Review by Bonnie Cehovet
www.bonniecehovet.com

Author: Robert Swiryn
Pau Hana Publishing
2010
ISBN 978-061530438-0

The history of the Tarot is quite an interesting one, and one that is often traced by the imagery in the cards. In The Secret of the Tarot, Swiryn attempts to show that somewhere along the line the Marseilles Tarot (a specific style of Tarot that has its roots in early Italian decks) may have come to carry the story of the Cathars, a thirteenth century sect of religious heretics.

In his preface, Swiryn notes that in his opinion, the Marseilles Tarot carries what he terms a classical look, as opposed to more modern decks, which he feels have drifted away from historical authenticity. In his personal studies on medieval history, Swiryn began to recognize connections between historical characters and events of this time period and the images in the Tarot cards. He goes on to say that he feels that both the story of the Cathars, and their spiritual message, seemed to have found a place in the cards. The thesis he formed was that a person, or group of people, found a way to use the Tarot of Marseilles as an instructional vehicle to preserve the story of the Cathar persecution by the Roman Catholic Church and the King of France.

What Swiryn presents here is the story of the Cathars (a look at the Albigensian Crusade, the subsequent Inquisition and the fate of the Cathars), and the supposition that this story is concealed within the Marseilles Tarot imagery.

The book is in two parts: the first part covers the history of the Cathars through the lens of the Roman Catholic church, the medieval Languedoc and the Counts of Toulouse, the Cathars themselves, the Albigensian Crusade and the development of the Tarot. The second part covers the twenty-two Major Arcana of the Tarot, and attempts to look at what the creators of the Marseilles Tarot had in mind when they designed their cards. Through the lens of historical context, Swiryn attempts to show the connection between the spiritual beliefs of the Cathars and the imagery in the deck.

A great deal of research has gone into this book. People familiar with the Tarot world will recognize names like Robert O’Neill, Stuart Kaplan, Michael Dummett, Paul Huson, and Alfred Douglas. The specific Marseilles Tarot that is used throughout this book is the Nicholas Conver deck. Other illustrations are used to show the symbols and imagery used during this time period, such as a stained glass of the Virgin Mary in Majesty from Notre Dame de Chartres, the bell tower at St. Sernin, and the martyrdom of St. Sernin. These are all reflective of the times that the Cathars lived in.

Would it have been possible for the story of the Cathars to be imbedded in the Marseilles Tarot? On the surface, yes. Cathars could have worked amongst the artisans that cut the wood blocks for the Tarot cards. Probable – no. And if the story of the Cathars was embedded in the cards, it may have been done after their time, by someone else, to simply keep their story alive.

In Part 2, where the cards are presented, the connections that Swiryn makes between the Cathars and the Marseilles Tarot images are, in my opinion, tenuous at best. Tenuous, but worth considering. In the Lovers he attempts to make the case that the imagery was significantly altered from older decks to give it new meaning.

For example, Swiryn surmises that just as the two figures Lovers card in the Visconti-Sforza Tarot are generally accepted to represent the two families, the three figures in the Lovers card of the Marseilles Tarot may point to historical figures within the Albigensian story. He posits that the third figure may represent the French Regent (Blanche of Castille), intervening between Raymond VII (the middle figure) and Beatrice (the younger woman on the right). Another theory presented here is that the Marseilles version of the Lovers was sometimes referred to as the Two Paths, with the figure on the left representing the institutional church, and the figure on the right representing Love.

There are many other instances of information that is offered from a slightly different viewpoint than is generally considered. At the least it is interesting, including the thought that if Cathar history has been encoded in the Marseilles Tarot, that it was done hundreds of years after the demise of the Cathars, perhaps by Cathar sympathizers that were involved in the printing of the decks.

The Secret of the Tarot is written on a level that makes it readily understood by all levels of Tarot student. Between the footnotes and the bibliography, it is easy to see where Swiryn is referencing his material, so that anyone interested in following up with studies of their own may do so. There is one minor glitch, in that Robert O’Neil’s e-book Catharism and the Tarot was inadvertently left out of the bibliography, but it is acknowledged in Swiryn’s footnotes.

For anyone interested in the history of the Cathars, in the Marseilles Tarot, or in Tarot history, this is a book that I would recommend. The ideas presented here may not be universally accepted, but they do offer food for thought.

© December 2010 Bonnie Cehovet

I like to imagine what it will be like in 300 years hence: perhaps one of Flornoy’s decks survives, having been found in one of Melbourne’s museums, and perhaps a mastercraftsman has picked it up, obtained high resolution images thereof, and seeks to remake it afresh for all to enjoy. Some of the colours have faded, some of the cardstock is damaged. Perhaps there is even a card ripped with part of its image then missing.

For myself, holding Flornoy’s restoration of the Dodal deck is somewhat akin to the joy that a future cardmaker may have brought to a fellow enthusiast and traveller of the times.

Already having the photographic (and size-reduced) reproduction of the Dodal (now long out of print) published by Dussere, and having, a number of years ago, held one of the two known remaining Dodal decks when visiting the British Museum, it especially strikes me that this restoration is superb. Of course I’m also going to be critical, and Jean-Claude and Roxanne Flornoy undoubtedly expect this. So let me spill my critique in what I trust will be taken in the best way possible.

Card stock

When I first held the original c. 1701 British Museum [BM]-held deck, what especially struck me what the relative thinness of the deck. Unlike, for example, the 1963 imprint of the Grimaud deck, this 300 year old deck was, truly, ‘fine’ – which in the French has more of the literal ‘thin’ as its meaning. What Flornoy has managed is to get a cardboard quality that approximates, as much as is feasible, the thickness of the original. So a very pleasant surprise here! It’s not only the overall card size which has been more or less matched, but also its ‘grade’.

From left to right: Grimaud Marseille 1963; Flornoy 78-card deck; Dusserre photographic reproduction of BN copy

In the image above, the left-hand deck is the Grimaud from the 1960s, the central deck is Flornoy’s Dodal, and the right-hand deck, slightly thinner, is the photographic reproduction by Dusserre of the Dodal held in the Bibliotheque Nationale [BN].

Card size

This is especially pleasant, and undoubtedly has meant that the printers have had to use a greater number of card sheets than is usual. Flornoy’s meticulous and uncompromising focus here is examplary. If anything, the border ‘added’ surrounding the card images means that each card (not its image) is a little larger than the known decks. If a woodblock had been used, of course, then this would not have arisen as the ‘space’ between cards would not have allowed for such extravagance. What’s interesting (for myself at any rate) is that this printed version has images a little larger than the hand-made trump-only edition.

Dodal decks from left to right: Flornoy 78-card deck; Flornoy 22 trump-only hand-made deck; Dusserre photographic reproduction of BN copy

Colours

Not sure what to say here. Of course, one of the features of Flornoy’s decks is that they are crisp and seek to reflect the colours as the original designers may have intended them to be. I frankly do not have sufficient access to the details of both the BM and BN decks to be able to properly ascertain how closely these colours have been matched but, knowing Flornoy, I am confident that he would have, to the best of anyone’s ability, carefully considered both these decks and tried to bring out the colours as they would have been used at the time. Colours… not tone, however: personally, I suspect that the red used by Flornoy’s printers was rather more pinkish than expected… but then again, variations occured quite a lot with the imprints of the 18th century!

Card backs

Perhaps many will very much appreciate the pate-d’oix reversals that Flornoy has introduced, but, sadly, not I. Whereas he was careful to preserve the non-reversibility of the original decks in the hand-made version of the Dodal (previously released in a trumps-only edition), it’s as if he has succumbed to what is misguided commercial marketability and the preferences for those who are also readers amongst us: yet surely someone who values this deck would have been happy with the upright design!

Dodal decks from left to right: Flornoy 78-card deck; Flornoy 22 trump-only hand-made deck; Dusserre photographic reproduction of BN copy

Perhaps it’s only a small point which remains, for me, something that is somewhat of a disappointment.

Line details

The style of deck, being originally a woodcut, implies that the image is primarily based on outlines which are then overlayed with colour stencils. This gives the black lines themselves somewhat more importance than if the figures were painted. In fact, in observing and comparing various types of early woodcuts, what is often primarily done is a careful comparison of the lines, rather than of the colours (which may, after all, alter from imprint to imprint).

Many lines remain ambiguous as to their intended ‘meaning’ or representation. In simply assessing Flornoy’s new restoration, what is striking are the number of minor alterations that have occured between this deck and the earlier one he made for the hand-crafted one some years ago. This reflects something that I think is highly important, especially in a work of restoration: that Flornoy is not stuck to his previous work, but rather willing to carefully revise his previous work based on careful re-visioning of the two extant decks.

Admittedly, in the trump-only hand-made version, Flornoy only had access to the BN version. I recall, when we had the pleasure to visit Roxanne and Jean-Claude in 2005, mentioning to him that I had then recently looked through the BM deck, but I was then unable to answer his questions regarding various minor details of comparisons to the BN, not having had my Dusserre copy with me at the time from which to make such comparisons. That he subsequently obtained images from the BM for the purposes of accurate image comparison, including usage of colour across those two decks, says a lot for Jean-Claude’s integrity as card-maker.

