philebus
Hullo again.
Here’s the second draft. The changes aren’t drastic but I’ve limited my discussion of regular playing cards and of different suit signs.
Thank you again for all your comments, I hope this one is looking a little better.
I think that I’m happy with what I’ve said about the origin of the name, the uncertainty is implicit here. Also, I think that I’m happy to say that they were invented for card games, though I’ve clarified it a little.
I will go on to mention something about other patterns, such as the Sola Busca and the Minchiate in the second programme, as I just can’t make them fit comfortably here. Also, I’ve not mentioned about the removal/change of cards from the Tarocco Bolognese. I felt I could leave it out here because it was politically motivated, though I shall make mention of it when I do a film on the Tarocchino games – it is, after all, a good story.
Also, I felt that I needed to add something toward the end about the distinct types of tarot: the gaming packs and the occult ones. This is to further reassure some views so that I can get them to continue to watch the second programme.
Welcome to the first of our programmes teaching tarocchi – the card games played with tarot. If this seems a strange, novel, or inappropriate use for tarot, then please listen further before making a final judgement.
Don’t forget to visit the associated web site ___________ and download your course book, featuring rules to a large selection of the tarot games.
These cards have been subject to many myths over the last two hundred years and so it is best that we begin the course by taking a very brief look at their history and origins. Naturally, it is seldom possible to give a certain account of the past but although there are many competing accounts of tarot’s history, this is one that I believe is best supported by the evidence. It may not be what you are expecting!
But let’s begin at the beginning in Europe...
Playing cards are first seen in Europe in the mid 14th century. They are thought to have descended from the Far East, ultimately from Chinese money games. Coming to us from the Malmuks, our earliest cards are distinctly Islamic in appearance and feature, as our modern packs, 52 cards made up from 4 suits, each with 10 pip cards and 3 court cards. The suit symbols were Cups, Coins, Scimitars, and Polo Sticks. Islam (by most interpretations) does not allow the depiction of living things, so the court cards were represented by abstract designs and calligraphy. Polo was not played in Europe at that time, so Polo Sticks became Batons, the court cards were then represented with the figures of a King, a Rider, and a Footman. These changes created what we now call the Latin suits. Cards like these are still used today in countries such as Italy and Spain.
The Queen appears to have been independently invented on more than one occasion and may even have existed in non-Islamic predecessors to our cards . It Italy there was an early pack that featured 6 court cards in each suit, being a male and a female of each rank. Most of these extra cards were dropped but retaining the Queen in a 56 card pack, that for a time may have been a regional standard. It was to this pack that in the early to mid 15th century, a fifth suit of picture cards was added. These picture cards would appear to have taken as their theme a Christian triumph procession, hence their early name of trionfi, meaning triumphs and from which we get our word trump. It was the invention of tarot that marked the wider introduction of trumps in card games, although again, trumps seem to have been invented independently on more than one occasion. And this is what they were invented for, card games, games that have grown into a large and varied family, spread throughout much of continental Europe and that continues to be played to this day.
As I’ve mentioned, the original name for tarot was trionfi but this was soon changed to tarocchi, probably to save confusion with another game of triumphs that was becoming popular. Perhaps the most plausible origin of this new name is the term tarochus, meaning ‘to play the fool’, The Fool having an important and unique role in the games. As the cards spread through Europe, this was name often truncated to Tarock, while France gave us the word the name that we have inherited, Tarot.
Given the modern perception of tarot cards, it may seem hard to accept this. You are very likely to have read about the church suppressing tarot cards, and that they had to be used in secret because of their heretical images. However, this is not the case. Tarot games spread across the continent, being played openly, without opposition by the church all through the counter-reformation. The only real exception to this is in Spain, where it is important to note that the opposition was not from a perception that the images were somehow un-Christian, but precisely because they were Christian. The authorities there felt that it was inappropriate to use such images in a card game, something they felt trivialized or disrespected the sacred. We have good reason then, to go back and question our initial thoughts. It might help to take a closer look at two cards that have been widely misunderstood.
