Friday, July 29, 2011


The Moon: an illustration from Harper's magazine, 1864.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

“My interest lies somewhere near a sense that words are like tarot cards, and that a poem manipulates unpredictable depths with its words. . . . I like the tarot because it works like poetry and because you don’t really have to ‘believe in’ anything. It’s there to be used. The symbols are remarkably durable and beautiful; they float out to encompass all kinds of meanings.” —Alice Notley (via Enrique Enriquez)

The fortune-teller: an illustration from Harper's magazine, 1859.

Sunday, July 24, 2011


The Tower: from Walther Litzelmann's Artilleriebuch (1582).

Friday, July 22, 2011


The Emperor combines with Death in this illustration from Harper's magazine, 1857.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011


Reading a tea leaf: an illustration from Harper's magazine, 1901.

Saturday, July 16, 2011


Strength:
Orpheus with his lyre could subdue lions. An illustration from a 1906 issue of Scribner's.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011


Yes, or no? An illustration from Harper's magazine, 1874.

Sunday, July 10, 2011


The Wheel: an illustration from Scribner's, 1900. The caption reads: "Dreamed of clipping about on a silently revolving wheel."

Thursday, July 7, 2011

"This should be a lucky day to tell your fortune":
an illustration from a 1908 issue of Harper's magazine.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Moon, a card from 1454, printed in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 1862.

Saturday, July 2, 2011


"Truth in the Fool's lodge": an illustration from Harper's magazine, 1900.

Friday, July 1, 2011


A wheel of fortune from the Book of Knighthood, 1460.