A Wicked Pack of Cards

After nearly six years since being released, I have finally bought myself a copy of this book by Decker, DePaulis and Dummett - and very much looking forward to reading it!

At a glance, it seems I should have bought it straight away! I'll post some comments in about a month or so.

OMG! You have not read it yet?

Enjoy the journey.

Huh?! What is this book you are talking about?

I better investigate further.......

Ronald Decker, Thierry DePaulis, and Michael Dummett: "A Wicked Pack of Cards: Origins of the Occult Tarot;" (New York: St. Martin's, 1996). Out of print and hard to get but still available used on Amazon (for high prices).

jmd:

Take the authors' intense dislike of divinatory practices and all things esoteric with a grain of salt, and enjoy their flawless command of the historical and documentary record. The first two chapters, along with the introduction, are the most important parts, but I have read the whole book through several times.

I don't know of anyone who can't learn a lot from this book.

I'm currently reading "Tarot and Psychology" by Arthur Rosengarten, and will post a review in this space when I finish it. So far it's interesting and satisfying.

Dave

OOP....? Bummer. I have heard nothing but good things about this book! JMD, you'll just have to tell us what you think of it as soon as you've finished it!

Kiama

I haven't had a chance to even start it yet! though I have glanced through it a couple of times.

Dave, I have read parts of Dummett's and De Paulis's previous and independent works, and I have not, as yet, found any 'dry' styles off-putting. To my mind, and though I may disagree with their conclusions, they have done the Tarot community invaluable services on at least two counts: the first is by (re-)making Tarot academically acceptable; and the second is providing all of us with the findings of their research.

For these, I am certainly extremely grateful.

Kiama, I will post my comments when I get to read it... and hope to also read others' views.

I've finally started the book!

Even though it is co-written with De Paulis and Decker, I can just see Dummett's wonderful style shining through (as I did a thesis in the epistemology of mathematics, I had worked through, many years ago, his Frege: Philosophy of Language, Elements of Intuitionism, and Truth and Other Enigmas - and more recently have also briefly looked at his Frege: Philosophy of Mathematics and his The Logical Basis of Metaphysics... how I wish these had been available earlier! - here is a philosopher sharing our interests, Kiama - and which has obtained a knighthood, I do believe ).

With regards to this Tarot book, then, I have not even completed the introduction, but do wish t/he/y would not make such gross assumptions as 'they [Hermetists] recoiled from the facts [of the dating of the Corpus Hermeticum] and, in general, drove ever more swiftly toward irrationalism' (p7).

Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to continuing reading this great work.

I have just been informed that this book is on a 'Print-on-demand' format - this should make everyone happy, as in theory, it would only be OOP for a couple of weeks!

Just thought I'd pass on this good news