manteia courier

Manteia Courier1998-99

25 Y25 Y25 Y25 Y25 Years with Tears with Tears with Tears with Tears with Tarotarotarotarotarot

• Waite-Smith • Motherpeace • Golden Dawn • Tapestry • Cosmic • Tarot of Spirit • Ceremonial Magic Tarot • Morgan Greer • Albano• Aquarian • Yeager • Crowley • Voyager • Haindl • Kier • Transformational Tarot • Röhrig • Oswald Wirth • Papus • New Tarot for theAquarian Age • Tarot Gruyeres • Marseilles • Richard Gardner Tarot • Royal Fez • Davis Sheridan Tarot • Frown Strong Tarot • ThelemicTarot • Tarot Cardinal • Future Solleone • Etteilla • Arista • Celtic Tarot • Egorov Tarot • Gentillini • BOTA • Jo Gill Tarot • Rolla Nordic• Witches Tarot • Golden Dawn Tarot • Hermetic Tarot • Astro Tarot • Xultun Tarot • Zolar • Avion Eye Tarot • Golden Cycle Tarot •Mountain Dream • Astral Tarot • Hoi Pollock • Balbi • El Ted Tarot • • Karma Music Tarot • ustralian Dreamtime • Arcus Arcanum •Alchemical Tarot • Ancestral Path Tarot • Hannahs Tarot • Shadow Tarot • Story Teller Tarot • Sacred Rose Tarot • Shining Woman •Evolving Tarot • Baseball Tarot • Tarot de Tattwas • Unicorn Tarot • Ukraine Tarot • Wild Flower Tarot • Word of One Tarot •Moonprincess Himiko Tarot Molinero • Tarocco Mitologica • Victoria Regina Tarot • Tarocci di Felicia • Tarocchi di Elisabetta • TarotEspagnol • Egyptian Tarot • Fantasy Tarot • Flying Hearts Tarot • Enchanted Tarot • Druid Tarot • Golden Rider • Healing Earth Tarot •Jumbledance Tarot • Deutsches Original Tarot • Sternenmädchen Tarot • Zigeuner Tarot • Pointner •Ommagio a Erté • Sola Busca • Angel Tarot • Medicine Tarot • Alitalia • Spiral Tarot •Daniuela Fulgosi Tarot • Cosmic Tribe Tarot • Tartessos • Black Tarot • FaeryWicca Tarot • Wheel of Change Tarot • Healing Tarot • Ludwig Tarot •Windmill Tarot • Tarocchi di Eva • Renaissance Tarot • NorthernShadows • Love Tarot • Cat’s World Tarot • Old EnglishTarot • Gothic Tarot • • Waite- Smith • Motherpeace •Golden Dawn • Tapestry • Cosmic • Tarot of Spirit •Ceremonial Magic Tarot • Morgan Greer •Albano • Aquarian • Yeager • Crowley •Voyager • Haindl • • TransformationalTarot • Röhrig • Oswald Wirth •Papus • New Tarot for the AquarianAge • Tarot G r u y e r e s •Marseilles • Ri- chard GardnerTarot • Royal Fez • DavidSheridan Tarot • Frown StrongThelemic Tarot • Ta r o t C a r-dinal • Future Solleone •Etteilla • Arista • Celtic Tarot •E g o r o v Gentillini •BOTA • Jo Gill Tarot • RollaWitches Tarot •Golden DawnHermetic Tarot • Astro Tarot •Xultun Tarot • Zolar • GoldenCycle Mountain Dream • AstralTarot • Hoi Pollock • Balbi •Deutsches Origi- nal Tarot •Zigeuner Tarot • S t e r n e n m ä d -chen• Pointner • Karma MusicTarot • Ommagio a Erté • AustralianDreamtime • Arcus Arcanum Tarot •Alchemical Tarot • Ancestral Path Tarot •Sola Busca • Shadow Tarot • Sacred RoseTarot • Shining Woman • Baseball Tarot • Tarot deTattwas • Unicorn Tarot • Ukraine Tarot • Wild FlowerTarot • Word of One Tarot • Moonprincess Himiko Tarot •Tarot de Molinero • Tarocco Mitologica • El Ted Tarot • VictoriaRegina Tarot • Tarocci di Felicia • Tarocchi di Elisabetta • Tarot Espagnol • EgyptianTarot • Waite-Smith • Motherpeace • Golden Dawn • Tapestry • Cosmic • Tarot of Spirit• Ceremonial Magic Tarot • Morgan Greer • Albano • Aquarian • Yeager • Crowley • Voyager • Haindl • Kier •Transformational Tarot • Röhrig • Oswald Wirth • Waite-Smith • Motherpeace • Golden Dawn • Tarot of Spirit • •Papus • New Tarotfor the Aquarian Age • Tarot Gruyeres • Marseilles • Richard Gardner Tarot • Royal Fez • Davis Sheridan Tarot • Frown Strong Tarot •Thelemic Tarot • Tarot Cardinal • Future Solleone • Etteilla • Arista • Celtic Tarot • Egorov Tarot • Gentillini • BOTA • Jo Gill Tarot •Rolla Nordic • Witches Tarot • Golden Dawn Tarot • Hermetic Tarot • Astro Tarot • Xultun Tarot • Zolar • Golden Cycle Tarot •Mountain Dream • Astral Tarot • Hoi Pollock • Balbi • Deutsches Original Tarot • Zigeuner Tarot • Sternenmädchen Tarot • Pointner •Karma Music Tarot • Ommagio a Erté • Australian Dreamtime • Arcus Arcanum • Alchemical Tarot • Ancestral Path Tarot • Sola Busca• Shadow Tarot • Sacred Rose Tarot • Shining Woman • Baseball Tarot • Tarot de Tattwas • Unicorn Tarot • Ukraine Tarot • Wild FlowerTarot • Word of One Tarot • Moonprincess Himiko Tarot • Victoria Regina Tarot • Tarot de Molinero • Tarocco Mitologica • El Ted Tarot• Victoria Regina Tarot • Tarocci di Felicia • Tarocchi di Elisabetta • Tarot Espagnol • Egyptian Tarot • Waite-Smith • Motherpeace •Golden Dawn • Tapestry • Cosmic • Tarot of Spirit • Ceremonial Magic Tarot • Morgan Greer • Albano • Aquarian • Yeager • Crowley• Voyager • Haindl • Kier • Transformational Tarot • Röhrig • Oswald Wirth • Papus • Evolving Tarot • New Tarot for the Aquarian Age• Tarot Gruyeres • Marseilles • Richard Gardner Tarot • Royal Fez • Davis Sheridan Tarot • Frown Strong Tarot • Thelemic Tarot • TarotCardinal • Future Solleone • Etteilla • Arista • Celtic Tarot • Egorov Tarot • Gentillini • BOTA • Jo Gill Tarot • Rolla Nordic • WitchesTarot • Golden Dawn Tarot • Hermetic Tarot • Astro Tarot • Xultun Tarot • Zolar • Golden Cycle Tarot • Mountain Dream • Astral Tarot• Hoi Pollock • Balbi • Deutsches Original Tarot • Zigeuner Tarot • Sternenmädchen Tarot • Pointner • Karma Music Tarot • Ommagioa Erté • Australian Dreamtime • Arcus Arcanum • Alchemical Tarot • Ancestral Path Tarot • Sola Busca • Shadow Tarot • Sacred RoseTarot • Shining Woman • Baseball Tarot • Tarot de Tattwas • Unicorn Tarot • Ukraine Tarot • Wild Flower Tarot • Word of One Tarot• Moonprincess Himiko Tarot • Tarot de Molinero • Tarocco Mitologica • El Ted Tarot • Victoria Regina Tarot • Tarocci di Felicia •Tarocchi di Elisabetta • Tarot Espagnol • Egyptian Tarot • Waite-Smith • Motherpeace • Golden Dawn • Tapestry • Cosmic • Tarot ofSpirit • Ceremonial Magic Tarot • Morgan Greer • Albano • Aquarian • Yeager • Crowley • Voyager • Haindl • Kier • Transformational

Manteia Courier 1998-99 page 2

Whilst I’m writing this we aregetting closer to the end of theMillennium (well, I know that thereare different opinions about that, butlet’s say we are). The 31. of Decem-ber 1999 my voluntary mission inthe realm of tarot is over. For 25years my aim has been to document,as comprehensive as possible, whatis and was happening with esoterictarot and related concepts in the20th century. I feel that I have doneat least a reasonable job within thissubject, and I know that my archiveof mantic art tools, regarding theperiod is not inferior to any otherknown archives and collections. Inthe new millennium, others will haveto take over the documentation task.I don’t envy them since everythinghas changed so much, that, in myopinion, this will be an almostimpossible task.

Tarot is still in fashion but haschanged immensely during the lastcouple of years. The tarot commer-cialism received its backlash; latelySwiss AGMüller was taken over bythe big CartaMundi playing cardfactories in Belgium. It is not manyyears ago that AGMüller, as one ofthe few remaining card manufactur-ers, expanded heavily and estab-lished themselves as a publishingcompany, aiming at a bigger share ofthe growing new age market. Nowwe have only CartaMundi, in liaisonwith USGames Systems Inc., left asthe major tarot card manufacturers.The tarot market has turned into amonopolistic state with USGamesSystems Inc. as the all-encompassingproducer and distributor. A look intheir catalog reveals that not onlytheir own products are offered forsale but also most of the packs fromthe few remaining other producers,like Italian Lo Scarabeo. Likewise areformerly independently manufac-tured decks like Motherpeace,Golden Dawn, Tapestry, Cosmic,Tarot of Spirit, Duquette’s Ceremo-nial Magic Tarot, Morgan Greer,Albano, Aquarian, Crowley, Voyager,

Haindl, Kier, Yeager (even thoughUSGS has transformed the latterinto a sex-political correct pack),now all taken under the “protective”wings of US Games Systems Inc.

The new packs produced under thismonopolistic mass media conceptare nice pieces, well made, with niceillustrative art and ... extremelypredictable. They do but rarelycreate tension, they are “just anothertarot deck”, and the interest forthem is soon lost. Fundamentally,they have not very much to do withthe essence of tarot. The decreasinginterest for similar commercialitems have likewise caused the fewother manufacturers to slow downtheir publication rate; there is longbetween tarot decks from, forexample, Spanish Fournier thesedays, and the French manufacturersseem to stake more on cartomanticpacks and reprints of old successesthan on new artistic tarots. Italianmanufacturers like ItalCards and DalNegro, who published a long row ofexcellent and artistically remarkabledecks some years ago, are neverheard from again; only LoScarabeo,who has a market particularly aimedtowards comic book fans, whosefavorite characters are used in thedecks, is still producing. French LeDiouris, not heard of for many years,saw this light too, and producedrecently a series of Comic charactertarots, but with French suitmarks.

Are tarot packs a consumer’sproduct, which is bought, used for ashort while and thrown away again?One might get that impressionseeing the huge print runs somedecks are made in. In most casesthose figures are not accessible, butLlewellyn used to list the size of theprint run in their wholesale cata-logues. Who are the customers forthis bulk of decks? There is not thatgreat number of tarotists. Are allthe decks bought by collectors? Oris it just a consumers market, buyand throw away?

At the turn of themillennium - editorial

What have ardent tarot collectorsto look forward to include in theircollections now the commercialpacks are all so dull? Small indepen-dent productions, sometimesproduced and financed by the artiststhemselves, show up from time totime, and the easy access to Internetmakes it possible to market suchpacks without much cost, thussecuring a reasonable sale. Also wehave seen an increasing new trendestablishing itself during the lastcouple of years, the entirely hand-made, very small editions of what Icall “private tarot decks”. Moreabout them later in this issue.

The are at present two schools oftarot. One is the traditional Euro-pean kabbalistic tradition, whichfollow either the French branch (inthe spirit of esoterists like OswaldWirth) or the English Golden Dawnbased branch (Waite, Crowley). Theother school is the American laissez-faire type of tarot, which has movedmore or less away from the Euro-pean tradition, following the typicalAmerican trend of creating areligion-like undertaking out ofeverything. Typical for this tarotbranch is, that there is no tradition,no rules, tarot is everything, theimages and the tarot concept caninclude every myth or any mixtureof mythologies or any other popularasset. The only basis being the nameand the outer form, the card deckand its structure of 22 majors, 16courts and 40 number cards. Eventhat is not always followed: cards areadded, cards are removed, the


A special note tocontributors to

APA-Tarot

As I mentioned in Mullepostenno. 62 (July 1999), I planned tostop my contributions to APA-Tarot at the end of 1999. Ipromised that a final issue ofMulleposten would be includedwith APA-Tarot no. 142, whichshould have been the century’slast. Writing this early December1999 and with issue no. 141,which had a deadline of October6th, still due, it will not happen.

Instead of that special issue ofMulleposten, this issue of ManteiaCourier 1998-99 will be sentdirectly to all APA-Tarot con-tributors listed in no.140. I see noreason for sending it to the so-called CARD (Coordinating....something .. person), just to delaythe distribution for anotherunknown period of time.

I want to thank all current APA-Tarot contributors and all thoseformer contributors, whom thispaper may reach. I have, cer-tainly, learned a lot from themultitude of changing membersduring the many rewarding years.Having been part of the enter-prise for 12 years, having contrib-uted 62 issues of Mulleposten witha total of more than 1000 pages Iwould, of course, have liked myretreat to have been different, butit should not be so. I would haveliked APA-tarot to come to aworthy end, which would havehappened if the interest had beenso. But is wasn’t. Sorry, but I’mconvinced, that unless some kindof miracle happens, the end ofAPA-Tarot will come anyway andnot so worthy as it could havebeen. I think that all contributorshave become aware of that bynow. APA-Tarot doesn’t deservethat.(More about the end of Mulle-posten in the interview by AstaErte).

My address and e-mail is some-where else in this issue. I’ll bepleased to hear from any of youdirectly. If you already havewritten comments to me in yourAPA-T contribution, which I maynot receive, please mail a copy ofyour zine directly to me, and I’llgarantee you a direct answer.

K.Frank J.

number of suits changed. Everyonemakes her own concept, her ownideologies, her own preferences, herown tarot images. It is, of course, OKto put one’s own concept andinterpretation into a set of pictures.The reservation come when theconceptors decide, even insist that alltheir private impressions, referencesetc. shall be imposed upon others,the gospel shall be spread. Hundredsof such non-tarot products fill up themarket and make the concept oftarot impenetrable. Where is thetarot tradition in this fun fair? Will anewcomer ever come discover it?

