I find pilgrimage to be an especially important practice. There are many types of pilgrimage. Journeys to places in search of new meaning about the self, nature, the world, mind, through the experience of the journey and the place. A connection to time through an exploration of space. One I like to do when the opportunity arises is to visit places associated with people I am interested in.
A while ago I had the opportunity to visit the church in whose grounds Pamela Colman Smith, aka Pixie, (16 February 1878 – 18 September 1951) was buried in an unmarked burial place. The Parish Church of St Michael & All Angels, in Bude.
Pixie was a British artist, illustrator, writer and occultist. She is best known for illustrating the Rider-Waite tarot deck (also called the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, RWS, Waite-Smith deck, Waite-Colman Smith deck or simply the Rider deck or Waite deck) for her collaborator in terms of defining the meanings Arthur Edward Waite and their publisher Rider. This deck has gone on to be the basis for the vast majority of decks available, and is the deck most people learn Tarot with. It is my current go-to deck. But despite the importance of all this Pixie herself had for a long time been cast aside in occult history, thankfully her story has come back, and it was an honour to spend time in the presence of her resting bones.
It’s not worth rehashing a second rate paraphrasing of her life so if you’re interested in a great short biography I highly recommend this lovely biography by Beth Maiden and this one by Diana London Potts. There is also a fab looking book put out by US Games, called The Untold Story, and here’s an interview about that book.
Put simply without Pamela Coleman Smith I honestly don’t know if the Tarot would have the reach it does today. It is also interesting that through this renewed interest in her tarot association there has also been renewed interest in her wider artistic works. Mary K Greer has uncovered an interesting article written by Pixie entitled “Should the Art Student Think?” which gives her view as to how to interpret works of art (as the cards most certainly are), in offers this advice:
“After you have found how to tell a simple story, put in more details…. Learn from everything, see everything, and above all feel everything!”
I lit a candle. A light that shined reminding me of the hermit card, and a moment too of solitude, seeking knowledge, retreating alone from the crowd into a quiet space. Through the dark of my unconscious with the light that Pixie shined forth with her cards to guide me. The hermit like a pilgrim knows deep down their final destination is a return home to the self with new understanding.
