Cartomancy

[Pam]

I've changed the name of the forum from "tarot" to "Cartomancy" which means, the art of telling fortunes with cards. Tarot is a sub-category of all card reading, because there are other card types besides tarot cards. We can talk about all kinds of cards, not necessarily just tarot.

The origin and history of Tarot cards are hotly debated, but it's generally accepted that the Tarot we know today was first recorded into history in Italy in the 14th century. (Some say the cards themselves came from early Egypt, but this can't be proven at this time.)

The dicationary says that tarot is, "A card game developed in Italy in the 14th century, played with a 78-card pack consisting of four suits plus the 22 tarot cards as trumps." and "Any of a set of usually 78 playing cards including 22 cards depicting vices, virtues, and elemental forces, used in fortunetelling."

Other card sets have been been created through the ages. Some, but not all, are based on the original tarot. The deck of 52 playing cards we know today, has it's roots in tarot cards. Those that are not based on tarot then, would not be referred to as "tarot cards."

[RSLancastr]

Hi Pam! Hey, a section of the board about playing cards - something I actually know something about! Woohoo! :)


The dicationary says that tarot is, "A card game developed in Italy in the 14th century, played with a 78-card pack consisting of four suits plus the 22 tarot cards as trumps." and "Any of a set of usually 78 playing cards including 22 cards depicting vices, virtues, and elemental forces, used in fortunetelling."
14th century? Weird. Most of the literature I've read on it state that it originated in Renaissance Italy in the early 15th century, probably between 1410 and 1430. But who knows - there may be more recent discoveries I'm unaware of.


The deck of 52 playing cards we know today, has it's roots in tarot cards.
Actually, it is pretty well accepted amongst "card scholars" that it is the other way around. That four-suited decks came first, and that the "Trumps" (sometimes called "the Major Arcana") were added to create Tarot.

Personally, I don't care one way or the other. But it certainly gets some people riled up!

[Pam]

14th century? Weird. Most of the literature I've read on it state that it originated in Renaissance Italy in the early 15th century, probably between 1410 and 1430. But who knows - there may be more recent discoveries I'm unaware of. I'm going to defer to you on the century number, because I have a habit of forgetting to add the "1" when quoting century numbers! I'm sure you're right, my apologies to all for the error. <edit: I just realized that I quoted dictionary.com above, so they are the ones that are wrong too!>


What we have to remember however, is that we're looking backward to written history, because that's all we have today that is concrete and verifiable. In ancient times, esoteric teachings were mostly an oral tradition, not committed to paper for several purposeful reasons. It's possible (I won't say "probable", because who knows?) that the tarot cards we know today had earlier roots.