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The Vampire Tarot
The Vampire Tarot ties the tales and mythic figures associated with the vampire legend to the equally iconographic figures and forms of the tarot. This book explores the history of the vampire starting with Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel, Dracula, as well as those writings that inspired Stoker and the vampire lore that derived from it. Stoker and his most famous work were both closely tied to the classic Rider-Waite-Coleman tarot.
Now, author-illustrator Robert M. Place brings these two mythic traditions together with this extensively researched book that guides the reader through the subtleties and parallels within The Vampire Tarot, providing a guide for getting the most out of reading.
Sure to delight not only tarot devotees but the general fan of the vampire mythos as well.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 23, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 11, 2009
Robert Place has created yet another splendid contribution to Tarot in The Vampire Tarot, his most recent opus. Place's artistic style lends itself beautifully to a darkly elegant interpretation of the Tarot images filtered through the scrim of vampire mythology, and his scholarship makes for some unique takes on the Tarot.
Thematically, the deck is primarily focused on Bram Stoker's Dracula, the quintessential Vampire novel, although he draws on the lore and traditions of vampires dating back to the Greeks. The glossy, sharp-edged (a nice touch!) cards are drawn from a variety of of other Gothic, Romantic (the movement, not the sentiment, which is why Lord Byron, Franz Liszt and other, possibly unexpected, people appear in the Court cards) and vampire imagery. The images are arrestingly beautiful and frequently disturbing, dancing along the themes of death and resurrection, blood and salvation, madness and creativity. Place uses the alchemical quest for enlightenment, the desire for immortality that informs the vampire mythos and the Tarot facility for mapping the progress of the soul to craft a timely and satisfyingly coherent themed deck.
The book is a fascinating exploration of the history of Tarot and the evolution of the accoutrements of the Vampire legend, pulling from a wide research base, and a valuable contribution in itself to Tarot literature. Place brings the earlier versions of Tarot from the early Renaissance to the development of the Marseilles style decks back into descriptions of the Tarot, which enriches the descriptions of the cards and their meanings. Between the information on vampires and the elaboration of Tarot imagery and history, the book gives one a lot to chew on.
The production values are very high - good quality card stock, a densely packed booked and a handsome storage box.
Thalassa "Queen of Air and Darkness"
Thematically, the deck is primarily focused on Bram Stoker's Dracula, the quintessential Vampire novel, although he draws on the lore and traditions of vampires dating back to the Greeks. The glossy, sharp-edged (a nice touch!) cards are drawn from a variety of of other Gothic, Romantic (the movement, not the sentiment, which is why Lord Byron, Franz Liszt and other, possibly unexpected, people appear in the Court cards) and vampire imagery. The images are arrestingly beautiful and frequently disturbing, dancing along the themes of death and resurrection, blood and salvation, madness and creativity. Place uses the alchemical quest for enlightenment, the desire for immortality that informs the vampire mythos and the Tarot facility for mapping the progress of the soul to craft a timely and satisfyingly coherent themed deck.
The book is a fascinating exploration of the history of Tarot and the evolution of the accoutrements of the Vampire legend, pulling from a wide research base, and a valuable contribution in itself to Tarot literature. Place brings the earlier versions of Tarot from the early Renaissance to the development of the Marseilles style decks back into descriptions of the Tarot, which enriches the descriptions of the cards and their meanings. Between the information on vampires and the elaboration of Tarot imagery and history, the book gives one a lot to chew on.
The production values are very high - good quality card stock, a densely packed booked and a handsome storage box.
Thalassa "Queen of Air and Darkness"
June 17, 2017
place does a wonderful tribute to Bram Stokers novel.
