THE START My story with Tarot Beirut started in December 2010. I offered myself a Tarot de Marseille “Camoin Jodorowsky” deck and the beautiful limited edition book “La voie du Tarot”. I took it very seriously and started to learn about tarot cards, numerology, the meaning of the major and minor arcana, the symbolism behind the blades and the combination of cards that would tell me the story of the person that asked for a reading.
THE BREAK Before going to bed on the 7th of December 2010, I deposited the cards on my grandmother’s wooden family table. They had the shape of a “Mandala”, a sort of disposition that would open the portal of a connection with another dimension.
I woke up at 3am in the morning, staring at the darkness of my room that was quickly pierced by a bright light surrounded by a purple
border. I couldn’t believe my eyes, looking all over the place to find the source of this light but couldn’t find any. The light was now reaching a 1-meter diameter and I was afraid. I closed my eyes and re-opened them. The same phenomena repeated itself. The third time, I closed my eyes and hid under my duvet so I won’t see the light again.
When I woke up in the morning, I gave away my cards and the book and never touched a tarot deck for almost eight years…
TAROT AGAIN! In March 2018, I fell in love with Francky, a French handsome man. He invited me to spend the month of June in his new house in the south of France. He was attracted to tarot cards and I knew it was my way to get to him! I had three months to get back to mastering the art of reading tarot cards and I didn’t waste my time! The next thing I did was buy a tarot “Camoin and Jodorowsky” deck (it was surprisingly the same deck that attracted me) as well as a regular edition of “La voie du Tarot” (the limited edition reached 700€!). Reading the 600-pages book was not enough. I needed to practice, so I registered to a seven-day intensive training (by Camoin himself) and started reading to the clients of “L’Area”, the pub where I met Francky and that I consider to be the best pub in Paris, beautifully managed by my friend Edouard Choueke.
My training with Philippe Camoin made me realize that I was naturally “reading” the cards where most people saw illustrations. It was like another language, with specific alphabet and storytelling. I was now ready to meet with Francky! After 6 months of a beautiful love story, I returned to Paris with a broken heart but I was not alone. The tarot deck was my new partner and remained in my heart since then.
TAROT FOREVER I continued reading cards for free every Tuesday night at L’Area and, week after week, the tarot revealed itself to me. Some parts of the illustrations started shifting from 2D to 3D and, with time, they got distorted to give different shapes that would give me hints. Soon after, I started getting flash images and telepathic messages. The next step was the use of word of play expressions while wondering why I was using these sentences instead of classical ones.
The cards entered my life slowly but firmly. After a year, I had a community of fans from all over the world. It is during this period that I started collecting over 200 tarot, oracle, and Lenormand decks to understand which ones would “talk” to me while others wouldn’t.
BEGINNING OF TAROT BEIRUT In 2020, I realized that there were specific knowledge and codes related to the Tarot de Marseille and that they existed in many languages, but none was in Arabic. So I decided to create my own deck and soon started my research. I wanted my tarot to embrace both my Lebanese and French nationalities. I immediately decided that my deck would be called “Tarot Beirut”, and that it will be based on the codes of the French Tarot de Marseille! I spent a year studying the costumes of Lebanon and neighboring countries, kings, queens, knights and knaves, kids, warriors, architecture, coins, and so
on. I also started drawing my first three cards when I was called for a mission for the United Nations (I work as a consultant in education in my daily life). It was the opportunity to visit Lebanon again and reconnect with Monique Bejjani, the wonderful graphic designer that I have known for decades, back then when she was a student at Kaslik University. Day after day, week after week, month after month, we worked closely to achieve this masterpiece. She put her genius into it while I communicated the essential codes and elements.
Tarot Beirut represents the mutual efforts of two ladies: Lara and Monique.
Lara is the one who orchestrated the birth of this wonderful jewel.
Monique is the designer of these 78 finely crafted cards.
Lara van der Vliet
Monique Bejjani
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