The origin of playing cards is unknown, although they initially arrived in Europe in the late 14th century. The earliest records, mostly of card games being outlawed, are from Berne in 1367, and they appear to have spread throughout all of Europe quite quickly. Little is known about the design and quantity of these cards; the only significant information is found in a text written in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1377 by John of Rheinfelden, who, in addition to other versions, describes the basic pack as consisting of the four still-in-use suits of 13 cards, with the courts typically being the King, Ober, and Unter (“marshals”), although Dames and Queens were already well-known by that time.
The suits of Batons or Clubs, Coins, Swords, and Cups were one of the earliest card patterns to emerge. Both modern (occult) tarot divination cards, which first emerged in the late 18th century, and traditional Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese playing card decks continue to use these suits.
Between 1440 and 1450, in Milan, Ferrara, Florence, and Bologna, additional trump cards with allegorical pictures were added to the conventional four-suit pack, resulting in the first known tarot decks. The additional cards, known simply as trionfi, later became known as “trumps” in English. These new decks were known as carte da trionfi, triumph cards, and trionfi. The first recorded account of trionfi can be discovered in a 1440 Florence court document referring to the transfer of two decks to Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta.
The about 15 Visconti-Sforza tarot decks that were painted in the middle of the 15th century for the rulers of the Duchy of Milan are the oldest surviving decks of tarot cards. Martiano da Tortona likely wrote about a missing tarot-like pack that Duke Filippo Maria Visconti had ordered between 1418 and 1425 because the painter he describes, Michelino da Besozzo, left for Milan in 1418 and Martiano himself passed away in 1425. He spoke of a deck of 60 cards, 16 of which featured Roman gods, and four different bird suits. The sixteen cards were referred to as “trumps” because Jacopo Antonio Marcello said that the now-deceased duke had created a new and magnificent category of triumphs in 1449. The Sola-Busca and Boiardo-Viti decks from the 1490s are two other early decks that also had classical themes.
A larger deck known as Minchiate was utilized in Florence. Along with classic tarot imagery, this 97-card deck also features astrological signs and the elements.
No routine condemnations of tarot were discovered during its early history, despite a Dominican priest railing against the evil inherent in cards (mostly because of their usage in gambling) in a sermon from the 15th century.
The initial decks of tarot cards are said to have been few in number because they were all hand-painted. The printing press was the first tool that made mass production of playing cards feasible. During the Italian Wars, tarot began to spread outside of Italy, first to France and then to Switzerland. The Tarot of Marseilles, which has Milanese origins, was the most widely used tarot deck in these two nations.
In This Article...
In tarot, what do playing cards stand for?
The four suits are Future difficult tasks or events are represented by spades. Hearts are all about emotions, relationships, family, and home. Clubs stand for promising things that would soon happen. Money and finances are the main themes in diamonds.
Tarot or playing cards: which came first?
As alternative religions, witchcraft, and paganism have grown in popularity, tarot reading and tarot cards have become increasingly popular. It seems fitting that the Tarot is one of the most obvious and approachable gates to that path as topics like astrology, energy work, and more become more widely known. But how did the Tarot come to be used as a tool for divination and self-examination, and where did it originate?
At first glance, one may think that the Tarot has some kind of ancient history; some have even asserted that the cards represent the remains of an old Egyptian manuscript that was destroyed in the Alexandrian library fire. Were they aliens? the divine? Actually, no. We are aware of no ancient origins for tarot. It was most likely developed much more recently.
Since nobody actually knows who made the original card decks that would later develop into the Tarot as we know it, I suggest “probably.” It turns out that conventional playing cards work the same way. Sometime in the 14th or 15th century, playing cards initially arrived in Europe from, well, somewhere that wasn’t Europe. We don’t know if it was Arabia or China, but considering the lack of connection between Mah Jong and our current card decks, my money is on China. Therefore, it is difficult to say for sure whether Tarot or playing cards emerged first, while either might have happened and it is possible that they both descended from a single, long-lost ancestor.
Based on who do playing cards exist?
Do you enjoy playing cards? Most likely, when you last held a King, Queen, or Jack in your palm, you were unaware of whose faces were looking back at you. Face cards, also known as court cards, are not just any royalty; rather, they are mythological and historical individuals who you may be familiar with.
Playing cards are thought to have originated in either China or the Middle East, but it is known that they were brought to Europe from Egypt in the 15th century. Once there, Europeans immediately altered the design to reflect their own nobility and notable people.