In the image that follows, I have not included all alterations between the newer and the trump-only lines used on each deck. For example, in that section of that card, attention could also be given to the more curved nature of the sleeves; the pupils of the eyes of the figure; her hair as it meets the ‘collar’ on the right hand side… and yet other details! Still, even with paying attention to ‘only’ such details as the eye of the respective eagles, the triangular form sitting atop her heart, the colouration of the base of her sceptre, and the undulating patterns on her ‘collar’ – these give sufficient evidence that with this deck is was not simply a reprint of their earlier work, but a re-composition based on what we can only hope and surmise is careful study.

Flornoy 78-card deck on the left; his 22 trump-only hand-made deck on the right

Booklet

I am not here going to compare in any detail the booklet that came with the trump-only deck with the newer one issued with this full restoration, save for one point, well worth considering. In the older booklet, Jean-Claude says that (my translation):

From a graphic perspective, the Lyonese tarot of Jean Dodal and the Avignonese tarot of Jean Payen are strangely similar, to the point of confounding them. My conclusion is therefore simple: it is the same engraver to whom we owe these two tarots from the beginning of the 18th century.

As he mentions therein and again in the newer booklet, there is a distinction to be made between a carver and a cartier (or ‘cardmaker’). I agree with him entirely on this – and emphasise this due to what is to follow. In the newer booklet, he also names that the engraver as Jacques Mermé without mentioning his sources. Given that this information is not readily accessible, it would have been useful to include sources for those amongst us who wish to check the precise nature of the claim: how much interpretation is being presented?

Personally, I too see it as likely that the carver of the Dodal and the (Jean) Payen is the same – though I personally also take it a step further, and would claim that not only is the Dodal carved by the same hand as the Payen, but that the ‘I.P.’ on the the Moon suggests that the carver is either still in the employ of Payen, or that the Dodal is carved ‘under contract’ with Payen. There is likely, therefore, more than simply a matter of carver moving from Avignon to Lyons and working for two separate houses, but also a connection at the level of the cartier-houses of Payen and Dodal.

Another small, but still very significant point, is a statement that is repeatedly made, including by Flornoy, about the supposed destruction of woodblocks: though this was indeed the case for cards in general, tarot woodblocks were specifically exempted from this otherwise legal requirement.

Enrique’s preface

Finally, I cannot omit some comments on Enrique’s suggestions for reading tarot. As Enrique well knows, we have much in common (with many others, of course) in advocating a careful looking at what is presented. Not just glancing, but rather beholding as fully as possible the imagery and its inter-relationships.

Yet it is not so much that which is here important, but rather that he manages to capture what is effectively a whole book in poetic seed-form.

With his preface together with this deck by Flornoy, we have a source of deep and essential tarot.

The Box

The design is the second of Robert Mealing’s tarot boxes, each, as far as I’m aware, constrained by the pre-determined physical box that was to be used. In other words, the visual design is his on a physical cardboard box not of his own design.

If the box is considered as an efficient storage for both marketing and collectables, then its basic structure is ideal. If the user intends to use it as a long-term enclosure to be carried around and used daily then it will need to be exchanged for something a little sturdier or (conversely) more flexible.

Given the constraints (to return to the visuals of the box), Mealing has produced, as he had for the Flornoy Noblet, an excellent and attractive package, managing to capture the deck’s essential information within the limitations of the space.

Overall

This is the deck that Marteau, I strongly suspect, would have used for the Grimaud historical revival of tarot had he had access to such between the two world wars in the first part of the 20th century.

I many ways, it is regretful that he did not, as some of the most important tarot works later written, such as Meditations on the Tarot, have instead based commentary on what is a 1760 Conver restoration.

Where to obtain a copy of the deck

It’s really somewhat sad to even have to write the above sub-heading: it should be available wherever tarot is stocked and sold!

Nonetheless, here is a brief key list.

If located within or near Europe, then I would suggest obtaining a copy directly from the Flornoys:

> www.letarot.com

If in North America, I would suggest either TarotGarden or from Enrique Enriquez (I presume they each have some in stock!):

www.enriqueenriquez.net
www.tarotgarden.com

If in Australasia, I have a few copies available:

www.fourhares.com

If elsewhere, then you’re probably the best judge of the manner in which postal services from France, the USA or Australia manage to reach you, and also the current value of your local exchange rate.

In any case, this is a(nother) deck I would without any hesitation highly recommend!

Jean-Michel David
www.fourhares.com

When the French author, priest and Freemason Antoine Court de Gebelin (1719-84) in 1781 advanced the allegation, that the tarot deck constituted the Egyptian god Thoth’s ‘Secret Book’, he cast a seed to something, which during the next couple of centuries should grow to immense heights. Tarot was an ordinary card game in many parts of France, but not in Paris, where Gebelin lived. One day, when he noticed a group of tarot players, he intuitively grasped the idea, that he had here discovered something far more than an utterly simple deck of playing cards.

Gebelin put forward his discovery in volume eight of his nine volume work ‘Le Monde Primitif analisé et comparé avec le Monde moderne’. The deck of cards used by the players that Gebelin watched, was presumably the Marseilles standard pattern. Playing card terminology defines a ‘standard pattern’ as a set of images, with none or only minor differences, produced by many different card makers in various localities’. The Marseilles pattern fits very well into this definition. It was produced by many card makers, not only in France but also in Italy. By and by a number of local varieties developed, like the Tarot Bolognese, the Sicilian Tarot, the Tarot Piemonte and Tarot Milanese. Distinct variations saw the light of day in France, Belgium, Switzerland. All with their own characteristics but all with the Marseille pattern as a distinct background.

Gebelin’s seed was slow in germinating, development took its time. The first, who took up the concept, was the Parisian fortune-teller Etteilla. Inspired by Gebelin, he saw the tarot cards as a sort of expanded fortune-telling cards, which he, however, did not find completely satisfying. So he started ‘improving’ them by adding interpretative texts, visual symbols and small vignettes, as we know them from ordinary fortune-telling cards. He also published books with practical instructions on how his ‘tarot decks’ could be used. Etteilla’s ‘tarots’ have in general been considered reprehensible but, maybe, time is now ready for a further study of their symbolism.

With Etteilla’s intervention, the seed from the big tree in the wood, the Marseille pattern, had finally began to sprout and from now on it grew quickly. We now come to the French esoterist, Alphonse Louis Constant, writing from about 1850 under the name of Eliphás Levi. Levi rejected Etteilla’s ‘improvements and ‘corrections’ and returned to the Marseilles tarot in its pure form. Levi’s books, which described quite a number of esoteric systems, like kabbala, alchemy, astrology and tarot, started a wave in the world of esotericism. At this time a tarot deck, which rightly can be called the very first created for a solely esoteric purpose, saw the light of the day. Swiss Oswald Wirth (1860-1943), a competent artist, student and secretary of another of the occult characters of the time, Marquis Stanislas de Guaita, was by him encouraged to create a tarot deck, cleaned of Etteilla’s ‘improvements’. Wirth’s tarot, with relatively simple stencil coloured images, was for the first time produced in 1889. The cards, still with the Marseilles pattern as a basis, had the Hebrew letters, essentially for the tarot correspondences with the Kabbala and the Tree of Life. Here I feel it necessary to add the remark, that the deck currently marketed as ‘the original and only authorised Oswald Wirth Tarot deck’, has nothing what so ever to do with Wirth’s tarot. The images are not Wirth’s original (but drawn by a Michel Simeon) and Wirth’s deck did not comprise a minor arcana, which was not a part of his scheme of things. The ways of tarot publishers are past understanding.

Gebelin’s seed had found its ground. Tarot moved from France to England in the second half of the 19th. Century and dumped right into the Victorian era, where occult- and esoteric lodges flourished. In particular Tarot found a home in ‘The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn’, established in 1888. The basis for Golden Dawn’s order work was, in particular, the writings of the French esoterics as they were expressed in Levi’s books. The order papers, which were granted to the adepts as they raised in the order grades included, at the time the adept was admitted to The Second Order, instructions which would make it possible for him or her to create their own tarot deck. At a time a prototype, drawn by Moina Mathers (married to Samuel Liddell Mathers, one of the GD’s founders), was available for copying. Tarot as a card game was not known in Great Britain and even to get a Marseilles deck was near to impossible.

In this environment, a big and vigorous tree grew out of Gebelin’s seeds: the Waite-Smith Tarot, created by the man of letters, Arthur Edward Waite and the artist Pamela Colman Smith, both members of the Golden Dawn. Right now in December 2009 we can celebrate the Waite-Smith Tarot’s 100 years anniversary. How many other tarot decks will ever come to celebrate a 100 years anniversary? None, in my opinion. The time was the early 20th Century, during which tarot, unpredictably, should come to grow to immense heights.

