The Mystery and Fun of Tarot Cards
In keeping with the spirit of the Halloween season, this blog post is on the fascinating subject of tarot cards. When one hears the phrase ‘tarot cards,’ one often thinks of a wizened female hand, bedecked with large, exotic rings and bracelets, turning over a series of illustrated cards by candle light on a cloth covered table top – eventually uncovering the Death card, followed by a gasp (quelle horreur)!
The real world of tarot is not quite so dramatic. As any tarot enthusiast will tell you, the Death card usually means the end of one thing and the beginning of something new.
Legend has it that the first tarot cards came from Egypt and are shrouded in mystery. This is more fanciful than fact. The first recorded history we have of tarot dates back to mid-15th century Europe and was originally a card game called Tarocchini in Italy, Tarot in France and Königsufen (Call the King) in Austria and southern Germany.
Wikipedia has a succinct history of the cards.
Over time, the cards developed into a divination tool of 22 major arcana cards and 4 suits of 14 cards each. The 4 suits are Wands, Cups, Swords and either Pentacles or Coins, representing the 4 elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth respectively. Over the centuries, innumerable decks of tarot cards have been designed, some quite beautiful, while others are silly and even downright ugly (in my opinion). They usually have themes such as the Middle Ages deck, the Witches deck, New Age, Star Wars, Gothic, you name it.
The two most famous decks are the Rider-Waite deck and the Marseille deck.
The library has a book of the Rider Waite tarot cards and their history - Llewellyn's Complete Book of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot: A Journey through the History, Meaning, and Use of the World's Most Famous Deck by Sasha Graham.
The ‘richest’ deck, and the one often seen in movies, is the Marseilles Tarot deck from early 16th century Marseilles, France. By ‘rich,’ I mean rich in symbolism. Each card’s picture has meanings that are indicated by such things as color, the postures of the person in the card (standing, sitting, legs crossed etc.), what they are wearing (even the number and placement of certain ornaments such as buttons on their clothing), the direction in which they are looking, the direction their horse is facing, and how their sword or scepter is held and/or pointing. Wikipedia has a history of this deck.
A good book on the history of the Marseilles deck is called The Way of Tarot: The Spiritual Teacher in the Cards by Alejandro Jodorowsky. In it he explains not only their meanings, but how the rich symbolism was almost lost to time. Through a labor of love and lots of research he was able to resurrect them. Unfortunately, the library system does not own this book, but it can be requested through interlibrary loan.
There many books in the Mercer County Library system on the subject of Tarot, which may be perused at our website: www.mcl.org
There are even a number of fiction books on this subject. One that I read a while back is an old book entitled The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino. It is an old novel about a group of travelers who meet at a mysterious castle, magically lose their ability to speak, and all tell their life stories through the use of Tarot cards. It is available from Mercer County Community College, which you can reserve with your library card.
If you’re in the mood for a Halloween movie with a tarot theme, the library has a Blu-Ray called Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors.
The real world of tarot is not quite so dramatic. As any tarot enthusiast will tell you, the Death card usually means the end of one thing and the beginning of something new.
Legend has it that the first tarot cards came from Egypt and are shrouded in mystery. This is more fanciful than fact. The first recorded history we have of tarot dates back to mid-15th century Europe and was originally a card game called Tarocchini in Italy, Tarot in France and Königsufen (Call the King) in Austria and southern Germany.
Wikipedia has a succinct history of the cards.
Over time, the cards developed into a divination tool of 22 major arcana cards and 4 suits of 14 cards each. The 4 suits are Wands, Cups, Swords and either Pentacles or Coins, representing the 4 elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth respectively. Over the centuries, innumerable decks of tarot cards have been designed, some quite beautiful, while others are silly and even downright ugly (in my opinion). They usually have themes such as the Middle Ages deck, the Witches deck, New Age, Star Wars, Gothic, you name it.
The two most famous decks are the Rider-Waite deck and the Marseille deck.
The ‘richest’ deck, and the one often seen in movies, is the Marseilles Tarot deck from early 16th century Marseilles, France. By ‘rich,’ I mean rich in symbolism. Each card’s picture has meanings that are indicated by such things as color, the postures of the person in the card (standing, sitting, legs crossed etc.), what they are wearing (even the number and placement of certain ornaments such as buttons on their clothing), the direction in which they are looking, the direction their horse is facing, and how their sword or scepter is held and/or pointing. Wikipedia has a history of this deck.
A good book on the history of the Marseilles deck is called The Way of Tarot: The Spiritual Teacher in the Cards by Alejandro Jodorowsky. In it he explains not only their meanings, but how the rich symbolism was almost lost to time. Through a labor of love and lots of research he was able to resurrect them. Unfortunately, the library system does not own this book, but it can be requested through interlibrary loan.
There many books in the Mercer County Library system on the subject of Tarot, which may be perused at our website: www.mcl.org
- Gary C., Ewing Branch
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