The Tarot Room – Georgianna

Today we have a Tarot book review! It’s for a book called Magician and Fool by Susan Wands, published by Spark Press, and distributed through Simon & Schuster.

5 Points About This Book

1. Series: Magician and Fool is the first book in, what for now at least, is a three part series. Following Magician and Fool are High Priestess and Empress, and Emperor and Hierophant. I’m sensing a pattern here … may it continue.
2. Historical Fiction: Though the book is chalk full of real-life characters, the story itself is fiction … but it’s easy to believe in it! I ended up loving the magical Pamela Colman Smith … though the co-creator of my most cherished Thoth Tarot, Aleister Crowley, comes across as far less endearing.
3. Storyline: The overarching theme of Magician and Fool is magic and Tarot. It traces the story of Pamela Colman Smith from childhood through the creation of the Fool and Magician cards from her iconic Tarot deck. But it’s not a biography, more a raucous magical window into what it might have been like creating what was to become the most popular Tarot deck in the world. Not to mention a chance to get to know some of the amazing characters in the fledgling Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and those they hung around.
4. Famous Names Making An Appearance: – Pamela Colman Smith, Arthur Edward Waite, Aleister Crowley, William Butler Yeats, Maud Gonne, Florence Farr, Bram Stoker, William Terriss, Ellen Terry, Henry Irving … and the list could go on.
5. Readability: It’s a page turning magical Tarot adventure story. This book is so fun! Very readable – I love it.

I highly recommend Magician and Fool to Tarot readers and magic enthusiasts of all kinds. And even if you don’t read cards, or care about the Golden Dawn, it’s still a delightful mystical romp. I’m really looking forward to High Priestess and Empress … stay tuned!

Arthur E Waite

Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin’s new book about Arthur E Waite’s ‘other’ Tarot deck is finally out, or at least the limited first edition is ready to print.

It’s called Abiding in the Sanctuary: The Waite-Trinick Tarot A Christian Mystical Tarot (1917-1923) and promises to shed light on an important piece of Tarot history.

I posted about the book a while back while it was still in production. It explores the story behind the 23 Tarot images Waite commissioned stained-glass artist J.B. Trinick to create.

There are over 80 colour and black and white plates in the book, commentary on the images, biographies of the main players, and a peek into Waite’s mystical system for spiritual development.

Only 250 copies of this first edition will be made, so it’s kind of special. I decided to treat myself to an early Christmas present and ordered one. I can barely wait to see it.

Hopefully it’ll be published in a mass-market form soon as well. And what I’m really hoping for is a printing of the deck itself.

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