From the point of view of thecollector this overproduction is, ofcourse, interesting. The moredifferent decks are getting produced,the more decks there are to collect.An additional advantage for thegenuine collector is, that the com-mercial interest in any given deck isvery soon lost, so the first printrun isnot followed by a next, which meansthat the deck quickly is out of print,and thus rare, with increased pricesfollowing.

It appears that more and more newtarot decks can be characterized asTarot Art (and as such collectibles).They have no other function. Theycan’t be used for esoteric purposes,for the most they are not evenmeant nor suitable for card reading.

They are made for the sake of art,the tarot structure constituting aframework for the artist’s creativity.There exist a number of suchexcellent artistic tarot packs (andhave done ever since the Viscontipacks of the Renaissance werepainted), made by peoples, who areartists rather than tarotists; not sobad a foundation. The worst is, whenmediocre illustrators with little orno knowledge of tarot, decide tomake a tarot deck to get their shareof the market.

* * *

This issue of Manteia Courier isintended to be a kind of status of mytarot activities during the 25 years Ihave been involved. It will expresswhat I feel about these 25 years ofinvolvement. Most likely it will alsobe the very last issue; my good-byeto excessive Tarot involvement. Inany case, I feel that the paper form isno longer relevant for informationlike this, in these days of electronicpublication.

My own personal attitude will beexpressed entirely throughout thisissue, in various articles and in theinterview given to Asta Erte, who isclose to me, knows me very well andtherefore knows what questions toask.

K. Frank Jensen


circle, she invested in the rather riskyaffair of having Transformational Tarotprinted.

Meanwhile, the increasing quality ofcolor copying, and the easy use ofproduction machinery have made itmuch easier for artists, who want topublish their own decks in limitededitions, to reach excellent results.The usual procedure is, that thecards are copied, mounted with abackside, trimmed, laminated insleeves and maybe trimmed again. Inmy own opinion, the protectivelamination is the weak point in theprocess. The cards would look betterwithout, but if the deck shall behandled to a greater extent, aprotective surface is a necessity. Oneday, however, there will be bettermethods for this, too.

Another thing is, that the process isextremely time consuming and thematerial used rather costly. So don’texpect to be able to buy a 78 carddeck made in 10-20 copies for thesame 35-50$ a mass product, printedin thousands, costs. You have to payabout four times that much, but thenyou own a tarot deck, that has beenparticularly cared for by the artistherself, and there are not thousandsof them out there. Worth to pay for,isn’t it? And even if the miracleshould happen, that one of themlater on was commercially manufac-tured, that one limited original willstill be a treasure. Besides, mostprivately produced collage deckscannot be commercially manufac-tured, alone for the sake of copyright.It also means, that the decks which,after all, are printed commercially, arenot so intense and intimate as thelimited editions, because so manyconsiderations, irrelevant of theartistic execution itself, had to betaken into account. Again I willmention Arnell Ando, who later, in1998, has made a few copies of hervery first collage deck, created in1994, available. Even if her Transforma-tional Tarot has great qualities, this

In the days of The Golden Dawn itwas an exercise for every neophyteto make her or his own tarot deckto explore its possibilities and ascendin the order’s grades. Unfortunately,we have never seen any of the decksresulting from this exercise, despiteof several existing archives withcomprehensive collections of GoldenDawn material. Not one completedeck has ever shown up, not even aset of the twenty two majors, butonly a few single cards made byprominent members like WilliamButler Yeats. The description of theexercise, the rules for the deck, arestill existing. Maybe only a few GD-members, if any, did finish a deck?

Nowadays, tarotists are moreconsistent when it comes to makingone’s own deck. Lately tarot decks,handmade in limited editions, havebecome a prominent part of thetarot scene. The concept of makingone’s own deck has been carried on.Except, of course, in the days of TheGolden Dawn, a set of rules shouldbe followed, so the GD-tarotcorrespondences were sure to beinherent in the finished deck.

Times have changed, and it is notlonger so fashionable to follow rules.Everyone can make her own tarotdeck, regardless of rules and evenwithout otherwise practising artisticabilities, like drawing or painting.That is what happens right now.Collage technique and new repro-duction possibilities, such as the useof digital color copiers, make it alsopossible to publish small printrun inan excellent quality, sometimes aneven better quality than if a tradi-tional printing procedure is used.Collage technique has become thenew tarot media, which I’ll concen-trate on in this article.

One of the first collage decks I evercame across was „The Goose is Out -A Zen Poker“ published in a ratherlimited edition back in 1982 in Italyfor the Rajneesh Foundation and

Tarot Decks by Collage Technique

very hard to come by now, since itwas mainly distributed within theRajnesh organization. The Baghwan/Oshu people have never takencopyright rules serious, so in thisdeck, like in their other later decks,several of the images can easily beidentified.

The next collage deck I saw waspresented to me by an architect, astudent at one of my weekendworkshops. For several years after, Ishowed slides from this deck atother workshops, just to show whatcould be done in that way.

The overestimated Voyager Tarot withartwork by Ken Knutson, promotedloudly by James Wanless, might wellhave been my third collage tarotacquaintance. A few other collagedecks followed and also a cartoman-tic pack, Nick Douglas and PennySlinger’s The Secret Daikini Oracle(1979).

10-12 years ago, Katlyn Miller (adancer, actor and stage magician, whoalso worked with a new age businessunder the name of „Mermade“)gifted me with a set of collaged tarotmajors, she had mocked up, whenshe was in need of a deck whiletravelling in Asia0 . A precious pack inmy collection.

* * * * *The current collage tarot trendstarted, as I see it, with the publica-tion of Arnell Ando’s Transfor-mational Tarot in 1995. Arnell hadreturned to USA after several yearsin Japan, and in search of a careershe educated as an Expressive ArtTherapist. She soon discovered thepossibilities collaging techniquesoffered, allowing people, who werenot versed in traditional artistic waysof expression, to work artistically.She imparted this knowledge tostudents in her workshops, and forherself it became a way to come intouch with her inner being. Wantingto share her tarot deck with a wider


first pack, which is named Hero’sJourney Tarot, made without anycommercial restrictions being putupon her, is my absolute favourite,not only because of her eminentcollage technique, but particularlybecause it is feels more personal.

The collage concept became knownand popular and several limitedprivate collage decks are nowavailable. Following is a shortdescription of those, who havecrossed my way. I have only men-tioned those which, in some way oranother, were produced in morecopies than one, this omitting forexample, those sets of majors Iacquired through my mail artists’tarot projects.

Avion Eye Tarot was made as earlyas in 1988 by artist Sherri Williams.The few packs, about five, were notoffered for sale, but given to friends.

Jumbledance Tarot (1998) is madeby noted tarot artist AlexandraGenetti, whose “Wheel of Tarot” waspublished commercially. Honestly, Imuch prefer this noncommercialdeck of hers with excellent tarot art.It was offered in a very smallnumber and interested parties can,perhaps, still obtain one.

Cerrithwen Genetti, a daughter ofAlexandra Genetti, took up hermothers interest when making herown major arcana tarot, Flowers ofLife in 1999. The images are simple,in the sense that they are notovercrowded, a quality I appreciate.The names of each card are obvious,and it is encouraging to note, thatsome younger people actually showinterest in tarot!

The artist of Full Moon Tarot(1998-99), Lunaea Weatherstoneplanned to make copies of the deckavailable. It was advertised on thenet and apparently the interest didoverwhelm the artist, who nevercame to finish the number of decksordered. It is a pity, because theimages available on Internet dosurely look promising. So, be careful,when entering into such an enter-prise, and don’t estimate a pricebefore it is clear how long time itactually takes to make a deck by

hand! This case is not the first of thesort, I have experienced.

Michele Jackson, indefatigable Queenof the tarot web, was inspired towork in the collage media during avisit to Arnell Ando. So far, I haveseen two decks from her hand andmore are to be expected. Michelehas a good artistic feeling, and I amstill amazed by the quality of herfirst deck, Evolving Tarot (1999, 78cards), which was made frantically ina very short time. Michele’s seconddeck Aleph-Beth Tarot (1999/22cards) has a deeper purpose since itwas made in an attempt to teachherself the worldly images behindthe Hebrew alphabet. Not a badpurpose of a tarot deck, since suchinformation often is hard to store inone’s mind.

Story Teller’s Tarot is a joint ventureby Diane B. Wilkes and Arnell Ando.Diane selected 22 of her favoritestories (including one of my ownfavorites since the 1950’s: Appoint-ment in Samarra), correspondedthem with the tarot majors, de-scribed and commented them, whileArnell made the accompanying deckof 22 cards. 50 copies of the book /deck set were offered for sale in1998, but are now sold out.

Sarah Ovenall is one collage artist,who in her work, Victoria ReginaTarot (1999), has prepared a com-mercial publication by using copy-right free material only as a basis forcollages, namely the wealth ofinteresting and detailed woodengraved illustrations from maga-zines in the late 19th century, an artstyle I have always been attracted to.So far I have seen only a set of themajors, but Sarah is working tocomplete an entire 78 card deck.Also, in another way, the deck isinteresting by being black and white;quite unusual these days. Sets of themajors are currently available in avery high quality which was achievedby colorcopying the b&w images.

Group WorksSome group-made tarot decks shallalso be mentioned here; they maynot be entirely made by collagetechnique, but usually a great deal ofthe cards are.

The Maninni-decks are created bya group of artists gathered aroundTarot-L, an Internet discussion group.So far, two 78 card decks were madeand a third is under work and willprobably be finished during year2000. Members of Tarot-L sign up ascontributors, have cards assigned anda deadline is given. The cards arepresented on the web and in theend each contributor makes colorcopies in a sufficient number of herown decks. The copies are collectedand each contributor get a copy ofthe entire deck. The set is, forcopyright reasons, not availableoutside the closed circle of contribu-tors.

Another group-made 78-card tarotdeck, was done by a collage group,Capolan, which took its name afterNick Bantock’s collage art box of thesame name. (He is the artist of theGriffin and Sabine-trilogy and severalother unusual books). The Capolantarot, made by 37 different artists in1998, is extraordinarily congruent inits style, even though it is made bymany different artists. Again, herethe deck is only available to thegroup’s members, so if you want toget one, you have to persuade oneof them that it feels better at homewith you!

I have myself initiated a similarenterprise, called The Mail Artist’sTarot 1998. 33 mail artists from allover the world contributed twomajor arcana cards each. The deckresulting is available outside thenarrow circle of contributors as alimited “Collectors Edition” of 25.The edition includes all 66 cards,three of each major. Besides, there isa small booklet illustrating all 66cards in color. Self-producing thedeck, I tried to eliminate the tradi-tional lamination pouches, hot-mounting the color images directlyon heavy cardboard.

Right now we are all waiting foranother group’s work, The Artists’Inner Vision Tarot. It is a jointventure by numerous artists, includ-ing many formerly mentioned in thisarticle or from the groups men-tioned, all brought together by StephKing, aka Nomonet, who also takescare of all the endless problems


The issue of Copyright

While collage techniques allow verywell for creating personal decks,they have, at the same time, aninherent heavy obstacle for havingthe same decks printed in a largerquantity. This obstacle is called TheLaw of Copyright. Particularly in USA,where law suits seem to be afashionable trend and a pastime, thislaw has to be, and is taken seriously.A typical collage deck includehundreds of bits of artworkscollected from numerous sources. Asquare inch from a 17th centurypainting, a face from yesterdaysnewspaper, a bottle from a magazineadvertisement, whatever the artistfelt expressed her feelings andmoods for a particular tarot card. Tolive up to the law, every such piecehas to be listed, and permissionasked from all the persons who ownthe copyright to the work it wastaken from. In most cases it is animpossible task just to find thatperson, which however doesn’t freethe artist from responsibility.

Many collage artists are thereforeextremely frightened about theprospect of becoming a victim of acopyright lawsuit. If they ever dreamof having the collage deck published,they need - somehow - to get holdof all the permissions needed, or asa possible alternative, use onlycopyright-free material in theirworks. The latter, however, being arather restrictive asset in the artisticact.

An alternative is to keep the art-work within restricted circles, wherethe chance, that it’s existence comesto the knowledge of the copyrightholders is small, almost nonexisting.This is the way which apparently ischosen by some of the collagegroups mentioned before. Colorcopies of the decks are only availableto partakers in the projects; even ina case where an accompanyingbooklet was made with so tinyillustrations, that nothing can beidentified from it, the booklet was

kept within the circle. The sameartists, however, seem to believe thatthe copyright laws only concernmaterial on paper, since the illustra-tions are all presented on theInternet and can be copied fromthere. Unfortunately, it is not so. Theartist is responsible in any case.

Another thing is, how the law isadministered and what the conse-quences of breaking it are. In thiscountry (Denmark) the currentversion of the law is new (datedJune 1998). There is no specificmention of collages or parts ofartwork, not at all; the majorpurpose is apparently to care formodern digital media like recordings,movies, videos, computer programsetc. But the law do also includeartwork, written texts, architecturalworks etc., even though these seemto be treated inferior to the elec-tronic media.

The definition of copyright seems tobe about the same, regardless ofcountry. When a person in thiscountry is found guilty in breakingthe copyright law, consciously orunconsciously, the copyright holderis entitled to a reasonable paymentfor the unauthorized use andfurthermore is allowed a compen-sation. The payment and thecompensation can, however, neverbe bigger than the economical gainobtained by the infringement. In myopinion that means, that the copy-right holder actually has to prove,that the infringer’s use of that tinybit of the entire artwork, photo-graphy or whatever, now used inanother context, has secured him/her an economical gain. I wonder ifmany copyright holders can provethat? It is, of course, another matterif you copy an entire tarot deck andsell it as your own, like Theo deLaurence copied the Waite/Smith-deck. Here the gain was obvious.Also, I have often wondered aboutwhy some copyright holders, whomark their cards with a copyright

arising with such an enterprise. Thedeck will be commonly available, buta special limited luxury edition of250, which includes a handmadebook, will also be made.