The Female Pope, often renamed The High Priestess by modern occultists, is an excellent example. This must surely be heretical. But no, we are looking at the cards through modern eyes, with a vision coloured by popular myth. If we are to understand what the images represent, then we must look at them in the context of their origin – Renaissance Italy. If we look at the religious art of that time and place, we find that The Female Pope was an established figure in Christian art, being used to symbolize such things as The New Covenant and the Virtue of Faith. There was no heresy, which explains why there was no opposition.
Another card that is often cited as having esoteric meaning is The Hanged Man, perhaps because it is difficult to see just what overt and obvious meaning it could ever have had. What are we to make of a man suspended by one foot, often holding money bags? Some have suggested it be Judas, though he would have hung himself by the neck, others have suggested it to be the Virtue of Prudence, indeed, the list of offerings is long and varied. However if we again look at the card in context we find a different story and no mystery at all. The title of Hanged man was given to the card by French card makers but we know from written sources that in Italy it was called The Traitor – and little wonder, as this is how Italians used to execute traitors, suspended by one foot and left to die rather slowly and publicly. As for the money bags, we can find an explanation from another practice of the time, that of Shame Pictures. It was the practice to shame those who betrayed a trust by employing an artist to draw that person’s likeness hung as a traitor, which would then be publicly displayed – often this was done in the case of bad debtors, hence we can suppose the money bags.
The beginning of the 18th century saw a big change in tarot in many countries. At this time, German card makers began to produce French suited tarot cards that also gave up the traditional trumps in favour of a number of themes, such as animals, local scenes, and such like. This offered two advantages. The first was economic. Regular French suited playing cards had existed since the 15th century and had quickly become the dominant pattern in Europe. While the Latin suits required costly wood blocks and hand colouring, which was labour intensive, the French suits required only a simple stencil to reproduce the pips, making production much cheaper. Additionally, by dropping the traditional trumps, the card makers could do more to show off their skills, as well as create cards with themes that might appeal more to their customers. This new pattern of Tarot cards has now become the dominant form for game play.
Tarot’s occult associations do not arise until the end of the 18th century when a Parisian occultist, Antoine Court de Gebelin, published an article in his encyclopaedia declaring that the cards were of Ancient Egyptian origin, brought to us by Gypsies and codifying the lost knowledge of their priests. He did not present any evidence for his claims but he made them at a time when Egyptomania was popular and so his story captured the public imagination and caught on. He also published the first account of how the cards were to be used for divination. During the following 100 years, various French occultists took up the ideas of an occult origin and divinatory use and built upon them, developing still more elaborate myths. Until the end of the 19th century, these ideas were limited to just France but then a small number of British occultists began to import the cards and translate the French occultist writings about them. In the English speaking world, the cards seemed new and exotic, and the occultist accounts of the cards were the only ones known. During the next century, the myth of tarot gradually established itself in the public psyche, and towards the end of the 20th century, a whole industry built around tarot reading began to establish itself and to spread back across Europe.
Since occultism first laid claim to tarot, there has been a growing tendency to redesign the cards to better fit occult beliefs. Thanks to this, there is a broad division between types of tarot cards. Those of the occult and those used to play games. To be honest, those cards designed by occultists and for fortune telling are ill suited to game play and so any concerns you may have about them need not affect our interests here.
Although there have been works of serious history about both the cards and the games published in English since 1980, they have tended to be of limited availability and of high cost. However, in recent years, thanks in large part to the internet, the history and the games are at last getting through to the English speaking public. People are at last discovering the games they have been missing. After all, something that has been played for nearly 600 years, and spread through a continent must have something good going for it!
In the next programme, we will take a closer look at the cards used to play tarot, at the terms and the conventions that are shared by most of the games. In the later programmes, we will present tutorials on how to play specific examples of tarot games, helping you to get started in playing them yourselves.
