The Stalactites of Reason: The Suit of Swords of the Tarot, Winter Solstice and the Warm Embrace of Death, with Morbid Anatomy’s Laetitia Barbier, Beginning February 26th.

2 week online course

Saturdays 2pm-4pm Eastern Time ( February 26th / March 5th)
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Taught via Zoom by Morbid Anatomy Programing Director Laetitia Barbier
$110 ($99 for $5/a month and above Patreon members)

Please note: Zoom invites are sent five days before the first class meeting. If you do not receive it, please email us at [email protected].

This class on the Suit of Swords in the Tarot is the second opus of a four part series dedicated to the minor arcana, their connection to seasonal change, and the philosophical allegories they present. Modeled after the concept of the Book of Hours, this Tarot workshop will, each season, go through the iconography of a specific suit, studied through the lenses of art, history and mythology. Together we’ll take a closer look at the story they tell, and how these ideas can ignite an introspective journey and allow for personal transformation.

The Planet Earth has a rhythm of its own, gently inclined from its axis, rotating around the sun, a slow and steady revolution. As we reach the winter season, this tempo appears to slow down gradually, as we witness the temporary collapse of life. But Nature’s death is a double edged sword, freezing the world into a realm of apparent immobility yet invisibly mapping its next chapter, breeding new life in secrecy. Like a scavenger mother-to-be feeding on corpses, this time invites destruction and digestion in order to prepare for the resurrection of Spring. 

In this two week interactive program, we’ll study the suit of swords, its connection to the Winter Solstice, and what's hiding under the ice. If the suit is traditionally associated with the intellect and the rational mind, it has a quality that the other suits don’t present: sarcasm and a dark, sweet and strange sense of humour. Pushing us to define our values and our taboos, the Suit of Swords is a lot less bleak and a lot more human that it appears.

Through iconographic examples, parlor games and discussions, we’ll also study the narrative arch of the suit itself and how to read these cards in the context of a reading or for more meditative pursuit.

Each student will be provided with a private access to a virtual classroom, including iconographical references, a bibliography and a workbook containing daily journaling prompts and creative assignments to do in their own time.

French born Laetitia Barbier is an independent scholar, as well as professional tarot reader and teacher. She earned a Bachelor Degree in Art History from La Sorbonne University Paris in 2009. Laetitia has worked with Morbid Anatomy since 2011 as a programming director, head librarian and occasional curator. Her new book Tarot and Divination Cards: A Visual Archive published by Abrams will be out November 2021. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.