The Tarot Connection » James Ricklef

Episode: 76 Tarot of the Masters by James Ricklef

leisa — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:29:31 +0000

Tarot of the Masters

The Tarot of the Masters is from Tarot author James Ricklef, and is inspired by classical paintings from the old masters such as Rembrandt, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bouguereau, Rubens, and Hieronymus Bosch.

In preparation for creating this deck, James perused hundreds of paintings (and quite a few statues as well) in order to find ones that would suit the 78 cards of the Tarot. The classic works of art found in this process have inspired his own illustrations for the cards. (In a few cases two different paintings were combined.

This deck was drawn in pen and ink and colored on the computer. Each card is color coded by suit and the Majors show astrological attributions. It’s been self-published in a first edition run of 55 decks. The first run deck costs $50 + tax (where applicable — California) and shipping. The deck comes in a satin bag. Companion material will be available for download on the website.

Tarot of the Masters Intro – with links to the images
Yahoo Group for Tarot of the Masters
Contact James

A Few Closeups

James Ricklef

James Ricklef is a Certified Tarot Master — a Tarot reader, lecturer, and writer. He has been a frequent workshop presenter at the annual Los Angeles Tarot Symposium, and he has been a guest presenter at the New York Tarot Reader’s Studio, and the annual San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium. He is also the author of the award-winning book Tarot Tells the Tale as well as Tarot — Get the Whole Story, and his new deck, Tarot of the Masters, is now available. For more information about his books or deck, visit his website:

The Nines by Ginny Hunt

In number symbolism, nine, not ten, means completion. This can be rather confusing in tarot when the suits have a sequence of ten cards. But there are reasons for this and once understood it makes things a little easier. In a base 10 system, where all numbers are represented by ten distinct forms (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9), nine is the final number. It then represents a limit, the end, or an ultimate goal. The last among the seven Pythagorean numbers (three through nine), nine is the limit to which the generative principles of number reach. The ancient mathematical philosophers called nine the “finishing post” and “that which brings completion.”

The Greeks called nine “the horizon,” beyond which the Ennead, or “the nothing” or void lay. We colloquially express this by saying things like “the nth degree” or that a cat has nine lives and “the whole nine yards” to mean the very limit of something. Also we say someone is “on cloud nine” or “dressed to the nines” when they are achieving something high. There are nine magnitudes on the Richter earthquake scale, though one has not yet been recorded to go that high and so is only theoretically possible at this time. As such, nine is the completion of a cycle, symbolic of change and reform. In tarot it represents the end prior to a new beginning. So what’s the ten there for? I’ll get to that in the next post in this series.

Nine is composed of three trinities (3 times 3 equals 9) and represents the principles of the sacred Triad taken to their utmost expression. In fact, the Chaldeans believed nine to be so sacred they kept it apart in their numerology from the other numbers. This practice relates back to the Major Arcana IX, The Hermit, who separates himself from others in the spiritual search of the sacred. The Norse God Odin, ruler of the nine Norse worlds, hung nine days on the world axis or Yggdrasil tree to win the secrets of wisdom for mankind and after the seige of Troy, which lasted for nine years, Odysseus wandered for nine years in trying to return home. The Hermit is often pictured standing on a mountaintop, a pinnacle of sorts, the limit of height. (read the full post)

Music Credits

Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis
78 Notes Music: Steamy River by Rhonda Lorence from Winter Moon (Magnatune)
Closing Music: Three Airs from the Dancing Master by Da Camera from A Celtic Celebration (Magnatune)

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Episode 30: Relationship Readings with James Ricklef

leisa — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 01:23:56 +0000

Archived

This Podcast Episode has been archived. It is available for purchase at shop.tarotconnection.net in the Year One Archive mp3 DVD.

Relationship Readings

A relationship reading is the most requested type of reading. My Guest James Ricklef proposes that as a reader we must know one’s self to be able to provide the most helpful reading possible.

There are many ways of approaching a relationships reading. Two really interesting aspects to ponder are “what does love mean to me” and “what is the foundation of my relationship”.