For the members of the secret societies and lodges, for the magicians, who strived for controlling the forces of the universe and for the kabbalists, who wanted to explore the scheme of things to understand the creation and man’s place in the universe through the Tree of Life’ spheres and paths, tarot was the tool par excellence. For many decades the Marseille pattern tarot had been that tool. The tarot deck’s ‘divinatory’ aspects, those of ‘seeking the advice of the Devine through a mantic method like casting of lots, dice, runes, tarot..’ were considered inferior, that was not what tarot essentially was for. Now a new and different tarot was available, a tarot which also changed the concept of tarot over the next century, more or less away from that of being a tool of recognition to that of being a tool for an upcoming craze of ‘card-reading’. While the number cards in the Marseille patterned decks depicted only the relevant number of the suit symbols: wands, cups, swords and coins (fine enough for the Kabbalists and numerologists), the Waite-Smith tarot depicted four series of action pictures, with people engaged in various activities. There were other differences from the Marseilles tarot, but not so obvious at a first glance. Waite’s had, however, changed the sequence of the majors, compared to the Marseilles deck sequence. Waite was not only a man of letters, he was also a man of secrecy and this was his secret which he did not want to reveal. Essentially it was all about making a more relevant correspondence with the astrological signs which each major arcana card related to. These correspondences were considered being secrets available only to Golden Dawn adepts (secret societies need to have some secrets to guard), and Waite was afraid that he, if he published any details in the book accompanying the deck: ‘The Key of the Tarot, being Fragments of a Secret Tradition under the Veil of divination’, he would have broken his oath to the Golden Dawn. For the same reason of secrecy, he did not include Hebrew letters in the card design, as Wirth had done it.

The Tarot Forest’s underwood continued to grow steadily but slowly over many decades. Pamela Colman Smith’s drawings were unrestrained copied and redrawn. Waite’s book was soon copied and sold under the name of an American ‘author’. The Tarot Forest had, by and by, got a low undergrowth of tarot decks, more or less based upon the Waite-Smith Tarot. The next seedling to become a powerful trunk in the Forest of Tarot was Crowley/Harris’ ‘Thoth Tarot,’ which came alive in 1944 after five years cooperation between the esoterist, magician, provocateur, eroticist and drug-addict Aleister Crowley and the artist and upper-class housewife, Lady Frieda Harris. Tarot was still for the few.

With the Waite-Smith tarot the world had got a comic book in loose leaf format and an endless combination of comic strips could be created and read as a story by mixing the 78 card and placing them in one of many patterns. The flower power era, named by the American poet Allen Ginsburg, that erupted in the American counterculture during the late 1960s and early 1970s stimulated this new way of looking at the tarot and several packs showed up, published by alternative publishers. In the early 1970’s it, however, went wrong. Greedy capital interests took over the Tarot Forest, like they took over the South American rainforests. Tarot was turned into an industry, a massmedia that could be compared with the continual flow of comic books. Every week its comic book, every week its tarot deck and each ‘tarot-reader’ felt that she too had to create her own tarot deck. We had come far away from the tarot of the Golden Dawn adepts. All sorts of tarot decks appeared, all subjects, which had no whatsoever with tarot to do: Norse mythology, Red Indian lore, the Vikings, the Celts, the Saints, the Mayans, the Angles, the Gay, the Witches – the list is long – , were forced into a tarot structure of 78 cards. Most of them with voluminous books that tried to explain why exactly this subject reflects the tarot. Many privately published and personal decks appeared too, which was fine for the persons, who created them and their own circles, but essentially of no common importance. In my own collection I have about 1400 tarot deck up to the year 2000 (divinatory and fortune telling packs not included), a huge industry of tarot. Only occasional seedlings gained foothold in the tarot underwood, particularly those drawn by artists with a capital ‘A’ like Pamela Colman Smith and Frieda Harris. The major part of the underwood flourished only for a short time to perish soon, which also is the main purpose of capital interests: to create a continuous turnover.

Rider Waite Tarot, Rider Waite-Smith Tarot and latest Smith-Waite Tarot (!), we have many names for the things we love, but that doesn’t necessarily make a name appropriate. These three names are all constructions attributed to the deck by USGames Systems Inc, who took over the publication in the early 1970’s. The original publisher, William Rider did never connect his own name to the tarot, and why should he. It was simply named ‘Tarot Cards’ in advertising; no other tarot decks were available in England at that time. Rightly it should be named the Waite-Smith Tarot, as a tribute to its two creators. Publishers are publishers, they are in it for the money and need not be given a credit for that. A good and easy way to honour the two creators right now, where the deck’s 100 years existence can be celebrated would be from now persistently to call the deck Waite-Smith Tarot. For reasons I am not aware of, several of the best known American tarotists continue to include ‘Rider’ in its name. It is certainly not to honour William Rider, the publisher, but rather the person, who named it ‘Rider-Waite’ years later.

Lately, voices have advocated for, that Pamela Colman Smith is the ‘real’ creator of the Waite-Smith tarot. My own book ‘The Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot’ has also been used as an argument for that. Sorry, but no (and this is not to minimize PCS’s work, on the contrary), but without Waite, there would not have been a tarot deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, while there very well could have been a Waite tarot illustrated by another artist. Quite a different deck, of course, but still based upon Waite’s concept.

This is the anniversary year, which we certainly shall celebrate. A lot has lately been written about the Waite-Smith Tarot and tarot conventions reserved time for WST-related talks. USGames Systems Inc. did it their own way by publishing a package called ‘The Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set’. Not much honour for Waite here, since the package only included a twisted version of A.E.Waite’s ‘The Pictorial Key to the Tarot’, twisted in the way that the pictures’ were simply cut away. The pack includes also a tarot deck (this is where the name ‘Smith-Waite Tarot’ comes in) which is a likely twisted ‘reproduction’ of the first published Waite-Smith Tarot, the one with the roses and lilies backpattern. In this case the reproduction work is muddy and the original back pattern is substituted by a stylised monogram. The only gem in the package is a small book depicting colour reproductions of other works by Pamela Colman Smith.

For my own part, I have initiated a mail art project by mailing 22 small books, illustrating in b&w all 78 WST-cards, to tarot artists and mail artist around in the world, asking them to transform the book in whatever way they want.

In a few years, the copyright to Pamela Colman Smith’s artwork for the Waite-Smith Tarot comes to an absolute end, regardless of what attempts are made to hide that fact. Maybe then a tarot publisher will at last present the tarot world for the true facsimile of the original pack, which has long been wanted.

Back in 1995 when I ‘discovered’ that two early Waite-Smith tarot decks, I happened to have in my collection, actually were quite different when looked on at close hand, no one had cared for details like that before, even though questions like “How were the original colours” had been asked. My book “The Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot” was published in 2006. When I should find a name for it, I considered calling it “The True Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot” but gave up the idea again. There were too many gaps that still could not be filled in. Meanwhile the interest for the deck has grown and the few copies of the early decks that come up for sale fetch extraordinary high prices. The research goes on and the most remarkable late discovery is that of Piero Alligo, one of the two owners of Lo Scarabeo who, supported by careful analyses of the printing technique used, has found a likely printing sequence in contrast to the publication sequence I present in my book. By accepting the existence of both sequences several questions are answered, questions like “why was the deck redrawn several times”, “why are early editions accompanied by a later dated “Key” and “what does that strange line on the Sun-card mean”. The biggest question of them all has, however, never been answered: ’What happened to Pamela Colman Smith’s original artwork?”

We are now at the end of the Waite-Smith anniversary year. Are we also getting nearer to the end of the tarot era? Have we reached a boundary, where enough is enough and where the tarot market is becoming satisfied? Where we have to realize that the many, who became familiar with tarot during the last four decades of the 20th Century have grown older, and that young people of today have other interests to occupy themselves with. Additionally, we are in a current economical crisis and it looks like there signs of that the tarot factories have slowed down the production.

Three big tree trunks reach still high and solid and robust up over the Tarot Forest’s crumbled and withered underwood: the progenitor, the Marseille-tarot, followed by the Waite-Smith Tarot and the Crowley-Harris Thoth Tarot. They are here to stay and what more does a serious tarot student actually need?

One can ponder about what tarot would be today, had not Court de Gebelin back in 1781 caught the confused idea, that an ordinary playing-card deck was an Egyptian god’s secret book. Tarot would, undoubtedly, still be a cardgame but would it be more than that? I doubt. Maybe the time is now to place flowers on the gravestone of the so far rather discredited Antoine Court de Gebelin.

K. Frank Jensen, November 2009

See also my web-site: www.manteia-online.dk for new details on the Waite-Smith Tarot. Here you can also find my review of ‘Twenty Years of Tarot: The Lo Scarabeo Story’ including my comments to Piero Alligo’s article on the printing sequence of the early Waite-Smith Tarot decks.

Documentation of ‘Asta Erte’s Waite-Smith Tarot Mail Art Project’ can be found at the same web-site from late December 2009.

When I first obtained volume 1 in 1985, it had already been in print since 1978, the internet did not yet exist, and the variety of tarot decks available in any location was a reflection of the views of those in that region: in France, basically only the playing cards, the Grimaud Marseille and some Etteilla were available; in contrast, in the USA it was basically the Waite-Smith or the 1jj, both marketed by US Games, the owner of which, Stuart Kaplan, is simultaneously the author of this Encyclopedia.

