The History Behind Tarot Cards By Mia Jardine (February)
Before I get into it, some of you may not know what tarot cards are. They are a certain deck of cards that have different meanings with illustrations that reflect them. The pictures done on the cards may have a different style or even drawings, but the effect of them is the same. Similar to a playing deck of cards, these cards have 4 suits, swords, cups, pentacles, and wands. They each have their own theme. The swords reflect moral struggles. The cups reflect relationship issues and emotions. The pentacles, or coins, obviously signify wealth and material things. Wands represent careers and ambition. The main purpose of tarot cards is to use the individual context behind the cards to "predict" the future, or more like sense it. Some of the most popular/strongest cards in the deck are:
The Six of Swords depicts leaving rough water for smoother ones. It symbolizes looking beyond current pain to a calmer future.
The Seven of Wands signifies standing up for what you believe in/yourself. It represents “taking the high road” in challenging situations.
The Eight of Cups symbolizes sacrifice with a man retreating to a cave. It displays the act of metaphorically withdrawing to figure out the next best step.
The Nine of Wands signifies strength and fighting against the odds. It shows a man watching out for an impending attack which means there is a challenge up ahead.
While scrolling through Youtube one day, I came across a tarot card reading video. After watching the video and finding it scarily accurate, I became intrigued. Where were these cards from and why do they know me so well? Through research, I was able to find an answer to one of those questions (the other one seems less based on facts).
The oldest deck of this kind was found in northern Italy in the 14th to early 15th century, and it is known as the “Visconti-Sforza” deck. It was made for the Duke of Milan’s family around 1440. Their original use was for a game called tarocchi, enjoyed by the upper class. These cards had suits of cups, swords, coins, and polo sticks (similar to the deck of cards with hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs). They had figureheads of queens, kings, and “male underlings”. The deck eventually grew to 78 cards that included the Fool and trumps. The designs on tarot cards, the same today, draw inspiration from carnival costumes of that time. The game popular among Italians eventually spread around Europe, and the French dubbed it tarot. These cards came to be known as magical or spiritual until the 1700s. A book, written by Antoine Court de Gebelin, connected tarot to Egyptian mythology and a piece published by Jean-Baptiste also discussed the “divination” of tarot cards.
Sources:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2002/10/where-do-tarot-cards-come-from.html
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-surprising-origins-of-tarot-most-misunderstood-cards/
https://www.astroyogi.com/articles/strongest-cards-in-tarot.aspx
https://www.learnreligions.com/tarot-basic-overview-2562790
(This is my February blog post and it's so late because I was really ill with the flu from Thursday until now)
The Six of Swords depicts leaving rough water for smoother ones. It symbolizes looking beyond current pain to a calmer future.
The Seven of Wands signifies standing up for what you believe in/yourself. It represents “taking the high road” in challenging situations.
The Eight of Cups symbolizes sacrifice with a man retreating to a cave. It displays the act of metaphorically withdrawing to figure out the next best step.
The Nine of Wands signifies strength and fighting against the odds. It shows a man watching out for an impending attack which means there is a challenge up ahead.
While scrolling through Youtube one day, I came across a tarot card reading video. After watching the video and finding it scarily accurate, I became intrigued. Where were these cards from and why do they know me so well? Through research, I was able to find an answer to one of those questions (the other one seems less based on facts).
The oldest deck of this kind was found in northern Italy in the 14th to early 15th century, and it is known as the “Visconti-Sforza” deck. It was made for the Duke of Milan’s family around 1440. Their original use was for a game called tarocchi, enjoyed by the upper class. These cards had suits of cups, swords, coins, and polo sticks (similar to the deck of cards with hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs). They had figureheads of queens, kings, and “male underlings”. The deck eventually grew to 78 cards that included the Fool and trumps. The designs on tarot cards, the same today, draw inspiration from carnival costumes of that time. The game popular among Italians eventually spread around Europe, and the French dubbed it tarot. These cards came to be known as magical or spiritual until the 1700s. A book, written by Antoine Court de Gebelin, connected tarot to Egyptian mythology and a piece published by Jean-Baptiste also discussed the “divination” of tarot cards.
Sources:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2002/10/where-do-tarot-cards-come-from.html
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-surprising-origins-of-tarot-most-misunderstood-cards/
https://www.astroyogi.com/articles/strongest-cards-in-tarot.aspx
https://www.learnreligions.com/tarot-basic-overview-2562790
(This is my February blog post and it's so late because I was really ill with the flu from Thursday until now)
Tarot cards have always seems interesting and creepy at the same time.
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