Books by Emily E. Auger
This 410 page filmography includes entries for 199 films incorporating cartomancy and/or Tarot sc... more This 410 page filmography includes entries for 199 films incorporating cartomancy and/or Tarot scenes, b/w illustrations from over 30 cartomancy decks, numerous charts showing the cartomancy spreads used in specific films, and an index of the cross-listings between films. It is a companion volume to Cartomancy and Tarot in Film 1940-2010 (Intellect, 2016).
"Excerpt from the Introduction:
Tech-noir films are about technology perceived as a destructiv... more "Excerpt from the Introduction:
Tech-noir films are about technology perceived as a destructive and dystopian force that threatens every aspect of our reality. They often expose the temporal nature of concepts of identity and society: rather than being fixed aspects of a permanent and indestructible “nature,” these concepts, like nature itself, are shown as mere parts of a larger simulacrum that is subject to change, exploitation, and even annihilation. Yet, even as tech-noir films present the mirror that reveals us to be as expendable and replaceable as any consumer product, they simultaneously affirm conventional beliefs and values – as do all popular genres."
Excerpt from the Preface:
As a student of history in art, I initially became intrigued with preh... more Excerpt from the Preface:
As a student of history in art, I initially became intrigued with prehistoric Inuit art as evidence of the diffusion of motifs and cultural practices, particularly those related to shamanism, in the circumpolar and circumpacific regions, and for its possible connection to the Paleolithic; later, I explored the ways in which contemporary Inuit art demonstrates cultural influences and has, in turn, influenced both non-Inuit artists and scholars. Over the twenty-some years I have pondered this art I have had frequent occasion to wonder at the apparent disparity between the relative simplicity of its forms and the extraordinary depth of interest those forms generate in myself and others; thus, in this book I dwell at length on matters of context and interpretation, such as shamanism, modernism, postmodernism, primitivism, and so forth, as explanations for why these forms, so far removed from the generative expanse in which they came to be, hold the imagination.
"Excerpts from the Preface:
... I became intrigued by the idea that the recent revisions of Ta... more "Excerpts from the Preface:
... I became intrigued by the idea that the recent revisions of Tarot are not so much replacements for the older decks as they are the results of the feudal, modern, and post-modern concepts readily associated with changes in Tarot function from game to occult accessory to meditation aid, as well as broader historical developments in the western world; indeed, the effectiveness with which these concepts have accrued, rather than substituted for each other, in Tarot, supports the genre's unique contemporary function as a heterotopian "space" where the individual may seek transformative understanding of himself, society, and the universe. This Tarot is akin to the library or museum, both of which are also heterotopias based on the accumulation of history, and is supported by the invitation the deck format extends for play, even in its most esoteric revisions. Combined with the artist's and querent reader's particular sense of purpose, this functionality is the essence of all Tarot creativity.
... it is a commonplace among historians of all types, but particularly those engaged with popular culture, that the art of real value in any given time and place is that which helps people to find a sense of reality, to find themselves. I believe, therefore, that recognition of the purposes and content of this unique, affordable and aesthetically satisfying popular art form is as important to understanding our times as is the study of more extravagant and critically acclaimed works. This book is intended to bring recognition of the place of contemporary Tarot and other meditation decks in cultural history and the conventions by which they help people find their place in the world."
Published Papers by Emily E. Auger
An Annotated List of Fantasy Novels Incorporating Tarot (1990-2005). Mythlore 38.2 (Spring/Summer 2020): 139-61.
Mythlore, 2020
This annotated list of books from 1990 through 2005 continues the bibliography in Mythlore 36.2 (... more This annotated list of books from 1990 through 2005 continues the bibliography in Mythlore 36.2 (Spring-Summer 2018) and includes abstracts for each novel or series and some card layout diagrams.
