Current Projects
Publications on Tarot: Books
Tarot and Other Meditation Decks: History, Theory, Aesthetics, Typology. Jefferson: McFarland, 2004. Second edition 2023.
Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010. Bristol, UK: Intellect, 2016.
A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010. Valleyhome Books, 2016.
Publications on Tarot: Edited Papers and Books
Mythlore: Special Section: Divination in Mythopoeic Literature. Issue 132. Volume 36, Number 2. Spring/Summer 2018. Guest Editor Emily E. Auger. [Available online]
Tarot in Culture. Valleyhome Books, 2014. [29 papers by 23 scholars and artists with a foreword by Rachel Pollack; supported by two external peer reviewers.]
Divining Tarot: Papers on Charles Williams's The Greater Trumps and Other Works by Nancy-Lou Patterson. Edited by Emily E. Auger and Janet Brennan Croft. Valleyhome Books, 2019.
Publications on Tarot: Articles
Publications on Tarot: Reviews
- The new edition of Tarot and Other Meditation Decks (First edition, McFarland 2004, second edition 2023) is now available! The second edition includes new material addressing Tarot in film and literature, a new chapter on developments in Tarot since the first edition, and 40 additional illustrations! I love the new cover McFarland has designed for it (see above). That is Monica Bodirsky's Shadowland Tarot paired with the Rider-Waite-Smith cards.
- My paper on "Alchemy in the Tarot Temperance Card" has been published in Coreopsis 10.2 (Autumn 2022).
- A paper I submitted to an anthology has passed editorial review and is now waiting for the book's copy-editor.
- The editors of an anthology to which I contributed two short pieces on cartomancy is now consulting with contributors regarding objects to include in the associated exhibition.
- I presented my first "zoomed" conference paper at Mythcon in early August (hope to see it published in the coming months) and am working on a new paper (by invitation) for a special issue of a journal.
- My new book manuscript is in a one step forward and two steps back stage.
- Links to my latest reviews can be found in the Tarot section of the Review page.
Publications on Tarot: Books
Tarot and Other Meditation Decks: History, Theory, Aesthetics, Typology. Jefferson: McFarland, 2004. Second edition 2023.
- ISBN 0-7864-1674-2; ebook (2011) ISBN 978-0-7864-8304-4
- This study evolved out of my earlier interests in shamanism as a factor in the development of visual motifs, and in multi-culturalism and the theoretical dynamics of modernism and post-modernism. It includes discussions of the theoretical, art historical, and literary aspects of contemporary Tarot decks and of the growth in importance of "self" expression in art and multi-culturalism as factors in the creative revision of Tarot over the past thirty years, as well as a section on the influence of Native American culture on revisions of Tarot. The second edition includes new material addressing Tarot in film and literature, and a new chapter on developments in Tarot since the first edition withj 40 additional illustrations! The new cover features Monica Bodirsky's Shadowland Tarot paired with the Rider-Waite-Smith cards.
- The study of Tarot as a cultural form closely linked to the development of the novel and popular genres of literature presented in Tarot in Other Meditation Decks is further developed in my book Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010 (Intellect 2016)
- The second edition includes new material addressing Tarot in film and literature, a new chapter on developments in Tarot since the first edition, and forty additional illustrations!
- Publisher's Website
- Purchase on amazon.ca or amazon.com
- Excerpt in the July 2012 Association for Tarot Studies Newsletter
Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010. Bristol, UK: Intellect, 2016.
- Hardcover ISBN 9781783203314
- Discussion chapters address the history of the cards, with special note taken of those that make film appearances, the role of cartomancy scenes in film, and also the attributes and qualities associated with filmic cartomancers. The longest chapter addresses the traditional and revised meanings assigned to the Tarot trumps and Fool in film contexts. Includes appendices, bibliography, indexes, and a filmography listing almost 200 films, 150 of them with Tarot trumps.
- Review by Elizabeth Hazel at Facing North
- University of Chicago Press (distributor) Website
- Intellect (publisher) Website
- Purchase on amazon.ca or amazon.com
A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010. Valleyhome Books, 2016.
- A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010 is a companion volume to Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940–2010. This 410 page filmography includes entries for 199 films incorporating cartomancy and/or Tarot scenes, b/w illustrations from over 30 cartomancy decks, numerous charts showing the cartomancy spreads used in specific films, and an index of the cross-listings between films.
