This week I am going to talk a bit about Tarot used as a back drop for literary fiction. The first book I am going to address is “Sepulchre”, by Kate Mosse. What an incredible read! At heart, it is a mystery, with a historical background. Chance encounters in Paris, Tarot readings, a mysterious Tarot deck … they are all woven into a wonderfully written story cover the same energy in two different time periods. Mosse blends French vocabulary, architecture, and the French way of life into a highly believable Dan Brown piece of fiction My review can be seen here.
The next story takes place in modern times – “Theater of Karma”, by Kooch Daniels. It carries the same qualities of Tarot, mystery, the esoteric, and romance, but in a very different format. The intent of this book was to move the Tarot out from under academia and bring it into the real world. Daniels succeeded! The twenty-two chapters in this book represent the twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana, their keywords and themes. The characters in the story, and their issues, reflect the world of a Tarot reader, and what that reader might be dealing with on any given day. While the Tarot is a spiritual journey, that journey takes place in the physical world, the world of reality. My review of “Theater of Karma” can be found here.
“The Lovers’ Path”, by Kris Waldherr, is an elegantly illustrated presentation of forbidden love. It is not a Tarot story at all, but is a book that is well worth reading. Set in sixteenth century Venice, it is all about the famous courtesan Tullia Ziani, and her talented younger sister Filomena.
Through well written words, stunning graphics, maps and letters – we enter another world, one of beauty and grace, but one that is also inhabited by sorrow and tragedy. As for those letters – in a very unique device, Waldherr presents us with several envelopes containing the letters referred to in her story, as part of the book. The reader is also gifted with the cards drawn for Filomena in a Tarot reading.
Awesome doesn’t begin to say anything about this book!
(c) 2000 – 2013 Bonnie Cehovet
Reproduction in any venue prohibited without the written permission of the author.
Perspectives On Tarot 