Egyptian Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Apr 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Danacafe	02 Apr 2005
Hi, i was wondering if there are any books in the market that will provide me with background information on ancient egypt...I believe that i have to know that because my tarot cards has symbols like Ankh..the breath of life etc...and i need to understand these symbols to refrain from constant reference to meaning in tarot books... Anyone knows of such books? thanks! =]

snowy25	02 Apr 2005
There are many books on ancient Egypt. I don't know any titles in English because I read them mostly in Dutch. You could go to a bookstore or the library to look up some books with hyroglifs, Gods and lifestyles. I reccomend not reading one but several books about it because it will give you better information about it.

Danacafe	02 Apr 2005
wow i see..thanks for the info! =D

HudsonGray	03 Apr 2005
There's a ton of information online, you can see a symbology page here: http://members.aol.com/egyptart/sym.html clicking on the pictures gets you to a standard glossery (short version). But to really get the full input of what they meant in ancient Egypt you should look through some of the mythology & historical Egyptian sites online. But I think part of what you need would depend on which Egyptian deck you've got, there are about 10 or 15 different ones on the market. Some have scenes, which may need some history research (the Nile, who the enemies of Egypt were, etc.). Some decks only have the symbols which they've tried to match up to Wands/Swords/Cups/Pentacles. The majors on some decks seem to be a stretch sometimes. The Egyptian decks do have a bit of a different slant than the standard decks.

snowy25	03 Apr 2005
I have some books on ancient Egypt myself but I can't read hyroglifs. I have the same problem with one of my decks. I have the Egyptian tarot from La Scarabeo. The major arcana isn't much of a problem but the minors are filled with hyroglifs and when I first worked with the deck the book accompanying didn't help me much. A friend of mine can read them and showed me it was easy to read the minors by knowing them. But doing so takes a lot of study by itself. I've noticed you have the Egyptian deck. I don't know if it's the same one, it might be. If this is the same one I reccomend tossing out the book and learning it the hard way. The book has only some short meanings of the cards themself and has no hyroglifs acompanning the cards. I'm planning to take up studying the deck again some day too and learn a lot of it from the books I have and with the help of getting to know hyroglifs. I hope this post was of some help to you and not just me ranting about it.

Danacafe	04 Apr 2005
hahaz,yep i suppose i have the same deck u possess...and i agree with u entirely...its just more effective to read the card if theres understanding on its meaning!:P its almost like having to learn their myth,legend and language altogether!^-^

BlueLotus	04 Apr 2005
I had a similar problem when I bought the lovely Ramses: Tarot of Eternity, but since I had been interested in Ancient cultures for a while then, including Ancient Egyptian I had gathered some information in this regard, which helped me decipher a few images. I also digged out an older copy* in children's book, which I bought for one of my kids years ago (still intact) and found it quite handy. It is a small very illustrated *Ancient Egypt (Everyday Life) by A. Millard of 64 pages, about 7.1x4.7x 0.25 inches. You may be able to find a used copy online, either at Amazons or elsewhere. It is quite handy for the seasoned tarot enthusiast.

psychic sue	04 Apr 2005
This has joged my memory. Someone gave me The Egyptian Tarot years ago. I think it was my auntie. She had bought it to read for herself but didn't like it. I don't think I liked it much either, hence it being put in a cupboard somewhere. I am going to have to dig it out now and have a look at it. Maybe I will enjoy this time! Thanks ! Sue x

The Egyptian Tarot thread was originally posted on 02 Apr 2005 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.