In The Cards
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A fortune-teller turned three cards -- a man under guard, a judge and a gallows. Seeing this, the client, Hency Cuffe, knew there was no escape. On 13 March 1601 Cuffe, secretary to the Earl of Essex, was hanged for treason.
The origins of the tarot -- even the word itself -- are shrouded in mystery. All that is known is that these cards first appeared in Europe in the 14th century and that both the Arabs and the Gypsies (Romanies) are credited with introducing them. At first they were used only for playing games, but gradually they took on deeper meanings, as well as fortune-telling powers.
In 1781 scholar Antoine Court de Gebelin presented his theory that the tarot represented universal knowlegde and secrets handed down from ancient Egyptian priests. He identified the word tarot as Egyptian for "royal road". In the next century French occultist Eliphas Levi (whose real name was Alphonse Louis Constant) linked the tarot with the Jewish cabbala, a complex system of mysticism and magic that originated in medieval Spain and became the basis for occultism in Europe. Levi believed "tarot" was derived from the Latin word rota, meaning "wheel". His idea of the tarot as a key to wisdom was later developed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an esoteric society founded in London in 1888. whose members included poet W.W. Yeats and satanist Aleister Crowley. Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith, also members of the order, together designed the popular English tarot cards known as the Rider pack.
Tarot cards appear in a range of designs based on the same images or symbols. The pack consists of the major arcana (meaning "secrets") of 22 cards, and the minor arcana of 56 cards divided intor four suits. The minor arcana is used for card games, and the major arcana for meditation and spiritual enrichment. The two together are said to reveal the past, present and future.
The minor arcana was the precursor of the modern deck of playing cards. Of the four suits, the swords (spades) tell of conflict and power; the cups (hearts), of emotions and desires; the pentacales (diamonds), of money and material things; and the wands (clubs), of communication and growth. In medieval societies the suits were sometimes thought to represent the different classes of society -- noble, priests, merchants and peasants -- and reading the cards offered moral lessons.
Traditionally, the readings of tarot cards begin as the cards are shuffled and laid out in "spreads". The position of each card as well as its symbolic meaning is taken into account in interpreting the layout as a whole. Tarot enthusiasts believe it may be a valuable tool in the control and understanding of one's own pathway through life.
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Tarot cards yield some of the most beautiful artwork~! Feast your eyes on these cards from various decks...
Fairy Ring Oracle
By Anna Franklin & Paul Mason
Published by Llewellyn
Oracle Deck - 60 Cards
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Sacred Circle Tarot
By Anna Franklin & Paul Mason
Published by Llewellyn
Tarot Deck - 78 Cards
Based on the Celtic Pagan perspective, this deck uses photographs of sacred sites, as well as traditional plant and animal associations from Ancient Britain. The artwork is a mixture of hand drawings, photography, and computer generated images which doesn't always blend well, but overall the deck is quite charming.
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Feng Shui Tarot
Created by P.P. & E. Connolly
Published by USGames
Tarot Deck - 78 Cards
A colourful and finely illustrated synthesis Tarot and Feng Shui, the Chinese system of environment arrangement. The biggest change from a 'standard' tarot are the suits, which are now Black Tortoise, Red Phoenix, White Tiger and Green Dragon instead of Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles.