Matters of tarot were also rapidly changing. Numerous new decks were coming out, and the ‘crystal craze’ appeared to be replaced by an emerging ‘tarot craze’. Neo-paganism in its various forms was already the rage in many parts of ‘Western’ countries in which English was spoken, and, to also provide a totally contrasting perspective on the way in which tarot was looked upon by the populace, Michael Dummett (not yet ‘Sir’) had also already published his massively influential (though still seldom read) The Game of Tarot (1980).

It wasn’t until nearly ten years had lapsed since the first volume had appeared that volume II of the Encyclopedia was published in 1986. By then, the tarot ‘furore’ was in full swing, and it took merely another four years for volume III to appear in 1990.

These ‘volumes’ are also perhaps not to be thought as pre-organised, planned and structured as one may expect an encylopædia to be: establishing clear guidelines and structure across a number of volumes that would see later editions amend errors or omissions occuring in its antecedent edition. Rather, and, I would suggest, out of necessity at the time, the first volume sought to encapsulate as a resource all decks and writings about tarot that was known at the time, simultaneously aware that much was in the process of being published which would, of necessity, form the basis of a later volume in which could also be included decks and writings from earlier times that had since been uncovered… and likewise for volume III.

By that stage, the style of each volume was well established. It took another fifteen years before volume IV emerged in 2005. By then, US Games had become one (though its largest) amongst various tarot publishers, and a large number of new decks had also emerged from an unexpected source: in Japan in various Manga and related styles. In Europe, K. Frank Jensen had already established what is likely to be the most complete collection of 20th century tarot decks (in addition to completing ten years of his Manteia); the Musée des Cartes a Jouer was opened in Paris; Lo Scarabeo was emerging as a major player in card production and variety of design; quite a number of early decks had been re-published (often in limited runs) by the likes of Flornoy, Grimaud, Il Meneghello and Héron; and, importantly, the advent of the Internet had made not only deck variety well known and often partially readily available, but also enabled those interested to communicate with one another across the globe and, at times, purchase decks that may have simply otherwise been locally unavailable.

I personally think that it is in that context that the volumes have to first be considered and assessed for not only their worth, but also their influence and future development. On the subject of their future development, a brief mention should here be made that volume V is apparently in preparation. Personally, I strongly suspect that such will be the last of the series – at least in that form.

Structure of books

I have been using the volumes in what may be considered semi-frequent but regular ways since obtaining that first volume now (…how time flies) nearly 25 years ago. By far the volume that has seen the most wear (simply because of my usage) is volume II. I must admit that I still find their structure somewhat confusing.

One way to describe their structure in a nutshell is to consider that each volume has a three-fold division, the central one being its most visual and likely its main selling point: firstly, there is (or are) some tarot essay(s) of note, each volume focussed on different essays; secondly, there are listings of numerous tarot decks with representative imagery from each; and thirdly, and not to be dismissed, what is perhaps collectively the most complete tarot bibliography, usually briefly annotated.

The Essays

The essays make their appearance usually at the beginning of each volume, though volume IV is a little distinct in this regard. Also, volumes I and II have essays towards the end. Still, in essence, the essays provide some view on the development, the interpretation, or some other consideration on tarot. In general, they each provide good synopsis of the main views they advocate in the context of research of the times in which they were published.

Volume I, which, it must be recalled, was originally published in 1978, provides a good synopsis of the views of a large variety of authors, though in some cases makes statements that assumes the veracity of the views promulgated by the Golden Dawn.

The chapters that follow on early references to playing cards and to tarot, as well as the references to the Visconti Sforza emblems, still provide (together with volume II) one of the most accessible reference work as a foundation to that area of investigation – despite the work that has taken place over the past thirty years, including at least one PhD.

The essays at the end of the book, on card interpretation and on spreads, reflects the times in which they were written and the scarcity of readily available equivalent material at the time. From my point of view, the ‘interpretations’ provided, as well as the card-position meaning of the various spreads, appear a little fixed. To be fair, on the other hand, especially the second essay can be taken as reporting on the spreads found in other works.

In volume II, the essays on various things historical are a real mine for research regarding early considerations pertinent to tarot. There’s not much out there that is comparable and that easily accessible. If for no other reason, it makes this volume – for myself at any rate – indispensible.

Volume III’s essay on Pamela Colman Smith appears (to me at lesat) to lack due acknowledgement to Melinda Parsons’s 1975 MA dissertation. The essay is nonetheless well worth reading, but it has to be taken in light of the incredible amount of work that has emerged over the last few years. As such, it forms one amongst a number of such materials, including, of course, Frank Jensen’s 2006 Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot (though this admittedly hit the press subsequent to volume III which, it must be recalled, was published some sixteen years earlier in 1990).

With volume IV, there are no essays of comparable breadth or depth as in the other volumes. Still, worthy of mention is a one-page description near the end of the volume which includes the number of permutations possible for a given ten-card spread (basically, 78!/68!).

Overall, it seems to me that though some of the essays (such as especially the ones in volumes II and III) have their proper place in the series, others would be better presented in different media – such as a journal or Newsletter.

The strength of the volumes lies not, in any case, in the essays, and doubt that anyone would purchase the Encyclopedia (with the possible exception of volume II) for that content.

Annotated Bibliography

I next jump to the last section of the Encyclopedia simply to make brief mention and then return to the central content. Yet, though brief, it should not be underestimated!

This still remains a location which not only lists publications as near comprehensive as can reasonably be expected but, more importantly, still remains uniquely so!

The annotations are also, though brief, of merit. This is one area I hope to either see somehow reflected online (whether on Tarotpedia or elsewhere) or as on ongoing updated and separate volume of its own.

Tarot Decks

What makes the Encyclopedia wonderful for many remains, of course, the ease of access to representative cards from hundreds of decks. Yet this is also its own downfall: until volume IV, there was effectively no other means these were able to be accessed in one place with relative ease. These days, not only are most of the images from those same decks online in a variety of places, but also in colour.

Again, and through this aspect alone, the Encyclopedia, in its current form, shows its age and its past merit.

If it has not as yet been surpassed online, it is more that comparable work has to be systematically undertaken by not only someone who has the passion required, but also the resources. At the moment, this is spread across a number of individuals working in different locations across the world in non-coordinated ways and, as such, the Encyclopedia, despite the awkward manner in which the decks are arranged, remains in a unique position.

I say the decks are arranged in an awkward manner and yet, to be sure, I cannot say what other way they could have been better presented. The way they are grouped together suggests, for each volume, a logic that makes sense, even if across volumes new finds, new decks, or new styles cuts across groupings from earlier volumes.

It should be recalled that volume IV, as an example, does not arise out of a plan before volume I was completed, but rather is itself a consequence of the inevitable omissions of the previous three volumes.

If the whole four volumes were to have been written today, then I certainly would expect their overall arrangement to differ greatly with greater focus on earlier decks in the earlier volumes and greater sub-groupings with decks that have emerged since 1980.

Overview

So, in a nutshell, what do I think of them? Firstly, I sincerely hope that the set gets a fifth volume as many amongst us expect. Irrespective of their limitations, it is a set that will remain for years to come a testament to the diversity and richness of not only tarot in general, but also of this period in its history – and it seems to me that its closing volume has yet to appear.

For tarot enthusiasts and researchers, the set, irrespective as to whether most images also become available online and whether Tarotpedia or something similar develops to the extent of the volumes of the Encyclopedia of Tarot, remains a fount of reference material that is both relatively affordable and (still) readily accessible.

There are, of course, other books on tarot that any bookshelf ought to include. These, however, remain amongst that select group.

Bibliographic details

Encyclopedia of Tarot vol. I (isbn 0913866113 ), 1978
Stuart R. Kaplan
387 pages + 8 colour pages
images from 250 decks
30 page annotated bibliography

Encyclopedia of Tarot vol. II (isbn 0913866369 ), 1986
Stuart R. Kaplan
552 pages + 16 colour pages
images from 300 decks
28 page annotated bibliography

Encyclopedia of Tarot vol. III (isbn 0880791225 ), 1990
Stuart R. Kaplan
694 pages + 16 colour pages
images from over 550 decks
6 page annotated bibliography

Encyclopedia of Tarot vol. IV (isbn 157281506X ), 2005
Stuart R. Kaplan & Jean Huets
802 pages + 16 colour pages
images from over 800 decks
32 page annotated bibliography

> www.usgamesinc.com

I had a problem with reviewing the Magic Manga Tarot.

It kept reviving the ‘What is Tarot’ topic, a topic commonly bandied about on the electronic forums.

Then there was an evening here a while back when I sat with Robert Place discussing, “What is Tarot”. With his knowledge of symbolism, it was a great in depth discussion. I had a difficult time keeping up.

My inability to ‘keep up’ was further enhanced by my dabbling in Manga and Anime based Tarot, an appreciation for the Asian Tarot market. There’s that question I like to ask people, “If River Tam used a deck, what would it look like?” I like to move Tarot out into the future, when man lives amongst the stars. Add five hundred years to the calendar. What does Tarot look like?

We have expectations; we have ideas and concepts about what Tarot is. It has certain symbols, placed in certain orders, many predating A.E. Waite’s sweeping influences.

Back in 1970, David Palladini produced the Aquarian Tarot. Some images lacked the expected symbology, instead depending on character pose and expression to convey the elementary emotions that the symbols that we count on would project if they were present. It was the dawn of the Character Driven Tarot.

