It has long been the opinion of students that the key to many things that are mysterious to Europeans could be found through studying the habits, customs, games, or cults of Asia and Africa, whose people cling to ancient ideas and habits, so through looking at things with their eyes, and listening to their views or opinions on the everyday happenings of life, that the tangled skeins that puzzle our academically trained minds would be unravelled.

Much has been done in this direction by Mr. F. H. Cushing and Mr. Stewart Culin, who have discovered, by patient research in America and the Eastern part of Asia, the value of the arrow in divination, in music, in money-making, and in symbolism, as well as in war, for which purpose it was primarily intended. It was put to minor uses by its simple adaptability to the needs of the people, who were direct in their purposes, and who used the tools that were at hand no matter for what they were originally intended.

Any student of the Bible knows how often the gods were appealed to, not only through the different offerings, but also for the purposes of directly divining their wishes, which was done most frequently through a simple stick that could be cut from any sapling. This became in turn a “divining arrow,” or a magician’s wand when in the hands of the Egyptian magi. “The staff of Moses” as used during the plagues of Egypt, or the rod “that put forth leaves” when marked with Aaron’s name. Small wonder, then, that the “golden-leaved rod,” or Aurea virga, given by Apollo to Mercury, was a venerated symbol, probably derived from the Egyptians, and by them from the Assyrians, where it was symbolically used in the worship of the gods, and when it was placed on the cards all persons could understand at a glance the intention and meaning of the Rod. It was not only adopted from the Babylonians, who used it with the serpents twining around it exactly as it is seen in Mercury’s hands, but the people had seen it put to practical use by the great marshal of the Israelites, who confounded their wise men, or magi, with their own weapons. “And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: ... Take thy rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments, for they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” (Exodus vii:9.) Then Aaron was commanded to take “the rod which was turned to a serpent,” and to “smite the waters that were turned into blood”; but the magicians did the same thing, and again were able to produce the next plague by imitating Aaron’s rod when it was stretched forth. But these wise men failed with their enchantments to produce lice at their biding, saying: “This is the finger of God.” It is more than likely that these magi were priests of the temple of Thoth, who were the learned men of that day.

Moses was also commanded “to lift up thy rod,” so that the children of Israel should “go on dry ground through the midst of the sea” (Exodus xiv:15), and to use the same rod to “smite the rock in Horeb” (Exodus xvii:6). These examples may be multiplied, but enough has been quoted to show the importance of this symbol in the minds of primitive people.

Looking next to a people of this century who have retained almost unchanged their inherited customs, Mr. Culin has dwelt at length on the people of Korea, who with the culture inherited from their neighbours, the Chinese, have still a childlike simplicity and follow in the footsteps of their ancestors in their habits, games, and heraldic devices.

In “Korean Games,” Mr. Culin traces the origin of Playing Cards directly to “practical arrows bearing cosmical or personal marks used by primitive man.” See also Numbers xvii:3. He says: “The pack of cards used to-day stands for a quiver of arrows with the emblems of the world’s quarters,” and further states that the most primitive Playing Cards of Asia, the Htou-Tjyen of Korea, still bear the marks of their origin. This confirms the opinion already formed by the writer, who studied the subject from the Biblical and African point of view, concluding that the pips on the Tarot cards had a meaning that could be traced to the diviners of a period much earlier than the fortune-tellers or gypsies of Europe; that the cards themselves were not intended for a game, but were originally devoted entirely to consulting the wishes of the gods; and that it was more than probable that the cult of Thoth Hermes was a scientific adaptation of the arrow worship of early man; and that the gift of speech that Mercury was credited with bestowing on humans was the comprehension of the signs and the ability through them to transmit to men the wishes of the gods.

The Korean cards are printed on paper, and are, therefore, one step higher in the scale than those found among the Alaskan Indians. These are simple round sticks on which are painted stripes of red and black, to denote their value. In some sets the ends are notched like arrows, which probably adds to the numerical value of the card. The Indians keep their sticks in a sealskin pouch wrapped around with a thong of leather, on the end of which is a shark’s tooth that is passed under the wrappings to hold them in place and secure the contents. A handful of oakum accompanies the bag. This is needed during the consultation of the wishes of Manitou, for these sticks are used for divination purposes as well as for play. A heap of oakum is placed on the ground, under which the sticks are hidden. The players squat in a circle around and draw from under the pile one stick after the other, the meaning of which is interpreted by one of the party.

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Gambling Cards