The Lebanese Tarot

[Nemia]

For how many years did I long for the Lebanese Tarot? A lot. There are only 100 copies of this beauty, and I was lucky enough to buy nr. 96 from Adam McLean - it must have been the last copy on the market.

It was Nisaba's enthusiastic review on Aeclectic that convinced me I need this deck. It's unique and beautiful. The cardstock is really very special, and the theme intrigues me.

In this thread, I want to collect the information I can find about this deck because unfortunately, it doesn't come with a lwb, not even one page. I also want to voice my impressions of this deck but it's not a real review, and that's why I put it here and not under the reviews section. If it turns into a review, it may be necessary to move this topic.

The box is simple and elegant, in matte gold. It is quite small - this is a majors only deck after all.

There's a ribbon inside to make it easier to lift the cards out - but in my box, it's a bit short so I'll add a ribbon of my own.

The cover card is signed and numbered, it's like a birth certificate for the deck. I have by now a few signed decks and like it very much - it emphasizes that I see tarot decks as works of art.

A second cover card with the Moon, like on the box, rounds off the additions to the deck.


The card backs are very beautiful, too.

The whole deck looks very harmonious and mysterious.

I'll open another post for single cards, otherwise managing all these images is too complicated for me

[Nemia]

Let's start with the Fool.

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A youngish man, standing in a plain, behind him mountains rise. The weather is changing, you see spots of sunlight and shadow on the ground. The world looks dynamic, he is standing and watching it. He holds a stick in his hand, more like a reed - a bit like a shepherd, but we don't see any other living being.


He is dressed in the traditional clothing of North Lebanon - baggy sherwal trousers, a dark vest over a simply white shirt, and a labbade hat wrapped with a striped shawl. Some examples from the Internet for this kind of clothing:

An example for a man with labbade hat and sherwal, 20th century.

And from the 19th century, a much more elaborate labbade.



He has a beautiful moustache - I know such moustaches from Druze men but he is no Druze (no black sherwals, different hat). His head is turned a bit to the side, as though he was listening to the wind and others sounds around him.

This is an introvert and gentle Fool, moving forwards slowly although clouds are gathering above him.

[Nemia]

The High Priestess.

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She reminds me very much of Rembrandt's Prophetess Anna.

The same focus on the written word that seems to echo within her.


She's wearing a decorated round head covering that appears in many pictures of traditionally dressed Lebanese women.

This is a Druze girl, according to some sources. Nowadays, Druze women don't wear such high hats any more, only veils, but also Muslim or Christian women don't use this head dress any more. It's nearly a crown like the Melkite Patriarch wears, shown in the Hierophant.

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He really reminds me of the Melkite Patriarch.

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The Melkite Church is an interesting denomination - it's in the Greek tradition but attached itself to the Catholic church at some point. So in Melkite churches, you have walls of icons like in Russian or Greek churches (ikonostasis) but also pictures of Catholic saints. Lebanon is very rich in religious traditions. There are Melkite and Maronite Christians, Catholics and Protestants, and also Orthodox Christians. (In Israel, we have the same rich tradition, and I happe to live next to a Lebanese village filled with statues of the Holy Virgin).



This is a former Melkite Patriarch with his crown - I think they wear it only for Holy Week or other high holidays.

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By putting such a high crown also on the High Priestess (the two crowns are nearly identical), the Lebanese Tarot emphasizes the closeness of the two cards. They're also holding the same staff or crozier - I didn't find it yet but I will!

I also couldn't identify the book yet that she's reading but I'll ask people who can read Arabic


In a deck of only 21 major cards, I want to know as much as I can about each and every card.


Okay, I found the source for the crozier, I think. It's the Maronite cross, and you can see examples of pendants in this shape in Lebanese jewelry shops.

Interesting. The crowns are Melkite, the croziers Maronite, i.e. they're Christians, not only from one denomination but from two, both strongly associated with the Middle East. The Maronite Church is even more strongly Lebanese than the Melkite.

I may be wrong but that's how I understand these images right now. I wouldn't surprised if the images incorporated also elements from other religions.

[Nemia]

Now I want to have a look at cards with easily recognizable Lebanese destinations.

Baalbek, with the Temple of Jupiter and the Temple of Bacchus, appears in this deck a number of times.

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This is Strength, a lion's head.

And that's a gargoyle in lion shape that belongs to the Temple of Jupiter. We have the connection here of Jupiter, the king of the Gods, and the lion, the king of the animal kingdom. That may have been the reason it used to be called the Temple of Helios, the Sun King.

Btw, when I found this image I knew that this deck is a collage. Parts of it may be painted but it's not an old master oil painted deck, I'm certain.

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This is the Hanged Man.

And this is the hanging keystone in the entrance to the Temple of Bacchus.

Very impressive and unusual, this keystone, and I can understand that it inspired the image of the Hanged Man. But it's also very cruel. This is not a man hanging upside down, getting a new perspective on things during a period of forced inactivity. It's a suicide. I'll have to work around this somehow, it's against how I usually read the Hanged Man. Well, looking at him again. He might be seen as acrobat hanging not from a sling but an open rope, and he may surprise us by freeing himself with a powerful movement.

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This is the Sun card.