July 14, 2020
Beautiful deck, very glossy card stock. The cards are slightly oversized but still easy to shuffle. The glossy finish of the cards makes the shuffle a little slower, but it's not disruptive to using it for a draw. The back of the cards have a stylized, sort of classic vampire image. The cards and suits are all rooted in the history & lore or vampires -- specifically Dracula -- as well as Bram Stoker's personal life & the circumstances under which Dracula was written. The guidebook is more than a tarot guidebook; it's also a critical work examining the structure of tarot divination, Bram Stoker, Victorian social & sexual mores, vampirism symbology in art, film & literature, the mythology of Dracula, & how the work transformed literature. Each subject is treated with academic attention, so a literature student and a tarot student alike will find much to learn & enjoy from the book, which clocks in at around 225 pages with a solid bibliography for further reading. There are a few substitutions for the major arcana, like The Madman, Van Helsing, Fate & Jonathan (The Fool). The minor suits are knives (swords), holy water (cups), stakes (wands), & garlic flowers (pentacles). The deck & book are sort of hard to come by, by well worth the hunt.
October 16, 2011
This deck is not for everyone. That said, it's by Robert M. Place, and a deck which is not the best of his best, is still a very good deck indeed. It's very different from most of the variations on the vampire themed decks which are out there, and this may be why it seems to be struggling to find its audience.
And that's a pity, for it may be an excellent deck for those who are looking for a vampire deck which is first and foremost a very serious and thoughtful Tarot to begin with, and not simply an excuse for a lot of soft-core art of hotties languishing about on pillows.
Surprisingly, there is a lot of very well reserached Tarot history here. More specifically, this deck focuses on the circle of friends and influences which created the milieu around which the Waite/Coleman-Smith deck was conceived and produced.
At last! Pamela Colemman-Smith takes her rightful place as the Queen (of Holy Water Vessels). Bram Stoker was one of her friends, and the enduring icon of the Dracula character is lifted and examined in its many manifestations in popular culture in film and other media through the present day.
Indeed, one of the great unexpected delights of this set is how it traces these interwoven friendships and artistic movements together as though they are the primordial soup in the cauldron from which the essential Tarot deck of our era arose.
Polidori's Lord Ruthven (Knave of Garlic Flowers) is here and Poe's Ligeia (Knave of Stakes), along with better known vampire characters such as the original movie Nosferatu (VII of Holy Water Vessels).
And there are historical figures such as Lord Byron (King of Knives), Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Knight of Knives), and Sir Henry Irving (King of Holy Water Vessels). The literary tradition of the vampire is well represented in the cards.
The suits are Garlic Flowers - Pentacles, Holy Water - Vessels or Cups, Stakes - Staves, and Knives - Swords. These are not merely cutsie objects chosen because they seem to fit, but Place ties them to iconic elements of the resonance for the figure of the vampire to the human imagination and psyche. Nothing Places ever chooses for one of his decks is chosen lightly.
You will find some unexpected and simply brilliant Tarot history and speculation (Place always make clear which is which - I appreciate that!), I value this set highly for that alone, and once you've read the accompanying book, you will too.
The deck is dark, but sharp as a knife edge rather than murky and soft focus as so many of its lesser cousins are. Place is clearly one of the "School of Ruthless Self-Examination" in his magical studies, and as a fellow graduate I appreciate that difficult but worthy course of study. That said, I have found this deck useful; if sometimes painfully clear, for my own shadow side work, but it's hard for me to imagine using it to read for others.
My only complaint on this score is that I wish the book had better binding, even a first reading wears ill. It's a pity, because this is a book which begs for multiple re-readings, note taking, and cross referencing for the scholar. Dare I hope for a hard-bound reprinting some day? And the quality of the card lamination is poor, too. I have been very ginger with them since a first shuffling damaged some of them. I hope the entire package gets more attention paid to the contents than the box should it ever be reissued in the future, it well deserves the investment!
That's not a drawback for me, but it might be for some. For the casual reader who thinks Tarot is a parlour game, or that vampires are "cool" and "hip", there are no end of less decks for you. For the serious reader and historian who looks with the understanding that you may not always like what you see, but that doesn't mean that the insight is not valuable, then I can't recommend this deck any higher.
