Bobbie von Falkenstein
I am Roberta Klara Magdalena, “Bobbie,” von Falkenstein, born in 1905.
I grew up in Falkenstein, a small village in the mountains. I was lucky that my parents, through careful management, were able to preserve the old family castle and provide me with a carefree youth. My childhood and teenage years were shaped by many journeys across Europe and the Orient.
As my father was one of the anonymous sponsors of Howard Carter, the discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamun, I had the unique opportunity in 1922, shortly after the tomb was opened in the Valley of the Kings, to see some of the artefacts before they were moved to Cairo.
This experience left a deep impression on me, and I returned to the land of the Nile many times, but I also travelled to other places, like Nepal, Ceylon, Cambodia, and Burma, always irresistibly drawn to sacred and magic places.
I spent an incredible amount of time in our library, my absolute favourite place on Falkenstein.
I can still smell the old books and leather armchairs and hear the crackling of the open fire.
I devoured the old travelogues from Marco Polo to the books by Alexandra David-Néel and they also deepened my desire to travel to all these faraway countries myself. But how was I going to get there? By boat and then overland, that took too long for me. I’m an Aries and therefore not really patient.
Barnoess Raymonde de Laroche, a french lady who got her pilot’s licence in 1910, inspired me to fly myself and so I was able to travel independently.
When I visited Egypt in 1928, I was captivated by the souq (bazaar) in Cairo. The Khan El-Khalili is and was the largest market on the African continent.
I can still remember the smells of spices and herbs, but also the butchers, the pistachio stalls and the sweet smell of apple tobacco. Incense and myrrh burned at many stands, their smoke curling into the air. Old men sat in the small cafés and played dominoes or backgammon drinking a cup of tea, some even played chess.
I let myself drift through the alleys, soaking in the unusual sights and sounds. As I passed a stall selling card games, my eyes fell on a special deck. The vendor, of course, immediately sensed my interest and curiosity, opening the negotiation with an absurdly high price. His justification? He had three wives and eleven children to feed. But I decided to play the game.
A few cups of strong and sweet peppermint tea later, he was willing to sell me the deck at a reasonable price and showed me the way back.
That’s how I got my Tarot deck, which was to play a major role in my life.
My passion for travel, Egypt, and Tarot never faded over the years, and so, in 1989, I found myself back in Cairo. It had become a cherished tradition for me to sit in Fishawi, the city’s oldest café, sipping Karkade, enjoying Baklava, Om Ali, or Roz bi Laban, writing in my journal, and watching the bustling life in the narrow alley.
On one of those days, a young woman sat nearby with a glass of tea. I had noticed her the day before, sitting with a group of Europeans in the same café, but that special day she was alone. Our eyes met, and on a sudden impulse, I waved her over. We talked at length about her journey.
I had the sense that I was sitting across from a kindred spirit, and so she became one of the few people to whom I ever spoke about Tarcania. The hours flew by, and when we finally parted, it was as friends, despite the decades that layed between us.
The few years that remained to me were filled with lively exchanges with Ivana, the young woman I had met in Cairo.
By then, she had had her first encounter with Tarot, but had not yet truly connected with the cards. So, I decided to leave her my journals from Tarcania, hoping they would give her a completely new perspective on the cards.
Tarcania is an enchanted land, somewhere between the dimensions, where Tarot has come to life. My time in Tarcania and the cards themselves changed my life, and I wished for Ivana to have the same experience.
And when she felt the time was right, I wanted her to share my story and my adventures in Tarcania with the world.