The Karma Music Tarot is a surreal, colorful deck unlike any other Tarot I've seen. The cards were done in bright watercolors with a goache technique. The format of the deck is the same as in the traditional Waite-Smith: 22 Major Arcana, and the suits of Coins, Cups, Wands and Swords. The court cards are the traditional Waite-Smith Page, Knight, Queen, and King.However, the cards are anything but traditional. The scenes are surreal images of artists, dancers, musicians, clowns, and phantasmagoric creatures. The inspiration for these images came from the colorful people living with the artist in Christiana, an anti-establishment area within Copenhagen, Denmark.
To understand the 'atmosphere' of the cards, you should understand Christiana. Erfurt lived in Christiana from 1976-1978, where most of the Major Arcana were sketched by firelight (five cards - Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, and The Devil were painted while on a gypsy caravan trip through the Danish countryside).
Christiana itself was a former military compound dating from the early seventeenth century. It was taken over by the youth movement in 1970 and turned into a rustic “free city” where bartering and cooperation were the standard - sort of an urban commune for artists. Heat was provided by wood fireplaces or windmill power. As recently as 1983 (the year of publication), the area continued to feature workshops, music houses and theatres that were open to the public.
This deck is probably not for the novice reader. While some traditional symbolism carries through on the Major Arcana (with some inspiration from the Thoth Deck), the Minors are altogether unique. But if you are brave enough to relax the expectations of the mind, the flowing images can really take you .... read more...
