ARTICLES

My paintings have a hinterland of stories, myths magic and symbolism. Friends wanted to know more about this so I have tried to encapsulate some of my influences in the linked notes on the Series pages.

Occasionally I will endeavour to throw a little light on certain subjects, where further elaboration might be helpful. The article on Surrealism and The Tarot is written in this vein.

Tarot and Surrealism by Tracy Thursfield

The Occultation of Surrealism

In 1930 André Breton produced his Second Manifesto of Surrealism which asked for  “the profound, the veritable occultation of Surrealism.”  What Breton actually meant by the occultation of Surrealism is unclear. The occult (which just means hidden) includes Astrology, Alchemy, Kabbalah, Magic and Tarot. As such the occult offers a rich vein of visual language, a short circuit to inspirational states and a potential philosophical explanation for the workings of objective chance. The problem for the early Surrealists seems to have been that a mystical system is in conflict with a materialist world view. I would argue that both systems aim at the emancipation of the mind.

Exhibitions on Surrealism and the Occult

Over the last few years there have been a number of exhibitions with accompanying catalogues and essays exploring the relationship of the Surrealists with the occult.  In particular two Tarot packs have been published, one by Leonora Carrington and one by Ithell Colquhoun. I thought it might be useful to provide a brief overview of what I noticed in these secondary sources and elaborate a little about the hidden links between Tarot and Surrealism.

The Marseilles Surrealist Tarot

In the winter of 1940-41 a number of Surrealists were living in Marseilles. Until they managed to leave Europe the group which included Victor Brauner, Max Ernst, André Masson and Roberta Matta embarked on a project to produce a deck of cards- the Jeu de Marseilles – a reworking of the Marseilles Tarot pack. 

The New York Tarot Game

In 1943 in New York details of a tarot game were published in the journal VVV Almanac. Originally devised by Matta and Leonora Carrington, the game was later developed with Duits. Both Matta and Duits were interested in clairvoyance. (See Arcane 17 a Lodestar for the 21st Century edited by Patrick Lepetit, John Richardson and John Welson 2017: the introduction by David Nadeau).

Breton and Arcanum 17

Hints of Breton’s deeper interest are to be found in his 1944 book Arcanum 17.  In this book Breton describes his personal vision of the Star Card. In the Apertures section (of Arcanum 17) under note 1 there are references both to Eliphas Levi and “the immense current of thought which we can trace to the Zohar”. Apparently the 1944 edition of Arcanum 17 also contained four tarot images designed by Matta; the Star, the Lovers,  Chariot and Moon.

The Kabbalistic link

The Zohar is a mystical Kabbalistic work. The Kabbalah is one strand of an ancient Jewish mystical tradition.  It describes how the divine manifests through a series of emanations and 22 paths and provides a mystical road map for the aspirant to reconnect with the divine. In the Jewish system the 22 paths are accessed by meditation on the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Eliphas Lévi and the Twenty Two paths

Eliphas Lévi was a 19th century French occultist and writer. According to Lévi’s biographer (Chacornac 1926), sometime in late 1852 Lévi met a Polish emigré called Wronski who taught Lévi the Kabbalah. In a flash of inspiration Lévi concluded that the 22 Kabbalistic paths corresponded to the 22 Major Arcana of the Tarot pack. As a trainee priest with artistic skills Lévi was well placed to forge this particular link. This innovation made meditating on the Kabbalah more accessible to the Western mind and made a very important contribution to the revival of the Western magical tradition.

Unknown Origins of the Tarot

I am not going to elaborate on the origins of the Tarot because I just don’t know. A Tarot card game existed as early as the 15th Century and the cards have long been used for divination purposes. The Star card is the seventeenth card in the Major Arcana of both the Marseille and  Oswald Wirth’s Tarot pack. Wirth’s book on the Tarot, originally published in Paris in 1927, equates the Tarot cards with the Jewish alphabet, and his 1889 deck shows the corresponding Hebrew letters alongside the title underneath each of the Major Arcana images.

1947 Surrealist Exhibition

Breton’s catalogue for the 1947 Surrealist Exhibition in Paris made it clear that he planned the visitor experience as an initiation. Visitors reached the display by climbing a staircase that consisted of 21 painted book spines each associated with one of the Major Arcana of the Tarot. (Catalogue of the Surrealism and Magic exhibition 2022 : Gražina Subelytė, Metaphors of Change).

