An illustrated exploration of the magical life and artistic creations of Pamela Coleman Smith, the artist, feminist, and activist who created the Rider-Waite Tarot, the world's most popular divination deck.
Willett Cat Bücher
Discover the hidden stories of tarot and divination through the lives and contributions of Lady Frieda Harris, Marie Anne Lenormand, Pamela Colman Smith, and Rachel Pollack in this vividly illustrated history of the cards. From the Italian Renaissance to modern-day creators, women have been pivotal in both the artistic and magical evolution of tarot, often without due recognition. For the first time, readers can delve into the lives of these influential women who shaped the world's most popular divinatory art. Lady Frieda Harris, a British artist and mystic, collaborated with occultist Aleister Crowley to create the Thoth Tarot. Marie Anne Lenormand, the renowned fortune teller of 18th-century France, popularized card reading. Pamela Colman Smith, known for her iconic illustrations, contributed to the Rider-Waite-Smith Deck, the most widely used tarot deck today. Rachel Pollack, a trans woman, created numerous decks, advocating for inclusivity in tarot, particularly for the LGBTQIA+ community. The narrative is enriched with a timeline of tarot's development and profiles of women from diverse cultures who have influenced divination, including Nefertiti, Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau, author Zora Neale Hurston, and contemporary artist Nanse Kawashima.
Sarah Siddons grew up as a member of a family troupe of travelling actors, always poor and often hungry, resorting to foraging for turnips to eat. But before she was 30 she had become a superstar, her fees greater than any actor - male or female - had previously achieved. Her rise was not easy. Her London debut, aged just 20, was a disaster and could have condemned her to poverty and anonymity. But the young actress - already a mother of two - rebuilt her career, returning triumphantly to the capital after years of remorseless provincial touring. She became Britain's greatest tragic actress, electrifying audiences with her performances. Her shows were sell-outs. Adored by theater audiences, writers, artists and the royal family alike, Sarah grasped the importance of her image. She made sure that every leading portrait painter captured her likeness, so that engravings could be sold to her adoring public. In an eighteenth-century world of vicious satire and gossip, she also battled to manage her reputation. Married young, she took constant pains to portray herself as a respectable and happily married woman, even though her marriage did not live up to this ideal. Sarah's story is not just about rags to riches; this remarkable woman also redefined the world of theater and became the first celebrity actress.