Open-Access at the link https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol38/iss2/12/
Mythlore, 2018
IVINATION, PROPHECY, AND OTHER KINDS OF PROGNOSTICATION have long played an important role in myt... more IVINATION, PROPHECY, AND OTHER KINDS OF PROGNOSTICATION have long played an important role in mythopoeic literature, often in conjunction with characters seeking the truth behind some obscure situation, as well as information about the future. Galadriel and her mirror in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), the Happy Medium and her crystal ball in Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time (1962), Igneous Cutwell and his Caroc cards in Terry Pratchett's Mort (1983), the Weirdin rediscovered by Sara Kendell in Charles de Lint's Moonheart (1984), and Lyra Silvertongue and her alethiometer in Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass (1995), are just a few of many characters who future-or truth-tell with the aid of a tool. Prophets may sometimes be distinguished by their lack of reliance on such external devices. For example, in C.S. Lewis's The Horse and His Boy (1954), a centaur prophesies that Cor will one day save Archenland. However, prophecies are often disassociated from their source and dependent on folklore for transmission, as for instance, is that recounted by Mr. Beaver in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) about the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve sitting on the thrones of Cair Paravel. Distinctions between types of prognosticators or the nature of their work may become unclear if the practitioner takes more than one approach. For example, in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), Sybill Trelawney goes into a trance and prophesies that a boy will defeat Voldemort, but she also uses crystal balls, tea leaves, and cards to inspire her second sight-she draws the Tower prior to Dumbledore's fall in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005). In addition, future-tellings of all kinds tend to be vague and fragmentary: as the succubus tells Roland in Stephen King's The Gunslinger (1982): "We see in part, and thus is the mirror of prophecy darkened" (182). Future-tellers and their pronouncements are often not well received or taken seriously. Even the predictions of no less a magician than Merlin were made the butt of one of Shakespeare's jokes in King Lear. Not only is this historical play set centuries before Merlin is said to have lived, but the Fool pretending to prophesy Merlin's prophecy recasts the content so that the lines make little sense, except as parody.
Mythlore, 2018
Characters and events in King’s Dark Tower series are inspired by the Fisher King, Arthurian, and... more Characters and events in King’s Dark Tower series are inspired by the Fisher King, Arthurian, and other mythologies and legends, as well as the works of more contemporary authors who derived inspiration from similar sources. This paper explores King's use of Tarot motifs in the Dark Tower series with attention to similarities and parallels to the presentation of Tarot in T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. King’s central character Roland, whose cards are read by his nemesis, has the satisfaction of knowing when the cartomancer is dead and of saving multiple universes, but then discovers that he is doomed to keep saving those universes over and over again.
Open Access at the link
Robots and Representation in Asimov's Detective-Science Fiction Novels
Journal of Aesthetic Education, 2009
"Grand Manner Aesthetics in Landscape: From Canvas to Celluloid." Journal of Aesthetic Education ... more "Grand Manner Aesthetics in Landscape: From Canvas to Celluloid." Journal of Aesthetic Education 43.4 (Winter 2009): 96-107.
Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 2008
When J. R. R. Tolkien expressed his opinion that “in human art fantasy is a thing best left to wo... more When J. R. R. Tolkien expressed his opinion that “in human art fantasy is a thing best left to words, to true literature,” he had no idea what an inspiration The Lord of the Rings would be to artists ranging from book illustrator Alan Lee to film director Peter Jackson to Tarot artist Peter Pracownik. In this paper I consider the adaptation of Tolkien to Tarot in Pracownik and writer Terry Donaldson’s deck with special atten- tion to the features shared by The Lord of the Rings and Tarot, including the quest, alle- gorical or archetypal characters, and interlaced narrative structure.
Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 2008
Tolkien reinvented the medieval "romance," complete with archetypal characters, quest theme, and ... more Tolkien reinvented the medieval "romance," complete with archetypal characters, quest theme, and interlaced narrative structure, when he wrote The Lord of the Rings and, in doing so, he became a principal founder of the modern literary genre of fantasy and inspiration to a wide range of fantasy art. Tolkien identified the romance with the fairy story, referring to such as the "true fairy story (or romance)" (Tolkien, "On Fairy-stories" 87). Furthermore, he understood Faërie to be a place or state containing, along with fairies, "dwarves, witches, trolls, giants, or dragons," and all the other elements, plants, and things that make up that place or state. Stories set in Faërie are typically "about the adventures of men in the Perilous Realm or upon its shadowy marches" (38). In spite of the widespread use of illustration in association with medieval narrative, 1 Tolkien was of the opinion that fantasy was a literary form, not a visual one, as he stated quite clearly in "On Fairy-stories": In human art Fantasy is a thing best left to words, to true literature. In painting, for instance, the visible presentation of the fantastic image is technically too easy; the hand tends to outrun the mind, even to overthrow it. Silliness or morbidity are frequent results. (70) Though not necessarily due to Tolkien's espousal of it, this opinion has become as familiar as Hobbits: artwork, once regarded as a guarantor of book sales, is now generally dispensed with in all but children's literature, comics, and graphic novels as a distraction from the written word. So it is that Alan Lee's fifty paintings make the 1991 HarperCollins edition of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings one of the rare volumes of later twentieth-century illustrated adult fiction. Albeit of higher than usual quality, Lee's work for Tolkien's The Hobbit is typical of that provided for children's stories insofar as it is lim
Arthurian Legend in Tarot
King Arthur in Popular Culture
ESOTERICA Arthurian Legend in Tarot Emily Auger Arthurian legends have always been subject to red... more ESOTERICA Arthurian Legend in Tarot Emily Auger Arthurian legends have always been subject to redefinition and rein-terpretation through the mediums of story-telling, literature, and the visual arts. Most recently, meditation and Tarot decks have been added to the mediums in which ...
Clues: A Journal of Detection, Jan 1, 2008
The author considers Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret (1862) as a detective novel ma... more The author considers Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret (1862) as a detective novel marked by both literary and artistic gothic characteristics, including the classic "locked room" and "locked trunk" motifs, as well as Lady Audley's pre-Raphaelite portrait. This portrait is revealed as both clue and a-priori "truth" in the detective's investigation of Lady Audley's fraudulent upward class mobility.
The cultural and multicultural aesthetics of Baker Lake Inuit artists
American Indian art magazine, Jan 1, 2001
Edited Volumes by Emily E. Auger
This series collects the works of prolific scholar Nancy-Lou Patterson (1929-2018), active primar... more This series collects the works of prolific scholar Nancy-Lou Patterson (1929-2018), active primarily in the 1980s and 1990s. Most of the essays first appeared in the journal Mythlore but are supplemented by articles that were unpublished or published in other journals and newsletters that are now difficult to obtain. Patterson also continued to revise many of her essays after publication. Patterson taught at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, from 1962 until she retired in 1992. The University of Waterloo named her a Distinguished Professor Emerita and Wilfrid Laurier University awarded her an honorary doctor of letters. Patterson taught art history and was an active artist, poet, and fiction writer. She was also an enthusiastic conference participant and scholar who published numerous papers on her favourite subject: the Inklings. Her writing is clear, refreshing, wide-ranging, and as rich and stimulating as when these essays were first written.
Table of Contents
Preface by Emily E. Auger
In Memoriam: Nancy-Lou Patterson by Janet Brennan Cro... more Table of Contents
Preface by Emily E. Auger
In Memoriam: Nancy-Lou Patterson by Janet Brennan Croft
Editorial Notes
The Descent: Models, Motifs, and Milieus
1. The Chthonic in Women's Spirituality
2. Kore Motifs in The Princess and the Goblin
3. Archetypes of the Mother in the Fantasies of George MacDonald
4. Death by Landscape
The Others: Celts, Dragons, Psychopomps, and a Whatsit
5. "Bright-Eyed Beauty": Celtic Elements in Charles Williams, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis
6. The Dragons of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis by Nancy-Lou Patterson [with additions by Emily E. Auger]
7. "Homo Monstrosus": Lloyd Alexander's Gurgi and the Shadow Figures of Fantastic Literature
8. Angel and Psychopomp in Madeleine L'Engle's "Wind" Trilogy
The Mythopoeic: Art, Classroom, and Exhibition
9. Emily Carr's Forest
10. J.R.R. Tolkien: Art and Literature from Middle-earth ["Lord of the Rings" by A.M. MacQuarrie and "J.R.R. Tolkien by Nancy-Lou Patterson]
11. Art in the English Classroom: An Interdisciplinary Approach
12. Tree and Leaf: J.R.R. Tolkien and the Visual Image
13. An Appreciation of Pauline Baynes
14. Magic Realism in Canada
Nancy-Lou Patterson's Mythopoeic Drawings: A Compilation by Emily E. Auger and Janet Brennan Croft with commentary and annotations selected by Emily E. Auger
Collects Nancy-Lou Patterson's essays on Charles Williams; the bulk of the book is her major, and... more Collects Nancy-Lou Patterson's essays on Charles Williams; the bulk of the book is her major, and previously hard to obtain, essay on Tarot in The Greater Trumps, "The Triumph of Love." With extensive annotations and illustrations. Now available for order at the link below.
