EU Card Traditions

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Oct 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Macavity	11 Oct 2002
Well, slightly off topic but having spent some time working in and around Europe (mostly F, CH, I etc.) I was always rather *vaguely* concious of the diverse traditions of standard playing cards. It's a shame I didn't really get into that kind of stuff at the time (too young, too "busy"? ;)) especially since I've now become interested in Tarot. For those brought up on the more "world standard" playing cards that might not be aware (as I indeed wasn't at the time) of these alternatives, I came across: http://www.pagat.com/ipcs/history.html with some nice images and a brief review of the relationship with Tarot. I had started to wonder about that too... :) Mac

WillieHewes	11 Oct 2002
Wow, that's a more enlightening story on the origin of playing cards and tarot than I've seen in a long time. Or indeed, ever. Great link!

Zhritza	12 Oct 2002
This is barely on topic, but several months back we had some lively conversation about how tarot readers currently deal and shuffle in different parts of the world, and how that developed. I love comparing these things demographically. In this thread, Thirteen started it all: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2139 And with this big thread, Diana turned it into a research project: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2161

Macavity	12 Oct 2002
Yes indeed Willie and some other links to follow on some common areas of interest with the card playing fraternity. Thanks for the informative links Qolus - with interesting observation! Yes, I was often fascinated by the degree of frenetic "enthusiasm" characteristic of many other cultural approaches to card playing. In contrast to the restraint of a recently exhumed "Late Night Poker" series on TV over here. :D Mac - Getting out the dark shades and gold jewelry })

Sinta	13 Oct 2002
What a wonderful insight! And to think that a few weeks earlier, I thought all cards were made without connection to the other. I am happily proved wrong. The history of the tarot has also greatly interested me. Thank you for sharing the link :)

The EU Card Traditions thread was originally posted on 11 Oct 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.