TASCHEN – The Magician, Death, and the Moon – Surrealism meets Symbolism in Salvador Dali’s tarot deck

© Cartamundi, Turnhout Belgium © Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2019

Dear Shaded Viewers,

I don’t know about you but I’ve always been addicted to the Tarot. I even had the pleasure of a very short reading, 3 cards, by the master Alejandro Jodorowsky. My dear friend Philippe Pourhashemi is an excellent reader of the Tarot, unlike most readers of the Tarot,  he reads from an ordinary deck of cards. More recently I sat down with John James Honour Thy Lovers and had a very interesting session that started with a short meditation.  All this to signal why I was delighted to receive a message from TASCHEN BOOKS about the custom deck of tarot cards created by the Surrealist maestro Salvador Dali.

Legend  has it that when preparing props for the James Bond film Live and Let Die, producer Albert Broccoli commissioned Surrealist maestro Salvador Dalí to create a custom deck of tarot cards. Inspired by his wife Gala, who nurtured his interest in mysticism, Dalí eagerly got to work, and continued the project of his own accord when the contractual deal fell through.

The work was published in a limited art edition in 1984 that has since long sold out, making Dalí the first renowned painter to create a completely new set of cards. Drawing on Western masterpieces from antiquity to modernity (including some of his own), Dalí seamlessly combined his knowledge of the arcane with his unmistakable wit. The result is a surreal kaleidoscope of European art history.

TASCHEN resurrects all 78 cards in a fresh celebration of Dalí’s inimitable custom set, complete with a booklet by renowned German tarot author Johannes Fiebig offering:

• an introduction to Dalí’s life and the project’s making-of
• a comprehensive explanation of each card’s composition, its meaning, and practical advice
• step-by-step instructions on how to perform readings
• a jargon-free approach simplifying tarot for the newcomer