The Annotated Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery

• Size: 8.5 x 5.5
• 28 Prints on Archival Quality Rag Paper

 The Annotated Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery: a Renaissance Magical Tradition

Traditionally, there are two parts to setting up a magical act. First our intent has to be clearly stated. Second, we must call for helpers from the inner world and make a connection to their stories or myths. Magical traditions accomplish this in two ways, either by using words, such as quotes from the Bible or the Koran or images such as an idol or the paintings on the walls of a temple. To the Egyptians, however, words and images were one and the same; they were hieroglyphs. This was the advantage of the Egyptian magical practice; words and images were united and the left and the right sides of the brain acted together.

Renaissance artists, philosophers, and magicians fell in love with Egyptian hieroglyphs and attempted to make their own contemporary versions. This practice lead to the fifteenth century fashion for enigmatic symbolic images that filled philosophical and alchemical texts. The Tarot is another result of that passion. Because of their reliance on the written word, however, hieroglyphs did not work as well for the people of the Renaissance as they did for the Egyptians; therefore, the artists and thinkers of the Renaissance worked out a solution in which symbolic imagery20was combined with words, beautifully rendered in calligraphy, to complete the communication. The Annotated Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery is created in that Renaissance tradition.

The deck started with my love of the paintings of the 19th century painter Burne-Jones. I wanted to see what a deck designed with his sensuality and sense of symbolism would look like. It quickly became clear, however, that just as Burne-Jones’ paintings were a reexamination of the mystical themes of the Renaissance this deck would also be rooted in the Renaissance tradition, and it would be the perfect vehicle to express the mystical philosophy that was incorporated in the Tarot by its 15th century creators. The Annotated Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery is the perfect realization of that vision.

Like all magical works, this deck falls in the cracks between common definitions. It can be used as a deck of cards for divination but it is also a book of unbound pages that explains the philosophy and allegory of the Tarot. The written message on each card explains the symbolism and the theme of the card but not necessarily its divinatory meaning. The text is open ended and invites us to contemplate the image on a deeper level.

This deck is also a work of art that is larger than an average Tarot, 8½" by 5½", and printed on archival rag paper. Each card is suitable for framing. Lastly, it is a deck for meditation or contemplation and each card can be displayed on an easel for this purpose. The Fool and all 21 trumps are represented. There is also a title card, three cards containing introductory text, a glossary of unusual terms, and a card with a chart of the seven ancient planets and their correspondences: 28 cards in all.