Amulets by Merlin's Blog

It was in 1986 when I requested Russ McClay to create the cards
to accompany the Tarot Amulets.
I had written a series of verse to describe the individual Tarot Amulets:
still in the works.
I had already invested nearly ten years of study in the Tarot
and felt it was time to move forward with the project.

Prose Card
of
the High Priestess Amulet

I had Met Russ four years earlier at Corona Trucking.
After two years of grueling work
we found jobs where we worked for subcontractors at the post office;
our duties did not take every waking minute as it did with Corona.
Each day we met for our lunch break and spoke about our interests in philosophy,
religion and the state of current affairs.

Tarot Prose Card
The Empress

Russ McClay at that time was well known for his Calligraphy:
his work was prominently displayed in signage in the Newport and Huntington Beach area
of Orange County as well as framed works of art
and on various fliers distributed in the better known shops of the Southland.
In a time before desktop publishing,
his hand work out shown the shaky fingers of his contemporaries
and was the envy of those of us who wanted good calligraphic art.

With my offer of the sound montage: “Something Happening”,
he agreed to create the cards.
It was a monumental task that took months of pen to paper,
running down to the photocopier to reduce them down to the right size;
creating layouts and a host of other steps.
I frustrated him with my revisions and “improvements” as he,
with great patience and endurance of my own foibles
produced what I consider to be
some of the finest Calligraphy I have ever seen.

I still have the original printing of these cards
and include them with the purchase of The Tarot Amulets.

Merlin’s prose and McClay’s flowing penmanship.