Here’s the second draft. The changes aren’t drastic but I’ve limited my discussion of regular playing cards and of different suit signs.
Thank you again for all your comments, I hope this one is looking a little better.
I think that I’m happy with what I’ve said about the origin of the name, the uncertainty is implicit here. Also, I think that I’m happy to say that they were invented for card games, though I’ve clarified it a little.
I will go on to mention something about other patterns, such as the Sola Busca and the Minchiate in the second programme, as I just can’t make them fit comfortably here. Also, I’ve not mentioned about the removal/change of cards from the Tarocco Bolognese. I felt I could leave it out here because it was politically motivated, though I shall make mention of it when I do a film on the Tarocchino games – it is, after all, a good story.
Also, I felt that I needed to add something toward the end about the distinct types of tarot: the gaming packs and the occult ones. This is to further reassure some views so that I can get them to continue to watch the second programme.
Welcome to the first of our programmes teaching tarocchi – the card games played with tarot. If this seems a strange, novel, or inappropriate use for tarot, then please listen further before making a final judgement.
Don’t forget to visit the associated web site ___________ and download your course book, featuring rules to a large selection of the tarot games.
These cards have been subject to many myths over the last two hundred years and so it is best that we begin the course by taking a very brief look at their history and origins. Naturally, it is seldom possible to give a certain account of the past but although there are many competing accounts of tarot’s history, this is one that I believe is best supported by the evidence. It may not be what you are expecting!
But let’s begin at the beginning in Europe...
Playing cards are first seen in Europe in the mid 14th century. They are thought to have descended from the Far East, ultimately from Chinese money games. Coming to us from the Malmuks, our earliest cards are distinctly Islamic in appearance and feature, as our modern packs, 52 cards made up from 4 suits, each with 10 pip cards and 3 court cards. The suit symbols were Cups, Coins, Scimitars, and Polo Sticks. Islam (by most interpretations) does not allow the depiction of living things, so the court cards were represented by abstract designs and calligraphy. Polo was not played in Europe at that time, so Polo Sticks became Batons, the court cards were then represented with the figures of a King, a Rider, and a Footman. These changes created what we now call the Latin suits. Cards like these are still used today in countries such as Italy and Spain.
The Queen appears to have been independently invented on more than one occasion and may even have existed in non-Islamic predecessors to our cards . It Italy there was an early pack that featured 6 court cards in each suit, being a male and a female of each rank. Most of these extra cards were dropped but retaining the Queen in a 56 card pack, that for a time may have been a regional standard. It was to this pack that in the early to mid 15th century, a fifth suit of picture cards was added. These picture cards would appear to have taken as their theme a Christian triumph procession, hence their early name of trionfi, meaning triumphs and from which we get our word trump. It was the invention of tarot that marked the wider introduction of trumps in card games, although again, trumps seem to have been invented independently on more than one occasion. And this is what they were invented for, card games, games that have grown into a large and varied family, spread throughout much of continental Europe and that continues to be played to this day.
As I’ve mentioned, the original name for tarot was trionfi but this was soon changed to tarocchi, probably to save confusion with another game of triumphs that was becoming popular. Perhaps the most plausible origin of this new name is the term tarochus, meaning ‘to play the fool’, The Fool having an important and unique role in the games. As the cards spread through Europe, this was name often truncated to Tarock, while France gave us the word the name that we have inherited, Tarot.
Given the modern perception of tarot cards, it may seem hard to accept this. You are very likely to have read about the church suppressing tarot cards, and that they had to be used in secret because of their heretical images. However, this is not the case. Tarot games spread across the continent, being played openly, without opposition by the church all through the counter-reformation. The only real exception to this is in Spain, where it is important to note that the opposition was not from a perception that the images were somehow un-Christian, but precisely because they were Christian. The authorities there felt that it was inappropriate to use such images in a card game, something they felt trivialized or disrespected the sacred. We have good reason then, to go back and question our initial thoughts. It might help to take a closer look at two cards that have been widely misunderstood.
