Brotherhood of Light Egyptian Tarot

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.  -Oscar Wilde 

US Games Systems has just released a color deck of The Brotherhood of Light Egyptian Tarot Cards. These cards are simply rich - from the mythology, symbols, astrology, Hebrew characters, numerology and the teachings of the Kabbalah - each one is a feast to feed one's mind and soul. A companion deck to The Sacred Tarot by C.C. Zain, the original 1936 black and white images were first designed by Gloria Beresford, then redesigned in 2009 by Vicki Brewer as full-color Egyptian tarot cards. 

I recently received the deck with it's little instruction booklet, and just the key on the front makes me giddy. The circle of the key is divided into the four suits with the numbers 1 through 9 corresponding to planetary positions within constellations. For example, 3 of Swords (or Trey of swords, I love the old-fashioned aspects of this deck) shows Mercury, Capricorn and Virgo. The post of the key contain the major arcana, while the teeth contain the court cards. Interesting, as in all my Santa Cruz tarot classes, students tend to get stuck when studying the court cards, which in some way once understood, allow for the tumble and click in unlocking the wisdom of the tarot.

Rather than going through the suits, the section on the minor arcana goes through the numbers, associating each with a particular planet, giving the divinatory significance of each card as well as its' inner interpretation. Following the Hermetic tradition, the cards an integral part of an internally consistent exposition of occult sciences. Astrology, alchemy and magic are continuously expressed through color, symbol and glyph. Each card is actually a cartouche, containing a message for the seeker. While I am well versed in Greek and Roman mythology, these cards had me seeking way back in my mind, as I remember adoring Egyptian culture as a kid. I'm lucky to have had the opportunity to travel in Tunisia and Northern Africa, but Egypt is still on my list of places to visit this lifetime.

"What the tarot can be made to reveal is limited only by the capacity for understanding of the person using it " (from the booklet). I have been really enjoying playing with this new deck as it synthesized my own interests in both tarot and astrology. Having the planets and signs expressed on each card gives me instant access to more information that I can share with my client. 

It's been 23 years now that I have been courting the cards. Receiving The Brotherhood of Light Egyptian Tarot Cards cards reminds me that the Tarot itself is a lifetime romance...

Co-Creator

Walk in Beauty

Du Whacky Du - The Morgan's Tarot Review

The Morgan's Tarot was created by Morgan Robbins, illustrated by Darshan Chorpash and was first published in 1970 by US Games Systems. Three reprints later, this fascinating deck is eclectic and entertaining, whimsical and always deeply thought provoking.

Morgan's Tarot is a black and white deck with simple line drawings, clearly inspired by the '60s, with the images ranging from turtledoves nesting on a branch to comets shooting through outer space, from three eyed aliens to completely unknown objects. There are 88 cards instead of the traditional 78, and indeed seemed at first to be completely random and quite removed from the numerology, suits and archetypal symbolism of the Tarot. Even the order in the booklet was completely random.

The accompanying booklet was a wealth of gems. The card descriptions were only a few sentences each, but added meaning, humor and charm to each of the cards. Another tarot reader that I know said she numbered the cards and the descriptions, in order to make it easier to look them up. This inspired me to not just number the cards, but to color them as well.

Three months ago I received a review copy in the mail, coinciding with the beginning of my 10 week class, Journey through the Tarot.  I made it my goal to finish the deck by the end of the class  - quite a daunting task, since it took me almost 4 years to color the Daughters of the Moon deck. However, I used watercolor for the DOM deck, and for the Morgan's tarot I ended up using quite a variety of media that led to more spontaneity with each individual card.

The cards are printed on quality card stock with a glossy coating. I ended up using a pack of chisel point permanent markers to color the images, which was really fun as the thick tips had me coloring outside the lines quite frequently. I tend to be very fastidious in my artwork, and this was so liberating to be quick and downright sloppy at times. I was limited in my palette of eight colors, which let me have more fluorescent pink skies than I'd usually allow myself.

The tarot is a system, and the way for me to learn a new deck is to apply the system. I lay out all 78 cards of the Rider-Waite deck on my living room floor in order, then lay down each of the Morgan's Tarot on top. I painted the outside edges with acrylic paints, corresponding to each of the suits (Earth, Water, Fire, Air & Aether), using Green, Blue, Red, Yellow and Purple. Having 10 extra cards meant 2 extra for each of the suits, so each one got a Zero card and the royals were numbered 11 through 15.

Now the fun began. For each card I had cut out the meaning from the booklet and glued it around the edges, eliminating the need to "go look it up". I added a variety of fine glitters, bejeweled embellishments, and tiny stickers in order to really personalize each one. The colors began to pop and indeed, the deck is considerably thicker than originally and can no longer fit in the box. To end, I colored all the backs with a purple acrylic with a breath of silver glitter. I did three layers of an acrylic clear coat on each side, waiting 24 hours to dry between coats.

To me, this is what Tarot is all about. I truly PLAYED with the Morgan's Tarot, infusing my own color, meaning and energy into each card. The more I played, the more I appreciated the simple interpretations of life's complexities, the gentle reminders to laugh at life for all of it's conundrums. While seemingly so disparate from the traditional tarot, the Morgan's Tarot is a classic in it's own right.

Blessed Be.

Interview on KZSC

 Awright, let's see if we can get this to work, considering Mercury is retrograde. My good friend Chip kindly recorded my radio interview on Monday night with Kai and Richard on Closet Free Radio, KZSC 88.1 here in Santa Cruz.

InterzSHARE - kgr_kzsc_20100419_80jtstereo.mp3

All Healing

No Doubt