Back in stock
Back in stock at Magus Books, Tarot of the Morning Star
Back in stock at Magus Books and Herbs, Tarot of the Morning Star, a 78 card deck created by Minneapolis Mn visual artist Roger Williamson.
The tarot card images are a visual representation of the concepts he explores in his books Howling at the Sky, Black Book of the Jackal and Lucifer Diaries.
The first edition was a major arcana deck of 22 cards in full color limited to 75 signed and hand numbered copies. Cards measure 6 inches by 3.5 inches. Images designed and painted by Roger Williamson.
The first edition is out of print but this second edition 78 card deck is once more available. The book Tarot of the Morning Star is reprinted featuring full color renditions of the major arcana cards.
See
Tarot of the Morning Star Book
Tarot of the Morning Star Meets Comets ov Cupid
First Edition Reviews
Review by Tarot Web Log
The Tarot of the Morning Star is a small limited edition tarot of only 75 copies, created by Roger Williamson and published in the USA in 2007.
His artwork is printed in a soft focus style with few hard edges, giving it an ethereality.
Williamson seems primarily inspired by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, thus many of the card designs use Egyptian forms.
The ‘Morning Star’ of this tarot appears to be Lucifer, the Biblical Angel of Light, and many of the images incorporate the interweaving of light. His Fool is a portrait of Lucifer.
I am not sure if Williamson would agree, but I found some of his imagery somewhat redolent of the coloured imagery William Blake printed in the margins of his poetry.
He comes up with some wonderful new envisagings of the familiar arcana. One is his Hanged Man which delightfully metamorphoses into a bat.
The deck comes in a solid red box with a paperback book in which he outlines how his ideas emerged out of his study and experience of the Western Magical traditions.
TAROT WEBLOG NUMBER 4 6 MARCH 2010
Review by Silver Star, A Journal of New Magick, Issue Nine, Spring Equinox 2008
Tarot of the Morning Star by Roger Williamson,
deck and booklet, Magus Meta Media 2007.
A rather handsome and colorful set of the 22 Atus of the Major Arcana, mainly in an Egyptian style but with deep echoes of other primal mythologies. They are also somewhat larger than usual, emphasizing their function as talismanic icons or geometric gateways rather than mere tools for the casting of fortunes. The accompanying booklet is no mere manual, preferring that the images speak for themselves, but rather a lecture on the esoteric origins and secret uses of this treasure-house of images from the dawn of time, and the nature and history of magical consciousness.
SILVER STAR, A JOURNAL OF NEW MAGICK
Amazon Review, 2014
When it comes to books on the occult, there are only 3 names you need to remember: Scarlet Imprint, Josephine McCarthy, and Roger Williamson. All of them produce high-quality, no-nonsense work that educates and empowers readers, rather than entertaining them. Williamson is probably the least celebrated of the 3, but in some ways he’s the most unique. He’s also the only one to have produced a book exclusively on Tarot.
“Tarot of the Morning Star” is not at all like other books on the subject. It doesn’t mention romance, job prospects, or C.G. Jung. It doesn’t even concern itself with divination. Instead, it treats the Major Arcana as meditative tools for challenging and recreating oneself.
The 2-page introduction says more than most Tarot books manage to say in 200. The first chapter details Williamson’s views on magical experiences, magical community, and the nature of magic. The second chapter consists of full-color reproductions of Williamson’s paintings of the Major Arcana. Each image is accompanied by a brief and thought-provoking commentary.
Williamson’s style seems to have evolved throughout the course of creating this set; as a result, some images are more arresting than others. Still, it is far superior to the vast majority of Tarot artwork. There is no hokey swords-and-sorcery stuff here. Williamson re-imagines each Arcanum completely. He changes the look and opens up new vistas of meaning. The results are sometimes hypnotic and unsettling.
If you’re interested in Tarot but tired of how-to books, you should definitely pick this up. If you’re interested in Williamson’s philosophy of magic, I’d say “Howling at the Sky” is a better place to start. Chances are if you like that book, you’ll end up
Roger Williamson artist statement