This episode offers a flip through the rare mid-20th century tarot guide, The Painted Caravan by Basil Ivan Rákóczi (1908-1979). Although born in England, he was inspired by his mother Charlotte May Dobby’s Irish heritage and his father Ivan’s Hungarian history, including claiming his parents were married according to ‘Gypsy’ traditions. However, he grew up with his stepfather Harold Beaumont, and in fact was known as Basil Beaumont until 1933. His mother was something of a fabulist, so it’s not certain how much of the ‘gypsy’ history was romanticising.

He was part of the Bloomsbury set in London and later formed the White Stag group in Ireland. His interest in folklore and Roma traditions influenced his art and writing. Rákóczi also developed a deep interest in psychology, influenced by Freud, setting up the Society for Creative Psychology.

This book presents the truth from ‘gypsy’ tradition, but offers versions of the cards that vary from the Marseilles and Colman Smith images, both of which he seemed to know well. Alas, the end papers described in the book itself were not reproduced in the library copy I read.

Interlibrary loan is your friend for hard-to-find books!