Tarot: Talisman or Taboo - some advice please

BrightEye

Has anyone read this book? I think the author's surname is Hederman. I know it's a Christian reading of the Tarot but I'm wondering how good it is. I'm trying to write something on Tarot in literature, and the book I want to write about has a lot of Christian references. Would it be a good one to cite in an academic context?

I haven't really come across anything that's better than Rachel Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom but I'm open to any suggestions.

Thanks, BrightEye
 

Bean Feasa

Hi Brighteye :)
I only leafed through this book in the bookshop so forgive me if I'm talking through my hat, but I'll tell you the little bit I gleaned anyway. It's by Mark Patrick Hederman - you may have heard of him; he's a monk in Glenstal abbey in (I think) Tipperary. His writing is generally quite academic in tone - (I have another book of his called Kissing the Dark which is about Ireland coming to terms with its dark side -political scandals, clerical sex abuse etc.) but also user-friendly and readable.
In Talisman or Taboo, he summarises the Church's position on Tarot and then proceeds to demolish their argument by pointing out the Christian imagery etc. He seems to have used Tarot himself in counselling contexts and he gives some examples of readings he did. I got the impression that his aim in writing the book was maybe to take the guilt out of Tarot for Christians who want to use it.
Hope this helps,
 

shaveling

BrightEye,

I don't think this is the one to go with in an academic setting. It's a series of meditations on the Trumps as archetypes, and aims at getting us in touch with the deeper parts of ourselves. (He relies a lot on the anonymous Meditations on the Tarot, and says as much.) As a collection of meditations, it's very subjective, and doesn't look at the symbolism of the cards in a historical or academic way.

At one point, this leads to a massive howler. There's a tradition in Marseille decks that the artist's initials appear on the shield on the front of the chariot on the trump card of that name. That custom wasn't and isn't universal. Sometimes that shield is blank, sometimes we don't know for sure what the letters refer to. On the Grimaud deck by Mr. Marteau (the deck used in Tarot, Talisman or Taboo), the letters are SM, and you can find some speculation about possible meanings of these letters in posts here at AT.

Hederman's reflections on that detail are that "The SM emblazoned on the front describes the opposites that need to be combined, a symbiosis of conflicting needs required to harness creatively the turbulent violence of instinctual nature. Domination is not the answer; nor is craven submission. Discipline comes from harmonious involvement in appropriate and spontaneous activity." I think that's good advice. But this really does take the letters on the shield to be S/M, in the sense of kinky sex.

This might make an amusing footnote in your paper. But I'm really, really sure that's not what the designer of the card had in mind. For an academic work, you probably ought to look at some source that's more historical research and less inspirational meditation.

I'm trying to write something on Tarot in literature,
There is a chapter in the book called "Yeats, Tarot, and the Golden Dawn." But it didn't have enough detail and facts to satisfy my desire to learn more about Yeats and the cards, and may not have enough to be useful to you.

I don't have much of a Tarot library, but two books I do have that look at the symbolism of the trumps in a historical context are Huson's Mystical Origins of the Tarot and Place's The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination.

Hope I haven't soured the milk too much. Good luck with your paper!
 

BrightEye

I think I'm convinced: It's not a book I could use in this context. But thanks shaveling for the other suggestions. There must be loads written on Yeats and the Tarot, so I'm not going to add another paper to that collection. The book I had in mind is Keri Hulme's 'The Bone People', which is set in New Zealand and draws heavily on Maori culture. However, Tarot imagery is central to the book and often overlooked I think.

And thanks for wishing me good luck. I'll need it. I'm losing heart already thinking it's not a serious enough topic.
 

mythos

Hi Bright Eye,

I've read the Hederman and was completely unimpressed. Admittedly I am a tad biased because he made rather scathing references to a Great Uncle of mine, but even so, I found it rather one-eyed. Mind you, he doesn't hide his catholic christian emphasis and, in fact, makes it quite clear.

If you are looking for a book on Yeats and his beliefs then Susan Johnston Graf's W. B. Yeats, Twentieth Century Magus: An In-depth Study of Yeat's Esoteric Practices & Beliefs, Including Excerpts from His Magical Diary, Samuel Weiser Inc. 2000, ISBN: 1-57863-138-6 is worth a look. So is Mary Greer's Women of the Golden Dawn. Yeat's weaves in and out of the latter.

Gosh, when I read Keri Hulme's, The Bone People (which I loved and often find it comes to mind), I had only brushed tarot's edges, and hadn't realised that it was tarot-infused. Guess what I'm going to read again :D

mythos:)
 

NightWing

Serious Tarot Book?

I generally agree with what has been said above.

Having read "Tarot: Talisman or Taboo?" and enjoyed it for what it was, it does not pretend to be a scholarly study of Tarot, but can be most useful in approaching Tarot meditatively.

On the other hand, Place's book, "The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination" might be a good modern start on a more serious depth study of Tarot. Be prepared for some 'heavy slogging' though, as neither Place nor any other serious academic study will be (by definition) an "easy read".

I wish you well in your efforts.