- ISBN Hardcover 978-1-987919-02-8; Softcover 978-1-987919-07-3
- Review by Elizabeth Hazel at Facing North
- Purchase hardcover, available exclusively at Lulubooks
Purchase softcover at Lulubooks or amazon.ca or amazon.com - The eBook edition (2017) is divided into three files illustrated with colour pictures of the Tarot and other cards presented in the print edition in black-and-white. The eBooks also include the print-edition diagrams showing some of the card spreads appearing in the films.
- All three ebook volumes are available for library purchase (Overdrive).
- A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot 1940–1979 (50 films)
- ISBN 978-1-987919-14-1 Purchase eBook at Kobo
- A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot 1980–1999 (68 films)
- ISBN 978-1-987919-15-8 Purchase eBook at Kobo
- A Filmography of Cartomancy and Tarot 2000–2010 (81 films)
- ISBN 978-1-987919-16-5 Purchase eBook at Kobo
Publications on Tarot: Edited Papers and Books
Mythlore: Special Section: Divination in Mythopoeic Literature. Issue 132. Volume 36, Number 2. Spring/Summer 2018. Guest Editor Emily E. Auger. [Available online]
Tarot in Culture. Valleyhome Books, 2014. [29 papers by 23 scholars and artists with a foreword by Rachel Pollack; supported by two external peer reviewers.]
- Purchase ebook on Kobo: Volume One and Volume Two
- Purchase Volume One (softcover or hardcover with jacket) on Lulu
- Purchase Volume Two (softcover or hardcover with jacket) on Lulu
- If you have trouble with the links, go to the main Kobo or Lulu site and search for the title.
- Interviewed by Gwendolyn Womack about Tarot in Culture (2017).
Divining Tarot: Papers on Charles Williams's The Greater Trumps and Other Works by Nancy-Lou Patterson. Edited by Emily E. Auger and Janet Brennan Croft. Valleyhome Books, 2019.
- Review by Elizabeth Hazel at Facing North (April 2021)
- ISBN Hardcover 978-1-987919-08-0; Softcover 978-1-987919-10-3; eBook 978-1-987919-09-7
- Purchase hardcover, exclusively available from Lulu Books
- Purchase softcover from Lulu Books
- Purchase ebook from Kobo
Publications on Tarot: Articles
- "Alchemy in the Tarot Temperance Card." Coreopsis 10.2 (Autumn 2022).
- "An Annotated List of Fantasy Novels Incorporating Tarot (1990-2005)." Mythlore 38.2 (Spring/Summer 2020): 139-61.
- "Introduction: Divination and Prophecy in Mythopoeic Fantasy." Mythlore 36.2 (Spring/Summer 2018): 162-64.
- "Tarot and T.S. Eliot in Stephen King's Dark Tower Novels." Mythlore 36.2 (Spring/Summer 2018): 185-213.
- "An Annotated List of Fantasy Novels Incorporating Tarot (1968-1989)." Mythlore 36.2 (Spring/Summer 2018): 231-250.
- "The Tarot of Jane Austen: Re-Envisioning the World." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture 12.4 (2013) On-line.
- "Arthurian Legend in Tarot." King Arthur in Popular Culture. Eds. Donald Hoffman and Elizabeth Sklar. Jefferson: McFarland, 2002. 233-48.
Publications on Tarot: Reviews
- Briefly Noted: Ithell Colquhoun Taro as Colour Tarot deck and book by Ithell Colquhoun. Mythlore 41.2 (Spring/Summer 2023): 280.
- Rev. of Casey Gilly (author) and Tomas Hijo's The Lord of the Rings Tarot Deck and Guide (Insight Editions, 2022). Mythlore 41.2 (Spring/Summer 2023): 245-47.
- Rev. of Victoria Jenkins's Visions of the Occult: An Untold Story of Art and Magic (Tate, 2022). Facing North (February 2023).
- Rev. of Susan Aberth and Tere Arcq's The Tarot of Leonora Carrington (Book) (Editorial RM 2023). Facing North (February 2023).
- Rev. of Ithell Colquhoun's Taro as Color (Deck). Facing North (January 2023).
- Combined Rev. of T. Susan Chang's 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot (Anima Mundi Press, 2021); T. Susan Chang and M. M. Meleen's Tarot Deciphered: Decoding Esoteric Symbolism in Modern Tarot (Llewellyn, 2021) with foreword by Lon Milo DuQuette; and T. Susan Chang's Tarot Correspondences: Ancient Secrets for Everyday Readers (Llewellyn, 2018, fifth printing 2021). Correspondences 10.2 (2022): 1-5. Advance copy available for pdf download.