James Ricklef is a Certified Tarot Master — a Tarot reader, lecturer, and writer. For many years now, he has been a recurring workshop presenter at the annual Los Angeles Tarot Symposium (LATS). He has also been a featured speaker at the New York Tarot Reader’s Studio (an annual three-day event) and at the annual San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium (BATS). James is the author of the award-winning book “Tarot Tells the Tale” and of a book about Tarot spreads titled “Tarot — Get the Whole Story”.

El Diablo by Ginny Hunt

We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell ~Oscar Wilde

There are three Major Arcana cards that routinely tend to provoke quite the freakout: Death (dun dun dun!), The Tower (a rather unwelcome shock), and The Devil. He’s usually depicted in very grotesque form and it’s a natural response to recoil from such nasties. Case in point, here is an image from a very early deck, the Visconti-Sforza, the first “official” tarot card deck made in the mid-fifteenth century. It’s pretty typical devil symbolism what with the goat horns and bat wings, dragon-scaled belly, malevolent face, etc., but what is more disturbing about this card are the children. Good God, will someone not save the children? Actually, I don’t think they’re both supposed to be children, per se, as the female figure has breasts, but the male figure is clearly a boy. And they’ve spouted horns, so apparently they’re becoming that which both lures and repels them. Tied loosely, they seem captivated, willing slaves. The young woman looks freakishly like a Stepford Wife and the devil is obviously the Puppet Master. These kinds of images make one wonder what could possibly be so appealing about the gruesome dude that one would stay, willingly, bound.

Tarot Realizations by Bill Vincent

I’d like to take a few moments to talk about my favorite aspect of Tarot, the one thing that keeps me completely dedicated to the cards. Yes, they can be used for divination and can be used lightheartedly or seriously, depending on the situation. They are fun to work with, and fun to collect. But really, the most fascinating thing about Tarot, to me, has to be the symbolism. We are surrounded every day with symbols. You can’t even escape them if you were to move far away from our modern world, because symbols appear in nature as well as in our materialistic world. Symbols captivate us, they catch our eye and we subconsciously notice them, sometimes without even being aware that they are impacting us. Even colors by themselves are symbols that have multiple associations and meanings. (read full post)

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet – Symbolism of the Magician

Let’s continue our journey through the symbols of the Magician. There are two sides to every card. To paraphrase Sandra Thomson from “The Heart of the Tarot”, the Magician can be a sacred magician, or he can mesmerize us with illusion and then disappear (in a puff of smoke). The extensive imagery in this card tells us a lot about this gentleman.

This is a very powerful card to have appear in a reading. It indicates that the Seeker has these tools at his or her command, and needs to make best use of them. It is very important to dialogue with the Seeker when giving a reading, to get their impression of the multitude of symbols within this card … to see what draws their eye, and what place this might have in their life.

Music Credits

Opening Music: time release by the Droney Tones.
78 Notes Music: Steamy River by Rhonda Lorence from Winter Moon (Magnatune)
Hermits Journey: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)
Transition Music: Toccata No 6 in F major by Jeni Melia from the Lost Art of Wooing (Magnatune)
Closing Music: I’m in Love by Yongen from Moonrise (Magnatune)

Episode 12: Affirmations with James Ricklef & Bonnie Cehovet

leisa — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 02:40:20 +0000

Archived

This Podcast Episode has been archived. It is available for purchase at shop.tarotconnection.net in the Year One Archive mp3 DVD.

In spirituality and personal development, an affirmation is a form of auto-suggestion in which a statement of a desirable intention or condition of the world or the mind is deliberately meditated on or repeated in order to implant it in the mind.

Bonnie Cehovet (Washington) is a Tarot Educator, a professional Tarot reader with over ten years experience, a Reiki Master/Teacher and a writer. She currently has articles and reviews appearing in the World Tarot Network newsletter, and reviews appearing on the Meta Arts e-magazine site and on Aeclectic Tarot . Her website is The Crystal Gate – Tarot .

Music Credits

Opening Music: time release by the Droney Tones.
Closing Music: One Wish by Jessica King