This anthology of papers by Inklings scholar Nancy-Lou Patterson includes her study of Tarot in C... more This anthology of papers by Inklings scholar Nancy-Lou Patterson includes her study of Tarot in Charles Williams's novel The Greater Trumps (1932), first published in the 1972 proceedings of the 1972 Mythopoeic Society conference. This paper is one of the few scholarly studies of the subject from that decade and it remains very relevant as an analysis of the novel. This edition includes added charts, illustrations, notes, and an introduction by Emily E. Auger.
A collection of reviews is an odd and chimerical beast, with many heads and a variegated body. Wh... more A collection of reviews is an odd and chimerical beast, with many heads and a variegated body. What are we to make of it? What is its purpose?
Nancy-Lou Patterson was the Reviews Editor for Mythlore from issue #26 through #84, a stretch of seventeen years. She was also officially on the journal’s board for issues #58 through #84. A position like this allows one to shape the field in a small but potent way, by determining what should be reviewed and who is the best person to review it. I don’t doubt that she saved many of the plums for herself, making sure the most promising books got her personal attention.
Patterson probably didn’t think of the legacy she’d be leaving as she wrote these pieces, but taken as a whole, this body of reviews (all but a small handful from Mythlore) constitutes a chronologically-arranged annotated bibliography for each of these authors, and provides the reader with a concise outline of the main trends and major works of critical response during her active period, from about 1975 through 2001. This outline of critical history is a fine starting point for the student, the thesis writer, and even the established scholar making sure he or she has not neglected a relevant source. The extensive section on Lewis is, in my own draft copy, a rainbow of highlighted references that I plan to follow up.
Of course, with this collection we gain a better understanding of Patterson as a critic and scholar, and her influences, opinions, and interests. But it also constitutes an education in the fine art of reviewing itself. Patterson demonstrates how to engage with the actual book in front of you, not the book you want or think it should be, with fairness and charity, but without allowing any major flaws to pass unmentioned. Her reviews are witty, clear as a bell, and generous, yet constructively acerbic when necessary. They usually end with a hearty, resounding “Recommended!” And I will apply her words to this collection myself—most highly recommended indeed!
Edited collection of papers by Nancy-Lou Patterson, active in the 1980s and 1990s, and a frequent... more Edited collection of papers by Nancy-Lou Patterson, active in the 1980s and 1990s, and a frequent contributor to Mythlore. Volume 2 will also focus on Lewis; volume 3 on Dorothy L. Sayers and volume 4 on Charles Williams.
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Books by Emily E. Auger
Tech-noir films are about technology perceived as a destructive and dystopian force that threatens every aspect of our reality. They often expose the temporal nature of concepts of identity and society: rather than being fixed aspects of a permanent and indestructible “nature,” these concepts, like nature itself, are shown as mere parts of a larger simulacrum that is subject to change, exploitation, and even annihilation. Yet, even as tech-noir films present the mirror that reveals us to be as expendable and replaceable as any consumer product, they simultaneously affirm conventional beliefs and values – as do all popular genres."
As a student of history in art, I initially became intrigued with prehistoric Inuit art as evidence of the diffusion of motifs and cultural practices, particularly those related to shamanism, in the circumpolar and circumpacific regions, and for its possible connection to the Paleolithic; later, I explored the ways in which contemporary Inuit art demonstrates cultural influences and has, in turn, influenced both non-Inuit artists and scholars. Over the twenty-some years I have pondered this art I have had frequent occasion to wonder at the apparent disparity between the relative simplicity of its forms and the extraordinary depth of interest those forms generate in myself and others; thus, in this book I dwell at length on matters of context and interpretation, such as shamanism, modernism, postmodernism, primitivism, and so forth, as explanations for why these forms, so far removed from the generative expanse in which they came to be, hold the imagination.
