Liber T: Tarot of Stars Eternal (review)

Liber T: Tarot of Stars Eternal (review)
by Roberto Negrini, artwork by Andrea Serio
review by Mogg Morgan

Liber T is a new rendering of the famous Crowley/Harris Tarot deck into what some might say is a more contemporary mode. The person who first drew my attention to the deck - assumed, perhaps rightly, that the pun on liberty was another blow in the 'fightback' against the current corporate copyright holders of Crowley / Harris deck. It is said that it can be difficult to gain the appropriate permissions to reproduce images from the old deck and there are rumours that those who have managed to do so have lived to regret the experience. How much of this is true - i dunno - but such are the rumours that go round bookfairs. Redrawing an image is one way to circumvent any existing copyrights - and the result is often quite pleasing - as in this case the colours seem fresher. The style is distinctly stellar.

Overall this is a nice deck, and the artwork is of very high quality. The deck claims to sponsored by the OTOA - which according to the rather informative page of Albion Lodge of the (Caliphate?) stands for 'Ordo Templis Orientis Antiquas [whose] history . . based upon suggestive charters and few documentations about its historical facts. [Let's not forget that there were times when even Crowley mislaid the odd certificate!] In spite of this its egregoric power and dynamic has proved to be resistant to falling into sleep and forgetfulness. By this fact one can at least assume that the line is capable of a certain power. In a letter to Peter Koenig, Bertiaux said the following: "Whether or not the Jean-Maine lineage was linked to the OTO of Reuss probably can't be ever proven" (Bertiaux, letter dated 4 April 1990). So from this let us proceed in the history of an order that started in the same place as all other OTO bodies with Theodor Reuss.'

I garnered a lot of information on the deck from Diane Wilkes review for the http://www.tarotpassages.com/liber-t.htm principally that: the subtitle of the deck (Tarot of Stars Eternal) hints to the impetus behind this deck; the revisions to the Minors are based on the Decans, also known as the 36 Symbolic Constellations of the Egyptian Star Cult, the SIBU SEPESU (Eternal Stars). Negrini's sources of inspiration include Liber Hermetis of the Corpus Hermeticum, Indian (Vedic) astrology, Picatrix, and the writings of Agrippa and Bruno. The deck is intended for ritual use, based on the spread/ritual provided in the Little White Booklet (LWB).' There is also a useful table setting out the differences in keyword between the Crowley / Harris and Liber T. So probably a deck for those caught up in the OTOA trajectory, but may also be of interest to any lover of the Tarot. - mogg