Tarot visited by art

             The 22 greatest Tarot Arcanes

Let me go back and remind myself why I began this painting project...
Without really noticing what I was doing, when I was about 12 years old I would find myself reading people's palms. I felt attracted by those "lines" and "drawings" that seemed like a kind of writing all of its own that revealed what had happened to the people's lives and gave a glimpse of their desires and personalities.
I was born and raised in a completely different kind of surrounding, where this reality was pushed to the side-lines and it was difficult for me to protect myself. I silently went my own way, misunderstood by many, but I could not turn my back on what lived and existed in my inner soul!
Because of these circumstances I lived a kind of double life. I was torn between two realities: an uncomprehending social life and the understanding of revelations from a different world.
Later, I learned tarot and once again the drawings crossed paths to reveal happenings and lives' paths.
Now, after all these years, I have been allowed to fulfil a long-standing desire by starting this painting project about tarot.
The 22 greatest Tarot Arcanes.
I began by shuffling the 22 cards and then spread them face down on a table and picked one at random. The first card I turned over was "The Lovers".
Thus began my inner adventure...
As the paining progressed, I grew to understand the extraordinary power of the cards. The constant, intense dialogues I had with them were enriching and I became more aware, living in both worlds at the same time.
One night the cards appeared to me in my dreams. They were huge, giant-sized, and they floated as if dancing towards me and arranged themselves in an order to be read. They clearly did not want to be ignored! I was surprised...
They took on a life of their own! And in my real life, too. I had to struggle with difficult, painful situations. Events unfolded in line with the card I was painting at the time.
I was deeply shaken by this revelation.
I have to confess I almost gave up ...
What made me keep painting them and recreating them was that by living this reality ... for instance the "hanged man". The traditional representation of the hanged man (the man hanged by his foot, head down) seemed to be quite out of date for the symbolism involved; it needed to be brought up into our days according to my time and experience.
With the knowledge we have today about the solar plexus and how important it is, the centre of the "body" of this figure became the centre of attention.
I respected and I always took into consideration the symbolism regarding the colours, numbering and sacred geometry, it is all there! I did, however, several times choose to hide some symbols and colours, which are out of sight underneath the painting. As it was an occult work with artistic freedom, I decided to play with these veils as I created it. I slowly realised I was facing a huge challenge...
What about the painting? The beauty of the images and the purity with which they appeared in my head... How could I transfer them onto the canvas? How could I remain faithful to them? And how to keep artistic coherence in the work?
Once again I found myself painfully aware of the restrictions in the matter. I had to come up with a way of making something invisible to the naked eye.
I was committed! It took two years of hard work.
Close to the end, as I was giving my everything to the painting, concentrating on hands/brushes and paints, in a constant state of alert, having to make decisions about every brush-stroke, something happened that I had never experienced, making this into an unforgettable experience! Suddenly, looking at the frenzy of the painting that would appear out of nothing, I was overcome by a complete sense of inner peace, a deep sense of love draped itself over me like a cloak that I could feel throughout my body. Because I felt it through my body, perhaps the word ecstasy is the best way to describe what I felt.
The revelation I felt at that moment of love awakened in me a sense of gratefulness and realization of an ancient teaching of "Acceptance".
So often I have suffered for not doing justice to the Beauty I was given to see ... Now having accepted the difficulties and living such experiences of life ... deciphering and collaborating with their teachings, I could produce these paintings ... A new path opened up for me...the finished work was Begun.
Like in the madman's letter...he is the beginning and the end! That is how I feel inside.

Mónica de Morais
8 April 2009