Tarot decks inspired by Michael Dummett?

Mabuse

Thank you

RiccardoLS said:
Actually the point is there are no intuitive aspects to the game.
(it's just that one day Tarot stopped being a game)

When did Tarot stop being a game?

Debra said:
Mabuse, nice deck!

Thank you!

Double headed images of the original trumps seem to be a common tradition in Italian Tarocchi decks

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/genovese/
http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/images/p-decks/piemontesemodianocards.gif

Those of you who are aware of the Swiss 1JJ deck might find them familar.
I've used an earlier 19th century version of the Swiss Tarot which included the original Pope and Popess images. (no Juno/Jupiter here)
I've process the images using colorization filters which made the colors of these trumps congruent with the court cards I've taken from the 19th century Wuest Tarock, a deck which influenced the later Tarot Nouveau playing deck.

Here's an earlier version I've uploaded to wikicommons.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Playingtrumps.gif

I've had to modify the earlier design to fit the format of the standard size poker deck in order to actually publish. Tarot cards, whether for gaming or intuitive application, virtually always have a narrower aspect ratio than poker type decks.

RiccardoLS

Mabuse said:
When did Tarot stop being a game?

Sorry, I meant: being only a game.

Freddie

RiccardoLS said:
Some things had to be said a first time, before they became "common" knowledge.
In the XIX century it was common (even by most serious peoplelike Papus or Levi) to attribute the origin of Tarot to Egypt, occult reasons, et cetera.
Even today, you will find many people believing many different origins of Tarot (actually in my actual experience the tale I most often hear is kind of a compromise between what historical evidence we have, and the - I guess - psychological need for Tarot to be "more" and mysterious and mystical).

As I understand, Dummett was among the firsts to approach Tarot historically, and with the through competence of a trained scholar. What came strange is that, maybe, it wasn't ever done before.
Possibly as a reaction to the common misconceptions about Tarot he had to face, he was openly not interested in any mystical/magical aspect of Tarot. My take was that he wanted to be an "astronomer" and not an "astrologist". And that he found the difference important and necessary.

Ric

Great points here, but his writing partner Ronald Decker believes the Tarot does have some kind of mystical background. He says it does have an Egyptian background, but not in the hyperbole manner it has been implemented into the Occult/New Age/ Heremetic movement. Nobody has to look for the major arcana murals/tablets anymore, just look at the Egyptian Book of Dead and Tomb walls. Decker has said in an interview that he is not allowed to reveal his true feelings concerning the origin of the Tarot when writing with Dummett.

He said to Dummett 'If buildings, music and art have spiritual/occult messages infused into them, then why not a pack of playing cards? Dummett being a stauch Catholic would not even slightly agree that Decker was right.

Most of us that have studied world religion understand that most of Judaism and Christianity (a little Buddha there too) are based on ancient Egyptian belief systems. So the Tarot is Egyptian in origin based on that belief that ancient Egyptians inspired Western religion. That is if one believes the cards are based on Italian Christian symbolism and do have not occultic origin.

I seem to fall into the half gaming half mystical belief system you are talking about here.

Thanks Ricardo for helping to bring to light some of the best decks ever! It is always a joy to read any of your posts here.

Freddie