****There is one thing I would like tocriticize regarding the collage decks.All too often, it is not immediatelyobvious, which card is which. Withbig patience, sorting out the cards insuits, identifying the obvious ones,followed by the consulting of anaccompanying book, or looking thecard up on internet, in most cases itcan be done. I know the decks arepersonal, and that the artist herselfis not in doubt. But when they aremade available to other persons,well, couldn’t the card’s number andsuit be stated?

Seen from a collector’s point of view,the privately produced packs areinteresting, but also disturbing. Theymake up ideal collectors’ itemsbecause of their rarity and oftenartistic superiority; on the otherhand is it very difficult to learnabout their existence, since manyare not marketed widely. I’m quitesure that there are many morepacks, which should have beenmentioned here, but didn’t come tomy knowledge.

References:

Arnell Ando:www.ixpres.com/transformational/Deck orders, articles on collage decks andmuch other information. Deck to be viewedhere include Transformational Tarot andStoryteller Tarot

Sarah Ovenall: www.thefool.comVictoria Regina tarot. Also article on copyrightfor collage artists + further links to USAcopyright rules.

Michele Jackson; www.ArtOfTarot.com.Michele’s tarot site has a lot of interestingmaterial, including links to most of the tarotdecks mentioned in this article. It is the mostcomprehensive gateway I know to the othertarot sites and I always use Michele’s TarotPage as a starting point. Look also for herarticle „How I made my Collage Deck“. Besidesof Michele’s own decks, you can also viewCerrithwen Genetti’s Flowers of Life Tarot here.

Alexandra Genetti’s Jumbledance tarot can beseen at : http://www.wheelofchange.com.jumbledance

Steph King: http://www.nomonet.net/Artist’s Inner Vision tarot. Info and orders.


statement, do not claim their rights,when others overtly publish thesame deck. An occurrence thatactually happens.

Another sentence in the Danishcopyright law says, that it is allowedto quote from a published work to adegree set by the purpose andwithin customary limits. What elsebut a quote of another artwork isthat tiny little clip in the collage? Theexpression „quote“ has long beenwell-known when it comes tomovies. When, for example, adirector in the background showsbits of another director’s movie on aTV-screen, it is known as „a quote“.What’s the difference?

For my own benefit I discovered,that I do not need to fear copyrightinfringements when publishing myvarious catalogs. In a catalog it isallowed to render pictures of items,that are part of a collection. Thestatement also points out, that I amthe copyright holder of the catalogin its entirety, and thus can claim myrights to it. Nice to know!

Another interesting paragraphstates, that it is not allowed topublish a book or work of art undera title, which can be confused withan already published work, carryingthe same title. So beware of whatyou call your tarot deck! Thecopyright owner of the very firstCeltic Tarot, for example, could get alot out of that!

As I understand it, a collagist hasthe copyright to her work, even ifshe, without permission, use artworkcopyrighted by other people. Shemay claim her own copyright,without having paid due tributeherself to the original artist. What alaw suit that could be!

Most limited collage decks are madeby color copying, which is afterwardslaminated. Who can prevent anyonefrom making more copies of anyparticular deck? A second generationcolor copy will often look just aswell and sometimes even better thanthe first. Who can, for example,prevent anybody from downloadingthe Maninni decks from the Internet,print them on a color printer andsell the copies?

We can consider, that the questionsare endless and the entire issue isout of control. The entire notion ofcopyright is outdated. The easyaccessibility through Internet andother electronic media can’t becoped with by existing controllingorganizations. To set up an effectivecontrol is without reach. It is anendless issue. It is an impossible task,so isn’t it about time that a morerealistic attitude is considered? Notalone on this aspect of copyright butto the endless flow of material outthere. We can also ask if the notionof copyright is righteous at all? Inthat regard I will mention a littleincident where I unconsciously was

about to infringe a copyright. In 1998our local museum of contemporaryart had, on Bloomsday, arranged amarathon reading of James Joyce’shuge literary work „Ulysses“. Onthat occasion I created a limitededition of 98 artistamp sheets inhonor of the event. Some of thestamps depicted color portraits ofJoyce, based on details of ratherunsharp black and white amateurphotos depicted in various booksabout Joyce. I overworked thephotos, added color and treatedthem in the computer with variousart style filters.

The event, which took place over 36hours, was introduced by StephenJames Joyce, a grandson to JamesJoyce. The major part of his intro-duction dealt with how he, in hisentire life had worked to protect theincome he received from the workof his grandfather. Every tiny copy-right infringement was proceeded.Every translation was controlled inits entirety, every cover of a Joycebook should be authorized. Even thepaper used for printing was checked.

Well, I destroyed the number onestampsheet dedicated to him, beinglucky, that I had not already given itto him. But is it right, that a personwith basis in copyright laws, shall beable to obtain a (very high) incomeall his life from the work his grandfa-ther did? Just a question! There aresuch people out there, so beware!


25 Years with TarotK. Frank Jensen interviewed by Asta Erte

AE: It is now three years ago, Iinterviewed you about yourinvolvement with InternationalMail Art and it is seventeen yearsago you wrote the introduction tomy small book about tarot. Youhave now been involved with tarotfor 25 years; tell me about whatstarted your tarot interest andyear long passion:

KFJ: It was more or less anaccidental occurrence that I firststumbled over the word Tarot backin the mid-1970s. We had somepopular radio programs, wherepeople could call, having all kindsof questions answered by a groupof learned professors from one ofour big universities. One suchquestion was about tarot. Some-how, the answer attracted myinterest, but it took time before Icould follow it up, since it wasquite a task to find tarot literature,not to speak of a tarot deck, inDenmark at that time. The veryfirst book I came across wasMouni Sadhu’s „Tarot“ and trueto tell, I didn’t understand much ofit. The confusion was so muchgreater when more books becameavailable to me. To make sense outof all the contradictions, I startedmaking notes, structured them intoclear patterns, and that was whatbecame my first book with theobvious title of „Tarot“, the veryfirst in the Danish language. Itwas published in 1975.

AE: What kind of tarot deck didyou use?

KFJ: It was quite impossible tofind a deck in Copenhagen at thetime my interest in tarot started.When I finally found one andcarried it home to open, I wasastonished to find it illustrated

with folkloristic pictures frombygone days, not the symbolism Iexpected. I was not at all aware,that such tarot packs for gamingexisted. The very first deck Icould actually use was self-made;I photocopied Pamela ColmanSmith’s illustrations from a luxuryedition of one of Eden Gray’sbooks, mounted them on card-board, and hand colored them. Ittook more than a month to do. Ihad never seen the deck proper, soI found my own color scheme.This had one extra advantage, Ilearned the details of the cards. Byand by, some few decks showedup in esoteric bookshops: Waite-Smith, Crowley and decks likeBrotherhood of Light, RollaNordic, B.O.T.A , DeutschesOriginal Tarot..... I bought themall. That’s how my collectionstarted.

AE: Why did tarot attract you?

KFJ: This question is difficult toanswer. At first I might have beenattracted by the unfamiliarity of it:the strange symbolic images, thestructures behind, all the aspects,that could be connected with it.Things so different from therealistic photography and film-making, that so far had occupiedmost of my spare time. Later onhas the historical and the artisti-cally side of tarot been of specialinterest to me and the mainpurpose of my collecting. For thepractical use of tarot, only acouple of all these packs and veryfew books are necessary.

AE: I have a list of your tarot-and cartomantic enterprises infront of me: seven exhibitions,four catalogues, several pub-lished books: three on tarot, one

on runes, one „Livsprofil“,dealing with retrospective dairywriting. Besides you have done acouple of book translations andpublished a total of 700 pages ofManteia, which you also editedand wrote most of yourself,inclusive reviews of 440 decksand 400 books. Furthermore youcontributed to the USA-based„APA-Tarot“ with your zine„Mulleposten“, which in 12 yearshas come to more than 1000pages of contribution. All alongwith the creation of one of thelargest tarot- and cartomancycollections in the world. You haverelated tarot to mail art, anothermajor interest of yours, andinitiated and documented severaltarot oriented mail art projects.Itseems to be an endless list. Youalso had a job as a graphicdesigner to earn your living. Areyou never getting tired?

KFJ: Many years ago, I decidedthat my aim was to documentwhat happened on the tarot sceneduring the 20th century. I thinksuch documentation is important,otherwise it will quickly beforgotten what really happend.Later generations will never beable to understand what all thistarot fuss was about. And now wehave reached the end of thecentury so I’ll slow down in thisarea. Getting tired of tarot? Theworld is not tarot alone, there areother things, I like to work withand I did all the time.

AE: Can you mention articles orreviews in Manteia, that youparticularly liked to present andwhy?

KFJ: What comes immediately tomind are the mail interviews with


Asta Erte is a Danishfree-lance writer,currently living inAustralia. In 1983 shewrote a small book ontarot, intended tofunction like the smallaccompanying books,that comes with mosttarot decks and whichnever are in Danish.

point for endless and superficialdiscussions without sense.AE: What kind of people attendedyour courses and workshops?

KFJ: Mainly women. About 90%,maybe more. Most in their 30’s or40’s. Housewives and lonelywomen, who were searching forcontents in their lives. And someolder women who wanted to getan education in fortune-telling. Amaximum of 10% were seriouslyinterested in tarot as such, for therest it was just one of their at-tempts to find a solution to theirproblems. The following weekendthey would attend a workshop inflower medicine, in crystal healingor in whatever else was offered.Some attendees were even placedin the workshop by their socialworkers, just an attempt to acti-vate them, which was a hopelesstask. But then, they found enter-tainment and company for anumber of hours.

AE: Internet has grown these lastyears. What is your attitude? Iremember from my mail artinterview with you, that yourattitude is, that mail art has notanything to do with Internet.

KFJ: Well, tarot is not mail art,even if the two can be combined,tarot seems to be able to connectwith anything. In general I findcomputers, Internet and e-mailbeing extremely helpful tools. Butthe growth of popularity of theInternet has certainly changedtarot. This is another reason why Iam happy to have decided to endmy tarot documentation attempt atthe turn of the century. It is nolonger possible for one person tofollow what is going on. It wouldtake an organization to do that.Loads of articles and deck- andbook reviews are web-published.Endless and fruitless discussionsabout card interpretations, cardspreads etc. are ongoing. Cardreadings are offered, using this orthat deck. A large number of more

or less artistic tarot decks arepresented, including many so-called „works in progress“, wherewe never come to see the remain-ing cards. Very few of the deckswill ever be printed. An endlessnumber of consistent and inconsis-tent web-pages with tarot- andrelated themes, changing all thetime. Everyone can express herselfand does so. How can one keep atrack of such, let alone document-ing it? Collecting printed tarotdecks is much easier, and evenmore easy now when everythingcan be bought by auction, assum-ing you have the necessary money.

AE: In my former interview withyou about the mail art aspects ofyour life, you mentioned yourtarot-based mail art projects. Tofill this portrait of your tarotinterests, I need to know whatthose projects were?

KFJ: Well, in four succeedingyears, 1993-1996, I ran „MailArtist’s Tarot“, where mail artistfrom all over the world sent theirversions of one card or more.Some even contributed entireseries of majors. Each year, Ipublished an illustrated documen-tation and the collected documen-tations for the four years presentabout 250 tarot designs.

Italian tarot artists ElisabettaCassari and Amerigo Folchi andthe survey of their tarot decks. Ihave not seen any other likesurveys of particular tarot artist’swork. While Folchi is ratherpopular, also in American tarotcircles, Elisabetta had many badwords from that particular side,which is always afraid whendarker sides of life are portrayed.In my mind, however, ElisabettaCassari is one of the greatest tarotartists of the 20th century.

Also my preliminary article on theearly Waite/Smith editions cometo mind; it contained somespeculations, which proved to bewrong, but questions were asked,and some more material has cometo light and will be presented inthe same issue as this interview.

AE: In a period of a couple ofyears you conducted workshopsand gave talks on tarot andrelated subjects. Tell me aboutthat! What was your experience?What kind of people attended?How did you feel about standingup as an authority which, I guess,the students considered you tobe?

KFJ: There is an invisible barrierbetween teacher and student,which is hard to break. Being ateacher automatically makes youan authority. Or, should I say, itused to be at the time I conductedthese classes, because the studentswere of an age where they growup with such an attitude. Later Ihave learned, from teaching youngpeople written communicationtechniques, that it is not so anylonger. Students, who grew upafter 1975-80 do not accept anyauthority, they do not even acceptthat anybody actually knowsbetter than they do. Even histori-cal facts were put to discussion,with none whatsoever background.So I do no longer teach; I want myfactual knowledge to be taken forwhat it is, not to be a starting


After a pause of one year, Ientered into what became a hugeproject, the creation of „MailArtist’s Tarot Deck 1998”, where33 artists from all over the worldcreated each two cards, totallyconstituting three sets of majors.These have been published,executed by a special colorcopying- and mounting technique,in a small number and are forsale, unfortunately for a ratherhigh price due to the productioncosts.

Besides these, I have also initiatedother mail art projects, which haveno direct relation to tarot, butreflect the same interests, like adeck of cards called „Mail Art-ists’ Lenormand Cards“

AE: Tarot before 1975 wasentirely esoteric, having a foun-dation in Golden Dawn teach-ings, the French tradition, inKabbalah and astrology. Afterthat time a new era began, wecould call it „the psychologicalera“, „the card reading era“,„the second tarot renaissance“ orwhatever. What kind of tarot areyou into?

KFJ: Something in between and athird, I would say. When myinterest started, the only attitude Ibecame aware of was the GoldenDawn teachings with all itscorrespondences to Kabbalah,astrology, numerology and what-ever. That is what my first bookdeals with, all the traditionalmeanings. After a while I discov-ered that tarot could also bedifferent, inviting to a psycholo-gical and an intuitive approach.So I had to write another book,this time based upon Jungianconcepts. Meanwhile I had alsolearned something about thehistory of tarot and had my firstapprehension, which I adoptedfrom all the historical nonsensemost esoteric writers came upwith, corrected. So my secondbook deals with the history of

tarot too. Not very detailed, but ascorrect as it can be.

In practical use and in the classesI taught, it ended up as a mixtureof the two directions. Without theGolden Dawn basics there wouldnot be any intuitional or psycholo-gical tarot, would there? Almostall decks take aspects like astrol-ogy, numerology, dualism, thefour elements etc.. into consider-ation. Maybe not Kabbalahdirectly, but the Kabbalisticteaching is inherent in any of thementioned. Without this tarotstructure, it is not a tarot deck, buta plain cartomantic pack, regard-less of what the publisher call it.

