

“Jupiter” and “L’Amoureux”



In 1967 the Linweave Paper Co. was looking to promote its outstanding paper products, so they hit on a terrific promotional idea—publish a large-format, full-color tarot deck with art in the contemporary style executed by several top graphic artists of the moment. So they hired Ron Rae, Hy Roth, Nicolas Sidjakov, and David Mario Palladini to do it, and the results was a lively whimsical deck that looks like it came straight out of Yellow Submarine. Unfortunately, the Linweave Paper Co. apparently closed up shop in 1989. So today, that means that the tarot deck is the thing it’s more known for. A collector’s item, it now goes for about $100 used on Amazon.

The actual title of the deck is “Linweave Spells Your Fortune with a Modern Interpretation of the Medieval Tarot Pack: Presented on the Most Exciting Creative Papers in America”—just that alone is pretty awesome. I’ve selected a choice few for presentation here; you can see many more cards at these friendly websites.





Linweave Tarot, cover









“Le Mai”





“La Mort”





“L’Étoile”





“La Justice”





“La Roue de Fortune”





“Le Soleil”





“Le Chariot”



In this brief video, a tarot enthusiast takes us through some of the highlights in her collection. The Linweave Tarot appears around the 3:21 point. One thing that you learn from this video is that how large all the cards are—they’re each about the size of a modern-format paperback.





Thanks to Gordon Reichert!

Previously on Dangerous Minds:

Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Way of Tarot

Christian Montenegro’s gallery of rockers and Tarot art

