The tale of Tarot cards' history is both long and eventful, stretching across numerous lands and oceans and backwards thousands of years in time. While the precise origin of the cards is lost in the sands of time, scholars have been able to trace a story both compelling and intricate of how they arrived in their current incarnation today.
The Origin of Playing Cards There was a time long ago when playing cards did not even exist at all! This dark age was the time before the Renaissance. It wasn't until the fourteenth century that cards made it Europe's shores at all. In fifteenth century Milan records show evidence of the first ancestors of Tarot cards, which were called 'triumph' cards at the time. However, these were used merely for entertainment and not for divination at all.
The Introduction of the Occult Back in the middle ages, the occult was heavily looked down upon. Legends of witch burnings have been etched into popular culture to this very day and age. It was not until the late eighteenth century that the occult entered the popular mindset as a positive thing. We owe this fortunate occurrence to Marie-Anne Le Normand, who brought divination to the French court by telling the fortune of Empress Josephine, the wife of Napoleon.
The Influence of Eliphas Levi A little later, the modern notion of Tarot cards were introduced by Eliphas Levi as the Tarot de Marseille. This deck was used primarily as a divination tool and was composed of the major and minor arcana we know and love today. Levi was able to integrate the prophetic power of the Qabalah with alchemical philosophies and ancient symbolism to create this powerful deck which is still used in Europe today.
Tarot in the Twentieth Century The twentieth century saw the biggest steps taken forwards for the modern notion of Tarot cards. This is largely the work of two visionaries. The first is Edward Waite. He was a scholar and a mystic, and with the help of a talented illustrator was able to place the significant symbolism of each arcana on the cards themselves. The new deck was called the Rider-Waite deck since it was published by the Rider company. It is still used today in the Americas, and has led to many different interpretations.
The second visionary was Aleister Crowley, who wrote the Book of Thoth and developed the Thoth Tarot card deck. Crowley integrated ancient Egyptian and Greek symbolism alongside that of ancient Chinese and far-Eastern traditions to fashion a Tarot deck both deep and broad in its mystic tradition.
The Modern Spin Today it is common to see Tarot cards practically anywhere you look for them. Modern spins have been placed on this ancient tradition, and it is not uncommon to see popular culture references or illustrations on recently published decks. Whether these new incarnations will be anything more than a passing fad will only be told in time, as the story of Tarot cards continues into the future.
Edward Dietfried is an armchair academic who loves the occult, especially Tarot cards. He is a contributing author at Tarot Card Meanings Revealed, where he writes articles about Tarot card [http://tarotcardmeaningsrevealed.com] history and lore.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Edward_Dietfried
No comments:
Post a Comment