This work began rather unexpectedly in 1981, the first day I arrived in Paris. My agenda was fairly typical: to start early in order to see a few of the city’s celebrated sites, hopefully before the hordes of tour buses blocked the view. Navigating the city via the Metro proved to be a daunting task and after several misguided attempts to reach the Arc de Triomphe I decided to try my luck at street level. As I stepped off the escalator into the welcoming daylight, on impulse, my eyes were drawn skywards to a colossal statue of a four-horse chariot poised as if to take flight from the rooftop of the Grand Palais, late nineteenth century glass domed exposition hall a few strides off the famous avenue Champs-Elysees. At that moment, the morning sun was streaming through the center of a large wreathe, held high by the statue’s female charioteer. As I stood there suspended in those rays, a procession of statues flashed before me—each one an unmistakable yet unusual representation of Tarot’s Major Arcana. In a matter of seconds I was shown twenty- two images, comprised of statues and scenery, that were apparently dispersed throughout this amazing city … that I had never before visited. Rational explanations for what happened on that morning in Paris simply do not exist. However, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was truly remarkable. Thus, realizing the rarity of these incidents in our harried modern lives, I resolved to follow it through, rather than explain it away. Thus began the saga of a twenty-one year project that stretched my creative resolve to the limit before the deck was finally published in by Connections (London) and St. Martin’s Press (NY) 2002.

In early 2009 I reacquired the rights (as InSpira Editions) for the Tarot de Paris and reprinted the cards in the USA. Readers will notice a tactile and graphic improvement in card quality resulting in a greater luminosity overall.

© 2009 J.Philip Thomas.
Produced by InSpira Editions. All Rights Reserved.