And this, a part of the Temple of Jupiter. You can see a rider with a Lebanese flag rushing forward in the foreground.

Interesting use of these ruins. I think the Hermit might also stand in a ruined temple, but I didn't yet find out where.

I'd love to visit the Roman ruins in Baalbek. Maybe one day.

[Nemia]

And some more beautiful places in Lebanon, the way they appear in this deck.


The Lovers:

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They're on the sea shore, maybe in a boat. In the background, illuminated by the wonderful setting sun, is the Sea Castle of Sidon, a Crusader castle built into the sea. (It must be the setting sun - In Lebanon, the Sun always sets in the direction of the Sea). The meeting point of huge defensive stones and the open sea is beautiful and a good metaphor of love - the sea as realm of feelings, the stones either as reality that love has to confront, but also as the protective shell a love relationship can give us.

There are little angels in the sky - again, it's very obvious that this is a collage deck, the angels are absolutely identical.

The Wheel of Fortune:

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The Wheel looks like a chariot wheel, and this is very fitting, because the arch in the background stands in Tyre. Not far from it, there's aa ancient Roman hippodrome, but also a necropolis. The idea of life, competition, movement vs death can be connected to the Wheel of Fortune. You rise, you fall, in the end, we're all going the same way.... The artist really made intriguing choices!

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Death:

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Another very harsh image. The dead person is pierced cruelly. Behind him, the Crusader castle of Byblos is visible. Its central window looks a bit spooky here. Like an eye that watches us. The composition is great - I'm glad she didn't put the circling raven or vulture, the watchful window-eye and the spear not in the same view axis.

Beautiful structure. I live close to three Crusader castles in various stages of conservation, and this feels really familiar to me.

Another very striking image: the Tower.

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It took me some time to find the structure depicted. It's the mysterious pyramid called =https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamouh_e ... el Hermel, nobody seems to know what the carvings mean, who built when for which purpose. A very fitting and interesting choice. This monument was broken for centuries but was reconstructed in the 19th century, i.e., it's possible that it was struck by lightning in the past but it's still there, little understood and intriguing.

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Judgment:

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The dramatic sculpture is the Martyr's Monument in Beirut.

It's a monument to the memory of Lebanese suffering under the Ottoman rule. As a choice for Judgment, it's interesting. You can only see this sculpture as spiritual victory over political and human suffering. The martyrs have lost their lives but in the end, their cause won out - today, Lebanon is an independent country in its own right.

In traditional Judgment, the dead are being raised by an angel, like the Harrowing of Hell/Anastasis in Christian iconography. Here, the dead rise as symbols of memory and victory.

You can see that this deck is very much anchored in Lebanese history and culture. I don't know how many people would recognize these images immediately. I know a number of people of Lebanese origin, I live close to the border and there were waves of Lebanese migration in the past, and I know some of them. I'll try to meet some of them (a bit difficult now with Corona) and ask them what more they can tell me.


Let's have a look now not at monuments but a person again.

the Empress:

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She is a bride wearing a tantour, a high hat that was gifted by the bridegroom to the bride. The Druze seem to have held on to this tradition longer than other ethnic groups. I have been to a number of Druze weddings but of course, modern Druze brides dress in Western clothes, i.e. white crinoline, very ornate bridal dress with veil. And it's probably only the Lebanese Druze who used the tantour.

The Empress in the Lebanese Tarot is a bride, not a temptress, Mother Earth or Venus figure. I'll have to find out what the staff means that she's carrying. Her make- up reminds me a bit of Fairouz, the wonderful Lebanese singer. Oh, I love Fairouz.

I have a story about Fairouz. Many years ago, when I was a student at Haifa University, I missed my bus and hitched a hike with two young Arab students. The day was foggy, the car was old and the young man's driving style idiosyncratic. The guys had music playing full volume, wonderful music that went into my bones and brain and heart although I didn't understand the words. When we reached the University, I asked them: who is this wonderful singer?, and they said: don't you know Fairouz? I said, I didn't until now but now I know, thank you for this wonderful gift.

I will never forget this drive through the foggy Carmel mountains, listening to Fairouz.


Justice:

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and Temperance:

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both remind me a bit of Fairouz, this special kind of oriental beauty, gentle and powerful.


So what is my opinion of this deck right now?

Well, I didn't know it was a collage deck and from the pictures on the Internet, you really can't see it. Looking closer at it, it's obvious she used photos and added dramatic lighting, fog, smoke, sunsets etc. There's a Rembrandt vibe about it, or Ruysdael, this Baroque lighting that has influenced so many film makers later.

I actually like collage decks so I don't care it's not a pure oil-on-canvas art deck. There are cards that look painted or have this aura of oil paintings, it's probably a mixed media technique which I like very much.

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Just look at this simply gorgeous card.


Artistically, this is a beautiful deck full of atmosphere. And it really highlights Lebanese culture. I live only 5km from the border to Lebanon but of course, the border is closed and I can't go there. But I live in a similar landscape as South Lebanon, the same light, the same sea, and we have Roman ruins and Crusader castles as well.


When I find out more about certain symbols and motifs of the cards, I'll let you all know. This is a very special deck and I can't believe that I have it in my hands now!