Message
from the Prophet
The Alcohol Tarot has gone
from being a dream born of drunken inspiration
into an actualised reality that can be experienced
first hand. There are so many Tarot decks
on the market that I worried that the Alcohol
Tarot may slip out unnoticed by the majority
of the worldwide Tarot community and be
little more than just another deck. My worries
have proved unfounded. Since its launch
this spring the Alcohol Tarot has been causing
a stir amongst Tarot lovers around the world.
Some are turned on by its visual splendour,
quirky originality and sense of fun, others
are intrigued by its unique take on the
Tarot format while a small minority appear
totally disgusted by the combination of
intoxicating beverages and supposed lack
of respect for the recognised Tarot imagery.
I always knew
that the Alcohol Tarot would polarise the
Tarot community. For many the Tarot is a sacred
entity of unimaginable intricacy and power
and they feel that adding humour and alcohol
degrades this bastion of esoteric thinking.
Yet I say to these people that the Alcohol
Tarot is not designed as a tool of sacrilege.
The Alcohol Tarot embraces the very core of
the Tarot tradition, that of personal expression
and freedom of thought.
The Alcohol Tarot causes controversy because
it fights the cliché of New Age thinking.
It looks beyond the romantic image of the
Tarot system and its associated clichés
and embraces not the ethics of the Hippy but
those of Magician. The greatest Magician to
ever live, Aleister Crowley soaked his life
in booze. He utilised its intoxicating effects
to enhance his Magickal abilities. Crowley
did more than anyone to popularise Magick
and the Tarot. Yet his legacy has been corrupted
by an image of the Tarot that is little more
than fodder for cheap woman’s magazines.
Now if you mention the Tarot a person will
not think of Cabalist Magick but of Mystic
Meg and Love Life horoscopes. The Tarot has
been degraded and belittled by the modern
world. The mystery has vanished under a thick
lentil soup of postmodern hippy values and
cultural stereotypes. Well it’s time
to reclaim the Tarot and help it find its
place in the 21st century, hopefully injecting
a bit of fun along the way and proving that
it can be accessible to everyone, providing
they aren’t teetotal!
Happy drinking.
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