The Female Pope, often renamed The High Priestess by modern occultists, is an excellent example. This must surely be heretical. But no, we are looking at the cards through modern eyes, with a vision coloured by popular myth. If we are to understand what the images represent, then we must look at them in the context of their origin – Renaissance Italy. If we look at the religious art of that time and place, we find that The Female Pope was an established figure in Christian art, being used to symbolize such things as The New Covenant and the Virtue of Faith. There was no heresy, which explains why there was no opposition.
Another card that is often cited as having esoteric meaning is The Hanged Man, perhaps because it is difficult to see just what overt and obvious meaning it could ever have had. What are we to make of a man suspended by one foot, often holding money bags? Some have suggested it be Judas, though he would have hung himself by the neck, others have suggested it to be the Virtue of Prudence, indeed, the list of offerings is long and varied. However if we again look at the card in context we find a different story and no mystery at all. The title of Hanged man was given to the card by French card makers but we know from written sources that in Italy it was called The Traitor – and little wonder, as this is how Italians used to execute traitors, suspended by one foot and left to die rather slowly and publicly. As for the money bags, we can find an explanation from another practice of the time, that of Shame Pictures. It was the practice to shame those who betrayed a trust by employing an artist to draw that person’s likeness hung as a traitor, which would then be publicly displayed – often this was done in the case of bad debtors, hence we can suppose the money bags.
The beginning of the 18th century saw a big change in tarot in many countries. At this time, German card makers began to produce French suited tarot cards that also gave up the traditional trumps in favour of a number of themes, such as animals, local scenes, and such like. This offered two advantages. The first was economic. Regular French suited playing cards had existed since the 15th century and had quickly become the dominant pattern in Europe. While the Latin suits required costly wood blocks and hand colouring, which was labour intensive, the French suits required only a simple stencil to reproduce the pips, making production much cheaper. Additionally, by dropping the traditional trumps, the card makers could do more to show off their skills, as well as create cards with themes that might appeal more to their customers. This new pattern of Tarot cards has now become the dominant form for game play.
Tarot’s occult associations do not arise until the end of the 18th century when a Parisian occultist, Antoine Court de Gebelin, published an article in his encyclopaedia declaring that the cards were of Ancient Egyptian origin, brought to us by Gypsies and codifying the lost knowledge of their priests. He did not present any evidence for his claims but he made them at a time when Egyptomania was popular and so his story captured the public imagination and caught on. He also published the first account of how the cards were to be used for divination. During the following 100 years, various French occultists took up the ideas of an occult origin and divinatory use and built upon them, developing still more elaborate myths. Until the end of the 19th century, these ideas were limited to just France but then a small number of British occultists began to import the cards and translate the French occultist writings about them. In the English speaking world, the cards seemed new and exotic, and the occultist accounts of the cards were the only ones known. During the next century, the myth of tarot gradually established itself in the public psyche, and towards the end of the 20th century, a whole industry built around tarot reading began to establish itself and to spread back across Europe.
Since occultism first laid claim to tarot, there has been a growing tendency to redesign the cards to better fit occult beliefs. Thanks to this, there is a broad division between types of tarot cards. Those of the occult and those used to play games. To be honest, those cards designed by occultists and for fortune telling are ill suited to game play and so any concerns you may have about them need not affect our interests here.
Although there have been works of serious history about both the cards and the games published in English since 1980, they have tended to be of limited availability and of high cost. However, in recent years, thanks in large part to the internet, the history and the games are at last getting through to the English speaking public. People are at last discovering the games they have been missing. After all, something that has been played for nearly 600 years, and spread through a continent must have something good going for it!
In the next programme, we will take a closer look at the cards used to play tarot, at the terms and the conventions that are shared by most of the games. In the later programmes, we will present tutorials on how to play specific examples of tarot games, helping you to get started in playing them yourselves.
