Esoteric Isle : A grave matter
Columnist Anna Willatt returns to delve back into the mystic world of tarot, its characters and deep-rooted links to Kent
Hello friends, it’s been some time. The temptation to write this article like Carrie Bradshaw with pointless questions that never get answered is overwhelming, but she was always my least favourite SATC character, so I’ll resist. Where were we…
Ah yes, Esoteric Isle (formerly Kent). Well, a lot has happened since my first article under the moniker – Spring 2022 was the time, then life happened and the esoteric ponderings and wanderings around our fair county fell to the side.
My article on the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck appeared in print and online for Cene on 1 March and exactly 2 years later to the day (spooky!), Kim Arnold, the organiser of the highly regarded annual UK Tarot Conference and I arranged to meet to discuss the very same article and how she’d come across it while researching for her upcoming Ramsgate based Tarot By The Sea event. But more on that later.
I won’t rehash that article for you but hope you’ll dive into the Cene archives for an exploration of that deck’s deep connection to Kent, through the landscapes depicted by a gifted artist called Pamela Colman Smith and the rather fusty Golden Dawn member Arthur Edward Waite, his homes in Thanet and final resting place just outside of Canterbury. Throw in a little-known bit of research on a forgotten sequel deck and it was – and is – quite the read of pop research and intuitive connections. Putting that article out, I knew none of my friends or family gave a monkey’s but that I loved the psychogeography of getting out in Kent and seeing it in a new light.
Back in March of this year I received a query through my freelance website. These tend to be ‘offers’ to re-do the SEO (what SEO?) or sign me up to an MLM so imagine my surprise when it was a real-life person trying to track me down off the back of the very same article. That real life person was Kim Arnold, a legend in the tarot world for her work writing for the likes of Hay House and organiser of the revered UK Tarot Conference since 2003. She had seen my article, been intrigued and wanted to chat. She was also based in Birchington and bowled over by the connections to this little part of the world from a tarot deck that was so prevalent in everyone’s consciousness, whether you connect with the cards themselves or not.
Fast forward a few months and Kim and I met with Emily Martin, ceramicist at Candlesnuff Studio and Sarah Vaughn, holistic eco therapist to do, as Sarah herself described, one of the strangest things she’s ever done.
Why would a normal person volunteer to clear an overgrown grave that they aren’t related to? Well, they wouldn’t be normal, of course – no offence, ladies. After a birthday visit to The Pig (which has its own tales to tell!) my husband and I popped down the road to the tiny village of Bishopsbourne to visit Arthur Edward Waite’s grave – so far, normal. The gravesite was so overgrown that I had to wander the grounds to get 4G to consult a grave finding blog (ok, less normal) to find its location, nestled next to the churchyard wall, a muddle of brambles, completing obscuring the mystical motto ‘Est una sola res’ – ‘There is only one thing’. Frustrated that it was so unloved, I fired off an email to the church in the car who came back swiftly that week. Susannah had checked with the Reverend and granted permission to tidy the grave and expressing gratitude for the act, saying - ‘it is often difficult if people have no living relatives’.
Permission granted, I needed some strange pals to keep me to task and a couple of Instagram call outs later, we had our esoteric crew – Kim, Emily, Sarah and me. A few jokes in our What’s App about what our nearest and dearest thought of the plan (burying a body, clandestine rural spy meetings…) and we got down to business with Kim offering to donate supplies and sunflowers (on theme for Lammas and a motif in the RWS deck) on behalf of the UK Tarot Conference.
On arrival Kim and I sat opposite Arthur and broke bread with sandwiches as puzzled walkers passed through the churchyard. Soon after Emily and Sarah joined, and we pulled away decades of greenery to uncover the low-rise tomb where a man who should be as recognised as his infamous foe Aleister Crowley was put to rest in 1942. It’s easy to romanticise the past and we must remember that people lived their lives to different standards to how we do now. He was undoubtably a flawed human. But to think about what he co-created and left as a legacy gives goosebumps. That tool, while most often not used in its original intended fashion (as a key to the secrets of the Golden Dawn), brings hope and guidance to millions around the world and has impacted art and culture since its inception.
Hard work done under the early August sunshine in a parched, rural graveyard, we pulled a few cards in his honour with Kim connecting our cards. In the morning before we met, I’d done the same. Sat on the main sands at Ramsgate I’d re-ordered my deck for the first time since purchasing it in the Magick shop in Ramsgate during the pandemic (when so many of us turned inward for support and guidance). It was surprising to see two of the cards that I’d pulled that morning reflected in our picks, in front of the co-creator’s grave. A message, a coincidence or just a general bit of everyday magic that can only make life that little bit more special.
For more, head to Instagram:
Anna shares about Esoteric Kent & beyond @esotericisle
Kim is the founder of the UK Tarot Conference @uktarotconference
Emily makes beautiful ceramics, including tarot card holders @candlesnuffstudio
Sarah is a Holistic Eco Therapist @rewild_your_soul
Get involved:
Visit A E Waite at St Mary’s Church, Bishopsbourne – pop inside for 14thC wall paintings and medieval carved graffiti and stained glass - barhamdownschurches.org.uk
Esoteric Isle Presents : Practical Magic – a witchy film night in aid of Flori’s Pet Rescue Charity, 3 November, Ramsgate. Tickets are on sale now and linked @esotericisle
The UK Tarot Conference runs 11, 12 October - in-person is sold out but you can join virtually - tarotconference.co.uk
Tarot By The Sea will run 3-5th April 2025 at Albion Hotel in Ramsgate (with Esoteric Isle speaking) – tarotconference.co.uk/special-events
