There’s a new Tarot book out this month by Dr. Roopa Patel called Experiencing Tarot: A Book of True Stories and Healing. From the looks of it though, it’s only available in India right now through Harper Collins.
Patel, an astrologer and Tarotologist, is perhaps the first Indian to write about Tarot for the Indian audience. She’s been doing it since 1995, through newspaper columns, magazine articles, TV, and the internet.
When she started with Tarot, there wasn’t a lot of research material available in India. And apparently there’s still not. To fill the gap, and clear up some of the misinformation surrounding the cards, Patel has stepped in to write her own book.
She takes a rational approach to her topic, looking at Tarot’s history, how it works, and how it connects to other new age sciences. It’s important to her that people understand how the cards can be used for both spiritual growth and alternative healing.
Illustrations by master miniaturists Amrit and Rabindra Singh, are an added bonus to Patel’s book.
The Singh Twins, soon to be honoured by Queen Elizabeth with the Member of the Order of British Empire, created the 22 original major arcana cards pictured in the book.
They said they didn’t know much about Tarot before this project, having connected it with the occult. But after researching, and actually working on the cards, they discovered they liked them and might even take Tarot forward into their next exhibition.
They’re thinking of using contemporary figures from show business and politics to highlight concepts in the cards. I really hope they do, I bet it would be amazing.
And I wish I knew where I could get a copy of the commemorative deck made to accompany the release of Experiencing Tarot. I’m going to try to hunt it down.
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Here’s an interview with the Singh Twins from 2009, shot and edited by Joe Eshwar.