Then a few years back, something even more unexpected occurred.

Tarot began to sweep like a grass-fire across Asia.

There are myths that Europeans have created for and about Tarot. Although we’ve tried to correct them during the last thirty years, they have begun to sprout as facts, in the Asian markets. Some Asian Tarot books include (with new experts and photographs) the revelation that Tarot comes from Ancient Egypt….

Western symbols don’t carry the same meanings or weight in Asia. Asian numerology and astrology developed with differences. And some things don’t translate well, variances occur, changes occur in both directions of translations.

When I first began to explore Asian Tarots a few years back, I was at once captivated and shocked by the imagery. The Clamp X featured pictures slapped onto seventy-eight cards willy-nilly, with complete disregard for traditional ‘card meanings’ regarding suit, numbers, placement in a sequence.

But let’s not get too excited yet. Not all Asian Tarots are character driven. Some pay very close attention to accepted Western symbology and meanings. Some (the Derakkusu ban Hihou Tarot is an excellent examle) pay such a dedicated homage to western numerology, that westerners often fail to understand the subtlety, which may be closer to Ikibana than standard pip arrangement.

Evan Yi Feng’s Lunatic Tarot mirrors WCS in a specific manga art style.

Some folks go on about the Tarot Archetypes and ‘bringing them (the Archetypes) into our lives.

An ‘archetype’, and more accurately an archetypal image, by definition is an image that ‘means’ the same thing regardless of cultural interpretation.

Eastern Archetypal Imagery makes us rethink such statements.

They (the images) do not stand-alone and plainly convey the intended emotive reaction. Either images are not archetypal, or they do not fit the meanings, or our definition of Tarot is too narrow and restrictive.

One could make the mistake of assuming that Asian deck designers are careless by looking only at decks such as the Full Metal Alchemist and Clamp X.

The Magic Manga is a deck that will convince the astute user that our current definition of Tarot is far too narrow.

The Trumps are somewhat reminiscent of traditional western trumps, Strength is a stern looking woman either wrapped in a lion-skin or embraced by a lion (numbered in the continental fashion as XI), the Hierophant bows behind a Japanese cenotaph, the Fool is in Motley….

Some make us stretch our minds; Temperance holds a pendulum – and has both a black and white wing, the Hanged Man is enveloped in spider webs, the Devil shows only the victim sporting wrist restraints, and the Empress trims a rose standard.

The minors contain some vast variances.

The Two of Wands displays for us a stern teacher mid-sentence, the Two of Swords has a nurse displaying two scalpels, the Five of Wands shows a tightrope walker, the Four of Cups an indifferent ship captain, the Eight of Cups a woman in mourning, the Five of Cups a scientist mid-experiment who has just had a florence flask shatter.

Now each of these images actually illustrates the accepted standardized modern meanings. But each does so in a method that makes sense to the western mind with study and some pretty free-form thought association.

The Five of Cups makes sense when one considers there are levels of ‘disappointment’, or spilled milk. There are different types of leaving for the woman in the Eight of Cups, but what about that Four of Cups?

Take a look at the Four of Cups in the WCS. Three cups sit in the same configuration as the man’s contact with the ground. Three points of contact, a tripod. A fourth cup is introduced. But above. Like the man’s head that rests above the three points of contact. This is actually an illustration of the Z-axis, or three-dimensional geometry. This is something that man would have noticed once he began sailing. It is the first instance of human evolution where the Z-axis becomes crucial (awareness keeps one from capsizing).

The two scalpels for the Two of Swords? The aspect usually overlooked in the WCS Two of Swords is that of mastery. To sit with two swords at the ready while blindfolded implies a certain mastery with swords.

The Magic Manga is created in a warm and soothing palette. The deck and LWB are in Deutsch, Français, English, and Español.

“The cards should look like vintage prints. Thus the color parts are even (no soft gradients, structures or painted-like surfaces) and partially decorated with patterns. In order to avoid too bright, colorful and mawkish cards, I decided to use only four slightly discreet colors (winered, bottle-green, pale yellow and dark grey-blue) and mixed them and added some pattern” says Viviane, who drew the Tarot art in the style of Kaori Yuki (of Angel Sanctuary fame).

I really really like it. It could be a new benchmark for Asian Tarot art. It could have a few cards that five hundred years from now – would appear on a Tarot deck out in the black, where constellations no longer exist, and Earth is far behind, only legends of the old exist.

> www.tarotgarden.com

by Jean-Michel David
www.fourhares.com

Some time back, I was alerted by other Tarotpedia users that a new contributor to our wiki-based Online Encyclopedia of Tarot was replacing entries – and at times a whole page – with simple links to the ‘Visual Tarot’ programme site. Such can be rather annoying, but we took the event with generosity and assumed that it was no more than an error or unfamiliarity with wiki-based entries when a page’s entry was being replaced, and that all the other pages with links to their programme were but misguided but honest enough ‘advertising’ (though contrary to the intent of Tarotpedia).

Such is the lot of having editable web-based pages that encourages community participation. What is hoped is that intentional damage remains rare and that once the IP of the user and the username is blocked (after requests not to post what is basically spam), he or she simply moves on.

Unfortunately, things are not always so simple…

Image usage abuse by Visual Tarot

What was brought to the attention of a number of tarot folks was the intentional inclusion of various creators’ tarot decks. We probably have to recall here that to create a deck is no small feat, and that the artist(s) usually make, at most, a very small income disproportionate to the artistic endeavour. Despite this, most – actually, all the ones I have met or know about – are also quite generous with their creations, allowing the card images to be used subject to some pretty normal considerations. In some cases, the legal right rests with a larger publisher who is also, in many cases, quite ready to grant permission for reproduction subject to reasonable constraints.

The folks at Visual Tarot Programme seem to not only care little for such, but have either dis-regarded requests to remove electronic copies of card images from the site, or, in other cases, simply moved them to a peripheral site for download therefrom. Decks such as Ma Deva Padma’s Osho Zen, Kat Black’s Touchstone Tarot, and Karen and Alex’s Tarot of Prague can each, despite either explicit request to remove such of, in the case of the Osho Zen, the copyright holders not knowing of its usage, be downloaded.

But does it breach copyright?

The question is actually far more ‘thorny’ and unclear as what may at first be assumed straightforward – depending on one’s location in the world. It seems that – from what I have been told – the copyright laws in the country of the programmer’s origin are perhaps not ‘actually’ breached… even when those folks decide to make available, by simply electronically copying from existing online copies, as long as there is a nominal amount of ‘editing’ (which may consist of no more than adjusting the size or resolution at which images are displayed). Having said that, the Russian Federation is signatory to International Copyright treatises, and changes may be afoot to rectify the current situation.

For the user, on the other hand, using and downloading those same images in most cases would breach copyright laws. In other words, Visual Tarot makes available images that it may legally be allowed to display without the warning that no likely user (targetted at the English-speaking world) is likely to be able to legally use these. A case of deception by deliberate oversight at the very least.

Pricing of Visual Tarot Software

It seems that the price of Visual Tarot may fluctuate according to the whims of the programmer or his resellers. Prices I have seen range from $7.77 to $250. That’s, by the way, US dollars. In one caseof which I was made aware, their site changed from $35 to $250 overnight… and then dropped back to $55 a couple of days later following some comments on a thread on Aeclectic Tarot!

This was the first instance which raised my concern… Could this be, rather than simply poor observance of ambiguous copyright laws an instance of a deliberate scam?

Scam or Spam?

Given the above concern, and the publically available correspondence between the creators of various decks and the programmer – and also being fed up with having to repeatedly undo what I can only describe as spamming Tarotpedia – I checked their site again.

One of the payment options (for the few that are unlikely to use something other than PayPal) is by making a Bank deposit at the London branch of the German Dresdner Bank, the beneficiary being a Cologne-based company located at Vogelsanger Str. 78 in that city: Digital River GmbH. From other searches, the company appears to be heavily involved in providing ‘services’ for online gambling and other software ‘promotions’… with what possibly appears to be more nefarious eastern European links.

A quick search of complaints regarding that company returned a number of instructive results, including from RipOff Report, Complaints Board, and e.Bay.

Could it be that, in addition to directly charging for a developed programme, there is also therein Phishing for Credit Card and/or PayPal information? Can the Visual Tarot programme be trusted? Does it possibly contain a command sequence therein that collects and returns to its creator or to Digital River banking, credit card or PayPal information that should remain confidential?

None of their activity, whether it be their ongoing disruption of Tarotpedia, their connection with Digital River, or their ongoing breach after creator requests to remove usage of their decks, leaves much confidence in the honesty of either Aleksey Lapshin (the credited programmer and owner of Visual Tarot) or his connections.

Tarotpedia

Damage to Tarotpedia using various IPs (or masking their IP by various all-too-common techniques used by spammers) continues. As I write this, three repeated major alterations to pages in the past two days have had to be undone.

As a consequence, we may have to temporarily lock alterations until installing additional add-ons to minimise damage. I personally hope it does not get to that.

Visual Tarot Program – Spam of Scam?

