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.
Arthur Waite is probably best known for being the ‘Waite’ in the Rider Waite Smith Tarot, one of the most popular decks in the world. But did you know he designed another deck as well?
Between 1917 and 1923, ten years after working with Pamela Colman Smith, Waite commissioned a second set of Tarot illustrations with artist J.B. Trinick as part of The Great Symbols of the Paths.
And though they’re not going to be a deck just yet, these beautiful and rarely seen images are soon to be part of a new book by Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin.
The book will include high quality images of the 22 Major Arcana, an additional ‘path’ image, some extra variant designs, sketches and previously unpublished commentary by Waite himself.
It will also feature research into the lives of Trinick and others involved in the creation of this deck, as well as an explanation of how the images fit onto the Tree of Life in Waite’s ‘hidden’ set of correspondences.
Goodwin and Katz hope to get it published by the end of this year, and you can help them make that happen.
To help cover the costs of licensing, photography, and printing, they’ve set up an IndieGoGo page and are offering rewards to people who donate. Check them out.
And you can read the amazing story of how this project got started, and how it’s developing on Goodwin’s Tarot Speak Easy blog.
It’s going to be an exceptional book. I’m really looking forward to it, and to the deck that hopefully will follow.
The designers describe it as ‘a creative science communication project that combines science, art and mythology into a Tarot deck…”
It’s the Science Tarot, a group project engaging the skills of artists, Tarot readers, and of course scientists. Various scientific theories or stories are identified with particular cards. The results are really interesting.
The 2 of Swords, for instance, looks at gravity, and how every action causes an equal and opposite reaction. The Empress is the story of Mendel’s Peas, and the 7 of Wands describes the process of expansion.
It’s a brilliant way to look at the cards. Not to mention, a chance to expand our rational side a little, while engaging the unconscious.
The website lists Logan Austeja Daniel, Martin Azevedo, and Raven Hanna as the creators.
While the artists involved are Suzanne Forbes, Shari Arai DeBoer, Kristian Johnson Michiels, Kristy Whitehouse, Janelle Schneider, and John Daniel.
I hear someone from the project will be presenting at BATS this weekend. I look forward to their talk, and a chance to get a copy of the deck.
Take a look at the videos below to see animated versions of the Hanged Man and Sun cards. And to see more, visit Horgworm’s YouTube channel.
