Astrology, Tarot cards and Cabala are the three branches of western mysticism, among which Astrology is better than Reason, Tarot cards are better than Image, and Kabala is better than Number. It is inevitable to study western mystics today. Among these three skills, tarot cards have both artistic beauty and mystery, which can be used for divination and art viewing and collection, so they are widely welcomed by all walks of life, and colorful patterns are accompanied by various magic and myths and legends. There are 78 traditional tarot cards * * *, which are divided into two parts. The first part is the main card * * * with 22 cards, which are called Major alker, which means "big secret". Each card has a unique name and complete meaning (such as magician and female pope). The pattern is complicated and profound, and it can cooperate with the stars. The second part is fifty-six deck cards called Lesser alker, which means "little secret". The cards are divided into four groups: sword, pentagonal disk (or coin), holy grail and scepter. Each group of cards is divided into ten (1-1) cards and four court cards (king, queen, knight and attendant). Little alker, that's the predecessor of playing cards now. Seventy-eight tarot cards have their numbers, which can be matched with Kabbalah's numerology.
because the word "Tarot" has appeared in many cultures, and the designs of tarot cards are mixed with more different myths and legends, there are still different opinions on the true origin of tarot cards, but there is no actual evidence. It has been found in Egypt, China, Hebrew, Indian, French and Italy, among which the origin of Egypt is the most familiar, but there are also many strong supporters in other regions, such as China and Hebrew.
Egyptian Origin Theory: Supporters of this school believe that the word "Tarot" is taken from the Egyptian words Tar (Tao or Dharma) and RO (King or Emperor), which means "kingly way" and also refers to the correct determination required to be a king. Supporters of this school believe that tarot cards are the ancient Egyptian wisdom and magic classic "The Book of Thoth". The book of Thoth was originally a pattern painted on the temple to convey the will of the gods and solve the doubts of the Pharaoh. Later, the Egyptian dynasty was destroyed, and the pattern was painted on a scroll and carried out by the gods. After that, it was spread to Europe by Gypsies. This is represented by a series of books on tarot cards published by Gebelin, a French occult researcher, in 1781.
China's theory of origin: In the Tang Dynasty in China, there was a monk and his entourage who were proficient in astronomical calendar calculation, and they were called "Monks and His entourage" in the world. In about 772 AD, he invented a card game called "Ye Zixi". Each card was about the size of a leaf, which was deeply loved by Xuanzong in the Tang Dynasty. Later, Ye Zixi was widely popular among nobles, gentry and people. Later, Ye Zipai was painted with patterns of different characters, and its production became more and more exquisite. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a kind of cards with 4 cards divided into four suits. Supporters of this school thought that the earliest western cards appeared in the 13th century, five or six hundred years later than China's leaf cards. During this period, there were two periods of great cultural exchanges between China and the West, which may have flowed into Europe. Although I don't know the specific form of the leaf cards invented by one line at present, one line is good at astronomical calendar calculation, which may be related to this pair of cards. I think this has something to do with alker. The tarot cards that people always think are "imported" are probably genuine "domestic products"!
Hebrew origin theory: in Jewish, "TARAH" stands for "law". Levi, a mystic in the 19th century, linked tarot cards with cabala, an ancient Jewish esoteric religion. He found out the correspondence between 22 letters in Hebrew and tarot cards, and the correspondence between 22 ways in the "Life of Tree" in Kabbalah's teachings and tarot cards, which gave great support to Hebrew originators. Some people even think that tarot cards are the spiritual ceremony of ancient Jewish esotericism!
The earliest preserved deck of tarot cards is the 17 alker cards currently stored in the National Library of Paris, France. It is said that it was made by the painter Gringonneur for King Charles VI of France in 1392, and it is also said that it was a card in Venice in the 15th century. In addition, in 1397, French law prohibited workers from playing cards except on holidays, which is believed to be related to tarot cards. In short, the earliest documents about tarot cards can be tested at present.
During the Middle Ages in Europe, tarot cards were suppressed as heresy by the church. Many churches banned their members from touching tarot cards, and they continued to vilify and burn tarot cards. So far, many people still think that tarot cards have "evil power" and can be "surrendered" in the name of Christ, which is really ironic. Under this kind of religious persecution, tarot cards turned underground and were preserved by some secret sects regarded as heresies to teach people as the road to spirituality and wisdom. By the research and promotion of Geblin and Levi in the 18th and 19th centuries, tarot cards appeared in front of the world with a brand-new look.
at the end of the 19th century, the follower of Levi, Papus (Gerard Encause), greatly improved the theory and system of tarot cards. He applied the teachings of Kabbalami to the interpretation of tarot cards, and found out the relationship between tarot cards and corresponding magic rituals. Papus's masterpiece "The Tarot of the Bohemians" is the first complete tarot book, in which "Numberlogy〉" is added to enrich the connotation of tarot cards. Papus is thus regarded as the founder of modern European tarot theory and system.
the most important event in the development history of modern tarot cards-in 1888, the mysterious order of the golden dawn, a witchcraft association inherited from Ross Cross〉 in the middle ages, was established in London. They combined tarot cards, astrology, kabbalah tantra and alchemy once again, making the theoretical system of tarot cards more complete. In 1891, A.E.Waite joined "Golden Dawn", and in 191, she published Ride-Waite Tarot with Ms. Smith. In addition, Waite wrote a book "A Pictorial Key to Tarot" to explain this deck of cards, which quickly became the largest card in the world and was recognized as the "international standard version" by most tarot researchers. As a "textbook" for learning tarot cards, nowadays this deck of cards is packed in yellow paper shells, and it can be seen everywhere where tarot cards are sold.
Today, the development of tarot cards is more diversified, and many tarot cards are combined with local culture and art to bring forth new ideas, such as Russian tarot cards, British tarot cards, Swedish tarot cards and China Yijing tarot cards. It can be said that tarot cards not only perform divination, but also show different cultures, customs and people's feelings around the world. It is worth noting that due to the promotion of the New Age〉 Movement, tarot cards nowadays emphasize not only the actual life level of divination, but also the diviner's motivation and inner reaction, as a "mirror of the mind" and a tool of "pointing directly at people's hearts". The famous spiritual masters Ouspensky (the disciple of Gurdjieff) and Osho (Osho) and their disciples have all published books on tarot cards and theoretical research for spiritual practice, which popularized the spiritual level of tarot cards.