fortune-telling. The first tarot decks were created in Italy in the 1430s by adding a fifth suit of 21 specially designed cards called trionfi (“triumphs”) and an odd card called il matto to an already existing four-suited pack (“the fool). (The modern joker, which was created in the late 19th century as an unsuited jack in the game of euchre, is not related to the fool.)
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What kind of religion are tarot cards?
Tarot cards are frequently cited as a component of New Age thought and practice along with astrology, aspects of Buddhism, paganism, and First Nations teachings in the eclectic scholarly approach to the New Age.
Where did tarot card reading originate?
The oldest proof of a tarot deck used for cartomancy dates to a 1750 anonymous text that lists the basic divinatory interpretations for the Tarocco Bolognese cards. Antoine Court and Jean-Baptiste Alliette (Etteilla), employing the Tarot of Marseilles, were the first to popularize esoteric tarot in Paris in the 1780s. Around 1900, French tarot readers switched from the Marseilles to the Tarot Nouveau, which led to the Marseilles pattern being primarily utilized by cartomancers today.
Who was the first tarot reader?
Things become a little mystical around Halloween, when horror movies are playing nonstop on TV and your holiday-loving neighbors’ yards are decorated with grotesque decorations. We decided to explore the background of tarot cards in honor of one of the most enchanted seasons of the year.
Tarot cards were initially just another card game, one that was a lot like the bridge that is played today, despite the fact that we now link them with the occult. Like other decks, the earliest known tarot cards appeared in Europe in the fifteenth century, with the wealthiest households in Italy purchasing the most well-liked sets. It was expensive to commission what was practically dozens of tiny paintings because there was no printing press and only hand-painted cards were available.
These early tarot cards, known as tarocchi in Italian, included suits, trump cards, and even pips, just like any other deck.
While others experimented, the mainstream use of tarot cards for divination didn’t begin until Frenchman Jean-Baptise Alliette produced the first comprehensive book on tarot card reading in the late 1700s. Under the alias Etteilla, he published his own deck along with a user’s manual for the cards. He incorporated ideas about astronomy and the four elements to give each card a purpose. He asserted that he had taken extensive inspiration from the Book of Thoth, a work purportedly penned by Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom.
He incorporated ideas about astronomy and the four elements to give each card a purpose.
Etteilla was the first to allocate the cards to a certain sequence and spread, including a front-to-back method that is still in use today. He issued a revised edition of his manual in 1791 when his writings gained popularity, making him the first known professional tarot reader.
The next significant change to tarot cards occurred in 1909. You’ve probably seen the pictures for the Rider-Waite deck, created by publisher William Rider and tarot reader A. E. Waite. The Rider-Waite deck, like Etteilla, came with a written manual explaining how to interpret the cards and what each one meant. When the cards in this deck were arranged together, the intricate scenes presented a narrative. The Rider-Waite Deck was updated and reprinted in the 1970s, along with a new instruction manual by Stephen Kaplan, which led to the most recent tarot card renaissance.
Did tarot cards come from Egypt?
The pack created by Pamela Colman Smith under the supervision of Arthur Edward Waite, whose book “The Pictorial Key to the Tarot” was released in 1910, served as the inspiration for the deck that is currently in general use and features a variety of artistic interpretations. Although a large portion of this research was male-dominated, the occult rebirth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century produced some noteworthy studies. One exception was Helena Blavatsky’s writings, which connected the history of Tarot with Ancient Egypt by mentioning it in “The Secret Doctrine” and “The Unveiling of Isis.”
Tarot was compelled into the shadows in medieval Europe as a system of esoteric interpretation and mystical meaning. The Tarot was disguised as a game to allow users to continue using it without fear of retribution. The Christian Church referred to it as “The Devil’s Picture Book,” and those who used it were executed. Because of this, records are sporadic and the Tarot seems to only reappear sometimes. Those in the know always used it, although they could do it covertly if necessary.
In “The Book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians” (OTO 1944), Aleister Crowley stated that the origin of tarot is quite immaterial, even if it were known. It must be judged according to its own merits.
Contrary to Crowley, a lot of people are interested in the origins of the Tarot, and among these historians, practitioners, healers, mystics, and writers, a lot of people hold the opinion that Ancient Egypt holds the key to the solutions. Theosophists, who claim that Ancient Egypt is older than we think and that the Ancient Egyptians guarded the wisdom and knowledge of Atlantis, are the alternative Egyptologists who followed Madame Blavatsky and her seminal work “The Secret Doctrine” (1888). These writers include John Gordon and Katy Noura Butler.
Is astrology a branch of tarot cards?
These days, almost everyone you know possesses a tarot deck and regularly receives readings. Tarot is no longer simply for the esoteric. Tarot has evolved over time into an intuitive art that may assist you in planning for both the best and worst scenarios. Tarot cards are filled with symbolism, but you might not be aware of how closely it is related to astrology. For instance: In the Major Arcana, a card corresponds to each sign of the zodiac.
Who created the playing card?
- Before the year 1000 AD, the Chinese developed playing cards. Around 1360, they made their way to Europe via the Mameluke state of Egypt rather than via China directly. The development of suitmarks reveals an intriguing interplay between words, shapes, and ideas. Goblets, gold coins, swords, and polo clubs made up the Mameluke costumes. Due to the fact that polo was not yet widely recognized in Europe, these were changed into batons or staves, which, along with swords, cups, and coins, are the typical suitmarks of Italian and Spanish cards. German card designers experimented with various suits that were loosely based on Italian ones in the fifteenth century before deciding on the still-used acorns, leaves, hearts, and bells (hawk-bells). The French began using stencils to create playing cards around 1480, simplifying the German shapes into the trefle (clover), pique (pike-heads), coeur (hearts), and carreau (paving tiles). These forms were employed by English card makers, but the names differed. Spanish suitmarks such as the spade (pique), which derives from the word espadas, which means swords, and clubs, which resemble the Spanish suit of staves, may have been used in the past. In addition to being the form of a paving tile, diamond may also still carry with it associations of richness from an earlier set of coins.
What are the tarot cards supposed to mean?
What do tarot cards generally stand for? As shamans like to say, “medicine around what is happening in your particular orbit: love, money, work, aspirations, and general life path” is what tarot cards are there for.
Do you know how to say “tarot”?
Depending on whether British English or American English is being used, the proper pronunciation of “tarot” in English significantly changes. The “t” in “tarot” is never uttered, in any scenario. The word “tarot” is pronounced “tah-row” in British English and “teh-row” in American English.
Tarot cards first arrived in America when?
Tarot gained popularity in the United States by the 1900s. American consumers were ready to buy when the Rider-Waite deck was produced in 1909, and it successfully crossed the Atlantic to become the most widely used tool for tarot readings.