The third aspect of tarot, whichhas taken more and more overwith me, at least concerning themultitude of modern decks pub-lished, is the artistic aspect. I havecome to see tarot as a big collec-tion of art and art styles. Where-ever else in the history of worldart has the same series of imagesbeen interpreted artistically sodifferent? I guess that this is themajor reason for why I am collect-ing all these tarot decks. It iscertainly not for using them forthe purpose they, perhaps, werecreated for. At the same time, I’membarrassed that so many decksare so bad, artistically seen. Whenit comes to tarot decks for actualuse, 3-4 decks would do. First andforemost the Waite-Smith and theCrowley/Harris deck. And acouple more; here does the art notmean so much, but rather theassignment of symbols.

AE: What is your opinion of themany, shall we call them „specialtarot packs“, published now.Those with historical,mytological and folkloristicthemes?

KFJ: Fundamentally, I find itridiculous when all the possibleconcepts and ideologies are hungup upon tarot, them being mytho-

logical decks, feministic decks,cross cultural decks, decks forbusiness people, new age decks,science fiction decks, comic bookcharacter decks. But they makegood collectibles.

AE: What do you think of theAmerican tarot scene? There arequite a number of people, who tryto establish themselves in thisarea, many of them academiceducated. To be engaged in Tarotdoes no longer deal with being amember of an esoteric group orbeing a fortune teller at the fairs -even if such still exist - but itdeals with creating a career on ahigh plane, psychological, as atherapist for example....

KFJ: I find, that the original tarotconcept is entirely lost in this. Iregret that tarot has developed thisway. I find that there is an im-mense difference in American andEuropean mentality, even thoughthe American way of living isspreading hastily over here, as youknow. The new way of tarot couldonly have emerged from USA. Idon’t think we can really compre-hend that strange escapisticmindset unless we grew up with it.Rituals, affirmations, prayers,daily card readings, High Priest-esses, certifications, your tarotcard for the day, the year, all thatis not our sort of stuff, or at leastit is not mine. But things arechanging here too, now youngstersgrow up being heftily influencedby an American life-style, impos-ted upon them by superficial TV-serials and bad movies, whichcount for 95% of the culturalinfluence, they are exposed to.

AE: Wouldn’t you like to take partin one of the great American tarotconventions?

KFJ: Yes and No. It would, ofcourse, be a great experience, andthere certainly are some people Iwould like very much to meet inperson. On the other hand, I am


afraid it would be a big disap-pointment. I’ll definitely find itmuch too commercial, what I’mafraid that tarot has been turnedinto. I find the way these eventsare organized rather stupid, forexample, when more of the so-called „presentations“ - what wewould call talks - are scheduled atthe same hours, so you have tomake a choice all the time; if twoof your favorites are given thesame hours, the choice is difficult.I consider this being inconsideratetowards the people, who use theirtime to travel and prepare talksand in most cases are not paid forit. I would feel very bad being aspeaker at such an event. I, forexample, might attract an audi-ence, just for being a foreigner,and in that case some otherpresenter would lack an audiencefor that reason. That’s not reason-able. The only explanation I cansee for why this is accepted is,that people don’t come to learn,they come for socialization. Thebiggest events of this kind arearranged by groups or societies,which can only be called commer-cial enterprises. They set them-selves up as authorities and issuequalification certificates to those,who are willing to pay. No, that isnot my cup of tea.

AE: How should it then be?

KFJ: The conventions should be amean to spread new thoughts andcommunicate new research, but asI have seen it from the material Ihave gathered, most tarotists tendto keep their own ideas close tothe body so that they can not beused to the advantage of others. Areal competitive commercial situa-tion.

With my many connections to theAmerican tarot community, as it isoften called, I have however alsonoticed, that even if tarot seems tobe a widespread enterprise, it is ahard job to make a living out of itover there. There are a lot of

workshops offered, but my clearopinion is, that it is mainly thesame people, who attend, and veryoften do the prominent tarotpersons attend each others’workshops. There exist a kind ofurge to mutual support, and youwill almost never ever hear anyAmerican tarotist criticizeanother’s product or concept,however stupid it may be. Youhave to be solidary; who knowswhen you need support yourself?The tarotists buy and review eachothers decks and books, but realcriticism is rare. Political correct-ness is a must.

If you really have to make a livingout of tarot, it is hard work:travelling, presenting your con-cepts at symposiums and confer-ences, making and selling yourown products, writing, givingworkshops, signing books. All thewhile you are struggling to findnew ways not already tread. Youjoin the organizations to getcertificates, to prove that you arequalified... qualified for what? Isthis really what tarot is about? Iwouldn’t be happy with that sortof life.

AE: What do you think of the900-phone line consultings? Theyexist in Europe too, in Franceand Italy for example, but not inthe same scale as in USA?

KFJ: The so-called psychic lines,where people make calls at exorbi-tant minute prices .... In myopinion it is a sick society wheresuch ridiculous enterprises canfind such a response, and are ableto continue year after year. It isnot a passing trend, but a way ofincome for quite a number ofpeople. I can only compare it tothe pranksters, who sold patentedmedicines at the fairs in the earlydays of USA. It’s only for themoney. What an unworthy way toearn one’s living. Some of the900-readers do their best toconvince critics that they have a

mission, that they are helpingpeople but what they do is exploit-ing psycic unstable persons anduneasy teenagers, who are willingvictims.

AE: Tell me about your engage-ment with the American APA-Tarot?

KFJ: I joined APA-Tarot at theend of 1987. I became aware of itsexistence from The WingedChariot, a small tarot newsletterpublished by Tracey Hoover. Atthat time I was not very used towrite in English except for letters,so it was quite a challenge to gointo this as the only non-Americancontributor. I did it particularly inthe hope of finding new sourcesfor American decks, after acollecting friend of mine, NormanHandelsman, who supplied mewith most of my American packs,had unexpectedly died during avisit to Europe. It turned out, that„APA-Tarot“, however, wasn’tthat great source of new decks as Ihad expected. Instead I got moreand more involved in the discus-sions, and with my collection Ihad the opportunity to be able topresent quite a number of materialunknown to most other contribu-tors. All in all, my contributingzine which was named Mulle-posten, after our old cat Mulle,who lived to be 23 years old, cameto a total of more than 1000pages, the biggest issue ofMulleposten being of 78 pages.Looking back at it, APA-Tarotand Mulleposten do also reflectthe increasing possibilities ofcommunication techniques; fromearly typewriters and rather badphotocopiers to desk top publish-ing equipment and digital colorcopying technique.

AE: Now you are no longer acontributor to APA-Tarot. Why?Does it still exist? Was the turn ofthe century also the predestinedend of your retreat from thatenterprise?


KFJ: APA-Tarot does still exist atthe time of this writing. Or at leastit is postulated still to be inexistence. No, it was not a longsettled plan to leave now anddefinitely not the way it wasmeant to develope. During the lastyears, however, APA-Tarot,stagnated, so I see no longer anyreason for taking part. The con-tributors became fewer and fewer;most news reached Internet longbefore they were mentioned here,if they ever were. With the restric-ted membership the discussionsran in the same circles, withnothing unexpected happening.Adding to this, that the coordina-tor, the person, who is responsiblefor collecting and mailing thecollated contributions, after manyyears of blameless taking care ofit, suddenly completely neglecteddeadlines and the tradition whichwas build up. I couldn’t otherwisebut to consider it a dying project.So I suggested that instead of thisslow starving to death, we puttogether forces to create a worthyfinal issue to appear around theturn of the century. But the fewremaining active contributorsapparently prefer to mail theirnow more and more private lettersto each other, through the coordi-nating person, who delay them formonths. That is the state at thetime of this interview, and I can’taccept it. I would feel ridiculousby accepting the way it turned out.This issue of Manteia Courier wasuntil recently thought of alsobeing a contribution to APA-Tarot, but now instead it will bemailed directly to the few remain-ing active contributors.

AE: Isn’t that a sad story?

KFJ: Yes, it is. All the energy putinto that enterprise by manypeople for about 14 years cer-tainly deserved a better end. In myopinion the competition from theInternet can not be overlooked andin the longer run there is no futurefor such a publication as APA-

Tarot. But still there might havebeen an APA-Tarot for a whilelonger if the coordinator had notbeen neglectful at the same time asshe didn’t take the necessary stepsto let another person take over,when her interest was diminishing.I feel that in USA there is acertain prestige connected withsuch a task, however badly it iscared for. Said in this relation, Ihave never considered the distri-bution task being one that big as itis was said to be. Wasn’t it forpostage problems, I wouldn’tmind haven taking it over. But thiswas never ever suggested andnone of the other other contribu-tors offered to do it, whether thembeing afraid of the work involvedor of veneration toward thecoordinator. I don’t know.

Anyway, this era is over, but theentire bulk of the APA-Tarotissues, which fills more than ameter on my shelves, constitute aninvaluable documentation of thetarot scene during the 1990’s.

AE: So you stopped your APA-Tarot contribution, but you didalso stop with the yearly exhibi-tions in SPILKAMMERET whichyou ran for seven years. Theywere not overtaken by theInternet. Why did you stop?

KFJ: There are two reasons for that. The most direct was, thatthe local taxation committeewouldn’t allow me to deduct thefactual expenses, they only wantedto tax the income. The enterprisewas never intended to bring asurplus but just to balance. Butthat’s not a business, a businesshas to give a surplus within fiveyears. And when it is not a busi-ness, no deductions. So I had topay back the deducted amount fora period of five years. I took thecase to a higher court, but it didn’tchange anything, except thatmeanwhile the law was changed,so I only had to pay back for thelast three years. After that story I

have developed an allergy towardsevery letter coming from a publicinstance.

The other reason was, that therewas simply not a sufficient num-ber of visitors. We appeared in thetourist brochures, the museumlists and wherever else such thingsare advertised, but this did notbring a reasonable number ofvisitors. And most of those, whoactually came, were not reallyinterested; it was just anothersight on their list they could tickoff. Almost none took the time toread the texts or whatever elseexplained the exhibited items. Thegreat task of setting it up eachyear was not worth that.

AE: Are you disappointed?

KFJ: No, it couldn’t be otherwise.I am only grateful that I need nottake part in the tarot scene for thecause of earning my living.

AE: What way will tarot take inthe future? Is the interest growingor waning?

KFJ: Tarot is here to stay for along time. I’m not in doubt of that.But neither am I in doubt, that theinterest and also the mass publica-tion adventure has topped. Tarotdoes not interest very many youngpeople. It can’t cope with the hugeand overwhelming offerings ofmusic, movies, computer games orwhatever else our culture ispresenting today. Its worth tonote, that the majority of tarotistsare at least middle-aged. Theproduction boom is most likelyover; US Games Systems hasgained a kind of monopoly, and,honestly, tarot will loose ininterest if the new publicationsfrom US Games Systems are theonly available. I believe, that in anear future numerous tarot deckswill be made by private personsfor private use, now color repro-duction facilities are so easilyaccessible. These packs will


however never reach the bigmarket, even if they will bepresented on the Internet.

AE: So far, most of what you tolddealt with the American tarotscene. How about Europe?

KFJ: The interest in Europe forcard reading and terapeutic tarotdoes hardly gain a steady influ-ence, the majority of peoplebuying tarot decks being the samerelatively narrow circle of new ageminded people, people who arealso buying trendy crystals,colored candles and healingutensils of every imaginable kind.But their interest is superficial andlost, as soon as a new trend showsup.

Germany is the only country,where the American way of tarotfor a period had a certain re-sponse, which can be seen fromsome of the most popular deckswhich were printed in versionswith German captions and theliterature was translated.

An European tarot tradition iscertainly needed to counterweightthe American way of tarot, butexcept for France and Italy thereis not an existing serious tarottradition in Europe. Even if themost well known esoteric tarotdecks were created in England,there does not exist a livingEnglish tarot tradition. Most ofthe rather few modern Englishtarot decks are based upon my-thology of various kinds, Celticand Arthurian for example, andthey have not very much to dowith genuine tarot traditions.

The origin of tarot is European;the history of tarot up to the1960’s is entirely an Europeanhistory, but the European historyended the day Stuart R. Kaplanbought the rights to print theWaite/Smith tarot from the heirsof Waite. Ever after has thehistory of tarot been an American

tarot history, the history about theDonaldisation of tarot. At thesame time, I will say, that if thathad not happened, I wouldn’t havebeen involved with the tarot for 25years now.

AE: This interview has revealed,that you have mixed feelingstoward the American tarot scene?

KFJ: Yes, I admit that, but don’tmisunderstand me, I know verymany American tarotists whichhave been a part of my tarotoccupation for many years, whomI all appreciate very much. What Itry to point out is, that moderntarot is an American phenomenon,which, like all other Americanphenomena like Disney characters,Star Wars, Burgers... have influ-enced Europe to which this way ofthinking is rather alien.

AE: You have hundreds of carddecks. How do you organizethem? Are you able to find anytarot deck I would like to see rightnow?

KFJ: Yes, I guess so. Withinminutes. Lately I have made somerearrangements of my collection. Idon’t mount the cards like mostplaying card collectors do, mineare still kept in their boxes if suchare provided. When writing the“standard pattern” article, whichwill appear in the same issue ofManteia Courier as your inter-view, I searched out all standardpatterns, so now I have, forexample, all Marseilles patterndecks, regardless of origin, indrawers by themselves. Majorpublishers like USGames and LoScarabeo are likewise storedseparately and drawers or boxesare established for other naturalgroups of decks, all Folchi decksor all feminist decks, for example.The remaining are kept by countryof publication. This arrangementmeans, that a maximum of a fewboxes or drawers shall be lookedinto when a certain deck is wanted.

AE: Your collection includesmany early tarot decks of the newwave, i.e. those decks publishedin USA in small editions in the1970. Decks that even in USA arerare today. How did you manageto acquire them at such an earlytime? You must have had a veryclose network to supply you?

KFJ: Most of them came from thesame source, Norman Handels-man. He was an indefatiguablecollector not only of tarot, but allkinds of playing cards. Somehowhe knew about what was going onaround all over the scene in thoseearly days and he always boughtextra copies to offer interestedparts. Unfortunately, I was anrather inexperienced collector atthat time. I neglected, for ex-ample, different editions of theessentially same pack, like whenFergus Hall’s illustrations camewith different titles. I am stillshort of having them packed asThe Exorcists Tarot and TheDevil’s Tarot.

