Monday, November 30, 2009

Via Brokelyn, I came across an article about a bar that recently opened in Brooklyn called The Minor Arcana. Owner Jesse Levitt was inspired to give it that name after receiving a tarot card reading on Coney Island.

I wish Mr. Levitt much success in his new venture - it sounds like exactly the sort of place where I would enjoy a drink with friends.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

The Fairy of Paradise with a star in her hair, from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Garden of Paradise."

Tuesday, November 24, 2009


Billy Corrigan describes the Smashing Pumpkins’ new tarot-themed album, entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope:

"The story of the album is based on 'The Fool's Journey,' as signified in the progress of the Tarot. It is my intention to approach this by breaking down the journey of our life here into four phases as made by these different characters; the Child, the Fool, the Skeptic, and the Mystic."

Saturday, November 21, 2009


Stylized "Tarot" cards feature in Tiana's Showboat Jubilee at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. One of the cards appears to be a Two of Hamsas. (Photo detail from LaughingPlace.com.)

Friday, November 20, 2009


"I learned, among other things, that some of the Tarot cards are based on rituals evolved in Marseilles and that, even now, the very graffiti in the town contain cabalistic signs and symbols." —Books of the Times, Vol. 1, 1978

(Click photo for source.)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009


Once I sat high up
on Fortune's throne,
garlanded with all the blooms of prosperity;
indeed I was in the bloom
of blessed happiness,
but now I have tumbled from my eminence,
robbed of my glory.
* * *
Fortune's wheel turns:
I am cut down and fall;
another is raised to the heights;
the king sits at the peak,
too much exalted -
let him beware of ruin,
for under the axle we read
the name of Queen Hecuba.
* * *
Fortuna Plango Vulnera
(Seria LXXVII - fol. 48b)
Carmina Burana

Monday, November 9, 2009

This is part of an occasional series of Tarot images I encounter in the world, inspired by Craig Conley's enchanting Trump L'Oeil Tarot of Portmeirion. The photos were taken during a recent trip to the Stamford Museum and Nature Center. I spotted this cauldron on the grounds of the Heckscher Farm, near the maple sugaring and apple cider house. A beautiful Ace of Cups.

This tower is on the grounds of the Bendel Mansion.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009


Seen on Thames Street in Newport, Rhode Island.

Sunday, November 1, 2009


Alexander Voet II's "The Elderly Fool and his Cat," c. 1660. Via BibliOdyssey.