Tarot Table Talk

You can subscribe to the Tarot Table Talk podcast on iTunes! Just click this button:

This episode is co-hosted by Susan Gold and Evelyn Pine. To participate, it doesn’t matter how much or how little you know about writing or the tarot.

Episode Number 9, Writing with the Tarot #4 is 16.2 MB and 11:52 minutes long, but this does not include writing time. We encourage you to pause your recorder throughout the episode to allow yourself ample time for writing.

In this episode

Writing with the Tarot #4 will show you how you can use the tarot to write list poems.

Before you get started, we encourage you to do the warm-up exercise we have recorded in Tarot Table Talk Episode #7, aka, Writing with the Tarot #2. This is designed to be used with all Writing with the Tarot episodes. In the warm-up episode, we give you a series of questions to help you explore the imagery of a card through writing. This can be a very satisfying stand-alone exercise as well.

Example poetry by Susan, inspired by The Golden Tarot

The Moon

I see a landscape of bone carved smooth
and the feathery silhouette of trees against charcoal sky.
I see the branch-like antlers of the stag,
and the spring in the leap of the hare,
I see a thin stretch of grass at the opening of the earth
and the snapping claws of the crawfish as it emerges.
I feel the weight of this heavy night
and the soft pink lips of the moon.

Have You Ever?

Have you ever worn a crown?
Or offered wine to a dove?
Have you ever crossed your fingers and prayed?
Have you ever stepped into a pond
and dipped down to the hem of your gown?
Or held a lion on your lap—
the heavy slab of its paw
resting on your wrist?
Have you ever walked blindfolded into the snow?
Or plucked coins from a tree?

I’ve Never

I’ve never stolen swords from an enemy camp
nor fed pomegranate seeds to a bird.
I’ve never shaken a tambourine at the edge of a cliff,
nor slept in the light of a stained glass window.
Will someone pull these daggers from my heart?
I’m waiting for my ships to come in.

We’d love to hear from you

This podcast course is a work in progress, so we would love to hear your feedback. We would also love to hear about your writing process for these exercises. Don’t be shy about posting!

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, be sure to visit The Magician’s Table for a listing of Writing with the Tarot workshops. We’ve got a workshop coming up on June 3, 2008 in San Mateo, CA.

Choose your card for the week from The Victorian Tarot by Karen Mahony, and Alexandr Ukolov of Magic Realist Press. When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel.

Let us know which card you chose—post a comment!

Images from The Victorian Romantic Tarot are reproduced with permission from Magic Realist Press.

Choose your card for the week from the Rider-Waite deck. Don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel. If you would like to read about your card, you might click on the appropriate link under The Magician’s Table Tarot in the right hand column.

Let us know which card you chose—post a comment!

…be sure to visit Mary K. Greer’s blog. She has interesting posts on 5/6/08 and 5/7/08.

Choose your card for the week from Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot. When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel. Let us know which card you chose. Post a comment!

If you want to buy the Thoth deck, I recommend finding an out-of-print “White Box” edition by Lewellyn, or an in-print Swiss “Blue Box” edition by AGMuller. Tarot Garden is a good source. My understanding is that the U.S. Games editions have a green cast to them that wasn’t originally intended. Note that the early “White Box” edition does not have a decorative border.

For a good book on the Thoth deck, check out Lon Milo DuQuette’s, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot.

The Tarot-to-Go podcast, now hosted at the Tarot Pathways blog has a great interview with DuQuette about how the Thoth artist, Lady Frieda Harris ended up collaborating with Crowley.

XVII: The Star, Two of Swords: Peace, Four of Wands, Completion

Four of Disks: Power, XIV: Art, XVI: The Tower

Choose your card for the week from the Gypsy Lore Fortune Telling Cards—they’re not tarot cards, but I can’t resist.

When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel. Let us know what card you chose. Post a comment!

I have a great interest in the 1920s and was quite excited when I first saw this deck online. I was fortunate to be able to get it on eBay. I wish I had more information about it. It doesn’t have a copyright date, and I haven’t found many references to it. If anyone knows anything about this deck, please let write in. In any case, it’s certainly reflects the conventional culture of its time.

Text around the edges of the cards:

Bachelor: Trust, but not blindly. A new acquaintance is trustworthy. An engagement will be broken because of you.

End: There is sunshine behind the clouds. Live your own life. Your troubles will soon disappear.

Worry: Worrying will not help. Do your best. A turn for the better. Inconsequential worries through relatives or friends.

Gossip: You have people near you who are not true to you. Do not talk too much—listen. Unpleasant event but temporary.

Argument: Beware the sorrow you will cause someone by what you are planning to do. Someone is tempting the one you have. A family counsel with you or about you.

Publicity: Resist coming temptations. Notoriety through jealousy. Slander or scandal—be careful.

I was just over at The Tarot Channel blog where I was introduced to the Deviant Moon Tarot, a new deck scheduled to be released next month by U.S. Games. The artwork for this deck is stunning, surreal, dark, and wonderfully frightening. It guarantees to seep into the subconscious. I thought you all might want to read the interview with Patrick Valenza, the deck creator and visit his website. You can pre-order this deck at Amazon and at The Tarot Garden. I’m going to go pre-order mine right now!

Baseball season is here! The San Francisco Giants Opening Day is April 7, and in honor of their biggest fans—my mom and my brother—I thought I would invite you to choose your card of the week from the Tarot of Baseball by Robert Kasher and Beverly Ransom.

When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel. Let us know what card you chose. Post a comment!

Featured below are cards from the major arcana. The fully illustrated suit cards correspond with more traditional decks as follows: Bats = Wands, Gloves = Cups, Balls = Swords, and Caps = Pentacles. The court cards also follow the baseball theme: The Umpire, The Pitcher, The Coach, and The Manager.

Sadly, this deck is no longer in print, though there is currently one up for bid on eBay. A few used decks are also available on Amazon.

Images from Tarot of Baseball is reproduced with permission from U.S. Games, Inc.

Choose your card for the week from Morgan-Greer Tarot by Bill Greer and Lloyd Morgan. When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel. Let us know which card you chose. Post a comment!

This deck is very much influenced by Rider-Waite but also offers some unique, subtly different interpretations.

Images from the Morgan-Greer Tarot reproduced with permission from U.S. Games, Inc.

Choose your card for the week from Wheel of Change Tarot by Alexandra Genetti. When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel. Let us know what card you chose. Post a comment!

Prince of Cups, 9 of Cups, 8 of Swords

10 of Wands, 9 of Wands, Knight of Cups

Anastasia Haysler of Tarot-To-Go introduced me to this deck, and I just love it. When my husband looked through it, he said, “The artist who made this must be a very interesting person.” I have to agree. What an imagination!

This is an all-encompassing deck that includes diverse cultures and reflects the depth and breadth of the earth. It reminds those of us who are living an urban/suburban life that the world extends beyond our immediate community. There are also glimpses into the cosmos.

What I love most about the deck is the way it reflects the expanse of time. Many of the cards illustrate the layers of earth and sea and buried treasures. For example, the contents of the Prince of Cup’s vessel below look like they might slip into the sea and settle on the ocean floor, as shown in the Nine of Cups. How long will they rest there before snagged by a fishing line? The Nine of Wands could be an excavation site where the past is unearthed. These images become more powerful when juxtaposed with images from modern life: a baseball breaking a window, and a homeless man playing saxaphone.

This deck offers great insight and many surprises with each draw. It also comes with a 383 page book.

Images from The Wheel of Change Tarot reproduced with permission from Alexandra Genetti.