I first became acquainted with Leilah Wendell’s art work through her photographic/collage rendering of the Gothic Tarot, which was first published in 1998 in a limited edition of 1000 signed copies.  The Gothic Tarot is an impressive addition to any tarot collection.  The cards, printed on excellent, heavy card stock, have the look and feel of actual photographs and represent the major arcana using various forms of cemetery art.

For me, one of the great pleasures of collecting involves the research of the deck and the artist.  It is endlessly fascinating for me to view the myriad interpretations of the tarot and how well the artist is able to convey a consistent, articulate “story” in the images created on the cards.

I quickly found Ms. Wendell’s website.  Turns out that Ms. Wendell does not confine her talents to one medium, rather, she is also a writer of poetry and prose, a publisher and a pretty savvy business-woman.  Her art gallery and publishing enterprise is entirely devoted to Azrael and the exploration of death, and has been doing a brisk business for over 20 years.

Well, I have found that a phone call often works wonders when trying to track down an elusive item.  You would be surprised how many publishing houses keep stacks of some of their inventories from years ago.  Often, a call to the publisher (with a credit card in hand) can be the easiest way of capturing that out-of-print item.

So, I blithely placed a phone call to Westgate Press in New Orleans.  They were very nice and tried not to laugh (too loudly, that is), when I enquired as to whether they had any copies of the Necromantic Tarot lurking about on one of their shelves.   A very nice lady informed me that the Necromantic Tarot had been a special printing of 1000 signed copies, especially created to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Westgate Press. It was sold out very quickly…mostly to subscribers to Westgate publications and other frequent customers and fans of Ms. Wendell’s work.  In short, it appeared I was out of luck.

I then exhausted the sources I could find via the Internet.  I managed to find one source (in New Zealand of all places), but was a few days too late in snagging it.  I came up empty everywhere else too.  Heck, I couldn’t even find scans of the cards anywhere.  Odd to be looking so hard for something I had never before laid eyes upon.

So, I put the Necromantic Tarot on that little mental wish list every collector has and told myself that time would tell.  As other collectors have said, decks *do* eventually surface, one way or another.

A year later, after frequent, periodic searches through used bookstore catalogs, bookfinder URL’s, online auction sites and chatting with other collectors, the deck did become available and I purchased it immediately.

The deck finally arrived, packaged in the same shiny paper box that houses the Gothic Tarot.  The box lid is beautifully adorned with a large embossed silver label with black printing.  Once opened, the box yielded up a soft, black velvet bag, from which I finally drew the cards for which I had looked for so long a time.

The Necromantic Tarot is nothing like the Gothic Tarot (which was published 4 years later than the Necromantic deck).  A big difference lies in the size of the cards, which measure a smidge over 2 x 3 ½ “(significantly smaller than the Gothic, which measures 3 ¾ x 4 ½.), a very “petite” deck indeed!  In fact, I laughed out loud in surprise when I first emptied the contents of that velvet bag into my hand.  Honestly, my first reaction was “what a big deal over such a tiny little deck!”  I suppose I expected it to be bigger and more impressive looking.  The card stock is OK – definitely not of the same quality as the Gothic deck. In fact, if you put the two decks side-by-side and offered someone a choice based solely on deck construction, size and overall quality, that person would probably reach immediately for the Gothic.

However, there is nothing petite or flimsy about the artwork, which is much darker and more powerful than the Gothic deck.  The title card depicts a young woman, head thrown back, engaged in an almost hypnotic waltz with Death himself.  At first you think her full head of hair is a rich auburn; and then you realize this brunette’s tresses are liberally dappled with blood.  And, how nice of her, she is even holding Death’s scythe for him as she sways in his arms.  The reverse side provides the listing of the major arcana, along with the actual works of art which were the source of the images of the cards (some of these paintings can be viewed on her website). Another card, containing the deck number and Ms. Wendell’s signature, follows.

Now, once I got to the art, I completely forgot about deck size, card stock…all that stuff.  These are very beautiful, strong images.  Many of them are definitely macabre and, again, much different than the Gothic images.  As I said before, all of the images are adapted from existing paintings (done primarily in acrylic on wood) by Ms. Wendall, that is, not created especially for the tarot.

First, we see the Fool card (renamed Innocence).  A pale young woman is enveloped in the arms of an angel, being gently set down upon a path of glowing pink, bordered with beautiful flowers in the softest of colors.  The angel’s role is unclear…is he helping her on her way or perhaps hindering her in his arms?  Next is the Magician, a dark phantom whose own form seems to encapsulate a galaxy of planets and stars, invoking the energies of the Universe, from which a round Core of electrical energy in the form of lightning bolts is thrown jaggedly downward to the upraised hands of the Magician, only to be returned upward in full measure to that central Core.  A striking depiction of the transference and reciprocity of energy.

