Author(s): Johannes Fiebig

Artists & Styles | New Age/Mind, Body, Spirit

Magical mystery cards. A most rare and unusual Tarot deck. Legend has it that when preparing props for the James Bond film "Live or Let Die," producer Albert Brocoli commissioned Salvador Dali to create a custom deck of Tarot cards; the Spanish surrealist painter is said to have started work on the project, and when the contractual deal fell through, continued the work on his own. Dating back to the Renaissance era, Tarot - thought by some as an interpretation of dreams or a foretelling the future - had seen a new surge of popularity during the 1970s hippie movement. Dali's set, the first known deck completed by a well known painter, was published in a limited art edition in 1984 in Spain. Now, Taschen resurrects this rare work, consisting of 78 cards (56 Minor Arcana color cards and 22 Major Arcana trump cards) and featuring such characters as the Magician, the Lovers, the Moon, Death, High Priest, and the Empress. A booklet by renowned German Tarot author Johannes Fiebig accompanies the re-edition of the deck.