authority like a “standing” woman – like the
Queen of Wands. This new spread
can help to achieve authority as it is
showing the questioners place in life
and gives ideas/answers what to do
for getting the authority you could get.
you can discover the opportunities
for your own life: If, for example, you
might not agree the third card “authority” you should consider changing this! So, of course, this procedure is the same with all the cards.
I have also provided an example
reading using the Waite-Smith Tarot
as well as a short interpretation for
the questioner, first keywords in the
schedule and more in a little summary.
EXAMPLE READING
1: Knight of Wands = atmosphere of
passion, adventure, new things.
2: Ace of Cups = happiness, feelings
of joy.
3: 10 of wands = warning: overload,
you have to concentrate, to focus
your activities .
4: Page of Pentacles = give precise
ideas to your surrounding world.
5: Wheel of Fortune = You are open
for all new tasks.
6: King of Swords = You can trust
your own intellect.
7: Page of Wands = The courage for
adventures.
8: 4 of Wands = Your background is
save and you are loved.
9: The Emperor = You can materialize
your wishes and ideas .
The atmosphere of adventure or
passion supports you to find your
own way in life while good feelings
such as love, happiness or joy bring
you into balance. But take good
care of not overloading yourself in
mental and in practical meaning.
Focus your activities, do not do too
much and concentrate on your likes.
When you give precise offers to
your surrounding world (like family,
friends or colleagues…) you will be
protected from influences which are
not good for you, for example jealousy, envy or similar resentments.
To other people you seem to be open
for all new ideas, for all new coming
tasks - this may be very good, but
also be warned from being used!
The King of Swords shows that
you can trust your own intellect,
your own mind will lead you well.
If you invite adventures and new
ideas into your life, they can develop to a good power especially in
front of such a safe background.
Perhaps you will write a book or
you make an invention in time! The
last card promises that your ideas
will become reality – so go start!
SPREAD BY : DR. UTE KNECKTYS
SYMBOLS ON THE CARD
The wand in the right hand of the Queen
The flower in her left hand
The head under the crown
The grey cape
The yellow dress
The base where the Queen puts her feet
The back-rest of her throne
“Snues” the black cat
The view in the distance of the Queen
SPREAD POSITIONS
1.
The wand in the right hand of the
Queen:
This is the force which supports you.
2.
The flower in her left hand:
The things that will bring you most joy
and balance.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The head under the crown:
Your present authority to act.
The grey cape:
The protection you can gain against
all external influences or opposition.
The yellow dress:
What you should show externally.
The base, where the Queen puts her
feet:
The support you can count upon
always.
7.
“Snues” the black cat:
Your own abilities, which are already
present and can be developed as you
are ready.
8.
9.
The back-rest of her throne:
The support you can fall back upon in
an emergency.
The view in the distance of the Queen:
Where to set your future goal.
DECKS IN DEVELOPMENT
THE NEW WAVE
OF
Lux (light) + ferrous (to bear or carry)
The Lux Ferous deck by Fiona Benjamin
& Nghia Hoang aims to re-kindle the fire
between the divine and divination.
RELEASED IN SPRING 2016
The deck Majors show deities across
human culture in both light & darkness.
YOUNG TAROSOPHIST OF THE YEAR
Fiona was awarded Young Tarosophist
of the Year 2013 for her approach to
Tarot in unique circumstances.
MULTI-CULTURAL DESIGNS
The deck draws on a variety of cultures
and is drawn in a style bridging Eastern
Manga with Western considerations.
FIONA IS BASED IN OKINAWA
As the Tarot Reader of Okinawa she is
one of the founders of the Ryukyu Open
Circle and offers readings.
http://www.fionabenjamin.com
LUX FEROUS TAROT BY FIONA BENJAMIN & NGHIA HOANG
FROM LUCIFER
TO JOAN OF ARC.
The Lux Ferous deck draws on a wide range of classical myth and
lore, from the fall of Lucifer in the Blasted Tower to the positioning
of Joan or Arc on the Fool. Whilst not an obvious choice for the Fool
archetype, on closer consideration the use of Joan is an inspired
and exquisite decision; her visions led her to forsake herself for the
divine plan; and she was ultimately pronounced “innocent” of heresy
through a “nullification trial”. These aspects of the myth of Joan of Arc
accord with many writings on the Fool; a divinely inspired journeyer
who is innocent of their own self in service of a higher cause.
THE HIGH PRIESTESS
With both bow and book, the Dianic priestess embodies
the three phases of the Moon.
For more information and to engage with this
deck in development, check out:
https://www.facebook.com/luxferoustarot
JOAN OF ARC AS THE FOOL
The spirit of the young Joan is here utilised as the Fool. Fiona quotes; “I am not
afraid, I was born to do this” as her inspiration for this image.
OLD TRADITIONS,
NEW VOICES
The Ace of Pentacles in the Lux Ferous is drawn from
the biblical quote:
“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count
the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man;
and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
Rev 13:18
THE NEW WAVE DECKS ON
FACEBOOK & SOCIAL MEDIA
Most new decks are now widely trailed on Facebook
and other social media platforms. This is rapidly becoming a more engaged creative process, as fans of the
deck in development get to not only ask questions but
make suggestions! Many deck designers actively seek
suggestions and become “crowd-informed” if not totally
“crowd-created”.
The creators of the Lux Ferous have already used their
platform to ask which card their fans would like to see
next created, and poll whether the deck should be
bordered or not.
The future of deck creaton is one of increasing collaboration between artist and audience.
