Queen of Tarot
Timeline of Tarot Related Events
Early History of Cards
Evolution of the Suits
Ancient Eastern Origins
The Appearance of Cards
European Appearance of Cards
The Hermetic Tradition
Tarot Cards by Deck
Tarot Cards by Designation
Tarot Cards by Structure
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Tarot Game Rules
Tarot for One (Tarot Solitaire)
Tarot for Two
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Tarot Deck Reviews
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Principles of Divination
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the ancient wisdom of the cards.
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Centered on the idea that there exists a single all-encompassing theology that was passed down to man from the gods in antiquity, Hermeticism is based on the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. Hermeticism had a considerable impact on Western Esotericism from the Renaissance on.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by A. E. Waite
The Tarot by S. L. MacGregor Mathers
Albigensian Watermarks
albigenses
rider waite smith
Excerpted from New Light On the Renaissance, Bayley 1909.
Madame Le Normand
Excerpt from E. S. Taylor's "The history of playing cards, with anecdotes of their use in conjuring, fortune-telling, and card-sharping":
The stormy period of the first Consulship of Napoleon and that of the Empire which followed it, was especially characterized by cartomantic practices in France. At this time, there lived in Paris a famous woman, whose renown as a prophetess will probably not soon pass away. This person was Mlle. Lenormand, whose influence with the empress Josephine, and even Napoleon himself, was said to be considerable.
Rider Waite Tarot
When the Rider Tarot Deck® was created, it was the only one of its kind. Still, at this point, opening a RWS deck in its distinctive yellow box, I don't expect to see many surprises. Someone once told me, "If you think you NEED a tarot deck, then you NEED a Rider Waite deck." I'm not sure I'd go quite that far but certainly no collection would be complete without this one. If you have the uncanny feeling, when looking at this deck, that you've seen its shapes and symbols before -- you're not imagining it.
Pamela Colman Smith
Pamela Colman Smith was the skilled artist and seer who was commissioned by fellow member of the Order of the Golden Dawn, Arthur Edward Waite, to illustrate the entire 78 card Tarot deck to his exact specifications, so that any variation introduced would not be her fault.
Arthur Edward Waite
Before the Rider-Waite deck was published in 1911, there was no modern deck that featured pictures for each of the 78 cards in the deck. Most decks had illustrations only for the Major Arcana, while the rest of the cards featured simply a pattern of easily recognizable pips. Arthur Edward Waite (1857-1942) wanted to publish a complete, modern version of the tarot that featured pictures for each card in the deck, including the minor arcana.
Petit Etteilla
etteilla
french suits
I think this deck would be more useful to me if I spoke French, because then the markings on the cards would make a great deal more sense to me. Even as it is, I find the deck charming. They're not kidding about the Petit part though. The deck is small in size, the cards are thin, and there are only 32 of them. More than half the box is taken up with the miniature paperback that comes inside the little box.
Printing on Paper
xylography
660-670, China: First example of printing on paper. Early xylography was accomplished with hemp paper and woodblocks.
Frontispiece, Diamond Sutra from Cave 17, Dunhuang, ink on paper British Library Or.8210/ P.2
First Use of the Codex
Kodeks IV NagHammadi100s CE, Rome: The codex format is used for the first time. A codex is the very earliest form of book that we had that looks like a book. Before the invention of the codex, all knowledge was written in scrolls or on tablets, or the walls of monuments. This was the first time we could leaf through information in such a convenient manner.
Cubical Dice
Astralgi (Sheeps' Knuckle Bones, used as dice)Cubical dice, descended from Astralgi or sheeps' knuckle bones, made their way from Sumeria throughout the world. They had arrived in India by the 600s, and China by the 700s.
The Game of Leaves
The game was often referred to as "gold speckled leaves", which does make it sound quite a lot like early gold-leaf Tarot cards. Many scholars will tell you that playing cards were invented in 827 because they have conflated these two games. If there is any relationship between these games, which I doubt, it is this:
Éliphas Lévi
Alphonse Louis Constant (a.k.a. Éliphas Lévi Zahed) was a famous French occultist and kabbalist who revolutionized the field of cartomancy. Had it not been for Lévi, the theories of Court de Gebelin might never have become popular.
Etteilla (1738-1791)Jean Baptiste Alliette (a.k.a. Etteilla) was an influential French occultist who helped establish the occult nature of the Tarot. Had it not been for Etteilla, the theories of Court de Gebelin might never have become popular. It was Alliette who made divination with the Tarot popular.
Papus (1865-1916) Papus was a French doctor, hypnotist, and occultist, who founded the modern Martinist Order and helped to popularize occultism. He was born in Spain in 1865, but his family moved to Paris when he was four years old, and he received his education there. He wrote about the Tarot from a Kabbalistic perspective, and was an expert on the works of Éliphas Lévi.
Papus in a Martinist lodge
Antoine Court de Gébelin
book of thoth
Antoine Court de Gebelin (c. 1719-1784)Antoine Court de Gébelin (c. 1719-1784) was a French pastor who initiated the rumor that the Tarot represented the remnants of the Book of Thoth, the wisdom of the ancient pharaohs. He was incorrect, but his theory gained widespread popularity and it has taken over two hundred years to truly dispense with his ideas. Even today, there are people who believe that the Tarot is the Book of Thoth.
Gamblers caught printing cards in China
On the twenty-third day of the sixth month in the thirty-first year of the zhiyuan period (17 July 1294), we caught Yan Sengzhu and Zheng Zhugou playing cards, and have also found wood blocks to print cards. Each person has admitted to the truth of the accusation. We have, according to the rules, passed judgement and punished correctly the organizer Lu Donger, accessory to gambling Zheng Zhugou, the owner of the premises Jiang Sier, and the block printer Ye Lin, and dispatched to the Ever-abundant Treasury for deposit the nine cards (zhipai) that were about to be destroyed, and...
St. Gallen ordinance ignores cards
early references
1364, St. Gallen, Switzerland. A local ordinance forbids dice, allows board games, and leaves the subject of cards untouched. This is often cited as the date before which cards could not have been known in Europe.
Dominican friar describes cards
1377, Basel, Switzerland. A Dominican friar by the name of John describes various types of playing cards in detail.
St. Gallen ordinance forbids cards
We know playing cards entered Europe in the 1370s because there are no references before this time, and suddenly they start appearing across the continent. In St. Gallen, an ordinance made in 1379 forbade the use of playing cards.
Tower of Pisa Completed
trumps-16
In 1372, the belfry was added to the already leaning tower of Pisa, completing the structure.
Tarot Card History
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