And that's a pity, for it may be an excellent deck for those who are looking for a vampire deck which is first and foremost a very serious and thoughtful Tarot to begin with, and not simply an excuse for a lot of soft-core art of hotties languishing about on pillows.
Surprisingly, there is a lot of very well reserached Tarot history here. More specifically, this deck focuses on the circle of friends and influences which created the milieu around which the Waite/Coleman-Smith deck was conceived and produced.
At last! Pamela Colemman-Smith takes her rightful place as the Queen (of Holy Water Vessels). Bram Stoker was one of her friends, and the enduring icon of the Dracula character is lifted and examined in its many manifestations in popular culture in film and other media through the present day.
Indeed, one of the great unexpected delights of this set is how it traces these interwoven friendships and artistic movements together as though they are the primordial soup in the cauldron from which the essential Tarot deck of our era arose.
Polidori's Lord Ruthven (Knave of Garlic Flowers) is here and Poe's Ligeia (Knave of Stakes), along with better known vampire characters such as the original movie Nosferatu (VII of Holy Water Vessels).
And there are historical figures such as Lord Byron (King of Knives), Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Knight of Knives), and Sir Henry Irving (King of Holy Water Vessels). The literary tradition of the vampire is well represented in the cards.
The suits are Garlic Flowers - Pentacles, Holy Water - Vessels or Cups, Stakes - Staves, and Knives - Swords. These are not merely cutsie objects chosen because they seem to fit, but Place ties them to iconic elements of the resonance for the figure of the vampire to the human imagination and psyche. Nothing Places ever chooses for one of his decks is chosen lightly.
You will find some unexpected and simply brilliant Tarot history and speculation (Place always make clear which is which - I appreciate that!), I value this set highly for that alone, and once you've read the accompanying book, you will too.
The deck is dark, but sharp as a knife edge rather than murky and soft focus as so many of its lesser cousins are. Place is clearly one of the "School of Ruthless Self-Examination" in his magical studies, and as a fellow graduate I appreciate that difficult but worthy course of study. That said, I have found this deck useful; if sometimes painfully clear, for my own shadow side work, but it's hard for me to imagine using it to read for others.
My only complaint on this score is that I wish the book had better binding, even a first reading wears ill. It's a pity, because this is a book which begs for multiple re-readings, note taking, and cross referencing for the scholar. Dare I hope for a hard-bound reprinting some day? And the quality of the card lamination is poor, too. I have been very ginger with them since a first shuffling damaged some of them. I hope the entire package gets more attention paid to the contents than the box should it ever be reissued in the future, it well deserves the investment!
That's not a drawback for me, but it might be for some. For the casual reader who thinks Tarot is a parlour game, or that vampires are "cool" and "hip", there are no end of less decks for you. For the serious reader and historian who looks with the understanding that you may not always like what you see, but that doesn't mean that the insight is not valuable, then I can't recommend this deck any higher.
September 10, 2009
A fascinating, well-researched, and creative merging of the archetypal symbolism of the Tarot and the Vampire mythos. This is a companion book that comes with the Vampire Tarot deck, and the book is equally as alluring as the deck, and could stand alone as a creative work of merit. The book provides historical context and clear insights, shedding light on the evolution of Vampire lore as depicted through media and how it correlates with esoteric and tarot themes.
January 4, 2016
Doing a reading with these cards before going through the whole book was a mistake. I missed all the nuances of what he based his cards on. The concise history of tarot he gave was quite thorough and I can only imagine how in-depth his book on it is.
Having finished the companion book, I appreciate the cards and their advice more. I'm not a fan of how the cards stick together and shuffle, but I will be using it.
Having finished the companion book, I appreciate the cards and their advice more. I'm not a fan of how the cards stick together and shuffle, but I will be using it.
December 1, 2012
it's an ongoing thing. great reader engagement.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews