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Bonnie Cehovet talks with Alyssa Montalbano, who created the elegant hard-cover Tarot Journal.
"The Tarot Journal is a beautiful tool, available for people to start to connect more fully with their inner soul essence via the use of Tarot and/or Oracle Cards. I like that each person gets to experience the process of self discovery in any fashion they choose. So it will be perfect for each person. No two journals will ever be alike. " READ MORE...
Creator of the independently produced photographic deck Trump L'Oeil: Tarot of Portmeirion talks with Bonnie Cehovet.
"I was introduced to Portmeirion as a child through "The Prisoner" series. My first question was, "Where on earth is that remarkable place?" I tracked it down in the library, began a scrapbook, and eventually made it to Wales to enjoy the first of many week-long holidays in that magical village. One thing I've always loved about Portmeirion is the abundance of memorial plaques and statuary, lending meaning to the ornamentation. On a whim during one visit, I began delving beneath the surfaces of things, seeking deeper meanings." READ MORE...
Jean-Claude and Roxanne Flornoy talk about their restored Marseilles decks with Bonnie Cehovet.
"In the tarot I found an Occidental, or 'western', presentation of an inner itinerary which is based on a cyclic perception of time, of the mother (Plato) and woman (the 'old religion'), as opposed to the linear time of the father (Aristotle), which was taken up by Christianity. The French Marseille tradition is uninterruptedly bearer of what one could call a shamanistic vision of the world.
" READ MORE...
Bonnie Cehovet interviews the headmaster of Norway's only School of Astrology, and author of over 25 books on Tarot, Astrology, and Life, Per Henrik Gullfoss.
"I have always thought that
Astrology and Tarot are like prose and poetry. Astrology is
the cosmic language, and if we are going to learn to
think cosmically, we need a cosmic language. Tarot is
the best tool I know for connecting the right and left
hand sides of the brain, and helping us develop
intuition. Together they are two of the finest tools existing
for developing clarity, consciousness and
awareness.
" READ MORE...
Robert M. Place, tarot author and creator of the Alchemical Tarot, the Tarot of Saints, and the Buddha Tarot, talks with Bonnie Cehovet.
"My deck is based on the literary vampire, particular Stoker’s Dracula. Stoker’s biographer, Barbara Belford, definitely believes that Stoker was familiar with the Tarot and based many of the characters in Dracula on Tarot trumps. Besides this I feel that one of the main inspirations for his story came from the Grail Legend and as I have pointed out in my books the Grail influenced the Tarot as well. " READ MORE...
Bonnie Cehovet catches up with Rachel Pollack and finds out her plans for 2007.
"The focus of Rachel's work for 2007 is on leading Intensives covering each of the four suits of the Tarot. The work that comes out of these Intensives will be coming out in the future through Llewellyn Worldwide. Rachel has agreed to give us a peek into her very magickal world!" READ MORE...
Arnell Ando and Leslie Cochran, artists and joint creators of the Tarot Art Calendar 2006, are interviewed by Bonnie Cehovet.
"Leslie and I became fast friends a few years ago and then when I saw a beautiful collage calendar she was making for friends and family I couldn’t help but notice many Tarot symbols and associations inherent in her lovely, intricate work. Soon afterwards we began taking Photoshop classes together at the local college and realized it could be great fun to make a series of Tarot art calendars together. " READ MORE...
James Wells - Canadian Tarotist, author, consultant, teacher, and writer of the monthly column in the ATA newsletter, Tarot-Scopes - is interviewed by Bonnie Cehovet.
"The tarot is NOT something to believe in. It's not a creed, a religion, or an "ism". It's not the source of our empowerment, but it CAN put us touch with the source of our empowerment. This is why in my book, my articles, and so forth, the word "tarot" in the middle of a sentence begins with a lower-case T. It's not another "Bible" to be put in upper-case letters and worshipped. All of that said, I do believe that there's a sort of "tarot-ness", a kind of morphic field or archetype that's built up over the years from using the tarot in various ways." READ MORE...
Christine Filipak of Monolith Graphics talks about the Madame Endora Fortune Cards, their second deck after the Gothic Tarot.
"Madame Endora actually began life 'as a regular feature in the magazine we publish, Dark Realms. In each issue Madame Endora, who is described as the "resident seer and enchantress of the realm", enlightens the reader about different methods of divination, the meanings of symbols, natural elements, talismans, etc., as well as the historical significance of these and many other beliefs." READ MORE...
Bonnie Cehovet interviews Winter Wren about the collaborative Soul Vision Tarot 2005 deck.
"Initially, I was only doing two cards in the deck and I decided to focus on my favorite female artist from the Renaissance period, Artemisia Gentileschi. By the time I agreed to pick up the extra card, all my art monographs were packed already for a long anticipated move. So I decided to focus on Tarot artist Karl Rohrig for influence because I love his deck. " READ MORE...