Throwing a little light on Victor Brauner

Brauner’s depiction of the Magician card, Le Surréaliste, was displayed in the 1947 Surrealist exhibition and is now in the Peggy Guggenheim collection in Venice. This painting of the Magician shows the first letter of the Jewish alphabet Aleph in his hat just above the lemniscate (symbol of infinity). In his Lovers painting from 1947 the symbolism of the Magician is developed further.  Above the Magician’s head is a torch of light (symbolising enlightenment) and the lemniscate in the Magician’s hat has become an Orobouros (a snake eating its own tail).  Snakes also pervade the Magician’s body, most likely indicating Kundalini. The similarity between this and Eliphas Lévi’s depiction of The Sabbatic Goat is striking. Brauner also used sigils in his art works. I would interpret this as a means of effecting magical protection. Brauner spent the war years in hiding because he was unable to obtain a visa for the USA or Mexico. There he began an intense study of the Jewish Kabbalistic tradition. (Abraxas Special Issue No 1 2013: Daniel Zamani, The Magician Triumphant: Occultism and Political Resistance in Victor Brauner’s Le Surréaliste 1947).

Magical Art

In 1955 Breton sent out an Enquiry to a number of surrealists, philosophers and commentators about the relationship between magic and art. Their responses were published in his book Magic Art. The first English translation of this was produced by Fulgur Press in 2024. For my part I would argue (with thanks to Dion Fortune) that magical art is art that causes a change of consciousness in accordance with the will of the artist.

Remedios Varo and The Tarot

Remedios Varo’s painting of the Hermit 1955 is a beautiful re-interpretation of the Tarot Hermit card. Varo had her own Tarot deck, each card being covered with notes on how it should be interpreted.  Susan Arberth has also pointed out that there is a clear visual reference to the Hermit card in Leonora’s portrait of Max Ernst of 1939. (Surreal Friends Catalogue 2010; a private conversation in Mexico City).

Throwing a little light on Leonora Carrington and the Tarot

As for complete sets of Tarot images we have the work of Leonora Carrington (the 22 Major Arcana) and Ithell Colquhoun (the full 72 pack). For the sake of a complete overview I should add that Salvador Dali produced his own Tarot pack in 1984. Interestingly his Magician card is a self-portrait.

 A Tarot pack designed by Leonora Carrington was  published in 2023, edited by Susan Aberth and Tere Arcq. The Introduction by her son, Gabriel Weisz Carrington, is very clear about the purpose of her pack:  

The Tarot is not meant solely for divination purposes. Each suggest navigation devices where a poetics of the unconscious is available for immediate exploration. These cards may be consulted as subliminal objects…they give access to magical environments. Because the subliminal body might be conceived as an out-of-the-body experience it also entails a liberation from the rational corporeal form. This body is able to travel through unconscious domains. Ultimately it is endowed with a projective capacity that enables an exploration of the visionary world.

and further on:

 While in Paris Carrington wanted to study Jewish mysticism, but discovered this path was unavailable to her as a woman and so she turned to (Dion) Fortune’s The Mystical Qabalah…Later on, in Mexico, Carrington found this book in Varo’s library and they studied it together.

Dion Fortune, real name Violet Firth, was a formidable Magician, Qabalist and author. A famous resident of Glastonbury she was also a member of the Golden Dawn. Qabalah is the spelling used to denote the Golden Dawn development of the Kabbalah.

Ithell Colquhoun and the Occult

Ithell Colquhoun’s involvement with occult groups is well documented, (see Genius of the Fern Loved Gully by Amy Hale 2020). Ithell wrote a biography of one of the founding members of the Order of the Golden Dawn, MacGregor Mathers, (Sword of Wisdom 1975). Unusually, Ithell made no bones as to her occult affiliations and refused to accept any of E.L.T Mesens’ propositions in order to remain a member of English Surrealism. His second proposition is of special interest being:- not to join any group or association, professional or other, including any secret society, other than the surrealist.

Colquhoun’s set of Tarot cards was first published by Fulgur Press in 2020. The booklet which accompanies this pack describes Colquhoun’s recording of her meditations on the Tarot cards from February 1967 to April 1968  and how they followed Golden Dawn practices.

The Tate Britain exhibition (2025) describes Ithell’s Tarot pack as unique using dripped enamel paint to create abstract compositions.

Colquhoun designed her deck as a meditative tool and spiritual aid. Her cards combined the spontaneity of surrealist automatism with the Golden Dawn’s interpretation of colour theories from Jewish mysticism. 

The Golden Dawn and The Tarot

The Golden Dawn were a late 19th century magical order. They attracted members including W.B.Yeats, Florence Farr, Arthur Machen.  A secret manuscript of Lévi came into the possession of Wynn Westcott of the Golden Dawn. This was published as The Magical Ritual of the Sanctum Regnum (1896). This describes the Major Arcana of the Tarot pack and alludes to the  Kabbalistic paths.  The Rider-Waite pack, conceived by A.E. Waite but painted by Pamela Colman Smith, and the Thoth pack, conceived by Aleister Crowley but painted by Lady Frieda Harris, belong firmly in this tradition. The Golden Dawn methods of using the Tarot pack are outlined in their flying rolls, information on which is easily found on the internet. https://hermeticgoldendawn.org/the-flying-rolls/.