AE: I have seen that you statethat your collection is the largestknown collection of cartomancy-packs and 20th century tarotpacks. Is it so?

KFJ: Phrased in that way, yes, Ithink so. It is a bit like playingwith words. First, there are not somany known collections. Collec-tors tend to keep the scope of theircollection a secret. Out of thosewhich are known, only Stuart R.Kaplan’s collection has a scopeextending my own, particularlybecause his business brought himthe opportunities and means tocollect a large number of antiquetarot decks from before 1900.Regarding 20th Century decks Ido, however, have most deckslisted in his 3 volumes, and quite alot more. Since I have also col-lected cartomantic packs from thevery beginning of my collectingcareer, where such in general wereneglected by collectors, I have


also many early cartomanticpacks. That’s my basis for thatstatement. Certainly, there mightbe collectors, who in their closedcabinets store a lot more than that.All the older decks offered for salein auctions or otherwise must bebough by someone.

AE: What is going to happen withyour collection? You have nowused 25 years to bring it alltogether. I have recently heardthat Stuart R. Kaplan plan tomake a final exhibition of hiscollection, and that the collectionwill be offered for sale after hisdeath. What will you do?

KFJ: Yes, that is a big problem.Fundamentally, I want it all to bekept together in some place whereit can be of use for future re-searchers, like in a university

library or some such organization.It could certainly bring in a decentamount of money if split up, nowwhere collecting tarot decks seemsto have become fashionable. It is,however, not a concern of mine toget as much money out of it aspossible. Since there is no interestin this country for like collections,it will probably be placed abroad,if it is at all possible to make suchan arrangement.

AE: After what you have said sofar in this interview, does thatmean that you will stop entirely tocollect tarot decks and literaturefrom January 1st, 2000?

KFJ: No, not entirely. I’ll still tryto get hold of that 20th centurymaterial which is on my list ofwants. The Internet auctionopportunities might help with that.

I’ll still buy those new packs thatinterests me. I will, however, nolonger strive to get hold of everynew deck. I do not have that aimany longer and, honestly, there isquite a lot of trash around thesedays. I have already slowed downwith regard to acquiring new-published books for my library.They need to have something newto tell, if I shall buy them, andmost of them don’t. It’s all thesame things served on differentplates. While taking it easy, I’llstill follow the scene,

AE: Will you, finally, reveal whatthe „K“ in you name stands for?

KFJ: No, I believe that there isonly one person in the tarot worldwho knows it and I am prettysure, she will keep it for herself,because I asked her to.

Asta Erte


I have been aware that many atarotist refer to all early Europeantarot deck patterns as being a“Marseille-type”deck, regardless ofwhat regional pattern they aretalking about. Likewise they con-sider Grimaud’s Tarot Marseille, as itwas “revised” by Paul Marteaux andpresented in his book from 1949, asbeing the model for all the quitedifferent and much older patterns. Toprevent confusion, I will in thisarticle define the special traits of themost widespread of the earlyEuropean tarot patterns.

It is necessary to know, that thetraditional tarot decks were notcreated for esoteric or divinatorypurposes, but for playing the game oftarot in one of its numerous localversions. The names of the patternsdo for the most refer to the geo-graphical area where the particulardeck pattern (it would be called adesign nowadays) originated and wasused locally. The most successfulcardmakers exported their localproducts to other regions and evento other countries. Some of thepatterns became so popular by theplayers that cardmakers in otherregions or other countries startedtheir own production of the samepattern. The oldest and one of themost successful of these patternswas the Marseille Tarot, whichprobably originated in Marseille inFrance, but soon was taken over bynumerous other cardmakers inseveral countries, who even ex-ported their Marseilles patterndecks to Marseilles, to France ingeneral and to several other coun-tries.

The Marseilles pattern was thusgeographically widespread andsomewhere along the road, at theend of the 18th century, it metAntoine Court de Gebelin, whodeclared it being the secret book ofthe Egyptian God, Thoth. But that isanother story, which several authorsalready have written about.

Standard tarot patterns

Marseilles pattern. Grimaud ca. 1930

Marseilles pattern. Camoin 1760.

The Marseilles pattern did, however,not conquer the entire marked fortarot decks. Several of the otherlocal patterns were likewise consis-tent and were spread geographicallythough not in the same degree. Fora modern tarotist’s eyes, who onlycares for the symbolism, they may alllook the same, but they are not.

When tarot spread in Europe tocountries, which did not traditionallyuse the so-called Italian or Latinsuitmarks (Wands, Cups, Swords andCoins), but rather the Frenchsuitmarks (respectively Clubs,Hearts, Spades and Diamonds), theItalian suitmarks were substituted byFrench suitmarks. In many placeswas the traditional Italian taroticonography likewise substituted byimagery of every possible contents:animals, family-life scenes, theatre-and ballet scenes, war scenes and soon. This could be done since, whatmatters when playing the game oftarot, is the numerical value of thetrump cards (the majors) and notthe iconography. That too, however,is another story.

Tarot de MarseilleThis particular pattern got its nameat a rather late time in its history,when quite a number of cardmakersin Marseilles had adopted it for theirproductions. It was, however, sopopular with the card players that itwas also manufactured in severalother towns in France and inSwitzerland. It was derived from theearliest printed tarot decks and wasestablished as a defined pattern atthe beginning of the 18th century.Most other standard tarot patternswere strongly influenced by theMarseilles deck, even if they all hadtheir own characteristics, as will beseen in the following. MostMarseilles tarot decks have Frenchcaptions, even those manufactured inItaly. Some early packs have LaGrandprêtresse and Le Grandprêtréinstead of Papessa and Pope. Somecharacteristic traits (even if devia-

tions can be seen) are that The Devilcarries a loin cloth and is bare chested.The Moon has a face in profile and The


Piemontese pattern, Viassone, modernPiemontese pattern, 18th century

Angel/Judgement has a trumpet with aflag.

The established Marseilles patternwas made by several cardmakers allover France in the first half of 18thcentury. One of the earliest packscomes from Jean Noblet, Paris 1721.

The Marseille pattern was widelyavailable in France in the second halfof the 19th century, at the timewhen French occultists, like EliphasLévi and Papus were writing abouttarot. This may have been the reasonfor why this particular pack after-wards has been declared of being theonly true tarot pattern by devotedoccultists. From time to time theancient Marseilles pattern was“improved” or “rectified” by well-meaning persons, like when PaulMarteau of Grimaud in 1930 pre-sented a reconstructed and recol-ored Tarot de Marseille, which is theGrimaud version, we know today.Marteau’s version is, however notbased upon an older Marseillespattern but on a Tarot Besanconpattern (see later), originally printedby a cardmaker by the name ofArnoult. Marteau substituted theBesancon pack’s Juno/Jupiter cardswith the Pope/Popess cards andrestored the colors to fit with thetraditional Marseilles deck.

Lately Philippe Camoin of theCamoin family, cardmakers since the17th century, has in a promotionalattempt made a likewise “rectifica-tion”.

Tarot PiemonteseThe Piemontese pattern is clearlyinfluenced by the Marseille pattern.The first known packs dates back tothe early 18th century (one wasmade by the cardmaker Dodal in thefirst years of the 18th century).

Some characteristics of the Piemontpattern are that The Devil has a facein front of his torso. The Magician isa Mountebank, who is equipped witha dicebox instead of a wand. TheDeath/La Morte is named (in theMarseiles pack it is unnamed). LaCarrozza (The Chariot) has largewheels. Justice has wings and the legsof The Hanged Man are uncrossed.The pattern was printed withcaptions in French until the beginning

of 19th century, later were Italiancaptions adopted. The early packshad roman numerals, but with anunusual placement in the corner (ordiagonal corners) of the card, as wellas they often a so-called “turnedover edge” i.e. the backing paper wasfolded over and glued onto the frontof the card.

Decks with Italian captions were forexample printed by Seravalle,Piedmont (1736), Jean Payen, Avignon(1743) and by Solesio, Genua (ca.1870).

At the end of the 19th century theformerly whole figured pattern wassubstituted by a double faced imageto facilitate card playing. While thedouble sided faces of ordinaryplaying cards do not appear sostrange to us, the half part of atraditional tarot major image doesoften leave a somewhat ridiculousimpression upon all except tarotgame players.

During the second half of the 19thcentury did the Piedmont patternstabilize to become the only surviv-ing Italian tarot pattern, which is stillin use over all Italy, whenever thecard game played demands a 78 cardpack. The captions on the modernpacks are all in Italian (or, in somecases, there are no captions at all).

Packs of the modern type have beenmanufactured by Viassone (Turin),Armanino (Roma), Solesio (Genoa).in the 19th and 20th century. In the20th century were packs also madeby Modiano (Trieste), Massenghini(Bergamo) and Dal Negro (Treviso).

Tarot BologneseThis pattern, which is connectedwith cardmakers around Bologne,has a long history, since it is knownas early as from the end of the 15thcentury.

The pattern exists with both singleand double figured court cards. TarotBolognese was the very first tarotpattern which, as early as the secondhalf of the 18th centur, introduceddouble figured courts and at thesame time were the trump cards/majors given arabic numbers. Four ofthe cards, The Emperor, The Empress,The Pope and The Female Pope werein 1725 substituted by four spear-carrying unnumbered “Moors”(Maurere).

The Bolognese pack has only 62cards. The numerical values of 2,3, 4and 5 in each suit are not used inthe Bolognese version of the cardgame, and thus omitted. The num-bering of the majors deviate fromthe usual standard. The captions areeither in French or Italian. The Fool(Bagato) is unnumbered. The Devil


Milanese Patttern, ca. 1845.

Sicilian Tarot, Concetta Campione 1950’s.

Bolognese pattern, ca 1810

Moor. Bolognese, Viassone (modern)

have all made Bologne packs in the20th century.

Tarot MilaneseThis pattern was first printed by thecardmaker Gumpenberg in Milano inthe first part of the 19th century.The designs (by C. Della Rocca) arethe artist’s personal interpretation ofthe Marseilles pattern. The deck waslater reproduced by other card-makers, for example Armanino inGenua (1880), Seravalle in Piedmont(late 19th century) and by severalother cardmakers, thus constituing itas a kind of standard pattern, whichbecame widespread in the 19th

century, whereafter it disappeared.Some modern reprints are stillavailable.

Sicilian TarotThe Sicilian Tarot originated around1660 and was manufactured up tothe 1960’s. It was a purely regionalpattern, which was never really usedoutside Sicily. The earliest decks,which were meant for four cardplayers, had 78 cards but this waslater reduced to 63 cards meant for3 players, which became the gamevariant popular in Sicily. In thereduced pack are the aces, the 2s,3sand 4s (except the four of coins)

removed. The trumps/majors in theolder versions are marked withRoman numerals I-XX. Two cardsare unnumbered, The Fool and a cardcalled “La Powerta”. The Empress, ThePope and The Devil are substituted byrespectively a female figure called “LaCostanza”, a Ship and a Tower, TheHanged Man is hanged by the neck.Judgement depicts Jupiter. The Worlddepicts Atlas. The four Pages/Jacksare female. The Sicilian Tarot hassome traits in common with theMinchiate pack. The sequence of thecards is unusual and the size of thecards is small.

The older versions of this pack werearound 1830 replaced by a reviseddesign, which was produced until the1960’s. The new pack had in thebeginning 63 cards but in 1863 wasan ace of coins added to carry the

tax stamp, thus making up a 64 cardpack. At the same time the numberswere changed to Arabic, and LaPoverta was renamed Miseria.

Modern packs were manufacturedby Murari, Bari (1890-1944),Concetta Campione, Catania (1950-65) and Modiano, Trieste (until about1965).

Besancon TarotThis pattern is, apart from a fewminor details, based upon theMarseille pattern, except that ThePapessa and The Pope are substitutedby respectively Juno and Jupiter. This

has furry trousers, The Moon has afull face.

Viassone (Turin), Modiano ( Trieste),Cambissa (Trieste) , Dal Negro(Treviso) and Plastic Cards, (Milan)


Swiss pattern, J.Müller & Cie. 1930s.

Belgian pattern, Vandenborre, reprint 1974.

Besancon, Grimaud

change took place around the begin-ning of the 18th century, probablyfor religious/political reasons. In theeastern part of France, in parts ofGermany and in Switzerland were

Juno and Jupiter selected to substi-tute the Popess and Pope while, forexample, in Belgium other characterswere chosen.

The captions on majors and courtsof the Becanson-pattern are in mosteditions in French, but often withspelling mistakes. The Devil has furrytrousers and torso, The Moon has afull face.

Swiss TarotLike the Besancon Tarot has theSwiss Tarot, which first appearedaround 1860, Jupiter and Junoinstead of Pope and Popess. Even ifseveral tarot patterns were manufac-tured in Switzerland, is this the onlyexclusive Swiss pattern. Fundamen-tally is it a redrawing of the Besan-con tarot. It is often called the “JJTarot”, referring to the initial lettersin Juno/Jupiter. As every tarotist willknow, it was this the pattern thatstarted Stuart R. Kaplan’s career inthe world of tarot.The pattern is still in print.

Belgian TarotTogether with the Marseilles-,Besancon- and Swiss pattern is theBelgian pattern the only Italiansuited standard tarot pattern thatwas used widely outside Italy. Even if

the pattern carries traits from severalof the other patterns, it has alsonumerous distinctive characteristics.The Popess is substituted by a cardcalled “L’Espagnol Capitano Eracasse”(“Eracasse” is the name of theSpanish captain known from theComedia dell’Arte). The Pope is

substituted by Bacus (Bacchus), theGod of wine. The Hanged Man ishanged by the neck. Temperance iscarrying a scroll with the title “FamaSol”. The Devil is seen in left profile.The Tower is substituted by a cardcalled “La Foudre” (The Lightening),depicting a man beneath a lightningstruck tree. The Star shows a churchtower and a man with a compass. TheMoon depicts a woman with a distaff.The Sun has a man on horsebackcarrying a banner. The World has anaked woman standing on a globewhich depicts the sun, the moon,stars and a landscape. The Fool isnumbered XXII.

