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Moonlitfae
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A Brief History of Tarot
Tarot cards are believed to be the mysterious ancestors of the modern
day playing cards. Many varied legends and theories surround the
Tarot as a result of their uncertain origins and intriguing
symbolism.
It has been speculated that they came from China, or India, or maybe
Persia; or possibly that the Gypsies brought them to the West. It
is
also suggested that maybe Crusaders returning home brought them from
the Middle East, or by Moorish invaders to Spain and Sicily.
What makes the Tarot so fascinating? To answer that, we must look at
what a Tarot deck is comprised of. The standard Tarot deck consists
of four suits: Wands (or Batons), Cups, Swords, and Pentacles (or
Coins). As one can see, these suits easily correspond with the suits
of a modern deck of playing cards: Clubs, Hearts, Spades, and
Diamonds. A Tarot deck has 14 cards in each suit as opposed to 13 in
a playing card deck; Aces and numbered through Tens plus Pages,
Knights, Queens, and Kings versus Aces through Tens plus Jacks,
Queens, and Kings.
In addition to these suits, the Tarot has twenty-two extra cards
known as 'trumps' or more commonly, the Major Arcana. Each card of
the Major Arcana has its own number and name:
0 The Fool
I The Magician
II The High Priestess or The Female Pope
III The Empress
IV The Emporer
V The Heirophant or The Pope
VI The Lovers
VII The Chariot
VIII Justice
IX The Hermit
X The Wheel of Fortune
XI Strength
XII The Hanged Man
XIII Death
XIV Temperence
XV The Devil
XVI The Tower
XVII The Star
XVIII The Moon
IXX The Sun
XX The Day of Judgement
XXI The World
Most of the interest in Tarot is concentrated on the Major Arcana, as
their interpretations vary from author to author and the cards
themselves are changed over time to have different meanings.
References to playing cards are dated in Europe beginning in the
1370's and 1380's. In 1392, an accounting record for King Charles VI
of France was found to log a payment to a painter for three packs of
cards. The city of Paris actually had a regulation by the 1390's
restricting people from playing with the cards on working days, a
testament to the cards popularity.
Unfortunately, there is still much confusion as to where cards came
from, but it is now believed that the modern Tarot deck is descended
from a type of Italian playing card deck, known as the Venetian or
Piedmontese Tarot, which has twenty-two Major Arcana like the ones
listed earlier. This design as well as another French pack were
widely accepted by 1500 in Northern Italy and France. The design and
number of cards in the deck changed and adapted over time to politics
and pressure from the Church.
Of course, after a while, the cards were believed to be the work of
the Devil, by certain monks and among those of a puritanical frame of
mind. The cards were denounced and attacked because people enjoyed
playing them and they were related to the Chritian sins of drinking,
gambling, and general carousing. Another reason is the Christain
belief of Providence. As everything happens because it is "God's
Will", the cards must be evil because they imply the existence of a
different mechanism behind events, the Pagan idea of Fate, as opposed
to the Providence of God's Will.
It is theorized, that in the Tarot's beginnings, the purpose of the
Major Arcana was to educate, in a simpler form, about the mysteries
of the Universe. This suggests that the original purpose of the
cards was a sort of educational game rather than as a divining tool.
Magickal interest really only dates back about 200 years, since the
very beginnings of the revival of Occultism and Earth-based
religions.
The history of the Tarot and cards in general is much obscured
because their direct origins are unknown. So their purpose is mostly
specualtive, at best.
Today the Tarot plays a large roll in the business of divination.
There are hundreds of varieties of packs and nearly as many
interpretations of the cards. The Tarots dubious origins and the
likelihood that they had been used as an education tool, does not
make them any less an effective divintory device. Even though their
beginnings are less mysterious than most people believe, I will still
use mine to help guide me when my path is not clear.
Blessed Be!
Copyright 2002 Maeve Ysolte |
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Thu Sep 14, 2006 11:46 pm |
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