DECKS IN DEVELOPMENT
CITY MYSTIC TAROT: NYC
“New York speaks a vibrant humming language that asks of one nothing short of
full presence”. [Ginnie Jester]
PHOTOGRAPHY & WRITING BY GINNIE JESTER | GRAPHIC DESIGN BY CHRIS HOPKINS
The City Mystic Tarot: NY is a 78-card
deck capturing the energy of New
York City through b&w photography.
It is a collaboration between Magnum Opus Tarot [Ginnie Jester] and
Good Choice Designs [Chris Hopkins].
In the Strength card we see the
choice of landmarks used in depicting
the Fool’s Journey through the city;
The Fool is in front of The New School
Dormitory, Kerry Hall. With its unusual
geometric windows situated within its
brass siding, the building just north east
of Washington Square. Superimposed
onto the building is the profile of one
the lion statues flanking the entry to the
New York Public Library in Bryant Park.
In reading Strength, we are told “to
become strong and radiant in heart,
and to heal heartache, heartbreak and
cowardice within ourselves. Strength
asks us to seal up the cracks and fill
the vessel of the heart with bright,
strong, beaming, radiant, pure love.
We learn to accept our shadow, and
for the first time must take personal
responsibility for healing our internal
wounds. It takes the heart of a lion to
overcome some of our most deeply ingrained fears, yet the Strength
card tells us that we have matured to
the point when we have the wherewithal and cadence to do just that.
The World, an Ultimate Pinnacle
The Fool’s journey reaches a culmination of fullness
and actualization at Grand Central Terminal. For the first
time, we see the front of the Fool; the beauty of her face
and detailed gestures is totally apparent to the witness.
We see flowing dress and the objects she holds: in her
right hand a shield and olive branch paying homage to
victory and triumph, in her left a crown of laurels heralding glory- a five-sectioned mural crown representative of the five boroughs. In all her distinction, she sits
between the facade of the Empire State Building and
Jules-Felix Coutan’s 1914 sculpture, Glory of Commerce.
Hermes sits tall and proud in the center of this relief
above a large and marvelous clock. To his right sits
Hercules, to his left Minerva. An eagle nuzzles his knee.
Together these three represent the American virtues of
commerce, free trade, travel and patriotism all rolled
into one relief. In the sky the outline of Richard Lipold’s “Flight” sculpture which welcomes guests into the
MetLife Building just behind Grand Central brings an air
of magic into play. The architectural elements coalesce
to create a sense of completion and achievement- a
sentiment New York City is especially famous for.
Our Fool has journeyed far and wide, and has gleaned
many insights along the path to maturity. In the World,
she reaches the ultimate pinnacle of mature, self-actualized life experience, which is not to say that her wildest dreams have come true in the exact manner she
dreamt them, but in a manner that can be sustained
within the limits and restrictions of physical life. She is
not hindered by such limitations, but rather, she matures and grows around them, with them, incorporating
their presence into her final product. In essence, we see
success of the soul in human form: no small endeavor.
The World, in Readings
In readings, The World represents a certain kind of mastery- incorporating self-mastery as well as mastery over one’s own environment.
It is not total control that she seeks, rather it is right relationship with
what she can control, and acceptance of what she cannot. Often in
our lives we feel that things need to be exactly as we envision them
when we are first inspired by our Magician-like will and creativity.
Through the process of maturation, acceptance, self-examination,
and continued effort, we find that we can actualize the potential
we came into life with, however, we learn the absolute necessity to
do so within our means and limitations. The World presents to us
the essence of ultimate freedom; to do our very best with what we
have, and to celebrate our accomplishments, successes, responsibilities, enlightenments and completions with true grace. With the
World we can expect the highest acclaim possible. Our inner Fool
has accepted an invitation extended to the soul. It has been through
the process of maturation and has come home, to its full evolution, attracting to us acclaim and reward for all the effort. Celebrate,
and know that you are doing or have done the best you can in the
situation at hand. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about!
REVISED & RE-ISSUED TAROT
THE KNAPP-HALL BECOMES
THE REVISED NEW ART TAROT
First published in 1929, the classic Tarot developed by Manly P. Hall (1901-1990) and John
Augustus Knapp (1853-1938) has been revised and re-issued by the Philosophical
Research Society (PRS).
WRITEN BY. MARCUS KATZ | IMAGES COURTESY OF DR. YOLANDA ROBINSON/PRS
Classic Iconography The Knapp-Hall images are
a timeless working of esoteric tarot, drawing
from diverse sources.
Our Review
Manly Palmer Hall and John Augustus Knapp shared not only an interest in esotericism but also a fervent creativity. Hall’s Secret
Teaching of All Ages, whilst being academically variable, is a vast compendium of esoteric teaching. Knapp himself illustrated not
only for Hall but for many works, including Etidorhpa (1895) by John Uri Lloyd, a strange tale of a journey into the centre of the
earth, ripe with mystical symbology.
Their deck was originally published in 1929 and has since been revised by Ken Henson, Dr. Yolanda Robinson, and PRS archivist
Ms. Edie Shapiro, issued as The Revised New Art Tarot. The original images have been re-centered, although the colouring has
been sensitively left slightly “mis-registered” to preserve the authentic charm of the original deck.
Henson writes more about his revision work on the deck on his site at Ken Henson Art:
http://www.artistkenhenson.com/p/knapphall-tarot.html
MANLY P. HALL
AUTHOR OF SECRET
TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES
Hall’s magnum opus is surely the Secret Teachings of All Ages, a large compendium of extended essays on Kabbalah, Alchemy, Freemasonry, Secret Socities and
the Mysteries of Antiquity.
In Secret Teachings of All Ages, Hall
quotes from previous authors such
as Waite, Papus, Court de Gebelin. He is also familiar with Paul Foster Case’s work on the Tarot cards.
