A New Year's Newsletter (01.02)
A quick retrospective + a look ahead . . .
First—I’d like to welcome readers who signed up since the last newsletter! If you’ve just arrived, here’s a handy guide to some of the material already published, along with a note on the browsing tools available. I hope you’ll have a look around.
Second—I want to thank all the readers who have been nice enough to open some or all of the 80 EP emails sent out since November 15, 2020. And of course everyone who has browsed the series of posts on Tarot History, as well as the 20 or so essays collected in Mystery and Lore.
Third—I’m invoking the spirit of Janus to look backward and forward at once, as we begin again the Fool’s journey, through another year.
2021 Favorites
I ended last year thinking about which EP newsletters were my favorites—and of course I couldn’t decide. So in the interests of actually making a list, I decided to limit myself to just five. In no particular order:
Suzanne Treister’s Hexen 2.0, because it amazed me
Haute Tarot, because it delighted me
Tarot Noir, because it surprised me
My Tarot Manifesto, because it’s foundational
Pi Day Tarot, because it was fun to write
But! In order to give myself a little more running room, I came up with these three “special awards”:
Most overstuffed newsletter: A collage that includes the Tarot scene in Have Gun, Will Travel (one of my favorites finds!); a profile of Bill Butler (poet, publisher, activist, and pathbreaking Tarot author); diverse notes on the seminal anthology Wheel of Tarot: A New Revolution; and Lily Stone’s “Tarodelics” deck.
Most serious/important stories: a three-way tie between The Trouble with Tarot; Hard Questions; and Tarot and Content Marketing.
Favorite deck discoveries: a tie between Fiona March’s lovely “Bird Tarot” and Themush Noon’s unique “Values of the Thai Woman.” (Runner up: Celestae's gorgeously Gothic "Tarot of the Wyrd.")
As I looked back over the stories from this year, I realized how much I’ve enjoyed writing them. And how much I’m looking forward to . . .
2022 Plans
This part will be brief, because I’m still working out how to proceed. But at the least, I can promise:
Two new series: “A Poem for Every Trump” and “A Painting for Every Trump”
One new feature: “Tarot Time Capsule”
One new podcast: “Serious Tarot”
Plus a continuing exploration of Tarot in the context of art, literature, history, science, philosophy, esoteric studies, and current events.
Also—launching on February 2—a separate newsletter series, focused on sharing my Tarot methodology.
Coming tomorrow, a note on my Tarot resolutions for 2022.
Warmest regards, C