Joseph Vargo and Christine Filipak talk about the Gothic Tarot with Clare McHale.
"The artwork itself spans Vargo's 10 year career as a professional artist, and the project included intensive research into tarot history as well as other tarot decks. The idea was always to create a usable deck and not just throw together a showcase of Vargo's art..." READ MORE...
Luminaries of the Tarot world, Mary Greer and Rachel Pollack, talk to Bonnie Cehovet about their current projects and views on Tarot.
"First and foremost, use the cards often both for yourself and with others through readings and in a whole variety of other ways. Attend classes, workshops and conferences as you'll learn so much and so much faster than any other single way-plus you'll make lots of tarot friends! Read as much as you can about tarot history and methods and about related subjects like psychology, new physics, philosophy and symbolism. By delving deeply into the various areas of tarot-where it comes from, how it works, what it says, what it can do and where it can take you-you will obtain a marvelous and well-rounded education." READ MORE...
Bonnie Cehovet interviews Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman for the 25th anniversary of the Sacred Rose Tarot.
"The rose has a special metaphysical message, in its structure of beauty (its flower) and pain (the thorns), much as life was experienced in the development of our Western Civilization. Also, one cannot forget the mundane but valued uses of the rose. The rose has a valuable commodity in its essential oil. The commerce of essential oils (herbs and spices, too) from the Middle East expanded the Alchemists use of the properties found in this flower. " READ MORE...
The creator of the Sakki-Sakki Tarot talks about her Tarot deck.
"Initially, I was only doing two cards in the deck and I decided to focus on my favorite female artist from the Renaissance period, Artemisia Gentileschi. By the time I agreed to pick up the extra card, all my art monographs were packed already for a long anticipated move. So I decided to focus on Tarot artist Karl Rohrig for influence because I love his deck. " READ MORE...
Gail Adrian, creator of perfumes linked with Tarot cards, talks with Bonnie Cehovet about her inspiration for her new line of fragrances.
"I am linked to the unseen, the causal. Nothing I do is casual. When I began composing perfumes in the 90's for people, it was an obvious choice to use archetypal Tarot correspondences when formulating for the deepest resonances between my clients and their personal perfumes. " READ MORE...
Bonnie Cehovet interviews Winter Wren about the collaborative Soul Vision Tarot deck and her involvement.
"I have participated in some collaborative decks before and decided I really wanted to do a Major Arcana this time and that is the card that I resonate with. I see the High Priestess as the bringer of wisdom. But in order to bring wisdom you must also gain wisdom. " READ MORE...
The three talented Tarot artists and authors who created the Baroque Bohemian Cats' Tarot talk here about the process and background to the luxurious feline Tarot deck.
"Creating that world of the Baroque Bohemian Cats did take a long time and involved much experimentation before our technique could really fool the eye into believing in the reality of the scenes. In summary, we built or adapted miniature models, clothed them in Anna's meticulous costumes (we often reused costume parts with fresh trimmings - so all costumes had to be done as separate pieces) and then photographed them. " READ MORE...
Lee Bursten and Ciro Marchetti talk about the forthcoming Tarot of Dreams with Bonnie Cehovet.
"I see this project as an opportunity to create a deck which will, because of Ciro's skill and inspiration as an artist, appeal to readers because of its unusually vivid and evocative images. There are many decks out there but there are only a few designed by top-notch artists. My own opinion is that these card images provide a wonderful opportunity to connect with our own psyches, and I hope others will agree. " READ MORE...
Lee Bursten, creator of the Gay Tarot, is interviewed by Kiama.
"I wanted to provide gay men with a similarly safe and comfortable environment in which to explore issues of self-esteem, of how to survive in today's society without feeling like they must conform to either straight people's expectations or even other gay people's expectations. I wanted to show gay men as they really are -- in other words, just regular people, not especially conforming to heterosexual attitudes but not especially rebelling against them either. " READ MORE...
The talented creators of the Tarot of Prague, Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov, talk about themselves, their inspiration for their deck, and their future Tarot plans.
"I'd say that the reason people think our cards have a lot of energy in them may simply be because they use a wide variety of very old and powerful symbols from an ancient city -- symbols which in some senses have been "tried and tested" over time and so do carry the ability to move many people. When we made the deck, we very much wanted to capture and communicate this aspect of Prague. It is really full of signs and symbols that, in their own right, evoke a response. " READ MORE...
Robert M. Place, Tarot author and creator of the Buddha Tarot, Alchemical Tarot, Tarot of the Saints, speaks about his Tarot philosophy and the Buddha Tarot with Bonnie Cehovet.