Hall does continue the idea that “the
tarot cards were entrusted by the illumined hierophants of the Mysteries into the keeping of the foolish and
the ignorant, thus becoming playthings - in many instances even instruments of Vice” (SToaA, p. CXXX).
He also repeats the idea that the cards
came from Egypt via the gypsies - although there is still no evidence of this.
Despite
these
assertions,
common at the time, Hall’s work remains
a
truly
invaluable
compendium.
A KEY
TO THE MYSTERIES
The Knapp-Hall deck contains embedded symbolism
developed by Hall to illustrate the correspondences
of the card images to other systems.
THE FOOL’S
SUPREME ADVENTURE
Writng in 1928, Hall was one of the
first to talk about what is now commonly known as the “Fool’s Journey”.
He wrote:
Our Review
“If Le Mat be placed before the first
card of the Tarot deck and the others
laid out in a horizontal line in sequence
from left to right, it will be found that
the Fool is walking toward the other trumps as though about to pass
through the various cards. Like the
spiritually hoodwinked and bound
neophyte, Le Mat is about to enter
upon the supreme adventure--that of
passage through the gates of the Di-
vine Wisdom. If the zero card be considered as extraneous to the major
trumps, this destroys the numerical
analogy between these cards and the
Hebrew letters by leaving one letter
without a Tarot correspondent. In this
event it will be necessary to assign the
missing letter to a hypothetical Tarot
card called the elements, assumed to
have been broken up to form the 56
cards of the minor trumps. It is possible that each of the major trumps
may be subject to a similar division.”
TAROT FACTS
TRENDS IN TAROT
One of the interesting trends seen in the
Boswell Survey of 2014 was that more
readers were experimenting with reversed card meanings. In fact, less readers were sticking with upright-only readings, and occaisonly trying reversed cards.
It does not yet mean that reversals are
making an appearance in every reading, but it is certainly a move towards
more reversals being used in future!
58%
of questions asked of
tarot readers are
about relationships
88%
of Tarot Readers
are Women.
PUBLISHING
NEWS
The growth of the Tarot industry has been unparalled
in recent years with more decks being published by
established and independent designers than ever before. We take a look at what may be fuelling this growth.
WRITEN BY. MARCUS KATZ | TALI GOODWIN
DE-BORDERING
CARDS
One noticeable trend in the recent two years
has been the de-bordering of decks. This was
seen originally by a number of Youtubers and
picked up by a photo of a reader at a TarotCon
using a de-bordered Thoth deck. This led to a
flurry of de-borderectomies being carried out.
That this should become a trend is evidenced
by recent mainstream publishers issuing
decks without borders, such as Tarot Illuminati by Erik C. Dunne (pub. Lo Scarabeo).
Whilst not tarot, there have been more
Lenormand decks published in the
last two years than in the two hundred
years since a marketing ploy turned
a German parlour game into Mlle.
Lenormand’s
fortune-telling
cards.
This has been made possible by the
availability both of print-on-demand
companies and social networking. The
former removes the barrier for entry
for any deck - there needs be no editor, quality check or prior assesment
of likely sales before a deck is physically produced. The latter removes
the barrier to distribution networks, as
every deck creator can create a plat-
form on social media to some extent.
So it is with Tarot; where in both situations the permeability of indie and
mass market publications has also
grown. Several new decks have been
picked up from social media exposure
and self-printing by larger publishers such as US Games Systems, Inc.,
Lo Scarabeo, Llewellyn and Schiffer.
The access to information has accelerated, so there are fewer constraints to learning than before; it
is only a century ago that tarot was
taught only to initiates of secret orders. Contemporary authors have
BEST SELLERS
CATHOLIC MYSTICS,
SHAKESPEARE & ANGELS
It may surprise you to learn that the
best-selling tarot decks are all developed from forms of Christian worldview.
Often the tarot world is seen as being
on the fringe or somewhat rebelling
against mainstream life. However, in
terms of its religious or philosophical
background, it seems that its best-sellers are firmly rooted in concepts that
are familiar to most in our cullture and this should come as no surprise.
Playing Card Production in London (1690 )
In this illustration we see many of the processes
and people involved in producing a card deck.
The best-selling decks are presently
the Waite-Smith Tarot and the Angel
Tarot cards by Doreen Virtue. In both
cases they are highly individualised
takes on western religious iconography; the symbols of the Devil, the Ace
of Cups (with Dove), the Angels that
infuse Doreen Virtue’s cards, they are
all re-takes of what every Church-goer will consider on a weekly basis.
The Waite-Smith deck is also made
unconsciously accessible by Pamela Colman-Smith having drawn
on the greatest story-teller of our
language; Shakespeare, in many
of the Minor cards. So the best-selling cards are not so occult after all
- instead, they are popular precisely because they are - at some level
- recognised instantly by everyone.
We asked hundreds of professional readers about their
preferences for “Waite-Smith”
clone decks or decks that differed widely from this model.
“When you are looking at a tarot deck to purchase, do you
consider whether it is similar to
the Waite-Smith Tarot design?”
For example, would you expect the deck to show the 3 of
Swords as a Heart pierced with
three Swords - or not mind if it
was something totally different?
[Source: Boswell Survey 2014]
specialised in developing the training of tarot to ensure rapid acquisition of basic skills and methods. This in turn has
led to
those new to tarot developing new ideas and insights in an increasingly confident manner, unbound by
the rules of the past yet growing in their fertile foundation.
