It is years since I first heard of Margarete Petersen's tarot. The first cards appeared in the early 1980's as cover illustrations on tarot books with a feministic stamp, like Louisa Francia's, "Hexentarot" and the German edition of Billie Potts', "A New Women's Tarot". For years, rumors were that Frau Petersen was still working on her deck, and the rumors were confirmed, since I occasionally stumbled upon a postcard, depicting one of her characteristic major arcana cards. On the back of the postcards, Margarete Petersen's address was printed. What could be easier than writing to her to obtain the full set, and to ask some questions? Who would believe, that Frau Petersen wasn't eager to get a response to her work, or at least wasn't eager to sell her postcards, hence the address. However, no response! I mentioned that fact in MANTEIA, and our German expert dealer, MGM in Munich, let us know, that they stocked the seventeen postcards, so far published. Finally I could hold in my hands, not a complete major arcana of the Margarete Petersen Tarot, but close to it.

I still hoped, that Margarete Petersen would be cooperative in putting this portrait together, but one more letter remained unanswered. The German New Age magazine, Esotera, had better luck, since they shared an illustrated article, written by Irene Dalichow, in their issue no. 5/1990. My article is therefore based on information given by Mrs. Dalichow.

Margarete Petersen's interest in tarot began, while during the 1980 New Year, she was snowbound, with her two sisters, in a house in the countryside. One sister had brought the Waite/Smith-deck, which was used, when they had to decide, whom of them had to go out in the snow to get supplies. Margarete Petersen drew the Five of Coins from the pack! After that, her earlier life as a politically engaged squatter, film producer, housewife and mother, was left behind, and she moved with her daughter and her three sisters, and their three children, to a small village in the South of Germany. Tarot became her entire life, and her only income came from the sale of the postcard series.

The creative process is long and persistent. Hundreds of different versions of each card are made, before the deeper content is expressed in a form, that the artist herself feels is satisfactory. Then finally, after months and sometimes years, the card is ready to be released for reproduction. Margarete Petersen is (according to Irene Dalichow) convinced that the tarot originates from ancient Egypt or even earlier, and that the creative process it underwent at that time, was similar to what she is now experiencing. She sees the process as a healing process for herself, a lengthy period, in which she entirely emerges into the symbolism and atmosphere of the particular card, she is working on. Thus her dreams and trances can be expressed in her art. This identification has to be complete; when she, for instance, started working on The Sun, she redecorated her studio and living room, painting it all in gold and red, to have the constant feeling of the sun's light around her. There is work waiting for Margarete Petersen for the rest of her lifetime. As I understand it, her concept of a tarot deck deals with 78 cards.

I have rendered a few cards here:  The Empress, Strength and Temperance. The cards have often been characterized as a women's tarot, but even if there are feminine undertones in Margarete Petersen's imagery, they are quite different from most other decks referred to in that category. In any case, there is no apparent fundamentalist feminism. The cards are a series of images of dreams, that show us fragments of our unconscious. Margarete Petersen's tarot is, what I would call a meditational deck, not a deck for readings.

Margarete Petersen's Tarot Deck
Margarete Peterson later finished her deck with all 78 cards.
It was published in 2001 by the German publisher, Königsfurt.
The illustrations shown come from this edition.
Review first published in Manteia # 5, February 1991
© K. Frank Jensen 1991