The Belgian pattern was printed bycardmakers like Jan Galler, Bruxelles(1738-60) and Vandenborre,Bruxelles (1762-1803).

The Minchiate PatternThis shall only be mentioned shortlyhere. It is very easily distinguishedfrom any other pattern by having anextended number of majors (trumpcards) so the entire pack has no lessthan 97 cards. The pattern origi-nated in Florence as early as thefirst part of the16th century. It wasspread to Genua and to Sicily. It wasstill produced in Genua by Solesio inthe 1930’s. A couple of modernversions have been publishedafterwards, latest (1999) is anedition with text and illustrations byBrian Williams published by InnerTraditions, USA.

LiteratureThis article is only a brief surveyover the most well-known patterns.For an extended study can berecommended:• Sylvia Mann: All Cards on the TableDeutsches Spielkarten-Museum &Jonas Verlag, Germany 1990.• Stuart R. Kaplan’s Encyclopedia ofTarot. vol. I-II-III.

Editions Solleone, Lo Scarabeo and IlMeneghello, all Italian manufacturers.have published reproductions ofmost traditional patterns.


Books

For a study of traditionalEuropean tarot (some call itkabbalistic) prior to the 1970’s,you should get hold of:• Arthur E. Waite: The Pictorial Key

to the Tarot• Crowley: The Book of Thoth• Oswald Wirth: The Tarot of the

Magicians (USA 1985)• Dion Fortune: The Mystical

Qabalah. England 1972• Robert Wang:

The Kabbalistic Tarot.USA 1983.• Lon Milo Duquette:

Tarot of Ceremonial Magic.USA 1995.

• Gareth Knight:•The Magical World of the Tarot,England 1991.• The Treasure House of Images.England 1986

• Chick & Sandra Tabata Cicero:• Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition.USA 1995• Experiencing the Kabbalah USA 1997• The New Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot (USA 1991)

• David Hulse: The Key of it All 1-2.USA 1993-94 (this is an immense-1200 pages - work of correspon-dences between all thinkableesoteric- and mythologicalsystems. Vol.. II includes tarot,but it is highly recommended toget hold of both volumes).

To avoid all the nonsense manytarot writers postulate aboutthe origin of tarot you canconsult:• Ronald Decker, Michael Dummett

and Thierry Depaulis:A Wicked Pack of Cards,England 1996

• Eckhard Graf: Mythos Tarot,Germany 1989.

• Cynthia Giles: Tarot: History,Mystery, Lore USA 1992.

• Stuart R. Kaplan: Encyclopedia ofTarot, vol. I-III, USA 1978-90.

If your have a psychologicalapproach to tarot, these booksare the best you can find:• Irene Gad: Tarot and Individuation.

USA 1994.

Decks and booksthat can do it allLooking back upon my 25years with tarot and afterhaving reviewed hundreds ofdecks and read hundreds ofbook on the subject, I can onlysay, that if you want to workseriously with tarot, you don’tneed all that.

I have, of course, often beenasked to recommend tarotliterature and tarot decks.Atthe time I conducted tarotworkshops, I used to hand outa list. This changed slightlyfrom time to time but notessentially. My own favoritesare fundamentally the same asthey were in my early days oftarot involvement and only fewbook have been added through-out the years.

Following is a list as I wouldmake it today. I have onlyincluded items that are com-monly available from booksell-ers or libraries and have omit-ted rare books, limited editionsand the like.

Speculating about what shouldbe included in the list, I cameto think of the very many tarotdecks, which were popular fora short time and then after afew years completely disap-peared. The modern tarotworld is certainly unstable!The tarot scene is also aconsumers market. Buy anddiscard whenever somethingnew, (but hardly different)show up. I also wonderedabout why, after all, sometarot decks stayed on the scene,

often superficial ones, whilemore interesting concepts werecompletely overlooked andforgotten. For example, whathappened to one of the decks Ihave listed below, John StarrCooke’s T - The New Tarot forthe Aquarian Age, one of theearly decks that cleared thepath for the American tarotrenaissance of the 1970’s. Thepack was reprinted in 1993 inan excellent edition by JohnStarr Cooke’s son and daugh-ter-in-law, even with two ofJohn Cooke’s other major setsadded to it. I have never everheard it mentioned since. Itwas not a mass market productbut an original concept ofmuch more interest than themajority of numerous moderntrivial decks and also a histori-cal pack. Could the reason be,that it never came under thewings of US Games SystemsInc., like many of the otherpacks from the 1970’s? Twoother big scaled enterprises Icame to think of were twocartomantic systems: theStar+Gate pack by Carsonand Geer (1979) and RowenaPattee Kryder’s Gaia MatrixOracle (1990). Well, they werenot tarot decks, and had someflaws, but, definitely, the con-cepts were well thought out.

The following list shall not beseen as a result of a long con-sideration; it is just what comesto my mind, writing this.


• Salie Nichols: Jung and TarotUSA 1980

• Robert V. O’Neil: Tarot SymbolismUSA 1986.

If you are to the Americanway of tarot, there are numer-ous books to choose between.It is very difficult since the listis endless, but here are my bids:• Mary Kathrine Greer:

Tarot Constellations 1987Tarot for Yourself 1984

• Gail Fairfield:Choice Centered TarotUSA 1982/1990

For the most, books written fora particularly deck to make upa book/deck set are not my cupof tea. They are mainly arehash of standard phrasesadjusted once more to a par-ticular deck. There are, ofcourse, exceptions, and onethat comes to my mind, isCynthia Giles’ book for TheRussian Tarot of St. Peters-burg.

If you are entirely new to tarotand do not have any idea ofwhat it is and if you are thecard reading type (I doubt ifthis is a signalment of anyonereading this), you could consult• Rosemary Ellen Guiley:

The Mystical Tarot. USA 1991• Rachel Pollack: The Complete

Illustrated Guide to Tarot,USA 1999.

Tarot decks

Now the list of my choice oftarot decks. To work withtraditional European tarot, Iwouldn’t be without:• Waite-Smith (Rider’s pack)

I prefer to use the 1993-reprintinstead of any of the Rider- orUSGames packs. No, my earlyedition packs are for restricteduse only.

• Book of Thoth/Crowley• Oswald Wirth Tarot• Tarot of Ceremonial Magic

(Duquette)• The Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot

(Sandra Tabatha Cicero)• Minchiate Fiorentine.

I have always wondered why theMinchiate pack was not used bytarotists with its extended majorarcana. This may change nowBrian Williams’ new deck ispublished. It has, however, notyet reached my desk, so untilthen it will be one of the oldMinchiate packs (also availablein an excellent reprint by IlMeneghello)

Decks from the 1970-revival• John Star Cooke & Rosalind

Sharpe:T- The New Tarotfor the Aquarian Age.USA 1970, reprinted under thetitle of The Word of OneTarot in 1993. The reprintincludes Cooke’s Atlantean Tarotand Medieval Tarot as well.

• Book of Thoth, Jerry Kay• Yeager Tarot (original edition)• The New Tarot (Hurley and

Horler)

The following are not exactlytarot decks for esoteric- orcard-reading purposes, but areinevitable artistic expressionsof the tarot concept:• Visconti-Sforza tarot• Tarot Röhrig• Haindl Tarot• Gli Arcani di Elisabetta (Cassari)• Kashmir Tarot (Nicolaas van Beck)• Renato Guttoso Tarot

Finally a few selected decks indifferent categories:

Mythology :• Legend Arthurian DeckFeminist:• Motherpeace (colored version)The Dark Side:• The Shadow Tarot (Linda Falorio)Photographic:• Bea Nettles’

Mountain Dream Tarot has neverbeen overtaken

Oddities:• Necromantic Tarot

(Leilah Waddell)Egyptian:• Deutsches Original Tarot,

published from 1920 until about1970.

Folchi:• I want to mention at least one deck

by Amerigo Folchi and it will beIl Tarocchi di Amerigo Folchi,the one deck of his madeentirely after his own ideas. But,of course, I could have chosen„The Garden of Priapus“, just toprovoke.


Early Waite-Smith editions © K.Frank Jensen 1999

For the last couple of years I haveworked on identifying differentearly editions of the so-calledRider-Waite tarot, which I preferto call Waite-Smith to let PamelaColman Smith, the artist, get herdue respect. After all, the Englishpublishing house Rider has onlybeen responsible for a minor partof the total number of packs ofthis best selling tarot, publishedcontinously throughout the past90 years.

The first Waite-Smith edition waspublished by Rider in December1909. The deck of cards could beobtained separately or boxed witha card sized edition of A.E.Waite’s book: The Key to theTarot, being Fragments of aSecret Tradition under the Veil.This first edition of „The Key“was dated 1910, and included abibliography (pgs.170-194). Asecond edition of the Waite-Smithtarot deck (which is said to be ofsuperior quality, at least concer-ning the quality of cardboardused), was published soon after,in April 1910.

Printing techniqueThe technique used for printingthe first editions of the Waite-Smith tarot was color-lithography.In the last decades of the 19thcentury, color printing developedin several ways, combining earliercolor printing methods andexperiments took place to substi-tute the manual work by mechani-cal aids, thus making printingeasier. The fundamental processused one lithographic stone toprint the black hand drawn lineart and lettering, which couldeither be drawn directly on thestone by the artist (or by a tran-scriber), or a special preparedpaper could be used for the

drawing, which afterwards wastransferred to the lithographicstone. The black line print wasthen filled in with colors byoverprinting it with the appro-priate number of color stones,each with its own color. Shades ina certain color were made byallowing the white of the paper (orcolors from a former layer ofprint) to shine through theoverprinting. The preparation ofthe stones for such tinting couldbe done by hand, but after c.1880,

a mechanical added tint was oftenused by adapting a specialprepared grained or lined paper,which could create the necessarydots or lines, giving the impres-sion of a shade.

We do not know to what extentPamela Colman Smith wasinvolved in the printing process ofthe tarot deck. In November 1909in a letter to Alfred Steglitz she,however, mentioned that she hadmade the illustrations for the tarotdeck „a big job for little money“.adding „I’ll send you a pack ..printed in colour by lithography...probably very badly!....“. At thesame time she offered Steglitzsome of the originals for sale.This indicates that she (and notWaite) was in possession of theoriginals and also that she had notmuch belief that the printingprocess would reproduce herworks in an acceptable way. Shecould have made the material forthe printing, by either drawingdirectly on the stones, or by usingthe transfer method. If she didn’t,another person had to redraw herillustrations, and add the coloringtints (by hand or by the mecha-nical process). The use of atranscriber would explain themany differences in the artworkbetween the editions.

Sunwithoutundulatingline(Pamela-Bonly)

Sun withundulatinglinePamelaA,C,D,E

Sun withheavyundulatingline andextra linePamela-Conly

Linear screen (Pamela-A) Dotted screen (Pamela-B,C,D,E)


There is no reason to believe thatPamela didn’t know what theprinted result would be. Shecertainly knew what could be donewithin the limitations of theprinting technique of the time andher artwork did undoubtedlyprovide for that. She was used towork with the printers from herillustration jobs and her ownpublications, including herbroadsheets. She would also knowthat if the transfer to the printingmedium was done by a transcriber,it wouldn’t be exactly like sheintended.

FactsUp to date, I have been able toidentify 5 different early editionsof the Waite/Smith pack („early“in this connection means packspublished in the period from 1909up to the Second World War). Inthis paper I’ll describe the charac-teristics and suggest a possiblerelation between the packs.

In the following, the five editionsare called Pamela-A to Pamela-E.The letters were assigned in thesequence in which I discoveredthe packs, and are thus notindicating any order ofpublication. I have chosen TheSun as a common denominator,

since this card most clearly showsthe differences between the edit-ions. Also to The Lovers was paidparticular attention during mycomparison of the packs, becausethe mechanical method used fortinting the colors is particularlyclearly visible in the two personsdepicted at The Lovers, andbecause the criss-cross hatching(which is a hand-made tinting) inthe mountain of the same card,makes this card particularly fit forcomparison of tiny details.

These five early editions can bedistinguished from each other bydifferent combinations offollowing traits:

• The mechanical tinted pattern (tobe compared with the modernprinting screen) is either dotted,linear or a muddled mixture of thetwo.• An extra „half part of a sunbeam“ (an undulated line) isdrawn immediately to the right ofthe Roman numeral XIX.This undulated line, which hasgiven raise to some speculation, isalready present in the illustrationof The Sun in an article by Waitein The Occult Review, December1909, written immediately beforethe publication of the deck.

Roses & Lilies back Crackled back

Strange enough is The Sun heremisnumbered XVIII (!). Theundulated line is also present inthe first edition of Waite’s book:The Illustrated Key to the Tarot,published first in 1911 by Rider,London, as well as in Theo deLaurence’s 1918 pirated edition ofWaite’s text, published in USAunder de Laurence’s name. Theundulated line can be found inmost, except one of the Ridereditions (up to 1971) and from1971 in the editions from USGames Systems Inc.

Other obvious differences betweenthe editions can be seen by• the placement of the title and the punctuation after it• the lines in banner• the Sunflower on the right side,.... just to mention a few diffe-rences regarding The Sun. For thepacks in their entirety, the devia-tions are numerous.

Following identification traitshave also been taken into account• the size of the cards• the thickness of the card pack (= quality of cardboard used).Both measures can deviate a littleafter how much the deck is wornand what trimming process wasused. I have considered a devia-tion of up to 2 millimetre as beingacceptable.• the back pattern- almost all packs examined havethe same crackled back pattern(some call it pebbles), onlyvarying in color intensity.There exist furthermore packswith a Roses and Lilies back(Pamela-A/Cary Collection and -probably - Pamela-C).

Of lesser importance for theidentification is the color densityand balance since these often varywithin the same printrun. Besides,it has not been possible for me toview all the listed early editions inthe original, and color copies tendto distort the colors in a variabledegree.


Mountain, The Lovers, Pamela-E

Pamela-AThis edition has a linear mechani-cal tint and includes the undulatedline. Size 121x70 millimetre,thickness of 78 cards: 38 millime-tre. All known packs except onehas the yellow/brown crackedback pattern.The pack with this combination oftinting type and size is known toexist packed in a box togetherwith Waite’s Key to the Tarot inan edition dated 1910.

Pamela-A is present in following collections:• K Frank Jensen, Spilkammeret

includes half part of a black slipcase• United States Playing Card Company, USA

this pack is an unusual variation since it has alilies and rose back design in red/brown colors.