The Empress is no ripe, luscious beauty.  Instead, she is a parched, almost mummified form, her skull emerging from the folds of some ancient, dusty, cobwebbed shroud.  She lies exposed on her back on the cold, gray dirt (as if she just floated upward from some coffinless grave), a few leaves have blown around and over the folds of cloth.  The whole scene is gray, dry, arid …well, dead, except for one thing.  She clasps upon her breast a cup of a startling beautiful blue, the stem of which is wrapped in a bouquet of pink flowers, making her resemble nothing less than some macabre bride kept waiting at the altar just a few centuries too long.

But, she is the perfect chosen one for The Emperor, who is old Azrael himself, grinning sardonically and looking straight out of the picture and into the eyes of the card viewer.

The Lovers card is no pretty picture of radiant love either.  The female, well, let’s just say she has a legitimate cause for lawsuit against her embalmer.  The swollen flesh is all there, but she has definitely seen better days. Even so, she is in better condition than her lover, whose decomposition has proceeded much further along than hers. He stands, bending slightly toward the female, one arm encircling her waist, his other hand holding hers.  Kind of resembles one of those sweet “couples” snapshots everyone has in their scrapbooks.

As my mother used to say, “there’s somebody for everybody”.

In the Chariot card, the Shade is preparing to board a sailing ship.  But what a ghost ship this is…sails tattered and torn, blown about by snow and wind…no crew in sight.  The Hermit shows an almost statue-like female form, forehead wearily cupped in her slender hands, standing alone in a dark forest.  Her ghostly white grieving form is in stark contrast to the dark trees and violent sky of sapphire and magenta.  This woman is the only image I could find which is duplicated in the Gothic Tarot…you can see a partial image of her in the Hanged Man card.

I really like the Wheel (taken from a painting entitled “Orion Awakens”).  Here the star Orion is a swirling vortex of pale blues and lavender.  Three streams of light or “paths” feed from the outermost reaches of the universe directly into the vortex.  If you look closely, you can see the ephemeral forms of Shades being drawn or sucked through those tubes of light directly into the center of the vortex (which contains a still, quiet gathering of souls who have completed their journeying and have reached the absolute center).    The image is quite successful in capturing the motion of the perimeter areas of the vortex, which is in striking contrast to the stillness at the center.

The Devil card has been renamed “Deception”.  Here is a melancholy forest and the Devil himself is cleverly disguised as one of the trees.  The image is very well done, resembling almost a photo negative…that is, the trees are of electric white with a black background and a sky of sickly pink.  In fact, if you’ve seen those creepy black and white forest shots for “The Blair Witch Project”, you’ll have a pretty good idea of the utter bleakness and hopelessness contained within the image of this unearthly forest.

The Moon is a haunting, lonely image of a tiny boat in the center of a cold, dark lake.  A single, standing figure inhabits the boat, which is so small it looks as if the solitary voyager wouldn’t even be able to sit down in it.  Just beyond the shore, tucked into the hillside, is a small house, it’s windows reassuringly alight.  But, how can the lonely voyager reach this cozy haven?  The tiny sailboat has no sails.  The full moon looks down from overhead, as if from a far distance.  There is no help in sight.  The image is one of such stillness and solitude…not that out of the ordinary when you first view it, but it’s one of those images that quietly captures your attention upon further study.

The Sun is probably the most “cheerful” card in the deck, but that’s a bit of a stretch.  A group of people waiting upon some nameless shore raise their arms as, in the distance, a sailboat begins to appear over the horizon, its arrival in conjunction with the rising of the Sun.  Jagged lightning bolts and boiling clouds linger threateningly overhead, but, the Sun is just beginning to prevail, it’s strong, warm rays dispelling the clouds and rendering what was dark, cold water, a warm liquid gold.

The Judgement Card is totally cool and one of my favorites, but very hard to describe.  Check out the scan to truly appreciate it.  You’ll see what I mean.

Finally, the World, which depicts four angels rendered in soft, soothing colors.  Two of the angels look as if they are welcoming two others who are newly arrived.

The Necromantic Tarot seems a little deck at first glance, but it is one which gains in stature with each turn of the card and with each repeated viewing.  A striking artistic showcase in tarot form (although I can’t help wishing the cards were bigger in order to capture more of the images from the original paintings).  Highly recommended.

There are no other printings planned for this deck, which is extremely hard to find.  If you are fortunate enough to run across a copy, snatch it up.  There’s no telling when you’ll run across another.

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Leilah Wendell's Website

Necromantic Tarot by Leilah Wendell, 1994
published by Westgate Press, New Orleans

guest review copyright 2000 by Paula Gibby
used with permission