A new interest in the history of tarot - and a teaching that
has made that history relevant and accessible - has led to
a re-cycling and development of new techniques from historic methods. A similar phase took place when the Gold-
en Dawn merged the streams of European cartomancy into
a kabbalistic and hermetic fusion for their members. Now,
we see NLP, psychotherapy, Jung, Astrology, and many
other sensibilities brought into Tarot on an hourly basis.
The study and practice of Tarot is in the midst of an exciting acceleration, where a new alchemy is arising; from
the synthesis of symbols fuelled by a networking never before possible will arise new forms, new methods and
new traditions. The future of Tarot has never been brighter.
VOCATION
PRACTICAL/LENORMAND
CREATE
A
PERSONAL
PETITE
LENORMAND
DECK
KATRINA WYNNE, M.A.
The original Lenormand
an
nd decks
decks were
were
modelled on a German
an
n Salon
Salon cardcardgame, the Game of Hope,
ope, designed
designed
by J. K. Hechtel in 1799-1800.
99
9-1800. The
The
copy in the British Museum,
useum,
reproduced by Tarot P
Professionals
rofessionals
rm
mand, is
is handh a n das the Original Lenormand,
cut and hand-coloured,
ed
d, likely
likely by
by a
member of a family - perhaps
one
perhaps o
ne
of the children. In this
s article,
article,
Katrina Wynne takes u
us
back
our
sb
ack tto
oo
ur
hand-made days to share
share ‘creating
‘creating
your own Lenormand
d deck’.
de
eck’.
40 | TAROSOPHIST INTERNATIONAL
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Working with Petit Lenormand cards is
a popular and effective way to address personal questions and issues.
It has caught on like wildfire in the
English-speaking world lately.
From Australia, England, and the Americas, new innovations and “improvements” upon this established systems
have appeared. Various opinions
express this trend may be beneficial or
detrimental. In the social networking
world of Lenormand cards, there are
continuous discussions and debates
about the value of holding to tradition
versus updating classic systems.
I lean towards the school of thought that
says, let’s learn the language and meaning of the traditional system first, then
notice if there is more information that
is coming through your relationship with
the cards as you practice and commune.
Each one of us is a channel of Divine
wisdom, but it is key to understand the
traditional grammar and vernacular
before creating a new dialect.
In this spirit, my solitary practice with the
Lenormand cards guided me to create
a personalized deck. My project was
inspired by several posts on Facebook
giving various directions on how to create a simple Lenormand deck - with or
without pictures. It has been especially
inspiring for me to see the creative ways
weblog contributors, such as Donnaleigh’s Tarot, Mary K. Greer’s Tarot Blog,
and Camelia Elia’s Taroflexions, have
approached this topic.
I would like to share four styles of creating personal Petite Lenormand decks
with you.
MAKING A BASIC PETITE
LENORMAND DECK
To create the most basic Petite Lenormand, find a new or used 52-card playing deck. What makes the Lenormand
“Petite” is that it only has 36 cards. Each
card has a playing card assignment, a
number, 1 – 36, and a single symbol,
such as a person, animal, thing, or nature.
Over the page you will see a simple
table to use with your projects. [Ed. For
your own copy of this table, feel free to
contact Katrina through her listing at the
end of this article].
Try experimenting with these two simple
techniques to create a basic deck…
Playing Card Drawing
Supplies: 1) 52-card playing card deck, 2)
MAKING A PHOTOGRAPHIC PETITE
LENORMAND DECK
indelible, smear-proof pen
Directions:
1. Make sure all 52 cards are in your
deck, then, remove the numbered cards,
two through five, from each suit (total
16 cards). This should leave you with 36
cards, including the ace, six through 10,
and three court cards for each suit.
2. Arrange your 36 playing cards in the
order of the display shown above.
3. Mark each card front in numerical sequence with its corresponding number, “1
– 36”, based on the displayed chart. For
example, Ace of Clubs is number “25”.
4. You may also wish to write the name
of the corresponding card symbol for
each card. If you are feeling artistic, draw
an image instead of the name for each
symbol. Example, Ace of Clubs symbol
is a “Ring”.
I suggest that you test your pen and artistic hand on one of the discarded cards
first. Once you feel confident about your
tool and style, have fun creating your
playing card Lenny deck.
Drawing your deck
Camelia Elias, a dynamic writer, professor, and cartomancer, showed me a
Petite Lenormand deck she drew in less
than an hour. She described the inspiration for this idea in her Tarotflexions
weblog post, NEW LENORMAND DECK:
A HELIUM POET, and graciously gave
me permission to share this with you, on
the following page.
Supplies: 1) 36 pre-cut card stock or purchased cards, 2) indelible, smear-proof
pens, red & black
To create your own photo illustrated
deck here are two ideas.
One option, posted in various forms on
the internet, begins with collecting images from magazines, old photographs,
internet graphics, etc, to represent each
of the Petite Lenormand card symbols.
Be sure to only use public domain images that are free from copyright.
A second option is to use your own photographs. This is an easy way to avoid
copyright issues concerned with found
images. I decided to experiment with the
photo application technique, but put a
different spin on this style. Each image
in my personalized Lenormand deck
is a photo of me, by me, or both. I only
use this deck for my personal readings,
experiencing powerful connections with
my own psyche.
I share a few images on the following
page from this personal deck.
Supplies: 1) 52-card playing card deck, 2)
36 photographs of Lenormand symbols,
3) small cutting tool, 4) quick drying craft
cement, 5) optional…indelible, smearproof pen (gold or silver ink looks great),
6) optional…laminating pockets (business card size) and laminating machine.
Directions:
1. Make sure all 52 cards are in your
deck, then, remove the numbered cards,
two through five, from each suit (total
16 cards) leaving you with 36 cards, including the ace, six through 10, and three
court cards for each suit.