• Collection Holly Voley, USApacked in a dark red, two piece box with a1910 edition of Waite’s „Key“ included. Thename of the publisher „William Rider & SonLimited - 1910“ is pasted over with a label„W.M.Postel“.

• Collection Simon Wintle, Englandin a dark green slipcase

Pamela-BThis edition has a dotted tint butlacks the ondulated line.Size 119x70 millimetre, thicknessof 79 cards: 26,5 millimetre.Apart from the differences on TheSun, there are obvious differenceson all cards. While The Sun isartistically well executed, mostother cards in this edition appearto be of inferior quality to Pamela-A.

Pamela-B is present in following collections:• K Frank Jensen, Spilkammeret• Collection Sheila Wilding, USA

this pack is in a two part red cardboard boxpacked with a hardbound copy of „Key to theTarot“ (212 pages), New Edition, Rider & Co.Paternostre House,E.C.4. Printed in Great Britainby Fischer, Knight & Co. Ltd., GainsboroughPress, St. Albans.

• Cary Collection, The Beinecke Rare Book andManuscript Library, Yale University, USA (inv.# ENG38)

on the remains of a box is printed „Printed inGreat Britain“ and a handwritten note (dated 14 ofJanuary 1937): „Church of Light, L.A “ and ahandwritten price „$2.-“)

• Collection Simon Wintle, England the owner gives the thickness of this pack asbeing 29-30 millimetres, which is a deviation.Other identification points are confirmed

• Collection Rhonda Hawes, USA• Guildhall Library Collection, England

No less than two copies of the Pamela-B versionare in the collection: #GB179 + #GB270. Both setcomes with Waite’s „The Key“, New Edition withsame info as given above (Wilding Collection).

Pamela C:This edition has a dotted tintingand an undulated line. Size119x70 millimetres. Thickness: 27milimetres.The illustrations onthis pack correspond with the1993 Rider-reprint called „TheOriginal Rider/Waite Tarot Pack“except that this pack has thecrackled back pattern (while thereprint has a Rose/Lilies pattern inblue and carries a 1971 USGamescopyright statement).

The undulated lines in the listedthree packs and in the 1993-reprint all have an extra tiny sideline, which no other registeredpacks have. It sems evident thatthe reprint is made from a Pamela-C type pack.Compared to Pamela-A, does thispack also appear to be inferior inartistic execution.

Pamela-C is present in following collections:• Collection Laurie Amato, USA

The thickness given is 30 millimetres. The packwas bought from Gene Hockman, who in hisEncyclopedia of American Playing Cards, vol.III, states that „it is believed that an edition ofthe Waite pack was published in New Yorksimultaneously with the English edition“. I havenot found any evidence of this.

• Collection Holly Voley, USA this pack has an extra blank card

• Victoria and Albert Museum. EnglandThe Sun card is illustrated in Cavendish’s TheTarot where the extra line extruding from thecrumbled line is clearly visible.

Pamela D:This edition looks like a photo-graphical, bad quality reprint ofPamela-A. The reproductionprocess has added another printscreen to the original tinting, thusmaking the images look veryblurred (details are there, butunsharp) and blocked up. About

one millimetre is cut off on theright side of the image. At least inmy pack is the trimming of thecards not precise and somecorners are not rounded.Size aprox.119x70 millimetres.Thickness: 27 milimetres.

Pamela-D is present in following collections:• Collection K.Frank Jensen, Spilkammeret• Collection HollyVoley

This particular pack has a label „Made in GreatBritain“ glued directly onto the lower part on thefront of the Six of Swords. The pack was acquiredfrom the former JamesWardle-collection.

Pamela E:This edition is unique since thecorners are square and the back isblank. The Sun has the undulatedline. The mechanical tints usedare dotted, but where The Lover’smountain in the other packs wastinted by a hand process, we canhere see a special pattern created,which is the typical result ofsuperimposing mechanical tintsfrom two printing plates upon eachother, laid so that the dots do notfall upon but between each other.Size 120x75 millimetres.Thickness: 25 milimetres.

Pamela-E is present in following collection:• Cary Collection, The Beinecke Rare Book andManuscript Library, Yale University, USA(inv. # ENG37). The cataloger dated the packc.1920.

SpeculationsThese are the facts known so far.It seems sure to assume that thePamela-A type is the first (1909)Rider edition of the Waite-Smithpack. Whether the 1910 edition isamong the packs listed here is,however, a little doubtful. If weconsider, that the 1993 reprint isbased on „an original edition“, i.e.the 1909 or 1910 pack, Pamela-Cis the only choice. The 1910 packis stated to be „on better cardboard“(which I assume is not the heavytype used for the 1909-edition).Besides, the 1993 reprint doeshave the same tiny line protudingupwards from the lower part ofthe undulated Sun-line of Pamela-C. I have, unfortunately, not beenable to view any of the originalpacks of Pamela-C, so I couldn’t


judge the cardboard quality.Another question is, why does thereprint have a Roses and Liliesback pattern and not the crackedpattern, as the other copies ofPamela-C? Was, perhaps, the1910-set boxed with „The Key...“printed with a Roses and Liliespattern, while sold on its own ithad the crackled back? The tinyline indicates, that the illustrationson both versions come from thesame printing stones. Was it vice-versa with the 1909 edition? Theriddle of the Roses and Lilies backpattern could, perhaps, be solvedby packs in the collections ofStuart R. Kaplan and Robert A.Gilbert, which I, however, couldnot get access to. I was, second-hand, informed that Stuart R.Kaplan owns the pack from whichthe 1993-reprint was made, andthat this proper pack has the liliesand roses back pattern, so thiscombination of front and back isnot a later construction.

Pamela-B is the only edition whichhas not the undulated line. Theartwork in general appears to beinferior - looks more like a copyafter Pamela-A or Pamela C. Thereason for this could be, that newprinting stones or plates werecreated, and the transcriber whodid the job, was not so careful. Itcould also be because a copy ofPamela-A or C was used as themodel instead of the originalartwork, which, perhaps, had beensplit up for sale (it has never beenunearthed again). Or the personwho did the copying job conside-red the undulated line a mistakeand just removed it. Admittedly,

the line appears to be a designflaw and so far I have not foundany acceptable answer for itspresence. Since all modern edi-tions of the Waite/Smith Tarot,according to Kaplan’s „TheEncyclopedia of Tarot“, are basedupon an early copy whichbelonged to Waite’s family, theline was carried over in editionafter edition, nobody was caringor daring to remove it.

In 1920 a „New Edition“ of „TheKey“ was published. In my ownlibrary, I have a copy of „TheNew Edition“ which has printedon it the date of 1920. This copylists the printers name as: Madeand published in GB by Chanceand Bland Ltd. Glouchester. R.A.Gilbert, however, does in hisWaite bibliography note that TheNew Edition with the date of 1920was printed by Buttler & Tanner,Frome and London.

In Holly Voley’s collection is anincomplete deck (the majors aremissing, so I have not been able toidentify the type). This pack has„The Key“, New edition, with astated date of 1931. The printersare Fisher, Knight and Co. Ltd.Gainborough Press. St. Albans,the same who printed all thecopies of The Key, that accompanythe listed Pamela -B decks. It maytherefore be assumed, that theseare all of a later date.

Pamela-D is probably anunauthorised photographic (anddefinitely cheaply made)reproduction of one of the originalpacks, and as such there are no

traces of a publisher to be found.It is difficult to estimate a date for,since photographic reproductiontechniques were available alsoearly in the period. The quality isinferior to any of the other packslisted. Both listed packs appear tocome from England.

Pamela-E is quite an unusual butalso unknown edition and mostlikely another unauthorised one(even though much superior toPamela-D). The cataloger’s dateof 1920 seems to be appropriateconsidering the tinting methodconsidered.

Literature:• Bamber Gascoigne: How To Identify Prints.Thames & Hudson, England 1988• R.A. Gilbert: A.E. Waite. A BibliographyThe Aquarian Press, Wellingborough. 1983• Gene Hochman: Encyclopedia of AmericanPlaying Cards, Vol. III.• K. Frank Jensen, article in Manteia no. 11,(preliminary theories, with are partly correctedin the present article)• Stuart R. Kaplan: Encyclopedia of Tarot, Vol.III, USA 1990• Theo de Laurence: The Illustrated Key to theTarot (pirated edition of Waite’s text), USA1919•A.E.Waite: The Key to the Tarot...., first edition1910 + New Edition 1920• A.E.Waite: The Illustrated Key to the Tarot,first edition 1911 + later editions •A.E.Waite: Article in The Occult Review, Vol.10, no. 12, December 1909, pg. 307-17, writtenimmediately before the publication of the deck.A few cards are reproduced, including The Sun(Pamela-A-type) which, however, in the articleis misnumbered XVIII (!)• Richard Cavendish: The Tarot. London 1975.

Acknowledgements:Information for this paper was received withthanks from Laurie Amato, USA, John Berry,England, Cary Collection, The Beinecke RareBook and Manuscript Library, Yale University,USA. Ronald Decker, USA, Sir MichaelDummett, England, Rhonda Hawes, USA,Melinda Boyd Parsons, USA, Holly Voley,USA, Sheila Wilding,USA, Simon Wintle,England.


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dedda dedda dedda dedda dedda9891

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0991 0991 0991 0991 0991 1414141414 1919191919 9898989898 0101010101 3737373737 0101010101 413 413 413 413 413

1991 1991 1991 1991 1991 88888 0505050505 8888888888 88888 6565656565 55555 512 512 512 512 512

39-2991 39-2991 39-2991 39-2991 39-2991 88888 8585858585 9999999999 44444 2525252525 66666 722 722 722 722 722

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5991 5991 5991 5991 5991 0101010101 6161616161 6464646464 44444 3232323232 11111 001 001 001 001 001

6991 6991 6991 6991 6991 11111 0101010101 5555555555 22222 9191919191 66666 3939393939

7991 7991 7991 7991 7991 22222 55555 3434343434 22222 0101010101 22222 4646464646

99-8991 99-8991 99-8991 99-8991 99-8991 55555 4141414141 1818181818 77777 3131313131 021 021 021 021 021

latoT latoT latoT latoT latoT 736 736 736 736 736 5521 5521 5521 5521 5521 569 569 569 569 569 071 071 071 071 071 385 385 385 385 385 308 308 308 308 308 3144 3144 3144 3144 3144

toraT toraT toraT toraT toraT koraT koraT koraT koraT koraT ycnamotraC ycnamotraC ycnamotraC ycnamotraC ycnamotraC

aivanidnacS aivanidnacS aivanidnacS aivanidnacS aivanidnacS )4(74 )4(74 )4(74 )4(74 )4(74 1111111111 9191919191

niatirBtaerG niatirBtaerG niatirBtaerG niatirBtaerG niatirBtaerG )3(85 )3(85 )3(85 )3(85 )3(85 ----- )1(55 )1(55 )1(55 )1(55 )1(55

ecnarF ecnarF ecnarF ecnarF ecnarF )5(89 )5(89 )5(89 )5(89 )5(89 )7(94 )7(94 )7(94 )7(94 )7(94 )2(18 )2(18 )2(18 )2(18 )2(18

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airtsuA airtsuA airtsuA airtsuA airtsuA 99999 3232323232 66666

muigleB muigleB muigleB muigleB muigleB )1(26 )1(26 )1(26 )1(26 )1(26 66666 55555

ynamreG ynamreG ynamreG ynamreG ynamreG )2(44 )2(44 )2(44 )2(44 )2(44 4141414141 )2(76 )2(76 )2(76 )2(76 )2(76

niapS niapS niapS niapS niapS )3(23 )3(23 )3(23 )3(23 )3(23 44444 )1(2 )1(2 )1(2 )1(2 )1(2

dnalreztiwS dnalreztiwS dnalreztiwS dnalreztiwS dnalreztiwS )3(13 )3(13 )3(13 )3(13 )3(13 44444 0101010101

dnalloH dnalloH dnalloH dnalloH dnalloH 6262626262 ----- 2121212121

aissuR aissuR aissuR aissuR aissuR 66666 ----- -----

nretsaErehtO nretsaErehtO nretsaErehtO nretsaErehtO nretsaErehtOnaeporuE

)3(71 )3(71 )3(71 )3(71 )3(71 ----- )1(7 )1(7 )1(7 )1(7 )1(7

naeporuErehtO naeporuErehtO naeporuErehtO naeporuErehtO naeporuErehtO 66666 44444 8181818181

ASU ASU ASU ASU ASU )04(682 )04(682 )04(682 )04(682 )04(682 ----- )4(051 )4(051 )4(051 )4(051 )4(051

ocixeM ocixeM ocixeM ocixeM ocixeM 1111111111 ----- 88888

napaJ napaJ napaJ napaJ napaJ )6(55 )6(55 )6(55 )6(55 )6(55 22222

-noNrehtO -noNrehtO -noNrehtO -noNrehtO -noNrehtOnaeporuE

)1(03 )1(03 )1(03 )1(03 )1(03 )1(1 )1(1 )1(1 )1(1 )1(1 3232323232

latoT latoT latoT latoT latoT 569 569 569 569 569 071 071 071 071 071 994 994 994 994 994

The collection of Spilkammeret.Additions during 1989-99

*) include 84 tools for divination, which explains the difference of the figures in the two tables. **) games, children’s decks, implements for games, posters etc.***) this category consists of French suited tarot decks plus some Italian suited standard tarot decks

The figures in brackets areassessions in the period 1998-99(the figures are included in thehigher figures)

Manteia Courier1998-99 is sent free toall former subscriberswho have returned thecard enclosed withManteia # 16 and toanyone else who inother ways haveexpressed their interest.

Manteia Courier1998-99 is also sent toall contributors to APA-Tarot, active by the endof 1999.

Manteia Courier1998-99 is furthermoresent to a number ofinterested parts at thediscretion of the editor.

Editor and publisher:K. Frank JensenSpilkammeretSankt Hansgade 20DK 4000 RoskildeDenmark

Phone (45) 46 35 18 08Fax (45) 46 35 20 09e-mail: [email protected]

Copyright for all material:© K.Frank Jensen exceptinterview by Asta Ertewhich is © Asta Erte.Frontcover based on photoby Bernhard Grünig.

