Inspirations: a fantasy Tarot themed novel/film
Posted: 03 Mar 2020, 02:52
continued from the "cleansing the deck" thread.
drawing upon different elements from various books and films about metaphysics, Tarot decks, cartomancers, art ie. paintings and objet d'art, art dealers and auction houses and all that good stuff.
Let's start with some of my favorites:
1. Novel: The Golden Key, authored by Jennifer Robison, Melanie Rawn, and Kate Elliott.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Key_(novel)
2. Film: The Red Violin, 1998, directed/written by Don McKellar/François Girard
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120802/
3. Film: The Ninth Gate, 1999, directed by Roman Polanski
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
adapted from the novel, The Club Dumas, 1993, author: Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez
4. Film: Angel Heart, 1987, directed by Alan Parker
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092563/?r ... lmg_act_73
adapted from the novel, Falling Angel, 1978, author: William Hjortsberg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falling_Angel
5. Film: The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1945, directed by Albert Lewin
adapted from the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890/1891, author: Oscar Wilde (Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pictu ... orian_Gray
6. Films: Indiana Jones movie franchise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_(franchise)
7. Film: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, 2001
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146316/?r ... lmg_act_33
8. Film: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, 2003
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325703/?ref_=tt_sims_tt
9. Film: The Da Vinci Code, 2006, directed by Ron Howard
adapted from the novel, The Da Vinci Code, 2003, author: Dan Brown
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vi ... %20Demons.
10. HBO Series: Carnivàle, 2003 - 2005
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carniv%C3%A0le
Suggested premise:
The protagonist is a collector of Tarot decks and Tarot related art in general, ie. decks, folios of prints, sculpture, assorted ephemera, and related objet d'art.
The protagonist associates with artists, members of academia, occult practitioners, art dealers, auction houses, pawnshops, assorted collectors of Tarot, occult ephemera, rare books.
Who is the protagonist? Perhaps an art dealer, an academic, a pawnshop owner, a museum curator or a painter who works at a museum in art restoration (and therefore, perhaps even more expert than the curator), I like this model for the protagonist.
The museum art restoration painter knows all about pigment, styles, and techniques and maybe has a friend at the museum who is an expert on ancient manuscripts, and that person would know about how the paper was made and inks, just like the restorer.
The Tarot deck itself (or perhaps a print or set of prints) cannot be read in a conventional manner, or so go the stories that swirl around this Tarot deck, which is a myth, it doesn't exist or hasn't yet been discovered.
It's rumored that if you attempt to read the cards, the reader risks madness, as the cards reveal visions of past consultations and their portents, both good and bad. They also reveal glimpses into the lives of the previous owners of the deck and the querents.
This is a deck that cannot be read or controlled, it reveals to you only what it wants you to see.
How is this antique deck discovered? Perhaps the museum curator purchased the obscure deck of unknown origin from a pawnshop or auction and kept it hidden away.
Is it Visconti-like, Marseille, RWS, Etteilla, Thoth or none of these. Maybe something so original and unique that only one or a few copies exist because it or they were hand-painted.
what were the pigments? perhaps oil paints, egg tempera and precious pigments such as ground lapis lazuli and toxic cinnabar and malachite, the art restoration painter would know as would the expert on ancient illuminated manuscripts.
Perhaps body fluids were used in the mixing of the paints.
drawing upon different elements from various books and films about metaphysics, Tarot decks, cartomancers, art ie. paintings and objet d'art, art dealers and auction houses and all that good stuff.
Let's start with some of my favorites:
1. Novel: The Golden Key, authored by Jennifer Robison, Melanie Rawn, and Kate Elliott.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Key_(novel)
2. Film: The Red Violin, 1998, directed/written by Don McKellar/François Girard
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120802/
3. Film: The Ninth Gate, 1999, directed by Roman Polanski
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
adapted from the novel, The Club Dumas, 1993, author: Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez
4. Film: Angel Heart, 1987, directed by Alan Parker
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092563/?r ... lmg_act_73
adapted from the novel, Falling Angel, 1978, author: William Hjortsberg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falling_Angel
5. Film: The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1945, directed by Albert Lewin
adapted from the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890/1891, author: Oscar Wilde (Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pictu ... orian_Gray
6. Films: Indiana Jones movie franchise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_(franchise)
7. Film: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, 2001
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146316/?r ... lmg_act_33
8. Film: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, 2003
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325703/?ref_=tt_sims_tt
9. Film: The Da Vinci Code, 2006, directed by Ron Howard
adapted from the novel, The Da Vinci Code, 2003, author: Dan Brown
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vi ... %20Demons.
10. HBO Series: Carnivàle, 2003 - 2005
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carniv%C3%A0le
Suggested premise:
The protagonist is a collector of Tarot decks and Tarot related art in general, ie. decks, folios of prints, sculpture, assorted ephemera, and related objet d'art.
The protagonist associates with artists, members of academia, occult practitioners, art dealers, auction houses, pawnshops, assorted collectors of Tarot, occult ephemera, rare books.
Who is the protagonist? Perhaps an art dealer, an academic, a pawnshop owner, a museum curator or a painter who works at a museum in art restoration (and therefore, perhaps even more expert than the curator), I like this model for the protagonist.
The museum art restoration painter knows all about pigment, styles, and techniques and maybe has a friend at the museum who is an expert on ancient manuscripts, and that person would know about how the paper was made and inks, just like the restorer.
The Tarot deck itself (or perhaps a print or set of prints) cannot be read in a conventional manner, or so go the stories that swirl around this Tarot deck, which is a myth, it doesn't exist or hasn't yet been discovered.
It's rumored that if you attempt to read the cards, the reader risks madness, as the cards reveal visions of past consultations and their portents, both good and bad. They also reveal glimpses into the lives of the previous owners of the deck and the querents.
This is a deck that cannot be read or controlled, it reveals to you only what it wants you to see.
How is this antique deck discovered? Perhaps the museum curator purchased the obscure deck of unknown origin from a pawnshop or auction and kept it hidden away.
Is it Visconti-like, Marseille, RWS, Etteilla, Thoth or none of these. Maybe something so original and unique that only one or a few copies exist because it or they were hand-painted.
what were the pigments? perhaps oil paints, egg tempera and precious pigments such as ground lapis lazuli and toxic cinnabar and malachite, the art restoration painter would know as would the expert on ancient illuminated manuscripts.
Perhaps body fluids were used in the mixing of the paints.