Prophetical, Educational and Playing Cards

by Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer

Some old and beautifully painted Tarots have been found in Italy, so it is assumed that their use was common among the upper classes in that country, who could afford to buy the beautiful unbound leaves of the great book of Thoth, long before there is any historical record of cards either for gambling or for fortune-telling, and that these cards were probably used for the latter purpose whenever any wandering priest of the cult could be induced to interpret their meaning.

We find that these mediæval Italian Tarots are usually painted on cardboard by a skillful hand, and that when they were used for amusement the game was called “l’Ombre” (or The Man). The rules for playing it show plainly that it was not originally intended for amusement, but for a serious consultation of the wishes of the divine powers. In short, the game was identical with fortune-telling, since the most important rule determines that only two persons took part, the one to inquire the future, and the other to interpret the meaning of the cards that were dealt. Both the rules for laying out the pack and the value or significance of the cards point to the occult meaning of the game, which is still played with somewhat the same laws, although alterations and modifications have crept in that obscure the original intention, of consulting an oracle which is probably not even conjectured by modern players of Tarocci, as the game is now called.

The arrangement of the unbound leaves of the book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, that is regarded to-day as a mere pack of playing cards, enabled the priests (or initiates, as we may call them) of ancient days to carry a pack on their persons, so that the wishes of the gods might be consulted at any place. This rendered it needless to enter the Temple of Mercury for the purpose, which had been the custom before the Christian era. After this time secrecy was probably necessary, since the priests of the Roman Catholic Church naturally discouraged any consultation with the gods of ancient mythology, although the people might cling privately to the cult that they had enjoyed and had believed in since prehistoric ages. Through appealing to the prophets (or fortune-tellers, as the priests of Mercury would be deemed at present) the superstitious people believed that they were actually receiving divine guidance, and this belief is secretly held by many, even in the twentieth century; although few of those who consult diviners through playing cards realise that they are worshippers at the shrine of Nebo, of the Babylonians; the great god Thoth, of the Egyptians, or their successor, Mercury, of the Romans.

Many links in the chain connecting playing cards with the ancient mysteries can be separately taken up and studied. In the first place, the histories of Mercury show him as being worshipped under several distinct attributes, combined with that of being the Interpreter or Messenger of the gods, and the students who were of his cult learned twenty or more of the arts and sciences which Thoth or Mercury was supposed to have invented, such as speech, music, painting, agriculture and astronomy, all of which were under his protection. Virtue, vice, death, temperance, health, joy and sorrow each had an emblematic figure peculiar to and connected with it, such as a hanged man or a skeleton. Each of these figures, if displayed on the walls of a temple could be recognised even by an unlettered congregation, so the people would have been accustomed to these representations, even after they were removed from the walls to the flat surface of the cards and no longer displayed in their exalted positions.

The emblematic figures found on the Tarots and called the Atouts are still known by the names given to them when the Egyptians introduced them to Europe, and are as familiar in Italy to-day as when worshipped under the protection of Mercury. After a little study the attributes displayed on the modern Tarots show most plainly their Egyptian origin, and mutely declare their pedigree—the image, value and position of each card, unchanged for ages, all silently pointing to this. Yet, while strangely conforming to all the attributes, decorations and posture of the gods as represented in the Egyptian temples, the designs have been so modernised as to be at first difficult to recognise.

It is supposed by several authors, notably by Court de Gebelin, as early as 1773, when he published “The Primitive World,” that originally the twenty-two figures of the Atout or emblem part of the Tarots were painted on the walls of the temples, a fashion inherited from Biblical times, to enable the worshippers to recognise gods, sciences, arts or conditions represented by the figures and their attributes when it was wished to consult them. Discoveries in Babylonia and Egypt since De Gebelin’s time have confirmed his suppositions.

These figures in themselves were insufficient for communicating with the gods, for they were speechless, so for the purpose of transacting business with them the second volume of the book of Thoth was adopted by taking from the peasants their ancient fashion of consulting the gods through the throw of arrows or rods. These were marked with figures representing a father, a mother, a child and a servant, and four tokens or heraldic devices were also scratched on the rods, dividing them into the suits that have been so universally retained. These symbols were always connected with the worship of the gods, and ivory rods bearing these devices have been found in the tomb of King Qa, who is supposed to have lived about 4000 B. C.

Thus, the ancient divining arrows became the pip cards now in general use, while the pictures on the walls, or the Atout part of the pack, is unknown except in Italy, where the complete book of two volumes with twenty-two Atouts and fifty-six pip leaves is still found.

Originally what we call the suits or pip cards were probably simply rods inherited from Moses and Aaron, or perhaps only a quiver full of arrows, or a bundle of straws, which we know were used at the Delphic oracle; and out of these primitive articles the cards were evolved. On them were placed the four heraldic emblems of Mercury by which any statue or painting of him may be readily recognised. These emblems are convincing proof that cards were part of the worship of Mercury, since the four suits of the Tarots represented the four chief attributes of the god, those symbols by which he is universally recognised, which are Espadas (Swords), Denari (Money), Bastoni (Rods), and Coppas (Cups).

Any one familiar with the many beautiful statues of Mercury that are scattered through the great museums of Europe, or the funeral urns or sarcophagi on which Mercury is represented, is aware of this. First, he appears as Argiphontes, with the harpé or sword at his side, given him by his father, Jupiter. Second, he is shown as Cyllenius, or Agoneus, holding a purse, through the meshes of which round coins can be seen, signifying the protector and representative of merchants. Third, he appears as Caduceator, or the messenger of the gods, bearing aloft the caduceus, or magician’s rod. Fourth, he is represented as Chthonius, presiding at birth or leading the soul to the unknown regions, when his emblem is the Cup of Fortune.