The Daily Note (10.15)
Okay--what is "extreme" Tarot??
In yesterday’s Daily Note, I said a little more about “lifestyle” Tarot, and the space it occupies in my imaginary Tarot landscape. Thinking about contrasts, I came up with the idea of a countervailing space: “extreme” Tarot.
I mean this in the sense of taking Tarot to its furthest reaches—in ideas, design, and/or application.
I’m not sure yet whether this is an 11th Door, or just an intensified area where multiple paths converge. But as I started trying to define the topic, it dawned on me that I’d written about some aspects in my second book, Tarot: Methods, Mastery, and More. I’ve just posted the whole Table of Contents, if you want to get a big picture view, but here’s a quick contextual note . . .
I’ve recently rewritten Chapter 2, “Divination,” and posted the revised sections on EP:
In the original book, the next two chapters—”Wellness: Rejoining Body and Mind,” and “Growth: Uniting Spirit and Soul”—fall generally into the lifestyle territory I’ve already talked about. The first and last chapters are extended discussions of various topics (some of which may be relevant, but I’m not sure yet).
That leaves Chapter 5, “Renewal: Revising Our Culture and Planet,” which I think began to sketch out part of the territory I’ve nicknamed “extreme.”
I hadn’t actually thought about this chapter of the book in many years—but as soon as I paged through it, I realized that it’s worth revisiting.
I’ve just started reconstructing my original line of thought, and will say more when I’m a bit further along in that process. In the meantime, though, here’s a tease for some of the sources whose ideas are woven together in this chapter:
Papus (The Tarot of the Bohemians)
Timothy Leary (The Game of Life)
Gary Ross (editor of the Tarot Network News)
Marshall McLuhan (The Gutenberg Galaxy)
Gregory Bateson (Steps to an Ecology of Mind)
James Hillman (The Thoughts of the Heart and the Soul of the World)
Kenneth Ring (The Omega Project)
Lawrence E. Joseph (Gaia: The Growth of an Idea)
I’ll offer some excerpts in Sunday’s Daily Notes.
But for today—here’s another, completely different example of “extreme” Tarot.
Designed in the style of a vintage recipe box complete with separators and three recipes, The Housewives Tarot includes a 1950s-inspired tarot deck filled with images of dinnerware (Pentacles), cutlery and sewing kits (Swords), martini glasses (Cups), mops and brooms (Wands), and much more.
This 2004 deck was created in 2004 by Paul Kepple and Jude Buffum. It’s whimsical, satirical, and spot-on—not quite as brilliant as Brian Williams’ PoMo Tarot, but in the same spirit.
As always—thanks for reading! See you Sunday. C