"When I woke on Christmas morning, a correlation between the life of Buddha and the Tarot was all worked out in my mind. I could clearly see how the details of the story of Buddha's life fit together flawlessly with the Tarot trumps, illustrating that they are essentially the same stories. I had worked on it in my sleep but I could not remember the process only the result. " READ MORE...
The creator and teacher of the Voyager Tarot, James Wanless, talks about Tarot, his Tarot deck and his website with Bonnie Cehovet.
"When making a deck, the key is in trying to make it very real and at the same time have enough magic in it. You look at the world today - just look at the Internet, look around at America - it is a mix of different kinds of people and different kinds of symbols, and this is the real world. It's kind of chaotic out there - a little of this, and a little of that. A Voyager card reflects and mirrors that kind of multi-cultural thing, with a little bit of chaos." READ MORE...
The creator of the Glastonbury Tarot talks with Percy Balemans.
"The history and mythology of Glastonbury intrigued me, so it was wonderful to use that as a background to the images, and tie it in with the interpretations for the book. It amazed me how such a small geographical area housed so many powerful archetypes! "
READ MORE...
The illustrator of the Osho Zen Tarot, and creator of the new TAO Oracle, talks with Percy Balemans.
"I see the Zen deck a bit like the sun: brilliant, vibrant, captivating in its colorful clarity. Purely from a tactile experience the Zen deck snaps, is easy to handle. It functions like a Zen stick straight to the head, creating a flash of understanding that then sinks beneath mind stuff and can create heightened awareness and greater understanding."
READ MORE...
Author and artist of the World Spirit Tarot, discuss the influences on their tarot deck (and explain the look of the Sun card!)
"All the images have a strong foundation in the work of Pixie Smith with a touch of Lady Frieda Harris (from the Thoth deck). But I wanted to give them a modern sensibility, more diverse, multi-ethnic, authentic people of different ages, body types and all, more indicative of the real people that enrich our real lives! "
READ MORE...
Robin Wood talks about Tarot, Wicca and the Robin Wood deck.
"I started work on my deck in 1980, almost as soon as I saw that first Rider-Waite. I didn't like the art on it, couldn't relate to much of the symbolism, and thought the colours were too dull for words. So I started to imagine my own symbols and colours on the deck. It wasn't long before I started to paint the pictures I was imagining on a blank deck I ordered from the States. I sent bad xerox copies back home to my friends, and several told me that they wanted my deck."
READ MORE...
The author of the Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom discusses tarot with Alex Crowther.
"The Tarot is an instrument of our wisdom. I see the Golden Dawn and people such as Arthur Waite and Aleister Crowley as being much like classical music. There is no room for error in interpreting the notes and how the music should be played. World music are the cultural Tarots there is that same consciousness as the music. Jazz music represents the contemporary readers. They know the general structure, but are open to spontaneity whilst still allowing the basic structure to remain."
READ MORE...
An in-depth look into the creation and influences of the Tarot de Paris.
"My views on the cross pollination of Paris and Tarot were formed during the experiential process of physically "walking through the city and the symbols" taking photos for the TDP deck. As improbable as it may sound, the city's veil was lifted before me and I was allowed to briefly glimpse the subliminal forces that have sustained its existence over thousands of years. What I saw was an eternal Paris - a living archetype - fashioned by revolutions of chaos, creativity, and conservatism."
READ MORE...
The creator of the Ancient Egyptian Tarot and the Norse Tarot answers questions about his research, his art and his influences.
"Although I greatly admire the Crowley and Waite-Smith decks, I set out to design a deck in which each card was different to those which had gone before (including the Norse Tarot). It would have been easy to have simply copied or adapted the ideas in other decks, but I wanted the AET to cover new ground." READ MORE...
Allen Chester, creator of the Templar Tarot, responds to twenty questions.
"The subject of the Templars developed on its own. My goal was to capture the general meaning of each card, that part came from my conscience self. The additional symbology and tie to the Knights Templars came from a higher conscience that I can not explain that worked with me on this project." READ MORE...
Londa Marks, creator of the Londa Tarot and Crow's Magick Tarot and the in-progress Alchemist Tarot, talks to Darren Varey.
"I am continuing designing more tarot decks. My next one is, The Alchemist Tarot. However, it's going slowly because I'm creating a real tarot world, one in movie form, a deck, and a hardback book. This project is going to finally put the tarot into the proportions it should be in: Life Sized." READ MORE...
An interview with the author of many books of Wicca and Magick, and co-creator of the Celtic Dragon Tarot and Shapeshifter Tarot.
"Some of my family used regular playing cards for divination for several generations. They didn't call this psychic and avoided the term. I first personally experienced Tarot cards in the mid-1960s because I was trying to re-open the psychic doorways I had closed as a child." READ MORE...
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