Repurposed Tarot, Refurbished Table – Research

New Work

Very Much in Progress – This feels like something of a major work for me. In addition to working with my hands and repurposing materials that would end up in a landfill. The theoretical underpinnings incorporate 3 primary aspects of study;

To decommission a tarot deck in a respectful and creative manner. The original intention was for this piece to hang on a wall as a simple interactive divination tool. Tables are extremely important to my spiritual development so it makes sense that it would evolve from a hanging piece to furnishing.
To explore the energetic aspects of deconstructing a deck, particularly the removal of the formal correspondences represented in the “frames” and allowing the major arcana to become a cyclic narrative.
To consider the relationship between Lady Frieda Harris, the artist, and the decks “author”, Aleister Crowley in light of this deconstruction.

Audio: Eden Bloom – December Rain – Teaser for this project; a deep dive on Lady Frieda Harris and the process of taking a form of divination depended upon variation and nailing it down to a cyclic narrative.

Decommissioning/Repurposing – The idea behind this one came to me over time. It started in early 2024 with thoughts of what to do with a decommissioned tarot deck, that is a deck that is no longer in use and that I don’t want on the shelves or in the collection for whatever the reason.

My first teacher, my sweet but extremely over-dramatic grandmother, instilled a bunch of traditions around the tarot that I otherwise wouldn’t have picked up on. She gave me my first deck. When trying to talk me out of wanting a deck in the first place she exclaimed “once you have a deck you can never throw it away!” I’m uncertain where she pulled that from, but I understood what she meant, that a deck was a commitment and came with certain responsibilities.

I’ve tried to respect that through the many decks that I’ve owned. I’ve given most away to those who were just learning. I’ve cleansed them first, either with moonlight or stones/crystals. I’ve burned a few, which I don’t recommend because of the plastic coating. Other, more accessible ideas for repurposing: https://carriemallon.com/blog/eight-craft-projects-to-repurpose-tarot-cards/
Energetic Deconstruction– William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin revived Tristan Tzara‘s riotous hat poetry as “the cut-up method” in the 1950’s beat generation era. The method has been deeply integrated into my own practice and perspective. As I worked on this project I mediated upon whether it could represent an inversion of the cut-up technique. Wherein a system that is supposed to be random in order to facilitate a “reading” and divination of the future is taken out of its system of correspondence and “nailed” down into an ordered cyclic narrative.
Energetic Relationships – My opinion on Crowley has shifted over the years. I’m guilty of replicating many behaviors negative to myself and others through early idolatry of pop occultists. Here are items I’ve been reading to more deeply understand the dynamics of this relationship:

Frieda Lady Harris

Analysis Does Cramp the Painter – How the artistic partnership of Lady Frieda Harris and Aleister Crowley led to the creation of the Thoth Tarot. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/analysis-does-cramp-painter

Materials
Thoth Deck – The tarot deck itself is a Thoth deck that someone bought me because I was complaining that no one had gifted me a deck since my grandmother and that I really was sick of buying them. It’s a Thoth deck, which has always been my preferred deck. It was the deck I picked up after learning on the rider-waite gifted by my GM. More on the paintings that became the Thoth deck: https://www.oto.org/thoth_conservation_report.html

Table Top – Round wood and leather table top. This was on a tripod base that broke beyond repair. Because it was a perfect circle I held on to it for years after getting rid of the legs/base. I believe it came out of our house. It could have been my in laws as well.

Table Base – An octagon wood base that was/is part of a set that came from my in laws house after they passed. I’ve always used it because it is an octagon. The other larger table in the set is used as a table for a massive jade tree.

Lazy Suzan Mechanism – available at most hardware stores for under $10.