... I became intrigued by the idea that the recent revisions of Tarot are not so much replacements for the older decks as they are the results of the feudal, modern, and post-modern concepts readily associated with changes in Tarot function from game to occult accessory to meditation aid, as well as broader historical developments in the western world; indeed, the effectiveness with which these concepts have accrued, rather than substituted for each other, in Tarot, supports the genre's unique contemporary function as a heterotopian "space" where the individual may seek transformative understanding of himself, society, and the universe. This Tarot is akin to the library or museum, both of which are also heterotopias based on the accumulation of history, and is supported by the invitation the deck format extends for play, even in its most esoteric revisions. Combined with the artist's and querent reader's particular sense of purpose, this functionality is the essence of all Tarot creativity.
... it is a commonplace among historians of all types, but particularly those engaged with popular culture, that the art of real value in any given time and place is that which helps people to find a sense of reality, to find themselves. I believe, therefore, that recognition of the purposes and content of this unique, affordable and aesthetically satisfying popular art form is as important to understanding our times as is the study of more extravagant and critically acclaimed works. This book is intended to bring recognition of the place of contemporary Tarot and other meditation decks in cultural history and the conventions by which they help people find their place in the world."
Published Papers by Emily E. Auger
Open-Access at the link https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol38/iss2/12/
Open Access at the link
Edited Volumes by Emily E. Auger
Preface by Emily E. Auger
In Memoriam: Nancy-Lou Patterson by Janet Brennan Croft
Editorial Notes
The Descent: Models, Motifs, and Milieus
1. The Chthonic in Women's Spirituality
2. Kore Motifs in The Princess and the Goblin
3. Archetypes of the Mother in the Fantasies of George MacDonald
4. Death by Landscape
The Others: Celts, Dragons, Psychopomps, and a Whatsit
5. "Bright-Eyed Beauty": Celtic Elements in Charles Williams, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis
6. The Dragons of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis by Nancy-Lou Patterson [with additions by Emily E. Auger]
7. "Homo Monstrosus": Lloyd Alexander's Gurgi and the Shadow Figures of Fantastic Literature
8. Angel and Psychopomp in Madeleine L'Engle's "Wind" Trilogy
The Mythopoeic: Art, Classroom, and Exhibition
9. Emily Carr's Forest
10. J.R.R. Tolkien: Art and Literature from Middle-earth ["Lord of the Rings" by A.M. MacQuarrie and "J.R.R. Tolkien by Nancy-Lou Patterson]
11. Art in the English Classroom: An Interdisciplinary Approach
12. Tree and Leaf: J.R.R. Tolkien and the Visual Image
13. An Appreciation of Pauline Baynes
14. Magic Realism in Canada
Nancy-Lou Patterson's Mythopoeic Drawings: A Compilation by Emily E. Auger and Janet Brennan Croft with commentary and annotations selected by Emily E. Auger
Nancy-Lou Patterson was the Reviews Editor for Mythlore from issue #26 through #84, a stretch of seventeen years. She was also officially on the journal’s board for issues #58 through #84. A position like this allows one to shape the field in a small but potent way, by determining what should be reviewed and who is the best person to review it. I don’t doubt that she saved many of the plums for herself, making sure the most promising books got her personal attention.
Patterson probably didn’t think of the legacy she’d be leaving as she wrote these pieces, but taken as a whole, this body of reviews (all but a small handful from Mythlore) constitutes a chronologically-arranged annotated bibliography for each of these authors, and provides the reader with a concise outline of the main trends and major works of critical response during her active period, from about 1975 through 2001. This outline of critical history is a fine starting point for the student, the thesis writer, and even the established scholar making sure he or she has not neglected a relevant source. The extensive section on Lewis is, in my own draft copy, a rainbow of highlighted references that I plan to follow up.
Of course, with this collection we gain a better understanding of Patterson as a critic and scholar, and her influences, opinions, and interests. But it also constitutes an education in the fine art of reviewing itself. Patterson demonstrates how to engage with the actual book in front of you, not the book you want or think it should be, with fairness and charity, but without allowing any major flaws to pass unmentioned. Her reviews are witty, clear as a bell, and generous, yet constructively acerbic when necessary. They usually end with a hearty, resounding “Recommended!” And I will apply her words to this collection myself—most highly recommended indeed!