2. Arrange your 36 playing cards in the
order of the display shown previously.
3. Print each photograph slightly smaller
than the dimensions of its playing card.
Directions:
1. Mark each card front in numerical
sequence with your pen, “1 – 36”.
4. Cut out a small corner, usually the top
left, to reveal the playing card symbol.
2. Arrange the 36 cards in alignment
with the display shown above.
3. Draw a simple image for each card
symbol. Your graphics can be literal or
abstract. It is important that you create
an image that you can easily read and
understand.
4. Incorporate the playing card assignment for each card into the drawing, if
you wish.
5. Attach the photo to its corresponding playing card with small dots of craft
cement. Center the image making sure
the playing card symbol is completely
visible. Allow it to dry (see next page for
an unlaminated draft Clouds card).
6. Draw the corresponding number of
the Lenormand card over part of your
image. Example, the number “25” for the
“Ring”. (Numbering this deck is optional.
Can be done before or after laminating.)
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7. Center the card inside the laminate pocket and run it through the laminating
machine.
When you have finished your custom Petite Lenormand deck, I recommend that
you find a special box or container for its home. Knowing you have invested your
time and energy applying personal vision to your Lenormand deck will enhance its
power in your readings.
Have fun!!
Katrina Wynne, personal Lenormand Deck
Camelia Elias, A Helium Poet, 2013
Credits and Appreciation
Camelia Elias’ Taroflexions weblog article (August 7, 2013):
http://taroflexions.wordpress.com/2013/08/07/new-lenormand-deck-a-helium-poet/
Katrina Wynne’s My Sacred Journey weblog article (October 27, 2012):
https://mysacredjourney.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/creating-your-own-lenormand-deck/
TAROT SCENE WORLDWIDE
As for how we set up Sphinx Tarot Readings LDN it’s an
ongoing story, one that has just begun. We’re experienced
readers individually, but as a group we’re completely fresh
and new. Our website, facebook page and Twitter account have all existed for less than a month. I don’t think
that any of us realized how much work goes into starting
a business venture before we launched headfirst into this
one, so I consider it more than fortunate that we all possess various skills, beyond tarot card reading, that we
can contribute toward the Sphinx’s further growth and
evolution! One of us is a professional photographer and
can take alluring photos for use on our website, another has great business skills, and I’m an artist and can create visual catchphrases such as the cheeky Sphinx that
already adorns our website and social media profiles.
What do you feel you want to add to the tarot world?
Our central vision is to make spirituality accessible, tangible
and relevant to everyone; we want to take tarot to a new level
SPHINX TAROT IN
LONDON: URBAN VIBE
The readers of Sphinx Tarot aim
to provide a No-Nonsense Spirituality in an accessible way,
particularly to a younger audience. We hear from reader Lucius who describes the aims
of the group and its ambition.
Who and what are Sphinx Tarot, how did
you set it up, and what is it that you do?
We’re five very distinct personalities but
we have our profound passion for tarot
and spiritual development in common.
We’d often linger on after the study
group meetings had ended, discussing
these topics for hours. In lieu of these
conversations we soon remarked upon
the spectacular lack of tarot card reading events in London - there are none!
There are established tarot card readers
out there, who either practice privately or have set up shop somewhere. It
was this complete lack of urban tarot
card reading events geared equally
towards the lay person and the adept,
of comprehensibility! I’ve found that a lot of people, particularly
younger people in their twenties and thirties, feel alienated, as
a general rule, by the excess layers mysticism that more often
than not surrounds spiritual arts and practices, including tarot
card reading. Every man and every woman throughout history
have been looking for the answers to various manifestations
of the same few, essential questions: ‘Who and what am i?
What is my path and my purpose? How is this romance going
to pan out?’ The 78 cards of the tarot are, in essence, powerful
tools with which the skilled reader may be able to extract the
the young and the old, that inspired us
to give birth to something new: Sphinx
Tarot Readings! Starting this august
we’ll be hosting monthly tarot card reading events in central London (locations
may vary) where those who find themselves in need of some sound spiritual advice can simply pop in and get
what they bargain for, and much more.
We want to make it a complete and
empowering experience for the people that show up. But we’ve also
thought of those who may not be able
to make it to our events in person, so
we’ll be offering readings via email or
Skype through our website as well.
subjective answers to these questions from the querent’s subconscious mind, or from their Inner Self if you will. That this is
possible is miraculous in and of itself; the art of tarot card reading doesn’t have to be wrapped in a whole lot of mysticism,
pomposity and theater in order to be impressive and useful.
One of the many ambitions that we have with Sphinx Tarot is
to offer an alternative to the stereotype of the middle-aged, turban-wearing-and-crystal-ball-gazing tarot card reader and the
New Age hippie that seeks him out. Not that there’s anything
wrong with either middle-aged, turban-wearing-and-crystal-ball
gazing tarot card readers or New Age hippies, in fact they’re
generally speaking lovely and quite harmless, but it’s important
to awaken more people, particularly younger people who may
experience some resistance towards pursuing spirituality, to the
truth that spirituality is not just for a certain stereotype, it is for everyone, and it doesn’t have to be airy-fairy or complicated at all.
What my friends and I propose to do at our events and
through our website is to strip tarot card reading, and spirituality itself, of all unnecessary clutter and mystical mumbo
jumbo (without in any way disregarding or denying its occult
properties, in which I personally totally believe), and deliver the messages that we read in the cards to our querents in
ways that are practical and easy to understand. We want to
reach young people especially and inspire them to become
truly enthusiastic about their own spiritual development!
