Skip to content

Apr 12

Tarot and Divination Cards: A Visual Archive by Laetitia Barbier

Turning the pages of this book is like wandering the corridors of an enchanted castle where the walls are lined with over-sized images of tarot and fortune-telling cards, art from previous centuries, and the occasional surprise from contemporary popular culture. Barbier’s infectious joy and delight in all things cartomantic shines on every page of this wondrous book with the same energy and creativity she brings to her tarot classes on the Morbid Anatomy platform.

Read more

Apr 7

3 Comments

Gold Foil Visconti-Sforza Deck by Lo Scarabeo

Lo Scarabeo Visconti-Sforza deck box

One of my favorite Visconti-Sforza decks has just been re-issued — seventy-eight cards in sparkling gold foil published by Lo Scarabeo. Unfortunately the gold doesn’t scan well; but trust me, it’s dazzling. I had to photograph the box at an odd angle to see the light reflecting off the gold. This deck is one of the first historic reproductions I ever purchased nearly twenty years ago. I read with it often, so I’m very happy to have a back-up deck in case I lose a card.  But there is one very big let-down that would otherwise be a deal killer for me. Here’s a comparison of the two editions.

Read more

Nov 14

Marco Benedetti’s Personal Visconti

Box Cover Benedetti Personal Visconti

The Visconti-Sforza deck is a hybrid mash-up of sixty-eight original cards painted by Bonifacio Bembo about 1450, six cards that were created by a different artist around 1475, and four cards that are still missing and have to be recreated by a contemporary artist whenever the deck is republished. Marco Benedetti has never been happy with the ten replacement cards, and dreamt for years of creating his own version of these cards that would enhance the deck rather than detract from it. This deck brings his personal vision into fruition. By drawing on other works by Bembo for most of the replacement cards, he has revived the deck’s original spirit.

Read more

Aug 30

Tarot-Heritage Tenth Anniversary Roundup: Odds and Ends

Winding down my website’s tenth anniversary summer celebration. Even here in sunny Santa Barbara, where weather rarely happens, I can feel a subtle shift in the air as we head toward autumn. To finish up the series, here’s a grab bag of articles that don’t fit into any category.

Read more

Aug 19

Tarot-Heritage Tenth Anniversary Roundup: The Visconti-Sforza Tarot

Celebrating my website’s tenth anniversary: 174 blog articles and 42 website pages on tarot history, reading with non-scenic pips, and decks of historic significance. Throughout the summer, I’m going to group the most useful articles by topic and send out links in a series of blog posts.

If fifteenth-century aristocrats hadn’t tried to impress their friends with hand painted, golden tarot decks, and if those decks hadn’t been preserved in museums, our knowledge of tarot’s origins would be very limited. The most complete deck of this type, the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, is one of the most frequently published historic decks. We can’t overestimate its importance. Below are links to deck and book reviews as well as articles on historic background related to this deck.

Read more

Aug 9

Tarot-Heritage Tenth Anniversary Roundup: The Soprafino Style

Celebrating my website’s tenth anniversary: 174 blog articles and 42 website pages on tarot history, reading with non-scenic pips, and decks of historic significance. Throughout the summer, I’m going to group the most useful articles by topic and send out links in a series of blog posts.

Today I’m listing everything I’ve written about the soprafino style. Originating in Milan in the 1830s, it has been reproduced by many publishers down to Lo Scarabeo’s current mass market version. Printers have borrowed random details from the style, especially in Piedmont. See reviews of those decks listed in last week’s blog post on Piedmont decks.

Read more

Aug 2

1 Comment

Tarot-Heritage Tenth Anniversary Roundup: Piedmont Decks

Celebrating my website’s tenth anniversary: 174 blog articles and 42 website pages on tarot history, reading with non-scenic pips, and decks of historic significance. Throughout the summer, I’m going to group the most useful articles by topic and send out links in a series of blog posts.

The Piedmont region has one of the oldest tarot traditions in Italy. Its geographic location made it the crossroads where the playing card traditions of Italy and eastern France mingled. Below are articles on the Piedmont tradition and reviews of individual decks.

Read more

Jul 26

4 Comments

Tarot-Heritage Tenth Anniversary Roundup: Spreads and Techniques

Celebrating my website’s tenth anniversary: 174 blog articles and 42 website pages on tarot history, reading with non-scenic pips, and decks of historic significance. Throughout the summer, I’m going to group the most useful articles by topic and send out links in a series of blog posts. Today’s links are all about reading techniques.

The Spreads page of the Cartomancy section of this website gives simple techniques for reading with two and three cards.

I rarely use spreads, but the following articles describe ones I like, plus a few of my favorite techniques.

Read more

Jul 21

2 Comments

Tarot-Heritage Tenth Anniversary Roundup: Tarot de Marseille Books

Celebrating my website’s tenth anniversary: 174 blog articles and 42 website pages on tarot history, reading with non-scenic pips, and decks of historic significance. Throughout the summer, I’m going to group the most useful articles by topic and send out links in a series of blog posts.

Today, I’m listing my reviews of the essential books on reading with the Tarot de Marseille.

Read more

Jul 12

12 Comments

Tarot-Heritage Tenth Anniversary Roundup: Reading Tips

Celebrating my website’s tenth anniversary: 174 blog articles and 42 website pages on tarot history, reading with non-scenic pips, and decks of historic significance. Throughout the summer, I’m going to group the most useful articles by topic and send out links in a series of blog posts.

We’ll start the series with tips to get you started reading cards with non-scenic pips.

If you’re new to reading with the Tarot de Marseille and other non-scenic pip decks (NSPs), if you feel intimidated, don’t know where to start, or would like some structure to your studies – there’s an entire section of this website just for you. Rather than spoon-feeding you card meanings, I’ve created a structured set of exercises in the Cartomancy Section to help you develop a personal relationship with the cards and devise card meanings relevant to your deck.

Below are some articles to inspire your daily tarot practice.

Read more
← Older Entries
Newer Entries →