- Rev. of Laetitia Barbier's Tarot and Divination Cards: A Visual Archive with a foreword by Rachel Pollack. Abrams/Cernunnos Coreopsis 10.2 (Autumn 2022).
- Rev. of Sarah Bartlett's Iconic Tarot Decks: The History, Symbolism, and Design of over 50 Decks. Francis Lincoln, an Imprint of The Quarto Group, 2021. Coreopsis 10.1 (Spring 2022).
- Rev. of "Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully: The Supersensual Life of Ithell Colquhoun Artist and Occultist by Amy Hale. Strange Attractor Press, 2020." Facing North (June 2022).
- Rev. of "Pamela Colman Smith Tarot Artist: The Pious Pixie by Dawn G. Robinson. Fonthill Media, 2020." Mythlore 40.2 (Spring/Summer 2022): 249-51.
- Rev. of "Pamela Colman Smith: Artist, Feminist, and Mystic by Elizabeth Foley O'Connor. Clemson University Press, 2021." Mythlore 40.2 (Spring/Summer 2022): 251-54.
- Rev. of "Iconic Tarot Decks: The History, Symbolism and Design of over 50 Decks by Sarah Bartlett. Francis Lincoln, an Imprint of The Quarto Group, 2021." Coreopsis: A Journal of Myth and Theatre 10.1 (Spring 2022).
- Review Essay: "Women Tarot Artists Inspired by the Golden Dawn: Recent Publications." Includes a discussion of Mina Bergson/Moina Mathers, Pamela Colman Smith, Jessie Burns Park, and Frieda Harris, as context for several recent publications from Fulgur Press: The Tarot of Leonora Carrington with contributions by Gabriel Weisz Carrington, Leonora Carrington, Susan Aberth, and Tere Arcq (2020); Major Arcana: Leonora Carrington (22 cards and pamphlet with essay by Rachel Pollack (2020); and Taro as Colour by Ithell Colquhoun with an Introduction by Amy Hale (2018). Mythlore 40.1 (Fall/Winter 2021): 242-48.
- Rev. of "The Cards: The Evolution and Power of Tarot by Patrick Maille. University Press of Mississippi, 2021." Mythlore 40.1 (Fall/Winter 2021): 274-80.
- Rev. of "Essential Tarot Writings: A Collection of Source Texts in Western Occultism by Donald Tyson. Llewellyn, 2020." Facing North. November 2021.
- Rev. of "Tarot Magic: Ceremonial Magic Using Golden Dawn Correspondences by Donald Tyson. [Originally published as Portable Magic by Llewellyn, 2006). Llewellyn 2018. Fifth printing 2021." Facing North. November 2021.
- Rev. of "The History of Tarot Art: Demystifying the Art & Arcana, Deck by Deck by Holly Adams Easley & Esther Joy Archer. Epic Ink, Quarto Group, 2021." Facing North. October 2021.
- Rev. of "Tarot Fundamentals/ Tarot Experience/ Tarot Compendium, edited and compiled by Sasha Graham. Lo Scarabeo 2015, 2016, 2017." Facing North. September 2021.
- Rev. of "Tarot by the Moon: Spreads and Spells for Every Month of the Year, by Victoria Constantino. Llewellyn, 2021." Facing North. September 2021.
- Combined Rev. of "Tarot edited and written by Jessica Hundley with essays by Penny Slinger, Johannes Fiebig, and Marcella Kroll. Taschen, 2020; and Astrology edited by Jessica Hundley with essays by Andrea Richards, foreword by Susan Miller. Taschen, 2020." Mythlore 39.2 (Spring/Summer 2021): 162-65.
- Rev. of "The Art of the Occult: A Visual Sourcebook for the Modern Mystic by S. Elizabeth. White Lion Publishing, 2020." Mythlore 39.2 (Spring/Summer 2021): 177-81.