Our passion is contagious. I believe the fact that we’re young
gives us a unique approach - a modern edge, if you will.
What is your ethos?
We’re all about empowering the querent by helping them to
gain a deeper understanding themselves, of their fears and desires, their strengths and weakness; their paths. We will at all
times guard our querents’ privacy and respect them completely
by keeping anything they may tell us confidential, and by listening and engaging with them without any judgement. Our
focus is to bring the essence and the truth that we perceive in
the cards across - we seek to deliver all relevant messages with
complete honesty. We want to blow people away (in a very positive sense). We want to inspire people and make them strong
by giving them the understanding that they need so they can
master their own fates. We want to spread joy and illumination,
and we want to see people walk in their own power! No less.
Coming from the understanding of the future as an ever-changing parable that largely depends on the choices that are made in
the present, we don’t claim to be able to forsee the future with any
accuracy. We also will never tell a querent what to do, or which
choice to make in any given situation; we’ll instead empower
the querent by shedding as much light as we can on his or her
specific situation and help them get the best possible grounding so that they’ll be in the best possible position from which
to make their own powerful, proactive decisions going forward.
There are a few more things that we don’t do, such as offering medical, legal or economic advice, because we’re
not qualified to do so. Our job is to take care of the psychological and namely the spiritual side of things. We specifically will not try to foresee physical death, as that’s just
as tricky, and even less ethical, than foreseeing the future.
Because you never know what will come up in a reading - sometimes a tarot card reading can be a quite profound, challenging experience - we’ve decided to not do
readings for young people under the age of eighteen.
Finally, we won’t do readings for or about people who are not
present for the reading and have given their explicit consent
to being read in the cards. In effect this means that we may
sometimes have to help the querent to reformulate their question so that, for example, ‘What is my boyfriend doing behind
my back?’ becomes the more respectful and illuminating, ‘What
do I need to know about my relationship with my boyfriend?’
We make no exceptions to these simple rules, because we want to remain respectful of both the people
that come to us for readings and the people that don’t.
Why are you inspired by Ancient Egypt?
The Sphinx is a mythological creature found in both Ancient
Egyptian, Byzantene and Greek mythology and is universally known as a guardian of higher knowledge - we find that
very appropriate for what we’re doing. Of course much of
the symbology that you can see in the Thoth tarot deck that
Aleister Crowley designed hails from Ancient Egypt. We’re
at least two Thelemites in our group and we both have the
Thoth as our go-to tarot deck. It also can’t be denied that
the Sphinx is simply a powerful and graceful symbol to use.
What’s more, the Sphinx subtly hints at the fact that we, despite our contemporary approach, are rooted in esoteric tradition; despite our youth we’re all experienced tarot card readers, each in our own right. Some of us have studied the tarot
since childhood, and it’s true for all of us that when we read
and relay the messages of the cards, we know what we’re
talking about. We know our stuff. And we’re extremely passionate about sharing what we have access to - the timeless, ageless wisdom of the tarot - with our contemporaries!
AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
RANA GEORGE has been using Lenormand
cards for thirty years and is the author of The
Essential Lenormand.
THE ESSENTIAL LENORMAND
One of the few books in English to explore the
reading of the Lenormand cards.
THE BEAR IS
THE BEAR IS THE
BEAR
Tanya R. Pineda interviews Rana George, author of The
Essential Lenormand (Llewellyn, 2014).
INTERVIEWER
Tanya R. Pineda
INTERVIEWEE
Rana George
LOCATION
TEXAS, US.
PUBLICATION
THE ESSENTIAL LENORMAND
PUBLISHER
LLEWELLYN, 2014
THE KEY IS ME LENORMAND
http://100LotusPainting.bigcartel.com
Tanya: Rana, now that your long awaited book is out, has
your daily life changed a lot?
Rana: No not at all, still with my family and taking care of
my boys. It was during the writing of the book when the
change was major, I was like a hermit and my family my
kids suffered because of that. But now, finally it feels like
everything we all went through was worth it.
Tanya: Your book was so eagerly anticipated and fantastically received.This must be very exciting, but also intense
for you and your family. What do you find to be the best
and most challenging aspects of becoming a best-selling
author?
Rana: Well first it is very rewarding, and the feeling is “Wow!”...
I am still trying to wrap my head around it. I am so happy that
it was well received. I really poured my heart and soul into
that book, so to see all the great reviews and praise is really
an honor.
Tanya: I was one of the many that couldn’t wait for your
book to come out. Before it was available, Lenormand still
felt like this secret cartomancy code I couldn’t quite crack!
Now that I’ve read it, other books on the subject, and explored some of the wonderful resources you’ve suggested, Im finally feeling more confident each day with my
readings. Besides the totally down to earth suggestion
Interview & Deck by Tanya R. Pineda, who presently bi-locates with her
family between the beautiful Hudson Valley and Poconos (Pa). Tattoo
artist, mother, painter, writer, lover of creativity, divination and nature.
She is also author/artist of self published The Key Is Me Lenormand.
you recommend in your book to practice, practice, practice, what one else would you suggest for someone new
to, and baffled by your 36 lil BFF’s (Best Friends Forever)
aka the Lenormand?
Rana: Other than practice, practice, practice...would be to
keep it simple, don’t read too much into it. And the most
important thing: make it fun! Because, when it turns into
a study and homework people get bored or frustrated so
make sure to keep it fun, fun, fun!
Tanya: You share so many heartfelt and very personal
stories in your book, I was really moved by them and
they also helped me to remember new layers to the card
meanings. What has the response been to this unique
aspect of your book?