VisualTarot.com – Caveat emptor

Visual Tarot is not the design of someone who seeks to support or be supported by the tarot community, nor of someone that appears to have a genuine interest in providing and supporting software written for those interested in tarot. Rather, it unfortunately displays the hallmarks of untrustworthiness at the very least.

If the entries on Tarotpedia was simply unwelcome spam that stopped following requests to do so, it may be considered as no more. Given some of the above, and given the discussion in the thread ‘Is This Legal’ on AT, I am drawn to the conclusion, perhaps inaccurate, that there is far more to it – and I personally remain wary lest it be a genuine scam specifically targetting the tarot community.

There are a small number of decks which many amongst us have longed to see re-printed or make it to publication. The Jean Payen Tarot is one of those, and that for a variety of reasons, not least of which it forms an important link in the lineage of tarot during one of its most important phases of standardisation.

It comes less than fifty years before the French Revolution, and from a city having had long associations with the Papacy: Avignon. Admittedly, though still officially a Papal State at the time of Payen’s residence, it had effectively been under the rulership of the French Crown for a number of generations.

Payen himself had moved to Avignon from Marseille, establishing himself as a Master Cardmaker. Together with his younger namesake Jean-Pierre Payen, whose decks are visually nearly indistinguishable apart from some slight details, a number of tarot were designed. In a much earlier Newsletter (#32), I also draw attention to the Jean Dodal (from Lyons) that may have arisen from the Payen workshop.

The map below, produced at the time of the Payen, shows the proximity of the above named places (highlighted in red): Paris at the top; moving down to Lyons (Dodal), then Avignon (Payen), situated ever so close to Marseille.

Highlighted sections refer to (in order): Paris; Lyons; Avignon; Marseille

Map presented to the Academies des Sciences (French equivalent to the Royal Society) in 1744 and 1752 by Phil. Buache ‘1st Geographer of the King’, and presented to the King on the 15th May 1757 (subsequently published in 1770). Source: www.davidrumsey.com

Deck Type

The Payen is what is often referred to as a ‘TdM-I’ type deck. In other words, the earlier (‘type-1’) of the two major kinds of decks in what has come to be called the ‘Marseille’ style. The ‘type-2’ exemplified by the more common Grimaud, itself based on the deck by N. Conver from circa 1760.

There are a number of cards which can quickly identify whether a deck is of type-1 or -2: amongst these the Lovers, Chariot, Moon, and World. I’ll omit the Chariot in what follows, as I’ll get back to the card a little later (for those interested, the Chariot’s distinguishing feature is how the canopy hangs).

The Lovers, in this and other type-1 decks, has the ‘cupid’ emerging from a stellated burst and is, importantly, blind-folded; the Moon faces us full-on; and the World card has a ‘masculine’-looking figure within the aureole, and is caped. By contrast, the type-2 decks have none of these details as described – but have of course different consistent alternatives.

I must admit (and those who know my tastes in tarot already know this) that the type-1 TdMs are amongst my favourite, so obtaining a copy of the Jean Payen was sure to be a delight.

Deck Manufacture

Scott Marchus (aka thinbuddha) has produced a deck that is sometimes referred to as a ‘photographic’ reprint or clone of the original. He has decided, thankfully as far as I’m concerned, to allow the deck to maintain squared corners, though this will undoubtedly mean that some users round these off. It nonetheless gives the deck an ‘authentic’ feel that is further accentuated by the cards not all being precisely the same size: it seems that there are three minor (and they are very minor) sizes that have resulted within the deck, reminding me of the cut of some books from the 1930s, with the pages not all cut ‘en bloc’.

The sleeve (or ‘box’) for the deck – or at least for the Deluxe model – is similar to the design used for many of the Italian-based (and excellent) Il Meneghello decks, and also similar to the first edition Prague Deck. In this case, it is cloth covered and sturdy, and the deck is further encased within a folded cardboard ‘holder’, the lot held together by a black cloth-covered ‘hair’-elastic afixed to a metallic button.

If I have any minor criticism of the deck, it lies with the cardboard stock used. Not that it is inadequate: it isn’t! Rather, I personally would have preferred something that feels a little more durable – though it may mean that I am a little more careful in the manner in which I handle the cards. Still, as something that will be taken into consideration by those who obtain a copy of the deck as a ‘working horse’, it’s likely that a card or two will bend and crease earlier than one has come to anticipate in card stock.

For study purposes, it nonetheless remains an ideal addition.

Deck Details

There are a number of details about the deck that are worth considering, especially given that this is a deck that is likely to occasionally see the light of day as an original deck from the 18th century.

In the Encyclopedia of Tarot, S. Kaplan displays two decks by Jean Payen and one by Jean-Pierre Payen. It may be worth noting that one of the Jean Payen decks is therein incorrectly attributed to the younger Jean-Pierre: on page 321 of volume II is displayed the partially complete Jean Payen held in the Cary Collection of Playing Cards at Yale University. This is the one incorrectly titled as ‘Jean-Pierre Payen’, and furthermore likely also dated a little earlier than perhaps warranted, for it seems a cognate of the one produced by Scott Marchus, and earlier reproduced some ten years earlier in vol I of the Encyclopedia of Tarot – in that volume a copy of the deck held in the Fournier Museum in Vitoria, Spain.

One of the details I find particularly striking is the ‘missing’ shield that would normally show the engraver’s initials upon the Chariot. It’s as if this has been chipped out from the woodcut used for the examplar used by Scott Marchus and for the one in the Fournier Museum…

Even the Jean-Pierre Payen, also at Yale University, has at least the shield, even though it remains without initials. As this latter dates from 1713, it makes me wonder if the Jean Payen woodblock used for the deck at hand was in fact carved far earlier by someone no longer at the Payen workshop in 1743, and the two-coin ‘lemniscatory’ manufacturing detail was added to what otherwise was a far older printing block. If such is the case, the guesstimated date by Kaplan for the deck woodblock as circa 1735 may be more accurate than the two-coin information offers. Perhaps, indeed, even earlier than the 1730s.

Or even… do we have another case of a deck, like the Chosson’s use of the Sellon woodcut with its ‘corrected’ date, in this Payen deck having the ‘43’ newly carved onto glued wood that replaced the original, yet, in this case at least, remaining in the Payen workshop. If these meandering reflections are in any way accurate, it may show that in this case, the frequent State regulation for the destruction of woodblocks was not in all cases carried out!

But is the deck worth it!?

This is undoubtedly a question that many will want answered. I can, of course, only present my own personal view. At US$40 it’s a little expensive for a deckyet, given the care that went into it, its overall quality, its rank in the hall of importance, and its overall feel, I would without reservation have paid a little more (but not much more!).

Scott mentions, in the 2009 Tarot Lovers’ Calendar, that ‘every effort is being made to maintain the integrity of the woodblock lines and color choices found on the original cards without sacrificing the hand crafted appearance of the beautiful and significant deck’ – something I entirely support and which, in my opinion, he has managed to achieve.

[copies of the deck may be obtained by contacting Scott]

“Form Follows Priority”

Jordan Hoggard is an architect (principal for J. Jordan Hoggard Design in Denver, CO), artist, and creator of “The Mystereum Tarot”. Definitely a Renaissance man! I had the privilege to meet Jordan while taking a teleclass given by Tarot author/artist Robert M. Place. I was very excited to hear that Jordan was independently producing a deck of his own, and highly intrigued when I saw the “back story” material. I think at times that we pay so much attention to the material produced – whether it be a Tarot deck, book, CD, or DVD – that we don’t even think to look for the muse that initiated the creative effort, and fueled it to completion.

Where does the story begin? Does it begin when he was a child, with his mother’s familiarity with the Tarot? Does it begin when he presented his stepmother with a book which he created containing pictures that he painted to accompany a poem that she had translated (which prompted her to say that he should become an illustrator of children’s books)? And how does architecture play into this?

Let’s start with architecture. After an interesting experience flying over the handles of a bike, Jordan was gifted with a full blown passion for the subject. He takes architecture down to its Greek roots, arche and techne. Arche is defined as the first spark of an idea – it is the place of inception. It is formless. Techne is the place of conception, the place where form begins. Jordan associated the Magician with arche, the “first spark”, and the High Priestess with techne, the giving of form. He paid intermittent attention to the Tarot, reading text and history when he could, or whenever it crossed his path, for a period of years.

In the summer of 2006 he was gardening, and paused to look up at his turn-of-the-century Victorian house (1906). In an “Aha!” moment, he raced inside and opened the Tarot folder on his computer. There they were … in his own words “The Empress carrying to full term, and the Emperor overseeing!” He suddenly realized that here he was, in the middle of the largest scale project that he had ever undertaken, and living the Tarot as he worked the soil in his garden! As he puts it, this was the equivalent of the Judgment card having a Hanged Man moment!

The world of architecture provided the springboard for this deck, but does not really define it. For Jordan, the Tarot cards act as wonderful trail-markers, as well as storytellers along the path that is life. He sees the Tarot as archetypal image references, as a seat for the mind, a place “giving place” to your story. Jordan references a four-point mode that he uses for the purpose of general architectural analysis. I looked at this, and found that if you replaced the word “building” with the word “psyche”, that the Tarot connection falls right into place.

