The Erotic Tarot of Milo Manara
by Milo Manara
Milo Manara is a popular artist best known for his erotic comic books, which often follow the sexual adventures of men and women. He has created his own contemporary characters, adapted the classic Gulliver's Travels, and has placed his sexy heroines on British navy boats; to name just a few of his artistic projects. His women are sultry, sassy, or sweet; sometimes submissive, sometimes assertive, always fully enjoying their sensuality.
If Manara had studied the tarot and created an original piece for every card, we may have seen an excellent "Erotic Tarot." Unfortunately, it seems that this deck was created (or simply organized) using artwork chosen from Manara's existing portfolio (see his website linked below). This would explain the disjointed feel of the deck. We see a variety of styles, time periods, and characters, trying to come together into a cohesive whole. It doesn't quite work, not as a traditional tarot deck. Tarot meanings are often lost in the images. For many of the cards I was able to recognize traditional meanings, but for too many others I had to search for correlation. I will add that the accompanying booklet clarifies some of the meanings in the images.
One point I must raise regards violence. Many people would be extremely disturbed by this deck. Rape, assault, or threat of either, as well as the accompanying emotions (on the side of attacker or victim), are unfortunate negative truths in our society, and could (should?) find their place in a tarot that highlights the sexual. So, I can actually accept that some of the scenes might disturb. The Ten of Fire (Wands) shows a woman being approached by a man who is obviously about to rape her. It is graphically depicted. It is a nasty way to demonstrate the meaning of this card, but I can see the connection. Here is a woman who is beautiful and alluring, so she has her success . but she is about to be the victim of sexual oppression. Maybe it's a stretch, but it can work. There are a few cards that confound me, and are quite disturbing, at least on first look. The Lovers is particularly confounding to me. It shows a painter doing a portrait of a woman who is sitting naked before him. He is fully dressed and intent on his work. Her back is turned to us, upon which we see many red streaks. On the white cloth around her are splatters of red. My first impression was that the woman had received violent lashes across her back, and that she was bleeding. I then realized the red could be paint - her portrait is being painted after all. Which is it, blood or paint? But, we still have to look for the meaning in this card. There are others that suggest outright violence. Several of the Water (Cups) cards seem to show women being drowned, or stalked. These questionable Water cards are not nearly so negative in traditional tarot, so the images are confusing.
Let me mention that there are several cards in the deck in which women are the "aggressors," or sexually dominant. I am not sure how all men react to seeing images in which they are the submissive, but it strikes me that they are generally not as offended or disturbed as women when seeing their gender portrayed in this way. The Seven of Fire shows a man in a hospital bed, his arm hanging limply. Several women are astride him. It is an effectively erotic card; if it were men atop a helpless woman, I'm sure it would seem more threatening. In another Fire card, two women are passionately (to say the least) tearing the clothes from an attractive man. He is shown nearly naked, and exposed. Again, the eroticism is strong.
I asked my husband to look at the cards and give me his honest and open opinion. I didn't give him any impression of my own feelings beforehand. He has a basic familiarity with tarot. He thought many of the images were effective erotically, but could see little in the way of tarot symbolism. He also wondered about the more disturbing scenes. We did spend quite a while discussing it. He pointed out that the cards might get us to learn about ourselves simply by observing our initial reactions to them - not whether a card is arousing, but whether we see it as positive or negative.
The actual design of the cards is very attractive. Each card has a black background, and the images are bordered by their suit's color - light blue for Air (Swords), olive green for Earth (Pentacles), deep aqua for Water (Cups), dark orange for Fire (Wands), and the Majors are outlined in yellow. Numbers and labels are bold. In a spread layout these cards are impressive.
As erotic art, many of the cards are very good. Some are quite beautiful, some are weak. Women are shown in scenes of innocence - in the Five of Air a woman in a sheer frock walks through a field (the hand reaching up for her is a little unsettling though); hesitant play - the nun in the Seven of Earth has her hand between her legs; in danger of assault - an odd male figure approaches a woman taking a shower in the Seven of Water; fully ecstatic - the Queen of Fire's face reflects her pleasure. Men are shown as equal partners, aggressors or predators, or taken advantage of by one or several women. Much of the artwork is convincing.
I'm guessing that more men than women will enjoy this deck, and many men will even find that some of the images depict a control over women they don't agree with or condone. Fans of Manara will likely enjoy having seventy-eight pictures in a boxed set. For readings? Who knows. If one disregards (or transforms) traditional meanings and allows each card to provide its own, the deck could perhaps work for divination and self-discovery. It might even offer a reflection of our inhibitions, fears, desires, or sexual expression.
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All writing © N.Levine - Illumination Tarot, unless otherwise noted.
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