Group of 39 Bardo Tsakali initiation cards, Tibet, late 19th or early 20th century, color woodblock prints on paper, images 4.25 x 3.25 inches, whole card including red border measuring 5.75 x 4.75 inches, all now presented in a cherry wood frame 41 x 57 inches, these Tsakalis were used by monks while reciting the Bardo Thodol, commonly known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, the cards are held up during certain points in the reading of the text when specific initiations for the dead person are performed, this set includes images of Buddhas, mandalas, ritual objects and groups of some of the wrathful deities that appear during the Bardo visions.