Divination arrows with many mystic significances were common among all primitive nations. The “golden rod” given to Mercury was evidently the magician’s wand used when the plagues of Egypt were overwhelming the land. The staff of Moses brought forth water, while that of Aaron curled into a serpent when it symbolised eternity. There are few of the rock pictures of Egypt that do not represent their Pharaohs, their gods, and their priests with a sceptre, a rod, or a staff as an emblem of authority. So it was typical in ancient days, requiring then no explanation. It may be noticed in the Atouts that the cards representing the divinities show each god carrying a staff or sceptre. This fact greatly aids in identifying them, for the old Italian artists understood enough to place the sceptre in the hand of the emperor, and give only a staff to the hermit or priest.
Divining arrows have been connected with worship from very early days and probably preceded the rods. The former are mentioned more than once in the Bible, and the first verses of Numbers xvii are particularly interesting as being a historical reference to the divine commands to consult the occult, as well as marking the period when rods were substitutes for arrows. “The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel and take every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers ... twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.’” It was Aaron’s rod that put forth leaves and fruited, showing that he was the one selected by the Lord, who conveyed his commands in this way.
It would be interesting to know what were the distinctive symbols of each tribe, but the only trace of them is found in Genesis xlix, which indicates that Judah had a lion or a sceptre. The symbol of the uplifted hands still marks the Cohen or Aaron’s descendant, while the “Magen Dovid,” or the “shield of David,” the six-pointed star, has been so widely adopted by Freemasons as to have become almost identified with them. By some people it is called Solomon’s seal.
This record of “marking” or numbering the rods is most important, for through it we trace the origin of the marks which in the hands of the wily Egyptian priests were afterwards placed on material they deemed more convenient than the primitive arrows, such as papyrus, or parchment, thus converting the divining arrows of the past into pip cards as we now know them. Rods with notched ends, and also some on which figures of men are cut, have been lately found in the tombs at Abydos. The divining rods of the Alaskan Indians are given numbers by painting stripes of different colours on them, while the rods of the Haida Island Indians, off the coast of North America, are differentiated by tribal distinctions, such as the Bear, the Tortoise, and so forth. The names of the different families show how little the savage people have parted from ancient customs. The long, thin, arrowlike paper cards of Korea show the same tribal marks.
As in Biblical times the rods were called after the men who used them as representing the ruler of their families, so substituting their pictures was probably the next step. The cards then were numbered up to ten, while the father, mother, child, and servant were represented in what we name Court cards. This enabled a man to ask queries of the gods in a most particular way. Should he be a soldier he would select a Sword emblem to typify him and his family, and then, laying the cards of that suit before the testimony (which signifies the tables of stone or the commandments), he awaited the answer that was conveyed to him after the priest had consulted the cards with reference to the way they were dealt in connection with the pictures on the walls.
In Chinese fortune-telling the gamblers resort to a “shrine of the god of war,” says Mr. Culin, in “Korean Games” (page 23), “and throw numbered arrows or sticks to divine the wishes of the gods, while sometimes paper lots are employed.” The arrows are kept in a tube like a quiver, or dicebox, and shaken out at random. The shrine is finely decorated, containing mystic figures and devices, and it stands upright against a wall. A table on which to shake the arrows is placed before the shrine. On page 26 of “Korean Games,” Mr. Culin states: “In Japan fifty slender, rounded splints of bamboo, called Zeichiku, varying in length from two to fourteen inches, are used. The fortune-teller gathers them in his right hand, raising it reverently to his forehead, muttering incantations, then parts the sticks into bundles, prophesying good or evil according to the number in each, and it is said that each splint, having its value and meaning, covers all events of a man’s life as recorded in a book of ‘oracular responses’ that the diviner keeps beside him for reference.”
Mr. Culin also mentions the “Meisir game of the Arabs,” when seven arrows were shaken from a tube or quiver. This old game was played before the time of Christ, and Mahomet prohibited it, calling it “the work of devils.” Arrows made of nab-a tree were used. (This name was seemingly derived from Naib or prophet.) They were of a bright yellow colour, and when shaken in the box gave a peculiar ringing sound, so arrows made of any other wood were considered undesirable and were discarded. Each arrow had a name and was marked with a numeral.
The significant and historical Staff or Rod of the Tarots was replaced in the French pack by the design of a clover leaf, or, as it is called, Trèfle, which we name a Club, a cognomen that recalls the original intention, so would otherwise be meaningless. Nor does the Coin or the Denari take the place of the one that originally represented Mercury Agoneus, the protector of merchants and of commerce. This sign when consulting the oracle denotes fair people and also the element of water, and anything floating on it or living in it, besides all things connected with trade, mercantile transactions, or development.
The Coppas or Cup suit is appropriately typified by a Cup or Chalice or the Vase of Mercury Chthonius. This device is superseded by the Hearts of the French pack, which symbolise the passive principle of the universe. Corresponding as it does with the chalice of the clergy, it betokens not only men of religious life, but those of knowledge and power through learning, and also scientific men and those in the government and law. Love and instruction are typified by the symbolic Cup that denotes fair people, who are also represented by the suit of Denari when the cards are consulted about the affairs of life.
The Cup plays a prominent part in the symbolism of ancient days. In “Records of the Past,” by Professor Sayce (Vol. III, page 86), is a letter from Dusratta to Amenophis III, translated from a cuneiform tablet discovered at Tel-el-Amarun, in Upper Egypt: