Prophetical, Educational and Playing Cards

by Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer

The connection of the Tarot cards with astronomy and astrology is a study by itself, but, since these sciences were part of the course of studies pursued by the priests of Thoth, many emblems connected with them are found on the Atouts. These had meaning for those learned enough to read the signs. But each Atout, be it connected with kabbalism, demonology, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek or Roman mythology, is written in a language now partly forgotten, but once widely known and revered.

At first the book of Thoth, or prophetic cards, was only in the hands of the priests; but as the meaning of these detached leaves was from time to time revealed to the educated classes, these persons learned to consult the Tarots for themselves when desiring to know the wishes of the gods. A systematic arrangement of the cards could be made by a couple of players, and this tête-a-tête method of asking for divine guidance is a very ancient custom, and must receive due recognition when studying the cult of Mercury, for it must be particularly noted that all the earliest known games with cards are invariably for two persons and two only, so that when more players were added to the game its name was altered.

It will be recalled how many times magical performances are mentioned in the Bible, one of the most notable being in Numbers xxii, when Balak consulted Balaam. The whole ceremony is there graphically described, but these two men were the only ones who took active part in the ceremony, although Balak sent “the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian to Balaam with the rewards of divination in their hands.” By some people it might be supposed that Balak intended to bribe Balaam for a favorable report from his god, but “When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments” (Numbers xxiv:1). The whole history of the occult transaction shows that these two men alone took part, although others stood aloof and watched from afar.

Prof. Samuel Daiches, in his essay, “Balaam a Baru,” declares that “Balaam was a sorcerer pure and simple,” quoting from certain Babylonian tablets written in cuneiform characters, to prove his resemblance to the “baru” of the ancient ritual who would be deemed a magician in these days. Professor Daiches also states that, in the Babylonian Ritual Tablets lately deciphered, is found the statement that “the diviner and the inquirer in the ceremony have both to be engaged and present when the wishes of the gods are to be consulted,” and that “this was followed in religious ceremonies in many other countries.” This custom is adhered to at present in the Roman Catholic Church when the penitent confesses to the priest, the two people being alone and shielded from observation.

All the early games for the Tarots were arranged for two persons. The modifications that crept in after 1400 allowed other players to join, when different names were given to the newly invented games. The main rules were but little altered and the play was only changed in order that others might take part, which is one of the clearly defined marks indicating the period when the Tarots were discarded by initiated persons and adopted by people in general, who accepted the cards for amusement, leaving the prophetic mysteries to the superstitious. The complete pack of Tarots, as it came from the ancients, consists of two parts, twenty-two Atouts and fifty-six suit cards, or seventy-eight in all; but these are used only in Italy.

A pack called Tarok or Taroc is a favorite in Austria and Hungary, though unknown elsewhere, a fact of which the Viennese are inordinately proud, for they declare, and with truth, that their game is scientific and requires keen intellects to play it successfully. But their handbooks on the game do not recognise the fact that their cards are copied from the ancient Book of Thoth, and that their game is almost identical with the original one of divination called “L’Ombre.” The Austrian Taroks have the same numbers as the originals, and retain twenty-two Atouts, but only “le Fou” or “Mercury” has an emblem resembling those on the old leaves. The designs have within fifty years changed from the German or Italian pips to the French devices of Cœurs, Carreaux, Trifle and Piques.

“Le Fou,” or the Joker, is called Skus, Skis, Skys, or Stüs. The Juggler of the old pack is named Pagat, and although the lowest in number it has peculiar values that recall the fact that when used for fortune-telling it represented the inquirer into the wishes of the gods. The card of highest value in the Austrian Taroks is the World, and is called after its predecessor, retaining the name, as well as its position in the pack, with the value of its namesake, but the picture on the card does not resemble the original, and it requires the inspection of an expert to connect these two packs, since the Austrians have strayed so far from the old designs as to make the emblems hardly recognisable.

The pictures on the rest of the Atouts are not even copies of those that formerly were used in Vienna. One of these packs is now in the writer’s collection, bearing the date 1780; and showing some faint resemblance to the Italian Tarots, proves its descent, for in it the figures of Death and other characters are retained, while the card makers of the twentieth century adorn the Austrian Taroks with pastoral views, which mislead students who have not older packs with which to compare them, so the book describing the Wiener Tarok games claims that these cards and games originated in that city and are peculiar to that locality.

The Austrian Taroks, given to the writer in 1890 by an old lady in New York, were wrapped with a faded green ribbon and accompanied with a note describing how they had come into her possession. It seems that her father left Vienna when a young man, having got into some scrape through playing cards. Before leaving he bade farewell to his betrothed and begged for her garter and her miniature. These he placed with the fatal pack of cards and kept in his desk. After several years the young man, having made a fortune in America, wrote to his ladylove, begging her to cross the ocean to marry him. The answer was that, not having heard from him since he had left, she had married. Her lover consoled himself with an American wife, and had many children, the descendants of whom are now well-known people in New York.

There are several complicated and interesting games played with the Austrian Taroks derived from “l’Ombre,” or “the man,” and originally intended for two players only. One is called the “Great Tarok,” another retains the old name “Tarok l’Ombre,” while a third game (a modification of the last and arranged for more players), is called “Tarok for Four.” The game called “Tapp Tarok” requires but fifty-four cards; it is only a variant of the others and is most popular. “Styrean Tarok,” like the Tapp game, requires three players, the fourth one being a silent partner or dummy. These games are so intricate, and have so many rules, that none but Austrians play with these adapted cards.