Atouts of an Early Italian Pack of Tarots Prophetical, Educational and Playing Cards By MRS. JOHN KING VAN RENSSELAER Author of “The Devil’s Picture Books,” Etc. LONDON HURST & BLACKETT, Ltd. PATERNOSTER HOUSE 1912 PRINTED BY THE GEORGE H BUCHANAN COMPANY Philadelphia , U. S. A. The Oracle of Ishtar and Nebo Uttered by a Woman Baya (or Witch) a Native of Arabela  ...

If an apology is needed for writing again on the subject of playing cards, the excuse may be offered that new lights have been turned on the subject, so that there is fresh information to lay before the public, derived from a close and exhaustive study of the European libraries and museums, as well as of the pictures on the Playing Cards themselves or prints found in those repositories, and also in the collection owned by the writer; for these speak their histories to those who regard their symb

PROPHETICAL AND OTHER CARDS Playing cards may be classified under three distinct heads. First, are those intended for divining purposes; these have descended from an ancient religious cult that would be entirely forgotten were it not for the traditional ceremonies connected with consulting this oracle, or “The Tablets of Fate,” that are known as Tarots, and which are still used for fortune-telling in southern Europe, Asia and Africa. The second division embraces cards used for gambling as well a

THE TAROT PACK OF CARDS The complete pack of Tarots (sometimes called “the book of Thoth”) contains seventy-eight leaves, and, of these, fifty-six bear pips, with four court cards to each suit, which show the attributes of Mercury, namely: Swords, Staves, Money, and Cups. Besides these, there are twenty-two cards with emblematic figures, that were also connected with the worship of Mercury or some of the ancient mysteries; and they, as a whole, represent the chief moral or spiritual characterist

MERCURY Although treated by modern writers as one of the minor of the twelve gods of Olympus, Mercury was by no means so looked upon by the ancients, who revered, feared, consulted and obeyed him as they did no other deity, so he wielded more influence over the lives of mankind than did all the other gods put together. Jove was dreaded because a bolt from the blue might destroy the unwary at any moment; even though Mercury was the lightning conductor, the latter was not blamed for the catastroph

THOTH The great authority on modern Egyptian discoveries, M. Gaston Maspero, says in his book, “Ancient Sites and Modern Scenes”: “On the outskirts of Thebes there are ruins that lie to the north of the Valley of Kings. The temple was built or restored in the last years of the seventh, or in the first years of the sixth, century B. C. to Thoth, the master of magic and letters; the god who was the scribe and the magician of the gods.” This mysterious but powerful god ranked high in the Egyptian c

NEBO, OR NABU A great Chaldean god was Nebo, mentioned in Isaiah xlvi:1, “Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth,” and he had an immense influence over the lives of the Assyrians and Babylonians, extending over centuries. In primitive times nothing was undertaken without an attempt to consult the wishes of the superior gods, and it is interesting to trace through the tablets on which are inscribed the wonderful cuneiform inscriptions, discovered and deciphered during the past fifty years, how the people

THE ATOUTS OF THE TAROTS Since the creation of the world mankind has realized a divine power shaping his destiny, and has tried to conciliate the unknown god. Since life is made up of happenings that are unforeseen, man believed that certain occult powers directed and shaped them. It was natural, therefore, to try to ascertain the wishes of the controller of fate, so that they might be complied with and misfortune thus averted. Invocations, sacrifices and queries, private or public in the temple

THE PIPS OF THE TAROT PACK. The numbered or what are technically known as the pip cards of the Tarot pack are divided like those of more modern ones into four sets, called by English-speaking people “suits.” These are headed by four court, or “coate,” cards, namely, King, Queen, Cavalier, and Knave, making one more than usual to each suit, or fifty-six in all. Besides this royal family, there are the cards numbered from one to ten. In some of the games two or more of the pip cards are dropped, b

SOME OLD ITALIAN TAROTS It is practically impossible to bridge the chasm between the abandonment of the actual and open worship of Mercury in his own temples to the transference of his heraldic emblems to the unbound leaves of a book that could be concealed on the persons of his priests, for doubtless the rites of Mercury were practised privately for many years by people who had every motive for concealment; and since there was no law against these secret practices, there is no record of their h