Rana: Thank you so much for your kind words. At first I
was worried because I was putting my all in it and getting
too personal. I felt very transparent and that scared me a
little. However, the response was overwhelmingly positive,
I keep getting emails on how my stories helped people.
The cool thing has been reading each different story that
people have shared with me, and how different each one
was from the other. Also, the way they touched each
person in so many different aspects of their lives. I found
this fascinating.
VOCATION
Tanya: Many of our readers have been
reading tarot for years, and might be curious about the Lenormand but hesitate
at the thought of learning a whole new
system. As someone who learned Lenormand first, and then integrated tarot
into your personal practice, is there an
exercise or spread you could suggest to
integrate and get to know them? Or do
you suggest learning them separately
and then merging?
Rana: It is important to learn it separately,
as in anything. First you need to get the
basics down and figure out how all the
cards work together. Learn the individual
cards and how they blend together to
make clear statements. It is important
to see and feel how Lenormand gets
incorporated into every day life then we
can marry the two fabulous systems
together.
Make sure at the beginning to journal
everything, journaling is a key to really
grasping the meanings and how every
card will connect with each of us on a
personel level. Journaling makes it a
unique experience to every person because the card will speak to that person
the language they need to understand.
This is where your gut feeling and intuition comes in.
Tanya: Excellent advice - thank you!
Do you remember a poignant moment
in your own personal learning where the
cards “clicked” for you, or was it a gradual evolution of understanding?
Rana: It wasn’t like that for me, because
they were in my hands since I was a kid.
I never looked at them as something I
needed to learn. It was more like a tool
I used to get help clarify the answers.
Later the tool evolved and I picked up
new things. Of course, there is a trial and
error factor that is very important and it
only comes from lot of experience, time
and practice.
Tanya: I have seen comments from
Lenormand enthusiasts to not “tarotize”
Lenormand imagery and interpretation.
Could you explain a bit about that, and
how to avoid this sometimes automatic
or tricky pitfall for newbies to the deck?
Rana: I believe “tarotizing” simply refers
to reading too much into the cards, as
in the color of the flower, the expression
of the person, the way a leaf has fallen
etc.. This goes back to keeping it simple.
In Lenormand and for me personally
the image is not what I am reading it
is the card the symbol. The Bear is the
bear is the bear, it doesn’t matter if the
bear was sleeping, eating or reading for
that matter, the bear will always bring
strength confidence and power even if
the the bear was depicted lounging. So
yes keep it simple, read only the cards
as what they represent regardless of
what is going on in the imagery. This is
why I like cards that show the symbols
they are supposed to depict clearly
solely. When cards have more than one
symbol the eye become confused and
“tarotizing” start seeping in which turns
Lenormand from a strong clear system
to something totally different.
Tanya: Many of us in the cartomancy
community do psychic fairs and new
age shows, or read online/by phone etc.
Do you have any suggestions on how to
most concisely and precisely work with
Lenormand in these public situations?
For example, someone might want a “full
reading” or Grand Tableau but time is at
such a premium, how do you give your
best readings in short time slots? Or do
you primarily do longer readings?
Rana: Lenormand works great in these
situations. I just answer their questions
with the quick small spreads. Usually
that is enough and the clients leave happy. For those kinds of spreads we need
questions though to focus the reading,
not like the Grand tableau were you can
jump in without any information at all.
Just remember, to take their questions
and rephrase it in a more specific and
concise way to get the clear answer out
of the cards. The question is half the
reading it is as important as the answer.
Tanya: Great point about how significant
the phrasing of the questions can be!
Rana: Absolutely the phrasing of the
questions cuts down the time of trying
to find an answer and takes you straight
to the point. The fascinating aspect
about Lenormand is that it is so clear
and precise, but you need to know how
to ask the question. Asking a vague or
an open ended question will give you a
vague and a totally unclear answer. Take
the time to focus the mind on what you
need the cards to tell you. Again this
comes from having a strong rapport with
the cards and practice.
messages from people telling me how
much they are benefiting from these
podcasts. It was an awesome fun time, I
loved doing them and I so enjoyed sharing that fascinating tool with Donnaleigh
and the world.
My favorite would be when we where
talking about celebrities and how the
cards description, we had a blast.
I can ever thank Donnaleigh enough for
providing this beacon or lighthouse of
knowledge.
Tanya: Any plans to do more in the
future?
Rana: You never know there is always a
possibility.
Tanya: Both you and your son Ryder
have created and collaborated on Lenormand decks, could you tell us more
about that and where we can see and
purchase them? Please add anything
else about special signed copies or
unique editions/upcoming decks if
you’d like here.
Rana: Well yes and no, I don’t know if
I can call it collaboration with my son,
because really it was all him. When my
son Ryder was 8 1/2 he wanted to make
me a gift. He is my artistic boy and he
loves to draw, so he started drawing
his version of the Lenormand cards for
me. When I saw the first 20 cards, I was
amazed and promised him that if he did
all 36 cards I would print it for him. He
did and he called it Ryder’s Lenormand,
he even included cards with his meanings, it was sold as a bundle of a deck
and it’s mini, he also decorated each
and every bag, they went very quick. At
the moment I don’t have any plans on
reprinting, maybe much later down the
road but not anytime soon.
Tanya: I really enjoy the blogradio shows
you have done with Donnaleigh, are
there any episodes that are your favourites?
My first collaboration, was with Edmund
Zebrowski when he came to me to
make a Lenormand deck using Pamela
Colman Smith’s art work since he owned
a Pamela B. That was a super fun time
where we had to comb through each of
her cards and work to try to find a Lenormand symbol, flipping the cards to the
left, to the right or upside down to see if
we can make an anchor or a snake. This
is how the Mlle Lenormand Outstanding
Pixie’s Lenormand came to life.
