rubaiyat of omar khayyam

mehndigirl

Does any one know where I can find info linking tarot to the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam? I just stumbled onto it a few days ago. I was totally amazed to find it's very simmilar to the story told by the trumps. I've been reading and searching and can't find anything. Someone must have put these two ideas together before! If anyone can point me in a direction to research this a little, or offer personal thoughts about it, I would really appreciate it!

Thanks,
Mehndigirl
 

le pendu

Hi mehndigirl,

I remember asking this question (at least to myself) not too long ago. I came across something that made me go 'ah-ha" and connect the two. Same thing happened to me with Rumi as well, do you know his work?

It would not surprise me at all to find some connection to either of these works and the origin of tarot, but I have no leads to anything about a connection between tarot and rubaiyat.

Hopefully someone else will chime in, I'd love to hear more.

I would love to hear what you see as a connection, even if it is just preliminary thoughts.. please share them.

Thanks for the great question!

robert
 

rainstarhorizon

Hi, now that you mention it- both of them were early Sufi's whom I understand focussed on gnosis or being Gnostics or knowers.
They believed- believe in nothing till you have tried and tested it yourself. Very interesting observation. Anybody else have input?
 

Fulgour

* * illustrated * *

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Rendered into English by Edward Fitzgerald
Illustrations by Edmund J. Sullivan


AWAKE! for Morning in the Bowl of Night
Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight:
And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught
The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light.


http://www.netnik.com/khayyam/ruby01.html
 

mehndigirl

I have a translation by Fitzgerald (which seems to be the most common English translation,) and illustrated by Edmond Sullivan. I have to admit it was the illustrations that spoke to me first. Now that I've read it several times it seems that the story follow the same flow of discovering the world and then discovering self. Each section also, like the journey of the fool, has something both positive and negative to be taken from it.

I'm no history expert, but it seems to me that Omar Khayyam lived and worked in a time and place where he could well have influenced the developemnt of tarot even if he never knew it.

I'm really sucked into this idea, but I can't quite wrap my head around it. Interpreting poetry has never been a strong point with me. Besides one never knows what's been altered in a translation, especially when a great deal of time has elapsed. I'm now looking at other translations and compairing them.

Please excuse my spelling. I've never been good at that either.

Mehndigirl
 

rainstarhorizon

Hi Mehndigirl, I have that exact same book/ among others and yes the illustratioms are gorgeous.

Remember that in the "European Dark Ages" it was the middle eastern world that kept much knowledge alive...for instance even math...so you may not be as far off in your speculations as you feel.

For more writings:www.allspirit.co.uk/sufism

PS Goodmorning to you too Fulgour!
 

le pendu

Also remember that most historians believe that Playing Cards probably entered Europe via the Mamluk Playing Cards, of *Arabic* origin. See this article here:
http://l-pollett.tripod.com/cards64.htm

robert
 

mehndigirl

Thanks!!

Thanks everyone for the links, thoughts, and encouragement. Now I've got somewhere to go with the idea!

I'm still listening if ther's more to be said....

mehndigirl
 

Moongold

mehndigirl ~

You inspired me to read the Rubaiyat again last night. Thank you for that. I could certainlly relate it to Tarot archetypes in a grand way but that, perhaps, is not what you are asking.

Best ~
 
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