HEARTS, DIAMONDS, SPADES, AND CLUBS It is probable that one of the oldest existing packs is the Tarot pack now preserved in the Cabinet des Estampes in Paris. Others discovered in the back of a book in Florence in 1910, also Tarots, have not been open to the inspection of students. They are valued at two thousand dollars, but the pack is not complete, nor on record, so the cards painted for Charles VI may still claim to be the oldest known. The débris of this pack was also discovered in the bind

COURT AND POINT CARDS WITH FRENCH PIPS As early as 1656, according to the writers of the day, a pack of cards was called in England, “a pair of cards,” which was evidently derived from the Italian, Paio, as the combined Atout and numbered cards, or the two volumes of the book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, were occasionally called in Italy. The importation of cards was prohibited in England in 1463, by Act 11, Henry VII, as local productions were to be encouraged, so foreign cards are seldom foun

POINT CARDS WITH FRENCH PIPS When Mercury’s emblems were discarded by the French, some four hundred years since, to be replaced by local designs, it was but natural that the points should be accorded original and appropriate significances at their birthplace, as well as in the alien countries where these new pips were adopted. Names were suggested by the shape or usage of the device in different games or under noteworthy occasions. Thus, the Pique of the French (the shape of which was derived fr

“ACCORDING TO HOYLE” The ancestor of all our common games of cards is probably L’Ombre, El Hombre, or The Man, sometimes also called La Beste, the origin of which has been traced to the middle of the fourteenth century in Italy, where the original Tarots were used as they are to-day. A modification of the old game is called Tarroco, the rules for which have been altered during the centuries that have passed since the game was first taken to the hearts of the gamblers, who succeeded the fortune-t

ENGRAVED CARDS Thanks to the lovers of woodcuts, prints, and engravings, the history of European Playing Cards has been preserved. Through these it has been investigated, as it would have been impossible in any other way, since the men who are devoted to the card table are not usually of an investigating turn of mind, while those who prophesy with cards prefer the occult and mysterious to the scientific. It was far otherwise with the dilettanti , who recognised the master hand that had produced

PLAYING CARDS FOR EDUCATIONAL AND OTHER PURPOSES It was but natural that, from the very date of the readjustment of the Book of Thoth, when it was deposed from its high position of being the voice of the gods to become the tool of gypsies or the toy of gamblers, that invectives should be hurled at it from the pulpit, from whence the early war is continued, as well as from the government, for when pleasure becomes a vice it behooves those in authority to repress it, so as to protect the unwary or

EUROPEAN PLAYING CARDS According to Spanish writers, the authentic history of Playing Cards in Europe begins about 1332, for they point with triumph to an order issued by Alphonse of Castile, presumed to be of that date, forbidding his soldiers to play games or to gamble. It is pointed out by disputatious writers that the command was not directed against Playing Cards, since they were not expressly mentioned by name, as are the other prohibited games of chance. Then there is a second statement t

ASIATIC PLAYING CARDS 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 d

CHESS AND OTHER GAMES Many writers have thought that Playing Cards were simply an evolution of Chess, and the features connecting them have been widely discussed, since there are strongly marked attributes common to both. But, as far as is known, Chess has never at any time been used for divination, and there are no traditions connecting it with prophesying, while from time immemorial cards have been used for fortune-telling by almost all nations, either through the complete pack of Tarots, or t

FORTUNE-TELLING THROUGH THE CARDS Without in the least crediting that cards that are derived from ancient mysteries are able to reveal the incidents connected with human life, many people consider the trial an interesting amusement. What were the methods used by the ancients for divining the wishes of the gods? Truly this opens a vast field of inquiry that ranges through every device and symbol ever invented by man. Within a few years various plans have been suggested for reading the fate throug

READING THE BOOK OF THOTH To consult the Tarots, the Initiate must invite the Inquirer to designate what the cards are to be asked to reveal, and, as has been mentioned, this calls for the selection of one of the four suits that in this case must be separated from the other leaves. The suit selected must be shuffled thoroughly and cut by the Initiate, who then passes them to the Inquirer, with the request that they be shuffled and cut three times. The cards are then ranged or spread out on a tab