TAROT
I’ve only just learned, ‘cos it really didn’t interest me before, that there are TWO sets of tarot cards … usually called THE MAJOR ARCANA and THE MINOR ARCANA.
If I understand it roughly, the Minor arcana were a standard pack of playing cards as used by Italians in the 1400s. The Major arcana was an extra set “bolted-on” to make the game more interesting ... but the idea of using these cards for an occult purpose didn’t surface until 1781.
All humans are afflicted with uncertainty and anxiety to a
greater or lesser degree, and it is only natural for us to seek clues about
whatever FATE may hold “in store” for us.
It seems to me, tarot was developed by people willing to
shroud themselves in a fortune-teller’s mantle of fake knowledge and fake
wisdom, thus acquiring undeserved status amongst the ignorant and gullible who
would have traditionally revered alchemists and necromancers and were content
to acknowledge a traditional social hierarchy of dominance and subjection.
In France, Tarot was made fashionable by this interesting
man … Antoine Court de Gébelin - Wikipedia
The false medievalism of the modern scheme satisfies the
conservative impulses of those who feel adrift in our modern world. But, of course, the vivid imagery of the
cards combined with the accumulating sophistication of their designs and their
invented meanings are irresistible to artists, and to anyone with even a slightly
romantic or fatalistic view of life and death.
The Met Museum wrote a coherent intro to the tarot for an
exhibition in 2016 …
https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/in-season/2016/tarot
The schemes below are borrowed from Wikipedia. NB. There has been nothing like Wikipedia
in the history of the World. I’m always
hard up but always send them money once a year.
THE MAJOR ARCANA … just twenty-two cards.
THE MINOR ARCANA … usually four “suits” of thirteen.
The “suits” are usually arranged in this kind of scheme …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_Arcana
DESIGNS FROM THE MAJOR ARCANA
The currently “conventional” scheme …
Some sub-sets from older schemes …
THE VISCONTI-SFORZA cards at the MORGAN LIBRARY
Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards | The Morgan Library & Museum Online Exhibitions
THE SOLA-BUSCA
TAROT DECK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_Busca_tarot
A MODERN TAROT SCHEME … with some explanatory text
Psychic Tarot Card Meanings Significance (refinery29.com)
THE FOOL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fool_(tarot_card)
THE MAGICIAN
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magician_(tarot_card)
THE HIGH PRIESTESS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Priestess
THE EMPRESS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Empress_(tarot_card)
THE EMPEROR
THE HEIROPHANT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hierophant
THE LOVERS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lovers
THE CHARIOT sometimes
The Centurion, or Victory
The Chariot (tarot card) - Wikipedia
STRENGTH
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_(tarot_card)
THE HERMIT
The Hermit (tarot card) - Wikipedia
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_Fortune_(tarot_card)
JUSTICE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_(tarot_card)
THE HANGED MAN
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hanged_Man_(tarot_card)
DEATH
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_(tarot_card)
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EXTRAS
Photography …
Tarot of the Drowning World — KAHN & SELESNICK
(kahnselesnick.biz)
About Dummet’s Tarot
Dummett’s Defence of his book …
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1981/05/14/origins-of-tarot/
The Sola-Busca
Tarot Deck, 1491 ¡
https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/sola-busca
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_Busca_tarot
Etteilla’s Livre
de Thot Tarot (ca. 1789)
https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/etteilla-thot
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/kj5hdaaw/items?canvas=1
