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:

• Visit James’ Website
• Read his Haiku Poetry
• Cafe Press, Zazzle products and Books (including a poster with the Lovers and the rest of the Major Arcana)
• Tarot Affirmations Booklet
• Author Bio at Llewellyn
• Ways to Practice Reading Tarot Cards by James Ricklef
• Tarot & Your Spiritual Path:The Wheel of Fortune Written by James Ricklef

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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