A Photographic Tarot Deck

by Rev. Jennifer Elizabeth Moore

The following passage was written by Jennifer to explain the process of creating this deck

In my years of working with the Tarot I have come to call the entities behind the images The Great Ones of the Tarot. In 1989 I began creating The Healing Tarot as a way to serve the Great Ones by making a space where they might be embodied in living form. As a living tarot deck, those of us who participated in its manifestation, experienced the process and lessons associated with each specific card. I have always believed that the cards represent a process, instead of a fixed answer. No card or situation is static; as in life, the only true constant is change. I also believe that each card contains a healing process or integration process within its matrix. When we allow the wisdom and the energy of a corresponding card to flow in our lives, even the most challenging situation will reveal treasures and growth.

My primary intention for this work, was to create icons which would reveal the healing process contained within the Tarot. Over the course of five and a half years I worked to bring The Healing Tarot into form. I would begin each card by contemplating its lessons, and considering who seemed to be the appropriate person(s) to aspect its process. When the right person had been chosen, we would invoke the energy/entity of the card through a plaster face casting done within a blessing ritual. The time between face casting and actual photo shoot, would take anywhere between days and years to complete. Some cards revealed themselves easily, some only through time, dreams and much visioning and research. Every image was created entirely in camera. No digital manipulation or retouching was used to create any of the Healing Tarot's images.

I made masks to reveal and contain the essense of each Great One. Sets, props and/or locations were created or found. Costumes were sewn or pulled out of a closet or two. Ideas percolated, and astrologically pertinent dates were set to shoot the cards. Each photo session occurred within a ritual which invited the energy of the particular Great One to be present to reveal its healing ways. Every person who particpated in this work was a skilled practioner of magick. Each one was chosen because of their affinity with the energy of the card, and/or because of their willingness to work-through its specific lessons. Through prayer breath and meditation, we invited the Great Ones to aspect; when I believed the energy had revealed itself, I would capture it with a photograph.

As the Tarot brings messages of change and healing, we who participated in the work to create The Healing Tarot came with the intention to learn and grow from the experiences which unfolded in the process. So with prayers for willingness and healing I hope that this magic touches all of you who encounter The Healing Tarot. May these images stir peace, joy and healing within you, and help to remind us all that God/dess is within as well as without us.