Welcome to the Debut Issue of Fool’s Moon
By: Cynthia Giles
Tags: Self, History, Tarot, Creativity, Spirituality

Welcome to the Debut Issue of Fool’s Moon

First, a note about the name . . .

Years ago I started a small publication with a similar name — and artist Mindy Sommers generously sent me this header design:

As it turned out, my life took a sharp turn around that time, and I didn’t go forward with the publication — but I’m delighted to adapt the name for this newsletter, and to share Mindy’s elegant design.

“In those days” Mindy had created an oracle deck called Dreaming in Color. It’s visually and conceptually fascinating, and though I’m not sure how available it is today, you can see the cards here and possibly purchase a copy on Etsy.

Now for the welcome

Many thanks to everyone who has followed Tarot | A Textual Project on Medium. That publication was designed to offer revised/updated material from my books, and though I’ve included some personal reflections, the main focus is on refreshing core texts and making them available to read online.

So far, each installment of my book text is getting a pretty radical makeover, so it will take a long time to see the whole project accomplished. But as the work progresses, I’ll try to make every story worthwhile on its own.

In the meantime, though, I find myself with new Tarot information and ideas almost every day — and I’d love to share these discoveries as they come along. So that will be the purpose of Fool’s Moon.

Every week, I’ll send a newsletter issue with two or three short items that (I hope) will not only expand the landscape of Tarot studies but also inspire curiosity and creativity.

These weekly stories will be drawn from the categories that organize Tarot | A Textual Project:

History (from 1400–2000)

(from 1400–2000) Mystery (the occult tradition, imagination, divination, science, and spirit)

(the occult tradition, imagination, divination, science, and spirit) Lore (books, decks, accessories, practical notes, personalities)

There is much overlap, of course — but I want to ensure that all three of these perspectives receive their due.

I know there may already be too many newsletters flooding your Inbox, so I’ve planned to make Fool’s Moon a quick pleasure. Never more than a five-minute read! But of course you can opt out at any time.

On the other hand — if you would like even more information and inspiration, consider subscribing to my other newsletter, at Tarot | An Exploration Project.

And now the first stories

For the debut of Fool’s Moon . . . tales of old imagery, made new in different ways.

I. From a dream to a theory

Among the unexpected commentators mentioned in Transforming Tarot: “A New Revolution” was noted historian Theodore Roszak — and I thought his ideas about Tarot would be worth a closer look.

Roszak became widely known after the publication of his wide-ranging study The Making of a Counter Culture (1969). He went on to write such influential books as Where the Wasteland Ends (1972) and Person/Planet: The Creative Disintegration of Industrial Society (1979). Then — in 1988 — he offered a brief but sophisticated interpretation of Tarot in Fool’s Cycle/Full Cycle: Reflections on the Great Trumps of Tarot.

In his introduction, Roszak explains that although he had found the Tarot images interesting, nothing he read about them seemed substantive. And he couldn’t come up with anything better himself. So he had almost forgotten about the pack of cards left in a desk drawer, until — one night:

I do not often dream vividly . . . but one night I conjured up a remarkably lucid image of the twenty-two Tarot trumps neatly arranged along a cyclical curve. There at the beginning of the cycle was the Fool, giving his non-number —zero — to the equilibrium line. There, at the center was the card of the Wheel of Fortune acting as a pivot point. There, at the bottom of the downward curve was the card of the Devil. There, at the end of the journey was the card of the World. The more I thought about the symbolic quality of the cycle as a significant elaboration of the circle and the spiral, the more resonant the form became,

until at last it assumed the shape of the life cycle.

Here’s a diagrammatic view of Roszak’s vision:

Roszak elaborates each of the phases defined in this arrangement, and discusses the symbolism of each card — based on his own blend of the Rider-Waite trumps and Paul Foster Case’s version. For illustrations, he uses the 18th-century Marseilles-style “Tarot Classic” deck.

You can still buy this little booklet (just 36 pages) and I recommend adding it to your collection. At first glance, Roszak’s schema may seem similar to other “life cycle” interpretations of the trumps, but when you explore more deeply, it offers some original, thought-provoking ideas.

II. Recreating a legacy

Looking back much further — if you were intrigued by the very early Tarots discussed in The Historical Tarot: Art and Origins, you might want to own a facsimile copy. The Visconti-Sforza deck has been available for many years, and commercial versions of the Marseilles type are plentiful. But if you would like something special — consider a hand-crafted deck from Tarot Sheet Revival.

Decks from Tarot Sheet Revival

These very old designs have been seen mainly in stained and faded sheets, barely salvaged from the scraps used by bookbinders. So I didn’t really appreciate their aesthetic interest until I visited the TSR website.

Through painstaking craftsmanship, TSR is recreating Tarot decks as they would have been centuries ago, when the designs were fresh and vibrant.

Here’s how they do it:

Tarot Sheet Revival is a research laboratory for the rediscovery and implementation of techniques inspired by master cardmakers and

wood engravers. A variety of tailor-made techniques, preparations

and materials contribute to the creation of each TSR tarot — including:

handmade envelopes

original engravings

natural glues from ancient recipes

hand-glued cards made from laminated sheets

hand-cut stencils and hand-painting

The result seems to be much richer than other facsimiles I’ve seen — and you can watch their new work in progress on Facebook. You can also read more about the artist behind TSR, and how the cards are created, in this article from Tarot Heritage.

From TSR’s Dodali Tarot

So that’s it for the first issue of Fool’s Moon. Next week — some remarks on Tarot from Ken Kesey (author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) that expanded my understanding of The Fool. Plus, a few thoughts about starting, growing, and/or cataloging a Tarot collection, plus a look at what’s in mine.

Warmest regards, Cynthia