Walter Mercado's Tarot Collection

Bonhoms.com 2021, Lot 19: Walter Mercado: Seven Decks of Tarot Cards. L to R. The Goose is Out, Mitelli Tarot, Astro Mythological "Grand Jeu" Lenormand, Universal Dalí Tarot, The Tarot of Gemstones and Crystals, Los Naipes de Heliodoro (Majors), and James Bond 007 Tarot.

Bonhams hosted an online auction for the estate of Walter Mercado in Los Angeles from Nov 30 to Dec 9, 2021. Mucho Mucho Amor: The Collection of Walter Mercado listed 131 lots with a glorious number of objects, garments, and jewelry that belonged to the beloved Puerto Rican astrologer. 

​Of particular note for me was his tarot collection, which included seven decks that sold for just under $900: Lot 19, Walter Mercado: Seven Decks of Tarot Cards. 

Before I get into the decks in that group, the Mucho Mucho Amor collection contained a few lots with books related to astrology and mysticism, oil paintings, portraits of Walter Mercado, five signed Julio Iglesias LPs, sterling silver candelabras, a gorgeous renaissance revival carved mahogany throne chair, several carved hardwood figures of Ganesha, numerous gold gem-set rings, and of course many of his brilliant-colored capes.

​My favorite was this satin aqua one with a hand-painted zodiac wheel and sunburst, which sold for $2400 at the auction. It has a baby blue lace collar covered with pearls. Just stunning! I imagine he wore this on one of his astrology shows, but this is purely speculation on my part.

Bonhams.com Walter Mercado Aqua Satin cape with hand-painted sunburst and zodiac.

​Walter Mercado's Tarot Decks

Although his public work focused primarily on astrology, he was also an adept mystic and tarot reader. The tarot lot from Bonhams included the following seven decks from Walter Mercado's collection: 

​1.) The Goose is Out, 1982. The red box in Bonhoms photo. This was an oracle deck released by the Rajneesh Foundation International for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a.k.a. Osho. This oracle deck was released 13 years before the widely known Osho Tarot. Click the photo link for more details from the Tarot Garden's info page. 

​To read about other decks associated with Osho, please click through to this informative article by Jeannette Roth (also from the Tarot Garden).​

The Goose is Out Tarot from TarotGarden.com

2.) Gioseppe Maria Mitelli's I Tarocchini, 1978, a 17th century color reproduction by Graphica Gutenberg. Mercado's copy looks like it was in very good condition. For a deck of this age, it leaves me wondering if he used the deck infrequently? It's hard to know, since we can only see the box. The image below shows an uncolored antique from the Fournier Playing Cards Museum in Spain. 

Mitelli Tarot. Fournier Playing Cards Museum, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. Wikimedia, 2012.

3.) Astro Mythological Lenormand, Grimaud France, circa 1969-74. Also known as the Grand Jeu Lenormand, which was originally released in 1845 in Paris, France. 

The prototype for this deck was thought to have been designed by the famous Mademoiselle Marie Anne Lenormand, a Parisian fortune teller who read for the Empress Josephine.

The Grand Jeu Lenormand has astrological constellations, playing cards, images from Greek mythology, and flowers. Mademoiselle Lenormand studied astrology and Greek mythology extensively. The deck was released two years after her death.

Judging by the box in the group, Mercado's copy was a late 1960s to mid-70s edition and looks to have been very well loved! My copy below is an edition with floral backs (c. 1977). His copy would have had the blue and white checkered back that was used on Grimaud's decks during that period.

Astro Mythological "Grand Jeu" Lenormand.

4.) Universal Dalí Tarot, printed by T.G. Soler, 1984. Walter Mercado's copy with Justice on the box cover would have had gilt edges. You can just see the corner of the cards inside the box. It also looks to have been well loved! The pamphlet for this edition has Spanish, French, and English translations.

Tarot Universal Dali. The High Priestess, The Chariot, Death, Temperance, and The Devil.

​5.)The Tarot of Gemstones and Crystals, Helmut Hofmann, AG Muller 1996. I love that he had this deck in his collection. It's a lovely synergy of tarot with crystals. Judging by the box in the Bonhams' auction photo, it doesn't look to have been used very much. However, the bottom of the box does look to have moderate shelf wear, but not entirely sure since I can't see the cards. 

Tarot of Gemstones and Crystals, 1996.

6.) Los Naipes de Heliodoro, a Majors only Spanish tarot by Ana Maria Herrera, 1979. You can see in the photo that these cards are quite oversized! 

Examples of Los Naipes de Heliodoro Tarot

7). James Bond 007 Tarot, 1973, Fergus Hall. This deck was featured in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die, 1973. The deck later became the Tarot of the Witches. This is my 1980s copy:

Tarot of the Witches by Fergus Hall.

Many of the decks from this lot are from the 70s and early 80s. From Walter Mercado's Wikipedia page, it says he deepened his studies in tarot and the occult during this time.

I think he owned a copy of the Rider Tarot too, but I believe that would have lived in a box or was wrapped in silk. If memory serves, we see this in the Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado. However, that was not a part of this Walter Mercado auction. I imagine he had other decks in his collection that didn't make it to auction that perhaps were given to relatives and friends.

Walter Mercado as The Magician card in the Mucho, Mucho Amor movie.

I hope you enjoyed this browse through Walter Mercado's tarot decks! I thoroughly enjoyed looking through his collection, discovering some new designs and reconnecting with decks from my own collection that he would have worked with. Browsing the rest of his estate's auction of was also so fascinating!