Words and photos by Ashley Joanna
Edited by Breandán Kearney
Humans of Belgian Beer is a series of photographic portraits which celebrate a people and their culture.
When you walk into Brasserie L’Ermitage on Rue Lambert Crickx in Brussels, you are bombarded with colorful flashes of art on every wall. Each painting is linked to one of the tarot cards, purportedly used by some to gain insight into the past, present, and future. Nacim Menu is one of the owners of Brasserie L’Ermitage. Together with his co-founders, he named the brewery after a well-known Tarot symbol.
“The Hermit” is depicted on the tarot card as an old man, standing on a mountain peak, carrying a staff in one hand and a lit lantern containing a six-pointed star in the other. The Hermit card suggests that you are in a phase of introspection, drawing your attention inwards and looking for answers within. L’Ermitage’s flagship beer is an IPA of 5.5% ABV called Lanterne. The Hermit’s lantern is said to be a Lamp of Truth, used to guide the unknowing.
When Nacim was growing up in Stambruges, a tiny village in the Province of Hainaut, his mother, Nacira, would play with a deck of colorful cards. They weren’t the deck of 52 playing cards seen in most family homes, but tarot cards: an unusual configuration of in-depth drawings which represent different meanings about life.
Nacim went on to study filmmaking in Brussels. He wanted to be a script writer. During his film studies, he discovered Alejandro Jodorowsky, a Chilean-French multimedium artist venerated in cult cinema for his violently surreal images and mysticism. ”He’s like the pope of tarot,” says Nacim. “I started to dig into it and I fell in love with the symbolism and the mystery around it; not as a fortune telling object, but more as a way of seeing the world around us and learning about ourselves.”
Nacim soon landed a job in Montreal, Canada, where he worked for a film distributor. There were local specialty beers everywhere. “When I got the job in Canada, I thought to myself, ‘oh no, I am going to really miss the Belgium beers,” he says. “But it was the exact opposite; I actually preferred the beer in Canada and wanted to bring this knowledge and spread it onto my home country.”
When he got back to Belgium, Nacim began attending tarot readings on a regular basis. “I was more interested in the history of the cards, the symbolism around it, and all the interpretations you can find,” he says. “I really like how they are all connected to each other.” Nacim has tattoos of the Tarot on his body. And he still collects special tarot card decks from all around the world. “Now all our core range takes inspiration from tarot cards,” says Nacim.
When Nacim started Brasserie L’ermitage with François Simon and Henri Bensaria in 2017, the three co-founders asked some street artists from Brussels to interpret the tarot cards on the walls of the brewery in their street art style. Nacim and his business partners hosted tarot readings in the brewery taproom with tarot specialists, with tarot symbolism surrounding them on all sides: The Mat; the Moon; The Hangman; The Tower; and the Strength.
The biggest and most impressive wall artwork in the taproom is a depiction of The Star. On the tarot card of The Star, a naked woman kneels down with one foot in the water and the other foot on land. Above her head, a star shines. In each hand, she holds a jug, pouring from one jug into the water and from the other onto the land. The woman is said to be experiencing her core essence and The Star is said to represent inspiration and hope; a sense that you are truly blessed by the universe at this time. Nacim and his colleagues see this symbol, in a large colourful display, every single day.
I fell in love with the symbolism and the mystery around it; not as a fortune telling object, but more as a way of seeing the world around us and learning about ourselves.”
Nacim Menu