Face cards initially only had Kings, Knights, and “Knaves” because playing cards were first brought to Europe in the male-centric early 1400s (now known as Jacks). Queens weren’t introduced until the 1440s, originally in Germany, and have since had a desirable position among the cards.
Face cards were later changed into what we see now in 16th-century France. Some significant “casting” choices were made during the same makeover. No, we’re not referring to Clooney, Pitt, or even Queen Elizabeth.
Do playing cards and tarot cards have the same dimensions?
How big are tarot cards? Tarot cards typically measure 2.75 inches by 4.75 inches. Our tall playing card is the same size as this.
What kind of religion are tarot cards?
Tarot cards are frequently cited as a component of New Age thought and practice along with astrology, aspects of Buddhism, paganism, and First Nations teachings in the eclectic scholarly approach to the New Age.
What culture originated tarot?
A mocking tarot card with the words “Dear Policeman, I am God” was left by the sniper frightening Greater Washington, D.C. Where are tarot cards made?
In the late 14th or early 15th century, northern Italy is where tarot cards most likely first appeared. The Visconti-Sforza deck, the oldest surviving set, was made for the family of the Duke of Milan sometime around 1440. The cards were used to play tarocchi, a bridge-like game that was then quite popular among nobility and other leisure enthusiasts. The whimsical designs on the cards, from the Fool to Death, were reportedly inspired by the costumed characters that marched in carnival parades, according to tarot historian Gertrude Moakley.
Who invented the tarot?
Things become a little mystical around Halloween, when horror movies are playing nonstop on TV and your holiday-loving neighbors’ yards are decorated with grotesque decorations. We decided to explore the background of tarot cards in honor of one of the most enchanted seasons of the year.
Tarot cards were originally just another card game, one that was a lot like modern bridge, despite the fact that we now link them with the occult. Like other decks, the earliest known tarot cards appeared in Europe in the fifteenth century, with the wealthiest households in Italy purchasing the most well-liked sets. It cost a lot of money to commission what was practically dozens of tiny paintings because there was no printing press and only hand-painted cards were available.
These early tarot cards, known as tarocchi in Italian, included suits, trump cards, and even pips, just like any other deck.
While others experimented, the mainstream use of tarot cards for divination didn’t begin until Frenchman Jean-Baptise Alliette produced the first comprehensive book on tarot card reading in the late 1700s. He published his own deck along with a user’s manual for the cards under the pseudonym Etteilla. He incorporated ideas about astronomy and the four elements to give each card a purpose. He asserted that he had taken extensive inspiration from the Book of Thoth, a work purportedly penned by Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom.
He incorporated ideas about astronomy and the four elements to give each card a purpose.
Etteilla was the first to allocate the cards to a certain sequence and spread, including a front-to-back method that is still in use today. He became the first person to practice tarot professionally after his writings gained popularity and he published a revised edition of his manual in 1791.
The following significant update to tarot cards happened in 1909. You’ve probably seen the pictures for the Rider-Waite deck, created by publisher William Rider and tarot reader A. E. Waite. The Rider-Waite deck, like Etteilla, came with a written manual explaining how to interpret the cards and what each one meant. When the cards in this deck were arranged together, the intricate scenes presented a narrative. The Rider-Waite Deck was updated and reprinted in the 1970s, along with a new instruction manual by Stephen Kaplan, which led to the most recent tarot card renaissance.
What do a deck’s 52 cards stand for?
There are three picture cards and ten picture cards in a deck of cards (Jack, Queen, and King). Hearts and diamonds are the two suits that come in red, while clubs and spades are the other two.
The four seasons are symbolized by the four colors. Four suits times 13 cards in a suite = 52. The 13 cards in a suit stand for the thirteen weeks in each season.
Here are a few additional characteristics of your deck of cards that you might not have noticed:
- The king of diamonds, the jack of spades, and the jack of hearts are all depicted in profile. One eye is visible.
- The faces of the remaining picture cards are turned to face us, and two eyes are visible.
- The one-eyed king of diamonds generally has an ax behind his head, while the king of hearts is typically depicted holding a sword. They go by the moniker “suicide kings.”
- The black woman, often known as the queen of spades, typically carries a scepter. The lone queen facing left is this one.
- The queen of clubs typically has a flower in her hand. The “flower queen,” as she is referred to.
What do spades represent?
The spade is a metaphor for life, or a leaf of the “cosmic” tree. Spades stand for autumn and winter as well as the strength of the night, along with its partner suit, clubs. They represent intellect, action, air, and death in tarot.