Rana: I am so glad to hear that, Donnaleigh is an amazing genuine person and
she has a strong platform which through
it we sprinkled out seeds of Lenormand
together. I am always getting emails and
My last collaboration was with Ciro
Marchetti and the Gilded Reverie
Lenormand. Working with Ciro is like
working with the genius of Michelangelo on a comic steroid pill. I will never
forget where he almost gave me a heart
attack, the day I opened my email to
see the Mice card with the depiction of
the computer mouse device instead of
the animal/ rodent. I was mortified until I
found out that it was one if his jokes.
Tanya: (laughing) Sounds like you have
worked with some incredible characters!
Before your book came out I wanted to
ask you a bazillion questions! Now that
it is, I understand that you have not been
in contact with your mentor who shared
the gift of this precious deck that has
guided you and so many others through
the years. If you could ask him just one
more thing, what might it be?
Rana: Oh wow, if I could get a hold of
him I would badger him with many questions or just sit and listen to his wisdom.
The questions would be more on a
spiritual level, on tips or advice on how to
handle certain energies and paranormal
situations. Oh that would be absolutely
amazing to get to talk to him now with
me all grown up, I mean I used to sit and
listen to him like a sponge when I was a
kid, I would probably do the same thing.
I am grateful that the universe has
blessed me, and is still blessing me with
many more mentors like him on this
journey we call life.
Tanya: Aw that sounds fantastic, I hope
you are blessed with a reunion and time
for many more questions in the future!
Tanya: If you could travel back in time for
a reading with Mlle Lenormand herself,
what would you ask or hope to discover?
Rana: Oh it would be a privilege to watch
her use her craft and see how she mesmerized her clients. I would love to sit in
on one of her readings to the empress
Josephine and see the mighty Napoleon walking in and getting upset. Wow,
what a treat to actually see her handle
Napoleon Bonaparte in his rage. I would
most definitely sneak into her salon to
discover all her arsenal, many tools and
trade secrets and would enjoy getting
caught by her. It would be amazing to sit
with her and talk to her period.
Tanya: Anything else you would like to
add? How can people reach you?
Rana: It is very easy to contact me
through my website
www.ranageorge.com
Tanya: Any upcoming Events?
Rana: I have events in August, then the
Tarosophy TarotCon in Dallas in October.
And I am super-excited for my upcoming workshop in Australia with TarotCon
Australia next April!
On The Essential Lenormand:
Reading this beautiful book is like finally
having a conversation with someone who
really ‘gets’ Lenormand. Rana George
knows these cards like a dear old trusted
friend. She very generously introduces us
to Lenormand. Page by page, she guides
us card by card into this incredible system’s many layered depths. This book is
equally helpful to anyone just learning
about Lenormand for the first time, or
those who have been exploring for years!”
CONTRIBUTORS
Marjorie Jensen
Nicola & Harry Wendrich
Yolanda Robinson
Arcana: The Tarot Poetry Anthology will be a
collection of poetry by famous Tarot writers as
well as undiscovered voices in the community, from translations of 16th century tarocchi
appropriati to modern verse. The anthology will
be published by Minor Arcana Press in 2015.
http://www.transformationtarot.com/
http://tarotpoetry.wordpress.com/
& Revised Art Tarot deck
Virginia Jester & Chris Hopkins
http://prs.org/wpcms/campus-store/the-revised-new-art-tarot/
http://www.ginniejester.com/
Wendrich arthouse at http://wendricharthouse.com/
Sphinx Tarot
Tanya Pinky Pineda
London based Tarot readers with modern edge
and ancient wisdom.
http://www.100lotuspainting.bigcartel.com/
product/the-key-is-me-lenormand-style-divination-deck
http://www.sphinxtarot.com/
Rana George
Katrina Wynne has her M.A in Counseling Psychology. She is a Forest Mystic who resides
on the Oregon Coast. Katrina has studied all
things metaphysical for over 40 years, combining her psycho-spiritual perspective with esoteric tools, such as the Petite Lenormand.
www.ranageorge.com
Information about Katrina’s classes, private
sessions, and publications can be found on
her website: http://TarotCounseling.org.
www.tarotassociation.net
The Tarosophy Tarot Association
For more information about the Tarosophy Tarot Association and membership benefits, see:
You can visit her weblog at: http://MySacredJourney.org.
Additional information is shared through her
podcast, Oracle Soup, co-produced with Gina
Thies: http://OracleSoup.org
Katrina Wynne’s “Basic Petite Lenormand
Symbols” table is available by sending her
your request by email: mail@TarotCounseling.
org
Dr. Ute Knecktys
Illus. Courage by Janine Hall.
We would like to thank all contributors for making this issue outstanding, and dedicate it to all those
creating Tarot and presenting it to the world as a means of insight into our own lives, the world around
us and the connection between those two apparently separate aspects.
The World is Bound by Invisible Knots - You either Speak with Honey on your Lips from the Book of Clouds, Echoing the Voice of
Living Fire in the Trembling Darkness, or you Do Not.
There are no half-way Oracles.
All content © Tarot Professionals Ltd, 2014 and respective authors. All rights reserved. Transmission or
reproduction in any medium prohibited. Tarot Professionals Ltd is a registered company. Tarosophy®
World Tarot Week®, TarotCon® and Tarot House® are registered Trademarks. World Tarot Day™ is
asserted as a trademark by Den Elder and used with permission.

TEST PLAY INTERNAL v2.indd - Tarosophy Tarot Association

Transcription

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