1. How does a building stand on the ground?
2. How does a building extend to the sides?
3. How does a building open and close?
4. How does a building meet the sky?

A vector-based architectural drawing program called Archicad was used to create the “Mystereum Tarot”. The format makes use of geometric form and strong presence of color. The deck is vibrant with basic colors (yellow, red, blue, orange, green, brown, and white) – in part due to the limitations of the system – only 99 color hues are available, based on the primary colors. In a review on his blog site (www.alchemywebsite.com), Tarotist Adam McLean notes that “The limitations of the architectural CAD system, impose a clear geometrical structure on the imagery in the cards, and this is of course the intention of the artist. Thus many forms are broken down into circles, arching forms and structured regular curves. This does not mean that the artist keeps to simple forms, indeed many of the images are very complex.”

The card backs come from a client’s window project. The window acts symbolically as a portal into the wisdom of the Tarot – with use made of white blinds, blue background, beautiful gray leaves, and a reflection from the top of the window to the bottom.

The card border also acts as a window, or portal into the energy of each card. The border is dark blue in the upper right and left hand corners, a lighter blue, with a thin orange inner border, defines the top of the window. The sides and bottom of the window are a dark orange.

The thought “How do they inform them?” acts as a device to pull the Major Arcana characters into the Minor Arcana. There is so much esoteric imagery to see here, including the lemniscate over the “O” of the Fool; the black hole eyes of the Fool’s – very reminiscent of Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman’s “Sacred Rose Tarot”; and the four pillars (a recurring theme) in the Lovers, acting as a backdrop to the two figures, with the symbol of a cup in the third eye area of one of the figures.

A great effort has been made to make this deck, and the material surrounding it, available to everyone. The deck can be purchased from Jordan’s site (www.mystereum.com) , using Pay Pal, personal check, or money order. There is a LWB (Little White Book), and a foldout cardlet that accompany the deck. Images of all 78 cards, along with text, can be seen at www.cafepress.com. Imagination Primers have been published for all 78 cards a www.lulu.com. There is a 157 page full color book covering all 78 cards with images and text, entitled “The Fool Loves … Journeying”, and five individual books: one for the Major Arcana; one for each of the four suits; and a spiral bound book entitled “The Mystereum Tarot: Study Size Card Images”. There is a video (entitled “Flowing Through Inner Essence”) of the card images that is quite nicely done, that can be seen on the “Mystereum Tarot” site (www.mystereum.com), or on Leisa ReFalo’s Podcast site (www.tarotconnection.net), where you can also listen to an interview with Hoggard (Episode 84).

For people like me who clamor for more, there is something else quite exciting that is in the works: a no holds barred, full color coffee table book that hopefully will be out by the end of the year! I hope that you are right there with me on the “Mystereum Tarot” site, watching for updates on this happening!

Dream the big dreams … they can come true!

© September 2008

Publishers Lo Scarabeo arouse a variety of feelings among tarot aficionados. Their decks are immensely popular, but have their detractors; some feel they are too “commercial”; some feel their decks “stray too far” from “true tarot” – whatever that is; some feel their decks are too much alike one another (seeing a house style that to them seems to breed similarity – and it is true that you can usually spot a Lo Scarabeo deck in the crowd, if only by the multi-lingual titles !); some just seem to resent their success. But no-one can deny that they are the primary publishers of unusual tarot decks, and have taken many risks to put them on the market. And there can be no doubt that without their input, the tarot world would be much the poorer. Twenty Years of Tarot tells their story; it is captivating and fascinating, and in itself unusual.

The cover was a shock. I’d expected something far more colourful; it is beautifully understated in the extreme, and the reader is almost forcibly drawn to open it to see more. Inside, it is so lushly illustrated that it’s hard to concentrate on the text at first; the pictures draw you through. It is less of a book to be read from start to finish than a collection of very well illustrated essays. Each chapter in it – they are by a variety of authors – can stand alone. This has led in some areas to repetition of information, but I don’t find that matters at all; on the contrary, it means it is possible to immerse yourself totally in one chapter and not feel the need to check back on what was said many pages before. There is a degree of unevenness in quality and level of research, but again, with a number of different authors this is inevitable.

For me, a collector since long before they put out their first deck, it is also something of a trip down memory lane. I have many of the decks in my collection, and it was lovely to read The Story Behind The Dream, and learn how each deck came to be. I had had no idea of the story of Lo Scarabeo: that it was a dream for Pietro Alligo, the founder of the company – a multitalented man with a vision, for which he abandoned a successful career, and persuaded friends and associates to come on board his new venture. He was determined to write

“a new chapter …… in the long-standing history of tarot, making cards that blended esoteric culture with artistic research. In fact at that time, few publishers offered anything really new or interesting.”

I was already collecting by then; this is very true. I well remember the first Lo Scarabeo deck I ever saw – the Universali di Sergio Toppi. I went back to my dealer and bought all the others he had received by then. I knew these were something special.

One thing that shines through when reading this book is the passion and commitment of everyone in the company. The description of the deck creation process is fascinating; while it sounds a little like “deck by committee”, the details of the thought and planning that have gone into every single deck, including those rejected, beggars belief. The detractors who say that Lo Scarabeo just churn out anything they can to make money are clearly well off the mark. No-one can expect to like everything they do, but after reading this, no-one can doubt that this charge is totally unfair.

A Historical Path, a chapter by Giordano Berti, gives a thorough and solid history of tarot without being controversial – there are a number of theories and “facts” but his account is authoritative, interesting, and reads very well. I particularly enjoy the little details you’d never find elsewhere, such as the reference to “cheaper decks equivalent to a cobbler’s monthly salary” being produced for the Este court in the 15th century. Berti is also responsible for the fascinating chapter The Esoteric Path, tracing the rise of the use of tarot for esoteric purposes that began with de Gebelin.

Pietro Alligo’s chapter about the Waite-Smith First Edition and his search for its origins is lavishly illustrated, perhaps bringing a part of the history of the deck to life even more than the recent book by Frank Jensen (The Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot) to which Alligo refers. And The Artistic Path describes the way Lo Scarabeo go about creating a “tribute “ deck to an individual artist – such as Botticelli, Da Vinci or Bosch. It is no mean feat to create a deck of this type while remaining true to tarot imagery and it had never occurred to me to wonder about the process by which this is achieved.

In this chapter, almost as a passing remark, is the statement:

“…the continuous adaptation of the twenty-two Major Arcana from the 15th century to the present shows how admirably this system can withstand endless transformations and reinterpretations that take the Arcana, in some cases, to the extreme limit of identifiability. This is why Lo Scarabeo is always asking: when can this transformation no longer be acceptable? In other words, when does a deck cease to be a tarot deck?”

There is also a reference to illustrated pip cards and the difficulty of balancing the absence of limits and adapting tarot to new themes against the risk of “losing the thread”. This is the line Lo Scarabeo has always walked so well; it underpins everything they do, and it is the attitude that has led to their pre-eminent position in tarot publication. The book shows in great detail the agonisingly thorough process by which they try to ensure that ever deck they produce is a “real tarot” – whatever that may be. Balance comes up again in A Cultural Path, where there is discussion of the need for translation of the archetypes of different cultures, and evocation of an appropriate state of mind for a culture – whether historical or ethnic. This, too, supports the idea that tarot is a living, evolving tradition, one which can illuminate other cultures, even including those we don’t know (like that of the Etruscans.)

And then there is the chapter about the decks which got away. Mark McElroy shows us decks which are not yet finished, describes a few ideas that are as yet little more than ideas, showcases some discarded versions of decks that were published – (some decisions I agree with; others I regret !) as well as one or two decks which a few enthusiasts are now clamouring to see completed…

In some areas the book does read a little like a catalogue, but it is impossible to avoid this when telling the story of so many decks, and it is no real problem. The company has issued more than a hundred, alongside a number of books, and to tell its history, it would be hard to decide which decks not to mention. As well as this, there is information on the link with Llewellyn in the US, Lo Scarabeo’s playing card department, their comic strip decks – there is so much information here that perhaps people should just buy the book than rely on a review.

One small thing that isn’t mentioned in the book is the number of names the company gave itself as publisher; I have decks from: Lo Scarabeo Fantastico, Lo Scarabeo Mignon, Lo Scarabeo Azzurro, Lo Scarabeo Fantastico, Lo Scarabeo Dell’Arte, Lo Scarabeo Bizzarro and Lo Scarabeo Antico, as well as a few published by “Ideogramma (Pietro Alligo)”. I would have liked to know more about this.

The only major flaw in the book is the rather large, I’m afraid, number of typographical errors, particularly in the captions for illustrations. Most are not serious and just irritate a bit, but the fact that there are so many slightly obscures the one serious one – the misspelling of Etteilla (as “Ettellia”) throughout one chapter, which does suggest an error by its author, rather than a typo. An index might have been useful – although in a book of 127 pages it might perhaps seem unnecessary, there were occasions that I would certainly have found one helpful. An appendix listing every deck produced, with dates, would have been nice, too.

