Where do tarot meanings come from (for the minors)

"You can interpret dreams, then, Finette?"

"Aye, and tell fortunes by cards; there it is that I shine the most, and I could astonish Madame."

"Good! well, let us see, now we are alone. M.de Sancerre, who did not come home till midnight, will not come in before breakfast to give me an account of his sport."

"Will Madame have the whole fortune?"

"Certainly."—

"Cut. Remark, now, that Queen of Hearts, young and blooming, with that King of Spades, with his long beard, and thick mustache. Disparity of age, that always falls heavy on the youngest party — I dare say Madame has often found that out?"

"Go on."

"Do you see near that Queen of Hearts where the Queen of Diamonds is placed? That is Friendship, opposed by this confounded King of Spades, the emblem of an uneasy and jealous churl. I'll suffer my hand to be burnt if something of this kind has not happened to Madame?"

"In fact, he has made me break off intimacy with a female friend: but we ought to sacrifice every thing to domestic quiet."

"Oh! Madame, here's a pleasant circumstance! Do you see that charming Knave of Hearts, who shelters himself beside his Queen? How delighted he is! and I think he is pursued by the Queens of Clubs and Spades; those are old coquets, and spiteful enough. Poor young man! he has nothing for his defence but that Ace of Hearts, emblem of a pure mind. How they do beset him — how they torment him with that Ten of Spades and that Nine of Clubs, which signifyjhe blackest designs! But here, very fortunately, is a Three of Hearts, surnamed the lance, which signifies that the handsome Knight is armed against his adversaries. Good! the Five of Diamonds, surnamed the shield, which proves that he will defend himself with bravery. Hai, hai; is not here a Knave of Clubs, agent of the two coquettes, and sent by them after this charming Knave of Hearts? Hai, hai, hai; see, too, that nasty King of Clubs taking part in the quarrel. Oh! charming Knave of Hearts, what will become of you ? Ah! I begin to breathe again: here is the Ten of Diamonds opposed against the Ten of Spades, and the Nine of Hearts that stands fast against the Nine of Clubs; and, at length, that excellent Queen of Hearts, who is always the protectress of her faithful Knight, shelters him from all attacks, and binds him to her for ever by his gratitude. I would pawn my honour that Madame has saved some handsome young man who has been pursued by two wicked women; and who cherishes for his dear deliverer a recollection——"

"What a mad creature you are," answered Madame de Saucerre, with a blush; "come, cease this nonsense and finish dressing me."

Confidential Servants from the new French work of M. Bouilly, entitled "Les Jeunes Femmes." Published in Belle Assemblee: Or, Court and Fashionable Magazine 1820 :

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=R-YRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA165&dq=&as_brr=1&ie=ISO-8859-1#PPA165,M1

Well this is interesting because instead of just playing cards, wouldn't nice French ladies of the time have had Lenormand or the Oracle des Dames around them? Weren't those the fashion at that time?

Kwaw: What a great find. Thanks for sharing it.

To Frelkins: We have tons more divinatory decks today and yet some people still use plain old ordinary playing cards. Why wouldn't they then?

Mary

Here's another early mention of telling fortunes with cards (a couple of years before the better-known Casanova episode).

In 1762-3 Oliver Goldsmith writes his novel The Vicar of Wakefield in which we find that reading cards can be an admirable accomplishment in a young woman:

"And I will be bold to say my two girls have had a pretty good education, and capacity, at least the country can’t shew better. They can read, write, and cast accompts; they understand their needle, breadstitch, cross and change, and all manner of plain-work; they can pink, point, and frill; and know something of music; they can do up small cloaths, work upon catgut; my eldest can cut paper, and my youngest has a very pretty manner of telling fortunes upon the cards." [in Chapter 11]

Mary

Here is a very interesting early one, with card significators for individual gyants and a layout:

Folly. You fhall be fatisfy'd anon- ..... — but we
muft lay the Cards firft -- Time preffes, and
the Princes muft depart. Give us the Cards, that
in our feveral Turns we all may Cut : I am the
Queen of Hearts. ,


Firft Woman gives the Cards to
Folly, then to each of the
Gyants, who cut, and deliver
to her again, and ehe lays 'em
on the Table in Rows

First woman. You. Lord Gormillan, are the King of Clubs;
Lord Thunderdale shall be the angry Majesty of Spades; The Diamond
Crown Lord Blunderboar shall wear; and King of Hearts Lord Galligantus shall
assume.

