Rosanne
It has been a while since I posted in this my favourite forum on Aeclectic.
If you were to read this Wikipedia site- it will explain that the two most widely read written books were the Bible and Virgil's work 'the Aeneid'. The Aeneid is in Verse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortes_virgilianae
How this worked, was with dice (not the Bible or Homer) One got the Book, and Line verse this way- yet I have not been able to find out how one arrived at the wild card Number of Zero with die. The site posted gives some examples of Divination by famous people.
This form of Biblomancy was very popular at the time of Tarot's origin, along with Horoscopes. Unlike Horoscopes, which were expensive, this form of Sortes was available to those with Books- after the printing press were increasingly available.
Now the 'Aeneid' was a Pagan tale by a Pagan Man, whom the Christian Church adopted as their own- so he was thought to be Christian by the Medieval times. Here is a basic outline of the story.
The story of Aeneas was very popular in the time of the expected creation of Tarot- in Florence- in 1439 when the Council of Basel/Ferrara/Florence went finally to Florence to settle the split between Eastern and Western Churches. Aside from the conflict between the lateran Council and the Pope- the entry into Florence of Eastern Potentates was a 'fabulous' time in Renaissance History and the Virgilian books were used to emphasise this
greatness through the fabulous stories of Troy etc.
http://www.palazzo-medici.it/mediateca/en/schede.php?id_scheda=161
If you look at image 19 in the Iconographia you will see the Horoscope of the time- Scorpio as in the sky with Orion with the Planet Mars- a time of War.(Troy)
You can also see very similiar images to the handpainted cards of Tarot, which of course were Gothic and predominate at the time, so of course there will be similarities.
Out of curiousity I drew a sortes and got.....
Better times perhaps await us who are now wretched.. Reminded me of the Fool.
Enjoy....
~Rosanne
If you were to read this Wikipedia site- it will explain that the two most widely read written books were the Bible and Virgil's work 'the Aeneid'. The Aeneid is in Verse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortes_virgilianae
How this worked, was with dice (not the Bible or Homer) One got the Book, and Line verse this way- yet I have not been able to find out how one arrived at the wild card Number of Zero with die. The site posted gives some examples of Divination by famous people.
This form of Biblomancy was very popular at the time of Tarot's origin, along with Horoscopes. Unlike Horoscopes, which were expensive, this form of Sortes was available to those with Books- after the printing press were increasingly available.
Now the 'Aeneid' was a Pagan tale by a Pagan Man, whom the Christian Church adopted as their own- so he was thought to be Christian by the Medieval times. Here is a basic outline of the story.
Virgil CommentaryNearly the entirety of the Aeneid is devoted to the theme of conflict. The primary conflict is that of Aeneas, as guided by gods such as Jupiter, Apollo and Venus, Aeneas' mother. Aeneas is representative of pietas (a self-less sense of duty), against Turnus, who is guided by Juno, representing unbridled furor (mindless passion and fury). Furor is also personified in the character Dido; however, although her furor conflicts with Aeneas' pietas, she herself is not pitted against Aeneas. Other conflicts within the Aeneid include fate versus action, male versus female, Rome versus Carthage, Aeneas as Odysseus in Books 1–6 versus Aeneas as Achilles in Books 7–12, calm weather versus storms, and the Gate of Horn versus the Ivory Gate of Book VI.
Pietas, possibly the key quality of any 'honourable' Roman, consisted of a series of duties: duty towards the gods (hence the English word piety), duty towards one's homeland, duty towards one's followers and duty to one's family—especially one's father. Therefore, a further theme of the poem explores the strong relationship between fathers and sons. The bonds between Aeneas and Ascanius, Aeneas and Anchises, Evander and Pallas, Mezentius and Lausus are all worthy of note. This theme reflects Augustan moral reforms and was perhaps intended to set an example for Roman youth.
The major moral of the Aeneid is acceptance of the workings of the gods as fate through the use of pietas or piety. In composing the character of Aeneas, Virgil alludes to Augustus, suggesting that the gods work their ways through humans, using Aeneas to found Rome and Augustus to lead it, and that one must accept one's fate.
The story of Aeneas was very popular in the time of the expected creation of Tarot- in Florence- in 1439 when the Council of Basel/Ferrara/Florence went finally to Florence to settle the split between Eastern and Western Churches. Aside from the conflict between the lateran Council and the Pope- the entry into Florence of Eastern Potentates was a 'fabulous' time in Renaissance History and the Virgilian books were used to emphasise this
greatness through the fabulous stories of Troy etc.
http://www.palazzo-medici.it/mediateca/en/schede.php?id_scheda=161
If you look at image 19 in the Iconographia you will see the Horoscope of the time- Scorpio as in the sky with Orion with the Planet Mars- a time of War.(Troy)
You can also see very similiar images to the handpainted cards of Tarot, which of course were Gothic and predominate at the time, so of course there will be similarities.
Out of curiousity I drew a sortes and got.....
Better times perhaps await us who are now wretched.. Reminded me of the Fool.
Enjoy....
~Rosanne