Sonic Divination: The Sound of Tarot
If there’s music of the spheres, and Tarot is borne from the stars, then surely there’s harmony to be found out there in the cosmos.
Perhaps The Hermit dwells in a place of atmospheric ambient drone, the low hum of cold winds rushing around the peak while he contemplates his own existence. The Tower is a black metal, post-rock crescendo of blast beats and shrieking vocals, the lightning bolt one big riff that breaks the sky. The Sun shines like a folk song in spring, all twangy guitars with hints of raga, and Judgement blows his horn broadcasting a regal classical march, a fanfare in brass to rouse the procession.
(Image: From 'The Charles VI Trionfi' deck)
As for the Minor Arcana, with the four suits being attributed to the four elements, then it’s not too outlandish to think that they must possess their own elemental sound.
The sharp treble sound of the swords, brittle but clear, to the earthy muffled bass-notes of the wands, roots plucked from the ground, eager to spark. The cups are full of high-notes, top lines ethereal and flowing, with the coins grounded in structure and rhythm, melodies strong and guiding.
(Image: The Divine Monochord - Robert Fludd)
With each card presenting its own scene, rich with symbolism and interpretation, it's easy to think of them like a song, or together as one big prog-rock concept album. We move through hope to doubt, courage to melancholy, embracing all the nuanced emotions along the journey, much like the spiritual experience of listening to music.
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Now we hear from Thomas on The Song of Celestio, our own soundtrack to a world of stars...
Soundtracking Celestio
I set out to create a soundtrack for Celestio. An aural canvas if you like, serving perhaps a similar purpose to a bespoke tarot cloth. A background upon which divination could play out. For this reason my intention was to try and ensure the music remained somewhat neutral tonally. I knew that all kinds of journeys would be played out upon it and it was important that it didn’t guide the querent too far in any given direction. Being somewhat inclined toward the dramatic and maudlin, this presented something of a challenge…
By the time it came to commence work, I had decided that there should be two pieces and that together they should form “the song” of Celestio. As I already mentioned, the purpose of this music was not to try and capture the essence of any of the specific cards. Their meanings were far too disparate and diverse for that. Rather this song should transport people to the world of Celestio itself; to the rolling plains of Cinder all the way up to the mountains of Cloke. I am a firm believer that a good soundtrack can help people forge deeper connections with the centrepiece. Indeed this became the aim of the music as I wrote it simultaneously with the text that made up the book of Celestio.