Editor: K. M. Brielmaier
Wall Calendar, 36 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publication date: August 2000
ISBN: 1567189679
Price & More Info: Click Here
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I've been a fan of Llewellyn's tarot calendars for a couple of years now. Symitar (author of most of the tarot deck reviews on this web site) told me how pleased she was with it and sent me a few page photocopies to convince me. I was convinced and found a copy of my own. I've bought one every year since and haven't been disappointed yet. Llewellyn's 2001 Tarot Calendar continues this streak, so this review may not be quite as even-handed as you expect from me. My apologies, but I really like these calendars.
If you look at the back cover of the sealed 2001 Tarot Calendar at the store, you can see the Tarot cards featured as monthly illustrations. You can also see a sample month's calendar. Each month has a large picture of one of the featured decks's cards, a short essay on a tarot subject, and a special tarot layout on the top page. The bottom page is the calendar itself with 5 smaller pictures from the deck, daily astrological and tarot info, and a short tarot tip. While some days are more crowded with astrological info than others, there's space for your own notes every day.
Llewellyn wall calendars usually give a good amount of astrological data and the 2001 Tarot Calendar is no exception. You'll find the moon phase, the sign the moon is in, when the moon goes void-of-course, moon sign changes, and planet sign changes with retrograde motion marked. Each day also suggests a tarot card for study and meditation in a procession designed by John Michael Greer.
If you have a excellent vision or a magnifying glass, you'd notice all of the above in the sample on the back cover. The back cover does not tell all, however. In addition to the monthly articles, there are feature articles, each a calendar-sized page or two. This year's feature articles include "21 Ways of Looking at the Tarot," "Alternate Major Arcanas," "The Tarot: An Alchemical Journey," "Astrology and the Tarot: A Meditation," and "Get Ready to Go Pro." There's also a basic introduction to the tarot, keywords and correspondences for the cards, an explanation of the astrological information and of Greer's daily card system, and short bios of all 17 contributors. Contributors to the 2001 edition include Yasmine Galenorn, Mary K. Greer, Donald Michael Kraig, Rachel Pollack, Tracy Porter, and Antony Lewis.
As one might expect, not all of the monthly articles and feature articles will interest everyone, but I find that more articles in Llewellyn's Tarot Calendar interest me than in Llewellyn's other wall calendars. My personal favorites this year were "The Historical Tarot" (February), "Using the Tarot to Open up Consciousness" (June), "A Lughnasadh Tarot Ritual" (August), "Herbs and Tarot" (November), "21 Ways of Looking at the Tarot" (feature), and "Alternate Major Arcanas" (feature). There were only a couple of articles I didn't find even mildly interesting this year. Both "Pythagorean Numerology & Tarot" (September) and "Restructuring your Life" (October) were simply far too short for the subject matter. However, October's tarot spread, "Metamorphosis Reading," redeems that month's otherwise lackluster article.
If you like the Tarot, need a wall calendar, and have about US$13 to spend, do yourself a favor and buy a copy of this calendar. If you meet the first two qualifications but are short on cash, add it to your wish list for the upcoming holiday season.
Reviewed by Randall
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