This lovely book does just what it set out to do; it tells the story of one of the world’s favourite tarot publishers. It is a worthy “anniversary party” for a company that has a great deal to celebrate, The illustrations are excellent. And as I say, the passion for tarot shines through. It is also a valuable reference book, with a wealth of information beyond the story of Lo Scarabeo, and it paints an excellent picture of how Tarot, in general, is changing and evolving. Tarot is not set in stone, and if one company can be said to be pre-eminent in making sure that it never will be, that company is Lo Scarabeo.

This is a book that deserves to be popular among tarotists at all levels. Lo Scarabeo has done us and itself proud.

[review by E.C.]

My friend Jean-Michel David has asked me to set down some thoughts on my experiences as a tarot deck creator and author. During a three-year period, from 2003 through 2006, I authored the Zodiac Tarot (art by Luca Raimondo), the Gay Tarot (art by Antonella Platano), The Tarot of Dreams Guidebook, and The Universal Marseille Tarot Companion. All were published by Lo Scarabeo, except for The Tarot of Dreams Guidebook, which was published by artist Ciro Marchetti as part of his Tarot of Dreams.

As I write these words on October 28, 2007, in today’s New York Times there is a review of a biography of Hungarian pianist Ervin Nyiregyhazi, in which the reviewer, Michael Kimmelman, writes that “Musical careers, like all careers in the arts, depend on a mix of perseverance, patience, good luck and talent.” My “career” as a tarot author, if one may call it that, certainly bears that out, at least with regard to perseverance, patience, and good luck.

One might say that I first came to the attention of Lo Scarabeo through my own perseverance. I didn’t decide that I wanted to author tarot decks and books for them – quite the contrary; it never would have occurred to me that such a thing was possible. Starting in 1998 I wrote many deck reviews for the Tarot Passages site, in the process increasing my deck collection exponentially and diminishing my bank account considerably! I received no compensation for writing these reviews, but it paid off in an unexpected way when Riccardo Minetti, an editor at Lo Scarabeo, wrote to ask me if I would be interested in authoring a gay tarot deck for them (he knew I was gay because I had mentioned it in passing in one of my reviews). I was lucky in being, to a certain extent, in the right place at the right time. But in a certain sense I had also placed myself in the right place by putting in the time and effort on the reviews.

The subject of perseverance also raises for me the issue of worth. Was I among the most intelligent, the most educated, and the most worthy of tarot aficionados, such that I deserved to be plucked from obscurity and handed an assignment to create a deck for a major tarot publisher? Certainly not! When I started exploring the various tarot forums and e-lists, I quickly discovered that there were many, many people who were much more intelligent, educated, and worthy than I. But when a publisher entrusts a project to an author, there is a certain amount of risk involved for them. They need to know that the author will apply themselves diligently and responsibly to the project and will deliver suitable material by the agreed-upon deadline. So while in some ways it seemed a stroke from out of the blue when Riccardo wrote me, from another perspective I had manufactured my own good luck by applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair, so to speak, to produce the body of work – my reviews – which initially caught his attention, and by proving myself to be a responsible and trustworthy fellow.

I was able to experience a new depth of perseverance when I wrote an accompanying guidebook for Ciro Marchetti’s self-published Tarot of Dreams, beginning in the middle of 2004. At 48,000 words, this was a full-length book, and I had never in the past written anything even approaching this length. Besides the actual writing, there was a tremendous amount of work involved, including long telephone and e-mail discussions with Ciro in which I offered feedback on the general direction he envisioned for the deck, what kind of esoteric symbols we would include in the borders, the mechanics and timing of self-publishing, and specific feedback on each card as he finished it and e-mailed it to me. Of course, all of this work was highly enjoyable – Ciro is a true gentleman and was a pleasure to work with – and it was extremely exciting to see the deck take shape card by card.

I had bought my first Marseille deck in the early ‘80s (a red-boxed Grimaud, purchased at Weiser’s no-longer-extant occult bookstore in Manhattan), and was introduced to the deeper study of the trump symbolism by Sallie Nichols’ book Jung and Tarot, and to the suit-number method of reading non-scenic pip cards by Gail Fairfield’s Choice-Centered Tarot. When I joined the Aeclectic Tarot Forum, I was amazed and delighted at the depth of knowledge displayed by several members, and learned much by reading their posts, which inspired me to further research.

The information available from books and forum posts was fascinating, but the books were long and intimidating for beginners, and the forum posts required much patient sifting to extract the truly valuable from the circularly speculative. I had long wanted to write a book about the Marseille pattern, one which would be forthright, concise, and approachable, as I felt there was a lack of this type of material. (I was delighted to learn recently that Jean-Michel is developing a correspondence course on the Marseille which will be a welcome addition to the learning materials available.)

Try as I might, though, I couldn’t come up with an organizing structure or approach. Around the middle of 2005, it suddenly fell into place for me and I saw how it might be done. I would give an overall view of the history of the pattern, provide a conceptual framework for the trumps based on how people in the 15th through 17th centuries might have perceived them, and then provide divinatory meanings derived from such a framework. I would pull together concepts from several sources and present them in a digestible form as a basis to inspire readers to further exploration. As luck would have it, Lo Scarabeo was working on a new Marseille deck, and my proposal fit in perfectly with their plans to publish their new deck (the Universal Marseille Tarot) with a small book.

Writing the book was definitely the most difficult task I have ever faced. The final published book is only 64 pages in length, 20,342 words, but it took me four months, working several hours every day. When writing a book based on history, one cannot simply write off the top of one’s head. Every reference to another source – and in a book like this, almost every sentence contains such references – must be double-checked to make sure the source is being cited accurately.

My most recent publication, the Zodiac Tarot, was a change in pace in that it didn’t require any perseverance. Riccardo asked me in July of 2005 if I would be interested in creating an astrological tarot. I thought about it and decided it would be interesting to create a deck based solely on the Golden Dawn’s astrological tarot correspondences, with no reference either to traditional tarot images or to A.E. Waite’s and Pamela Smith’s designs. I decided that for the trumps, the cards assigned by the Golden Dawn to Planets would be People, and the cards assigned to Signs would be Places. The pip cards, therefore, which the Golden Dawn assigned to a planet and a sign each, would have scenes showing the People from the Planet trumps, inhabiting the Places from the Sign trumps. My goal was to create an interesting variation on the astrological aspects of tarot, and one which was self-contained, without the need for an accompanying book (since I knew it was unlikely one would be published). This project wasn’t as deep or as heartfelt as my previous projects. Rather, I regard it as a folly, as the word is used in an architectural sense; according to Merriam-Webster, “an often extravagant picturesque building erected to suit a fanciful taste.” Although my work was finished in 2005, the deck wasn’t published until 2007.

Getting back to Kimmelman’s equation for creative success – perseverance, patience, good luck and talent – I have found that patience is also an important factor. It certainly required patience to plow through long and difficult projects like my two books. But patience with myself and with others was an unexpectedly necessary ingredient. While I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to be published, but as with any human endeavor, there are negative as well as positive factors. Many people would like to think of themselves as uninterested in fame, but if I am to be candid, I must admit that I was looking forward to the enhanced status and attention on the Aeclectic forum that my work would bring. And I did get that status and attention, at least for a while (and probably more than I deserve). But I also found that my forum experience became less pleasant. I found myself increasingly uncomfortable in my dual role as fellow forum member on the one hand and as an author whose work the members are there to discuss on the other. It was as if a wall had descended between myself and others. I stopped visiting the forum for eight months, and have only recently begun visiting and posting there again – and happily, with the passage of time, I now feel much more comfortable in doing so.

I also had to learn patience with the publishing process. I’m eternally grateful that Lo Scarabeo saw fit to publish me, but there were some aspects of the process I found frustrating. These aspects were no one’s fault, but simply the result of the way the system was set up, and of the geographical distance between the company (in Italy) and myself (in the U.S.). Once the author’s script is submitted, the script is then assigned to an artist, who executes the artwork and submits it to Lo Scarabeo for approval. There is no actual collaboration between the author and the artist after the author’s script is submitted. At least this was my experience. The result of this procedure is that the author and artist cannot have a truly satisfying back-and-forth collaborative exchange.

I was also frustrated with the publishing/distributing process which caused the Universal Marseille deck to be released several months before the deck-and-book kit. Most people who were interested in the deck bought the deck alone rather than wait for the kit, and thus missed out on receiving the book.

Finally, I had to have patience with the failures as well as the victories. An artist friend of mine and I submitted a painstakingly-prepared proposal to a major publisher for a deck/book set, which resulted in a very cordial and very swift rejection letter. Over the years I’ve approached several artists with various ideas for decks, and for one reason or another these would-be collaborations simply didn’t work out. I had to learn not to take these various failures personally, and to accept them as an inevitable part of the publishing process.

As of this writing, I consider my creative tarot output to have reached its end. For one thing, I don’t feel I have very much more to say from a tarot perspective, and I would rather spend some time gathering and processing input at this point rather than continually producing output. Also, increased responsibilities at work have reduced the time I have available for creative pursuits. One never knows what the future will bring, but for now I’m enjoying my more passive engagement with tarot.

Overall, my adventure as a published author was exhilerating, and I learned a great deal about tarot, about the publishing process, and about myself. And as for the final factor in the equation – talent – I’ll happily leave that determination to the reader!