"One of the strangest and deepest sensations that prehistory has left with us is the sensation of foretelling. It will always exist. It is like an eternal proof of the senselessness of the universe. The first man must have seen auguries everywhere, he must have trembled at each step he took."
—Giorgio de Chirico, Hebdomeros and other writings.

Leslie Marmon Silko's novel Gardens in the Dunes "repeats Tarot-like symbols—the monkey, the parrot, the stone, the snake, and the garden, for example. The Tarot scenes also recall the syncretic logic of the Ghost Dances that bookend the novel" (Caren Irr, Pink Pirates, 2010).

This is a classical style portrait of the Empress Elizabeth, consort of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. One immediately thinks of the Roman empresses, such as the formidable and wily Livia, consort of Augustus (and described by one of her grandsons as 'Ulysses in a frock.') Such an obvious historical reference attempts to associate Elizabeth with the grandeur and timelessness of the Roman Empire.

A second reference is to the ancient, powerful Mediterranean earth goddesses, such as Cybele and Demeter (who is associated with the Empress tarot card). These deities were sometimes depicted as empresses or rulers, a reminder of their absolute authority over the natural cycles of birth, growth, death, and rebirth. The Empress provides a natural counterpoint to the Emperor; he ruling over the affairs of men, she over those of nature. Thus we see both historical and mythological themes merging in Elizabeth's portrait, as several millennia's worth of ideas about female power are distilled in one seemingly simple image.

"When you have found a sign, turn it round and round, look at it from the front and from the side, take a three-quarter view and a foreshortened view; remove it and note what form the memory of its appearance takes in its place; observe from which angle it looks like a horse, and from which like the molding on your ceiling; see when it suggests the aspect of a ladder, or a plumed helmet; in which position it resembles Africa, which itself resembles a huge heart . . ."
—Giorgio de Chirico, Hebdomeros

This image of Neptune is from an Arents cigarette card of the early 20th century. The lovely, soft pastel colors in the border lend it an almost feminine quality that I associate with the suit of Cups. The connection of Cups with water makes this a fine King of Cups.

Enrique Enriquez explores the poetics of the Marseilles Tarot. See a clip here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/Enrique-Enriquez-Project

or here:

http://vimeo.com/21418482

"There's nothing so enchanting as a glimpse of the innumerable mysteries that surround us."
—Vítězslav Nezval, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

No Rainbow Without the Sun

Elizabeth I's "rainbow portrait," discussed over at Phantasmaphile.

"Objects contain the past, present and future,
if we know how to trap their secrets."
—Leonora Carrington, The Stone Door (1977)

(Rock divination photo by Earthworm.)

A beautiful image of Pope Gregory I. Though he lived several hundred years before the creation of the Tarot in northern Italy, this portrait would make a wonderful Pope card. It succinctly, yet elegantly, expresses religious authority and knowledge.