Marianne Costa - Tarot: step by step

Note: A few years ago, I met Marianne Costa in a garden in Avon, France, along with a mutual friend who was on a pilgrimage to George Gurdjieff’s grave, located just around the corner from where I live. We had a fascinating conversation, during which she spoke insightfully about Tarot and her collaboration with Alejandro Jodorowsky, among other topics. Though I was impressed by her depth of knowledge, I remained somewhat indifferent toward Tarot at the time. A few years later, my wife gifted me The Way of Tarot, which Costa co-authored with Jodorowsky. It turned out to be the most practical and compelling book I had ever read on the subject, sparking a personal journey to explore the symbolism of the Tarot. It wasn’t until a few years after that, during a psycho-magic reading in a smoky bar in Paris, that I realized I had encountered Tarot symbolism before. Synchronicities abound!

Bio: Marianne Costa, born 1966, holds a M.A. in comparative literature and is a renowned Tarot expert. She has published several books translated in various languages, among which : No Woman’s Land (novel, Grasset 2004), The Way of Tarot (with Jodorowsky, Inner Traditions 2005, German edition Windpferd 2008) and Metagenealogy (France 2011, USA 2014, a study of family as both a treasure and a trap, also with Jodorowsky).  She collaborates with institutions and museums as a symbology expert — most recently with the Guggenheim Collection in Venice and Accademia di Belle Arti in Palermo. Her last opus, an essay on Tarot’s history, symbolism and iconography Le Tarot pas à pas («Tarot step by step ») is already available in French, Spanish and Italian. Her polyfacetic carreer includes being a professional actress and singer, writing and translating poetry, novels and essays, and teaching groups worldwide in Tarot, transgenerational psychology and what she calls « healing fictions », an original technique that combine and surpasses therapy, self-development and artistic expression. She is the translator of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s poetry in French. Her base is in Paris and she has been a passionate tango dancer and singer for the last decade.

Artist Links: https://mariannecosta.com