The origin of the
Tarot
cards
-- which are
actually cards with
attractive pictures
-- continues to
remain vague despite
considerable
research. According
to conservative
estimates, they are
at least 500 years
old. Some scholars,
however, place them
in the 1st century
after
Christ.
Others aver that
they originated from
the religious
rituals and symbols
of the ancient
Egyptians.
The earliest
documented
set of Tarot cards
is rooted in the
second half of the
fifteenth century
and was painted in
Italy. The
Renaissance had
already adopted the
Greek Gods and the
Greek
philosophy,
which is why it is
Greek mythology,
moral,
spiritual
and mystical
elements which form
the backbone of
Tarot cards.
The images and
imagery portrayed on
the cards reveals
hidden things which
would not be
discoverable through
purely 'rational'
means.
The Tarot cards have
much to tell you.
The
Tarot
pack is set of cards
which may be used
either for
divination,
or as a
philosophical
machine for
answering almost any
kind of question put
to it through a
medium or someone
familiar with its
powerful symbolism.
The images on the
Tarot, and
the interest in
predicting events
through symbols,
dates back to
ancient Egypt and
even older
civilizations, right
across the world.
Tarot may have
traveled to Europe
from the Middle East
at the time of the
Crusades, in the
12th century. The
earliest surviving
Tarot
deck,
however, comes from
14th century Italy,
where an Italian
nobleman had a deck
hand-painted as a
present for his
daughters' marriage.
Tarot cards show the
major
themes of life, and
what we can learn
about ourselves.
Each card is called
Arcanum, which means
'mystery'. The pack
consists of two
quite different,
though not totally
unrelated, groups of
cards, totalling 78
in number. In
addition to 22 major
cards known as the
Major Arcana, there
are four suits of
cards -The Suit of
Cups (symbolizing
water), The Suit of
Wands (symbolizing
fire), The Suit of
Swords (symbolizing
air ) & The Suit of
Pentacles
(symbolizing earth)
-- which form the
Minor Arcana.
In fact,
the Tarot came to
Europe
about the same time
as any other form of
playing
card,
in the early/mid
1300's. It is most
closely related to
the 'Mamluk' deck of
the Islamic world,
which had suits
cups, coins, swords,
and polo-sticks. The
Tarot was originally
used for a game
called 'tarocchi' in
Italy, which is sort
of a distant cousin
to Bridge. Tarocchi
is still played in
some parts of the
world, not usually
with the same decks
the 'fortune
tellers' use. The
game was quite
popular for a time
among the royalty in
Italy, and sometimes
a duke would
commission an artist
to create a really
nice deck. Some of
the earliest
surviving Tarot
decks come from this
source. Plainer
decks existed, but
were not well made
enough, or well
thought-of enough,
to survive the
intervening 600
years. The Joker of
'standard' card
decks is "not"
related to the Fool
of Tarot. The Joker
was invented as a
wild card for Euchre
in the 1800's, in a
part of the world
where the Tarot was
virtually or totally
unknown. Most of the
Tarot decks on the
market were created
this century, most
of those in the last
20 years.
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