Books i Spilkammeretslibrary, ultimo 1999

Tarot: 721Playing cards- and history: 423Card Games: 42Cartomanci: 125Magic: 116Golden Dawn : 76Crowley: 61Kabbalah: 38KKTalismans, color etc.: 101Divination in general: 101Occulta in general: 85Astrology: 90Numerology: 28I-Ching, Chinese lore: 135Geomancy: 48Earth’s mysteries, feng-sui: 134Northern tradition, runes: 135Celtic & Arthurian lore: 64Psychology, Jung: 135Time and time measuring: 43Mythology, religion: 171Folklore: 133Various therapies: 58Games and toys: 215Esoteric fiction: 84Varia: 117


Editions OuroborosBooks on Tarot- & CartomancyBooks on Tarot- & CartomancyBooks on Tarot- & CartomancyBooks on Tarot- & CartomancyBooks on Tarot- & Cartomancy

The Prophetic Cards.- Vol. I-II-IIIA Catalog of cards for Fortune-TellingThe three volumes of the catalog edited by K.Frank Jensenillustrates respectively 162, 110 and 184 cartomancy decks fromthe collection of SPILKAMMERET .(Tarot decks are not included in these catalogs)Text in Danish and English.225+140+230 pages.A4-size, Limited edition.Roskilde 1985-1990-. ISBN 87-87976-05-6Special price for all three volumes: dkk 500.-/US$70.-

K. Frank Jensen:A Bibliography of Books in SpilkammeretBooks on playing cards, tarot, cartomancy,I-Ching, runes, magic etc. About 3000 annotated entries.258 pages. In English. Included is also a 38 pagessuppplement of accessions during 1994-99.Roskilde 1993,1998. ISBN 87-87976-14-5.Price dkk 250.-/US$35.-

ManteiaEven though Manteia has stopped publication, all back issuesare still available. Within a total of 700 pages are 440 carddecks and 400 books reviewed, and several articles are makingthis compilation an extraordinary documentation of theperiod. A comprehensive list of contents is included.ISSN 0904-9339. Edited by K. Frank JensenPrice for all 16 issues, postage incl.: DKK 800.-Hardbound in five steel binders. DKK1000.- /US$140.-(recommended!). Single issues are also available - ask!

Catalog of Mantic ToolsThis is a loose leaf catalog (limited edition of 16 copies only)published with the purpose of listing and describing all 20thcentury tarot- and cartomancy decks which are not included ineither• Stuart R. Kaplan's „The Encyclopedia of Tarot“, vol I-III ,• „The Prophetic Cards“, vol. I-III (see book list)• or in Manteia # 1-16 (se above).

I have packed the few remaining copies with complete sets ofManteia. This is now the only way to obtain the catalog, whichhave been offered to former subscribers of Manteia for thelast three years. Only 3 sets are available now and the catalogwill not be reprinted.

Each deck is illustrated on one page with about four cards,details about publisher, artist etc. are given and there is a shortcommentary as well as a star-marking, regarding originality,artistic quality, printing, packing and price. The initial mailing willinclude ring binder and about 160 pages of deck descriptions.Further mailings of each ca. 30 loose pages each will follow, justas well as a list of contents.

Manteia 1-16 + Manteia Courier + list of contents bound in 5hard cover volumes + Mantic Tool catalog +mailing of catalog supplements for the next couple of years.costs dkr. 1200.-/ US$170.- postage included.

Rare and limited editions:

Mail Artist's Lenormand Cards: A set of Lenormand fortunetelling cards created in 1996 by 38 mail artists from 14 countries.78 laminated cards in pouch, a list of artists + instructions areenclosed. Only 16 of the 22 sets of this special edition is offeredfor sale. Leaflet available.Price dkk 450.- /US$65.- (sample card and color flyer availableupon request).

Mail Artists’ Tarot Deck 1998: 33 artists from all over theworld created this unique tarot deck. Each of the 22 major arcanacards are interpreted by 3 different artists and Mail Artists Tarot1998 is thus three entirely different decks in one.Collectors’ Limited Edition of 25 numbered and signed packs, ofwhich only 20 are offered for sale. 66 colorful cards, 130x170milimetres. Booklet illustrating all cards in color. Heavy card-board box. Sample card and color flyer available upon request.Price inclusive postage and registration: dkk1200.-/US$170.-

Mail Artist's Tarot 1993-96: The collected documentation of amail artist's tarot project which ran for 4 years. Ca. 75 pages, A4size, ca. 250 illustrations of unique tarot cards, partly in color.Only 10 copies of this documentation are offered for sale in thishardbound edition. Price dkk 300.-/US$40.-

Mulleposten for APA-Tarot, issue no. 1-62 (1987-99):Mulleposten is the name of K. Frank Jensen's zine written for theAmerican “APA-Tarot”, a monthly/bimonthly collection of 20-30contributions mainly on the theme of tarot. Even if this compila-tion is only the work of one of the contributors, it is readable andhas a lot of tarot related illustrations. More than 1000 (!) US-letter size pages. Later issues have color illutrations.Price dkk 500.-/US$70.- (only 6 sets are available).

All articles can be ordered from :

SpilkammeretSankt Hansgade 20

DK 4000 Roskilde DenmarkPhone: (+45) 46 35 18 08

Fax (+45) 46 35 20 09e-mail: [email protected]

Postage will be added to the prices unless otherwise is stated.Please note, that postal rates in Denmark are high.

Customers unknown to us will receive a proforma invoice.Method of payment depends on country of delieverance.

Special allowance for dealers and customers, who buy more thanone copy of the same item. Ask!

Other books, cataloges and limited editions are available.Ask for catalog


Wanted !Tarot- & Cartomancy decks/ booksTarot- & Cartomancy decks/ booksTarot- & Cartomancy decks/ booksTarot- & Cartomancy decks/ booksTarot- & Cartomancy decks/ books wanted for cash or for exchange wanted for cash or for exchange wanted for cash or for exchange wanted for cash or for exchange wanted for cash or for exchange

I have always more that 100 different rare or hard-to-findI have always more that 100 different rare or hard-to-findI have always more that 100 different rare or hard-to-findI have always more that 100 different rare or hard-to-findI have always more that 100 different rare or hard-to-findtarot- and cartomancy decks to offer in exchange.tarot- and cartomancy decks to offer in exchange.tarot- and cartomancy decks to offer in exchange.tarot- and cartomancy decks to offer in exchange.tarot- and cartomancy decks to offer in exchange.

I am looking for following decks and books, but any unusual I am looking for following decks and books, but any unusual I am looking for following decks and books, but any unusual I am looking for following decks and books, but any unusual I am looking for following decks and books, but any unusualpacks are of interest:packs are of interest:packs are of interest:packs are of interest:packs are of interest:

SPAIN:• Mercedes Fraga, Ester Plana....: Tarot of Madrid

Estudio Magenta, Spain 1984 ( Kaplan-III-326)• Tarot Superfacie / S.A.Porteta 1987.• Tarot Futurologia 2000, 1982• Tarot del Universo, Dovia Albinana 1988 (+ book), Canary Islands

ITALY:• Luciano Proverbio Tarot, Viassone 1975, (KAPLAN-III-445)• L’Isola Trovata: Donne di Maggio Tarocchi. Lim.ed. 1500

Bianca Maria Rizzoli/Dal Negro 1982. (KAPLAN-III-550).• Tarot Guido Giordano. (KAPLAN-III-247) Lim.ed100.

+ Tarocchi de Mario Gambedotti + Tarrocchi di CliziaThree decks from Pheljna Edizione a’Arte e Suggestione, Turin.

• Franco Bellenghi (Haram): Il Segreto dei Tarocchi(with book), Pre-Art, Milan 1979. (KAPLAN-III-278)

• Maria Teresa Monti: Tarocchi della Luna Nuova.(book/text by. G.Berti) Bologna 1985. (KAPLAN-III-396)

• Donato Piantanida: Magia dei Tarocchi(book) Edizioni Mediterranee, Roma 1978. (KAPLAN-III-426)

• I Nuovi Taroccini di Franco Balan, Aosta 1983. (KAPLAN-III-91)• Gli Arcani Maggiori del Tarocchi di Donatello Bassanesi• Claudio Alari: Elettra d’Argo (in book). Editrice Atanor, Roma 1973.

(KAPLAN III,166)• Ida Amadei: 23 Arcani Maggiore, Metalmecanica Plast, Italy ca. 1986• Tania Gori: Italtel Tarot. Firenze 1989

FRANCE• Pierrick Pinot: Tarot d’Argolance. Martigne, France 1983.

(KAPLAN-III-74)• Unknown artist: Mandala Tarot,France 1982, (KAPLAN-III-334)• Tarot du Non-etre-supreme. Editions Baudoine, Paris 1985.

(KAPLAN-III-401)• Oswald Wirth: 1926-edition (folder with cards+book)

Paris 1926. (KAPLAN-III-543)• Le Tarot Chiffre. Catherine Jan, France ?• Cartes Parlantes. Danielle Varne. France ca. 1990(?)

Cartomancy-deck.• Gli Arcani di Casanova. Carla Tolemeo. Ed. Rafaele Bandine.

Other European Countries:• Artists Tarot. Different artists, England ca 1984. (KAPLAN-III-77)• Christoph Glass: Glass Tarot no. I. Poland ca. 1975.

(KAPLAN-I-194)• Waltraud Kremser: Anti-Nuclear Wendländisches Tarot,

Germany 1980. (KAPLAN-III-69)• Ernst Kurtzahn: Daityanus Tarot.

Talis Verlag Germany 1920. (KAPLAN-III-161)• Theofana Abby: Nitramus Tarot. Edice Auroboros.

Prague ca 1985. (KAPLAN-III-398)• Pierre Lasenic: Rota Tarot, Graphic Studio. 1938 or later fascimille.

Czechoslovakia (KAPLAN-III-461)• Dimitri Papavasiliu: Tarot. Athen, Greece 1969 . (KAPLAN-III-417)• Tarot pro zamillované, Chech republic, ca 1995• Esteban Lopez: Rota und Liebe

Herbstein, Germany 1985 or other editions (book)• Esteban Lopez/Helmut Woudenberg: Tarok, book.

Amsterdam 1972

USA:• Dreadstone Tarot, USA 1990• Albert Dennis Tessler: Taroscope. Los Angeles 1942• Maprem & Gene Ira Katz: Trinity Tarot, USA 1980 (Kaplan-III-515)• Tarot Guild of Minneapolis (Nell M.Ubbelodhe):

Photographic Tarot, USA 1983, (KAPLAN-III-502)• Ellery Littleton/Ken Faris: Tarograms 1985 (KAPLAN-III-501)• Gail Shea Everidge: The Voice of the Subconscious

Personality (workbook) +Shea Anton Pensa:The Protective Tarot (deck), USA 1987. (Kaplan-III-441)

• Deborah Noble: Fourth Way Tarot, I.D.H.H.B, USA 1980(KAPLAN-III-230)

• Crowley: Book of Thoth, Simpsons of Dallas, Texas. ca 1960.(KAPLAN-III-156)

• Gaetano D. Marabello: Bone Black’s Cards. USA 1978.(KAPLAN-III-107)

• J. Cooper: Cooper Tarot, Eye Magazine, USA 1969. (KAPLAN-I-185)

• Rita Ollgaard Tarot. USA. (KAPLAN-I-209)• Topa: The 22 Keys of the Tarot. USA ca 1980?• R.A.Straughn: The Oracle of Thoth (book). USA 1970-80?• Susan Shaffner Baylies: Susan’s Tarot, USA ca. 1980• Fergus Hall: The Devil’s Tarot , +The Exorcist’s Tarot

Fergus’s Hall's deck in any/both of these boxes wanted.USGames, USA ca. 1975.

• Dreamspel - The Journey of Timeship Earth 2013J. Argüelles. USA ca. 1990 (Boardgame).

• RoHun. Patricia Hayes, Georgía, USA.(Cartomancy deck/chakras).• The Mystical Messages Tarot, Marianne Hoffman, USA 1990's?:

Mexico, South Americas• Tarot de Sylvia Colombes, (b&w) Argentina 1985• Anon: Egyptian Spanish Tarot. Mexico ca. 1970. (Kaplan-III-191)• O Tarot da Biblio a Gustave Doré. Thot Editora, Brazil 1990• Tarot. Thot Livraria SDS Conic. Brazilia, Brazil• Hermetics Liberator Book Tarot, Costa Rica 1985.

Lim. ed. 90. (KAPLAN-III-282)• Tarot Salomonico. El Nuove Japon. Mexico 1985• Baraja Magica Astrotarot. Mexico 1985• Tonalamate. Baraja Playing Cards. Mexico 1985

Other Non-European countries• Greg Yermakov: Tarot Midnight, ca. 1988

Yamakufo Sogyo Co. Ltd. Tokyo, Japan.• Toko’s Tarot. Triumph International, Japan 1975. (KAPLAN-III-513)• George Bennet Starter Tarot (with texts in Japanese).

AGMüller for Japan ca. 1983. (KAPLAN-III-490)• Nariyuki Sawaki: Sawaki’s Tarot (book edited by Masao Ono).

Mainichi Simbun-Sha, Japan 1978.

French suited tarot• Green Spade Tarok, August Petryl & Son. Chicago 1922.

(Hochman-III-TA4)• Tarot Circus. Editions Glénat/Grimaud. France• Tarot Astronaut, Dussere, France• Tarot Marine. Service Audiovisuel de Marine. Paris 1986.• Tarot Willeb. Paris ca. 1920. (KAPLAN-I-320)• Tarot Jean-Marie Simon ca 1960. (KAPLAN-II-491)•Tarot du Pacifique/design by Evel. Editions de Lezard,

Printed in Italy for Tahiti

K. Frank JensenK. Frank JensenK. Frank JensenK. Frank JensenK. Frank JensenSpilkammeretSpilkammeretSpilkammeretSpilkammeretSpilkammeret

Sct. Hansgade 20Sct. Hansgade 20Sct. Hansgade 20Sct. Hansgade 20Sct. Hansgade 20DK-4000 ROSKILDE - DENMARKDK-4000 ROSKILDE - DENMARKDK-4000 ROSKILDE - DENMARKDK-4000 ROSKILDE - DENMARKDK-4000 ROSKILDE - DENMARK

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Manteia Courier 1998-99© K. Frank Jensen

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