Clark Notes, Volume 2: Winter storm, comfort movie, and a new Tarot deck
As most of my fellow humans in the United States were aware, this past weekend a snow storm, predictably the largest one in ten years, blew through the country. Although we received between two and three feet (0.6 and 0.9 meters) of snow during “Snowzilla” in 2016, the accumulation this time was substantially less than predicted, as is a typical occurrence in my area — less than eight inches (0.2 meters). Delightfully, work announced closure for Monday and Tuesday, and even more delightfully a new Tarot deck arrived a couple hours before the snowfall began on Saturday.
Before we get into that, let’s rewind to the previous night.
A close friend is currently in training a couple hours south, and whenever he is gone, I volunteer to take care of his apartment. I spent Friday night there, poured myself a glass of wine, and selected Nosferatu (2024), which has quickly become one of my comfort movies. I saw it twice in theaters — once in IMAX with my cousins and once in regular format with my sister. I originally planned to watch it each Halloween season, but upon further thought, I decided one of Robert Eggers’ other movies, The Witch (2015), is more of a Halloween vibe; Nosferatu evokes a moonlit, depths-of-winter, glass-of-red-wine-in-hand feeling.
Robert Eggers is, by far, my favorite director. However, this time I will only write two comments about this film.
Firstly, the fashion and tailoring, particularly of Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s character, is impeccable, and I beseech myself and society in general to shift our style from the current designs, which have remained largely unchanged for some time and are, quite frankly, uninspired and fatigued. An excellent example in men’s wear is the suit and trousers, harkening back to the lounge suit in 1850s and 1860s Scotland. I am fully aware that Nosferatu is set just a few years prior. Nevertheless, as I mentioned in regards to Taylor-Johnson’s character, the styling is exquisite, and I only wish that Western fashion will either incorporate bolder design elements from antiquity or collectively develop and introduce a fresh, timeless, and unique wardrobe.
Secondly, I’d like to commend the linguists, historians, and composer that worked on Nosferatu. During my first watch, when I heard Count Orlok speaking his native language, combined with the script written in it, I immediately had to research what it was. While Orlok’s castle is situated in the Carpathian Mountains of modern Romania, Robert Eggers decided to reflect Orlok’s ancient history by working with specialists to revive the Dacian language of the indigenous folks, who inhabited the land before the Romanian Empire. The language disappeared around 500 AD, leaving behind only remnants of it.
In addition to the resurrection of this Indo-European language, a ridiculous amount of knowledge and work supported the development of the typography, documents, and design of the physical artifacts in Nosferatu. If you would like a more thorough analysis of this, especially Vyaz calligraphy, which was shown on Count Orlok’s contract, I would recommend visiting this blog post.
The following day, a few hours before the snow storm commenced, a new Tarot deck arrived. I’ve heard of the Pagan Otherworlds deck in various online videos or posts, but I never looked much into it, not until an interior designer, whose work I greatly enjoy, posted a spread of the cards. I initially had no idea what deck it was and spent about a half hour researching forums and reverse image searching. I am an individual who loves research and refuses to quit before I find the answer. Hence, at long last, I was rewarded with the discovery that the deck featured was the Pagan Otherworlds.
A pagan, whom I follow on YouTube, posted a review several years ago, in which she emphatically restrained her negative thoughts towards the deck, primarily criticizing the guide book available at an extra cost, the quality of the cardstock, and “cold” imagery. Based off blog posts and comments from other Tarot readers, the complaints appear to mirror parallel thoughts. After handling the cards, observing the artwork, and laying out a spread or two, I understand these remarks. The first thing I noticed when unboxing the deck was the smell. I assume it’s from the location of printing and packing and, although neither repulsive nor pleasant, I can only hope it dissipates sooner rather than later. Referring to the cardstock, it is borderline acceptable. The cards are slippery and very thin. They don’t feel flimsy, neither are they glossy, but I notice my hands feel uncomfortable after an extended time of handling the deck. The edges are almost sharp. Similar to the dissipation of the smell, it would be wonderful if they smooth and soften over time.
Despite this, my overall consensus remains positive. The deck includes the added card of The Seeker (partially pictured above on the far left with the infinity symbol). I often use a signifier card in my readings, and this card is a much welcomed addition. It resolves the issue that some practitioners have of removing one of the standard 78 cards from the deck to use as such. Also, the deck incorporates five lunar cards, representing the new or black moon, crescent, quarter, gibbous, and full moon phases. I noticed that these phases can represent different times within the lunar cycle, depending on whether the card appears upright or reversed — for example, first or third quarter and waning or waxing crescent. Over the past eight years of reading Tarot, I have hardly ever used reversals; however, this deck might be one of the two decks I own that will defy this practice.
Speaking of reading Tarot, I’ve taken a break from offering Tarot readings to the public for a while now, but I’m debating about reintroducing them. I might restrict availability to only one or two days a week with the option for recorded video or typed document. It’s simply a thought, floating in my head for now, so stay tuned!
Witchingly,
— Clark
P.S. Clark Notes is a weekly to biweekly letter, in which I take notes and thoughts from my notebook and transcribe them into a longer format to share online. Unlike more thorough and themed articles, these Clark Notes have a couple, non-related thoughts and ramblings to keep my corner of the internet updated on who knows what. Think inspiration, tidbits I find interesting, commentary, and other jots.
