The Tarot Room – Georgianna

Mercurius Tricephalus

I know virtually nothing about alchemy, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the Museum of Lost Wonder. Its main purpose is to teach dummies like me a little something about the magical art.

Taking a virtual tour of the museum is great fun, as well as educational.

Starting at the ticket booth, you’re led through a series of halls dedicated to the different steps in the alchemical process.

Along the way you can click around the rooms for hidden nuggets of information, all the while enjoying the bubbling sounds of everything from calcination to conjunctio.

I had a fabulous time scooting from one hall to the next, looking for flashing lights or hidden rooms. I’m still an alchemical dummy, but perhaps a little less dumb than I was before the tour.

And if you do decide to visit, make sure to try the other links on the site as well. I especially liked the sacred geometry movie, ‘A Love Story.’

comment on this post

Talk about a giant Tarot collection – as of this past March, Adam McLean has over 2,000 decks. That’s a lot.

But he shares. He’s got a list of his fabulous collection online, and has been working on a Tarot database of some of his Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese decks. It’s pretty incredible.

And by the looks of it, Tarot is kind of a sideline to his alchemy work. If you’re interested in alchemy, you should definitely visit his site.

He had a show back in 2009 called The Art of Japanese Tarot, held at the Mackintosh Gallery of the Glasgow School of Art, and curated by Ronnie Heaps.

The show featured the Japanese part of McLean’s collection, with cards from the 70’s, through today’s Manga and gaming decks.

You can see it in the video below, and hear McLean describe how Japanese Tarot has developed through the years.

I don’t know what it says about me, but I’m especially drawn to the decks meant for children and video games.

And isn’t that Marcus Katz at the 17:30 mark?

comment on this post