The Knave of Spades, Madam, feems to threaten
Danger, but he lies oblique, and the Ten of,
Hearts between them fhews he wants Power to
hurt you -- 'the Eight of Clubs and Ace over
your Head denote A chearful Bowl and Mirth
will crown Night -- all will be well - — thefe
Princes are furrounded with Diamonds ; the Eight
lies at the Feet of Lord Gormittan; the Deuce, the
Four and Five are in a direct Line with Valiant
Thunderdale; the Tray and Nine are at the Elbow
of great Blunderboar, and the Six and Seven are juft
over the Head of noble Gattigantus. Some Spades
of ill Afpect mingled with them, but the Hearts
and Clubs take off their malevolent Quality.


Folly. Go then, my Friends, fecure of Fame and
Conqueft, .."' .' v,
The Oracles pronounce it.

Ha! what Noife?
A great Noife ..

Enter a Mejfenger out of .Breath

Meff. Ah, Madam ! you are. loft — |~all-conque-
ring Jack with his Retinue has broke into your
Palace— —.behold 'em here -
Eater Jack and his Party, they throw down the Table,
Cups, Cards, &c.

Jack. Fall on, my Friends.

Jack the Gyant-killer: A comic-tragical Farce of One Act. 1730

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=SwsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA14&dq=r=1&ie=ISO-8859-1#PPA13,M1

"At the Little Haymarket (Henry) Fielding was enjoying the continuing success of The Author's Farce, which had premiered on 30 March 1730. The play initially received only a lukewarm reception, but after being paired with Tom Thumb on 1 May 1730, both went on to create a sensation. By 23 June Fielding was ready with another play, Rape Upon Rape, whose failure certainly disappointed the company. Losing no time, the Little Harmarket company promptly tried a new afterpiece, the anonymous Jack the Giant Killer, along with The Fair Penitent. The farce shared the fate of Rape Upon Rape and died after only two performances.

Summer Theatre in London 1661-1820 and the Rise of the Haymarket Theatre by William J. Burling p.95

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...ig=fOvb-pxA7y4ieZZZZ4Dm5e8shAY&hl=en#PPA95,M1

7 July 1730 at the Little Haymarket Theatre
Jack the Giant Killer
Anonymours. Farce; afterpiece.
Printed for J. Roberts (1730)

A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737 by William J. Burling p.136:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...9-1&sig=XF29bwEb02e3zCT7tcIFuKLJCPo#PPA136,M1

Kwaw

For French readers here is the 24 page Moral Interpretation of Playing Cards by Louis Bras de Fer, 1778 with a full and detailed Christian interpretation akin to the servants/soldiers almanac type tradition, ie 10 spades = 10 plagues of Egypt etc.

The same file also contains HISTOIRE DU JEU DE CERTES DU GRENADIER RICHARD 1811 from p.25.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DSMCAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA164&dq=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1#PPA1,M1

I've always followed a slightly idiosyncratic system aimed at quickly deriving a broad range of meanings from each pip card, and somewhat harmonizing them with the traditional systems I've been taught.

Aces - a bolt from the blue, a gift of . . . (the suit)
Twos - a new venture, balance, or opposition in . . .
Threes - the venture begins to mature, the need for discretion, in . . .
Fours - a solid foundation in . . .
Fives - conflict, strife, a hard decision to be made, in . . .
Sixes - (The suit) in glory, triumphant
Sevens - The (superficially?) attractive side of . . .
Eights - The practical side of . . .
Nines - The fulfillment of . . .
Tens - (The suit)'s taken care of, so where do we go from here?

At any rate, Villa Revak has some very nice comparative info on the historic systems that lie behind most of ours:

http://www.villarevak.org/td/td_1.htm

The Francophone traditions tend to be fairly widely divergent here.

similia said:

Duquette gives a specific formula for this in his book on Crowley's Thoth.

Click to expand...

Similia (or anyone else on the thread who knows), what is the title of Duquette's book you are referring to here?

Many thanks,
53rdspirit

Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot by Lon Milo Duquette

Super! Thank you.