- Jodorowsky & Costa, The Spiritual Teacher in the Cards, p. 280

It really doesn’t surprise me that I have an affinity for the Two of Swords, and it is a fitting card for the day. Reaching the void: stage one.

The one that really caught my eye was her rendition of the Two of Swords.

[image from Egypt Urnash's tarot collection]

Reminds me of Susan Delgado, in a way.

I’m a big fan of the Two of Swords; in fact, she figured heavily in Psychobabel, the unwritten resolution to The Potemkin Mosaic. One of the things that was going to crop up in Psychobabel was pieces of something called The Blackleaf Tarot. And . . . [rummaging around on his hard drive] . . . here is the only extant piece there is . . .

The Two of Harvesters

She sits on a sea-soaked plain. The sky is the color of ash, and the horizon is a weak gash separating the dead heaven from the ruined earth. She is wearing robes of white fur, streaked and matted with blood. Unlike her sisters, her head is not shaved, though her hair is short. Where the sacred geometries are tattooed on her skull, the hair is white. At the open throat of her robes, you can see hints of the other tattoo she has, the octopus that clings to the base of her neck, its tentacles draped across her shoulders and around her throat. 



She has seen the sun of many dreams and her face and arms are dark, and the color of her markings–the whorls and angles–has been bleached away. A band of yellow gauze, stained by the fingerprints of her bloody-handed Queen, is tied across her eyes. She has been captured in this portrait with the hint of a smile, as if she knows you are looking at her. 



Held across her chest–their tips pointing upward, their handles touching over her navel–are her blades. They are triangular, sharp on three edges, and their intent is to cut, not to slice. She is the Two of Harvesters; she is the one who wants to bleed you.

Locke was one of my favorite characters until they, you know, took his spine away.

Alternate Thoth Tarot Cards: Lady Frieda Harris was the artist of Crowley’s Thoth Deck. Caduceus Books has a page linking out to images of some alternate versions of the cards which have been in a private collection for many years.

‘Projective Synthetic Geometry in Lady Frieda Harris’ Tarot Paintings and in Aleister Crowley’s Book of the Law‘ by Claas Hoffmann: Yes, I know, and no, there isn’t an easier way to describe the article. Except to say “harmonic collage,” which is probably equally a head-scratcher.

Mary K. Greer on Jung and Tarot: Ms. Greer runs through the data articulating Jung’s awareness of the Tarot, and includes his descriptions of the Major Arcana. Plus, Mary K. Greer has a Tarot blog. Bonus!

She has a long post about the creative process behind the cards. You may purchase a deck at this link.

Knight of Cups (by Timothy Lam, layout by Jean-Luc Pham, from the Super Punch Tarot Deck)

It’s one of those systems that takes about three minutes to explain, and over a lifetime, you’ll probably not work through every thread possible with the cards. Mainly, it starts with a single event and/or individual, and each player proceeds to lay down a card, adding to the “and this happened next!” scenario generation. Each tarot suit is mapped to a specific facet of world-building, and each card has its only spin on that facet based on the card’s own meaning. About the use of the Crowley deck, Anders says: “[The game] can be run using other decks of course, but often the images are less helpful and the meanings more psychological. Knowing the symbolism and meanings of the cards makes the game far more entertaining and flexible, but just looking at the images can give inspiration.”

It’s all about making the world based on autonomic suggestions from the cards.

Anders’ site has a lengthy walkthrough of game play, which demonstrates evocatively the wealth of possibilities available to febrile imaginations.

The Dodal deck (c. 1701) is one of the few complete examples of the Tarot of Marseille that is still extant, and time has not been kind to the colors of the cards. The Marseille design has been traumatized severly over the years (including versions that invert the color schemes and reduce the palette to a few tones). Florney’s passion over the last decade plus has been to recreate these decks in their original glory and to make them available for the tarot enthusiast.

The interview contains some fascinating discussions about the variances between cards in the existing Dodal decks that Florney had access to during his restoration process.

I’m partial to the Noblet myself, but it might be fun to have a copy of the Dodal on hand as well.

However, the reason we dig Erik Davis today is the revelation of his new column at Hilobrow.com called “Pop Arcana.” The first entry details the contributions of Pamela Colman Smith to that most iconic of tarot decks, the Rider-Waite. Go, and read about “The Comic Book of Thoth.”

[via our tarot-lovin' pal, El Dragón, who wages the good fight for organics at Fair Food Fight]