- Combined Rev. of "A Treatise on the Deification of Sixteen Heroes by Marziano Da Sant' Alosio, with text, translation, introduction and notes by Ross G.R. Caldwell and Marco Ponzi. Scholion Press, 2019; The Marziano Tarot The Oldest Known Tarot Deck Conceived by Marziano da Tortona, First Created by Michelino da Besozzo in Milan between 1412 and 1425 recreated in 2015 by Robert Place. Hermes Publications, 2016; and Explaining the Tarot in Sixteenth Century Italy, with translation and commentary by Ross Sinclair Caldwell, Thierry Depaulis, and Marco Ponzi. Second edition. 2018." Mythlore 38.2 (Spring/Summer 2020): 221-25.
- Rev. of "Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story by Stuart R. Kaplan, Mary K. Greerm Elizabeth Foley O'Connor, and Melinda Boyd Parsons. U.S. Games Systems, 2018." Mythlore 37.2 (Spring/Summer 2019): 228-231.
- Rev. of "Tarot of the Future: Raising Spiritual Consciousness, by Arthur Rosengarten. Paragon House, 2018." Mythlore 36.2 (Spring/Summer 2018): 263-65.
- Rev. of "Lost Envoy: The Tarot Deck of Austin Osman Spare ed. Jonathan Allen. Strange Attractor Press, 2016." Preternature (Spring 2017): 186-88.
- Rev. of "Charles Williams: The Third Inkling. Oxford University Press, 2015 by Grevel Lindop." Mythprint 53.3 (Fall 2016): 7-8. Link to the Review.
- Rev of "Arcana: The Tarot Card Anthology [Poetry anthology], edited by Marjorie Jensen. Minor Arcana Press, 2015." Mythprint: Quarterly Bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society 53.1 (Spring 2016): 9-10. Link to the Review.
- Combined Rev. of "The Hobbit Tarot, by Terry Donaldson (author of guide pamphlet) and Peter Pracownik (artist). Stamford, CT: U.S. Games Systems, Inc., 2012. 78-card deck and booklet. 96 pp.; The Lord of the Rings Tarot Deck and Card Game by Terry Donaldson (author of guidebook), Peter Pracownik (artist), and Mike Fitzgerald (game rules). Stamford, CT: U.S. Games Systems, Inc., 1997. 78-car deck, and book 272 pp. including b/w illus. of the cards, bibliography. Out of print." Mythlore 121/122 (Spring/Summer 2013): 136-38.
- Rev. of "Francesco Clemente: The Tarots & Self-Portraits as the Twelve Apostles. Exhibition Catalogue. Ed. Max Seidel. Essays by Marzia Faietti, Antonio Natali, Francesco Pellizzi, and Max Seidel. Hirmer Verlag, 2011." Tarosophist International: The Magazine of Tarosophy® & Tarot 1.17 (Winter 2012): 20-22.
- Rev. of "Abiding in the Sanctuary: The Waite-Trinick Tarot A Christian Mystical Tarot (1917–1923), by Tali Goodwin and Marcus Katz, preface by Mary K. Greer. Keswick: Forge Press/blurb.com, 2011." Mythlore 30.3/4 (Spring/Summer 2012): 171-72.
- Rev. of "The William Blake Tarot of the Creative Imagination, by Ed Buryn [Revised Edition]." Tarosophist International: The Magazine of Tarosophy® & Tarot 1.13 (Winter 2011): 12-16.
- Rev. of "Fortune's Lover: A Book of Tarot Poems, by Rachel Pollack. New York: Midsummer Night's Press, 2009." FemSpec 10.2 (2010).
- Rev. of "An Introduction to Western Esotericism: Essays in the Hidden Meaning of Literature, Groups, and Games, by Nadya Q. Chishty-Mujahid. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 2008." FemSpec 10.2 (2010).
- Rev. of "Niki de Saint Phalle and the Tarot Garden, with essay by Jill Johnson, et al. Benteli Verlag, 2010." Tarosophist International: The Magazine of Tarosophy® & Tarot 1.9 (Winter 2010): 67-69.
- Rev. of "A Cultural History of Tarot From Entertainment to Esotericism, by Helen Farley. New York: I.B. Taurus, 2009." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts 21.2 (2010): 294-96.
- Rev. of "Esotericism, Art, and Imagination, edited by Arthur Versluis, Lee Irwin, John Richards, and Melinda Weinstein. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2009." Mythlore 107/108 (2009): 180-82. Link to the Review
- Rev. of "Esoteric Symbols: The Tarot in Yeats, Eliot, and Kafka, by June Leavitt. New York: University Press of America, 2007." Journal of Popular Culture 41.1 (February 2008): 159-61.