Tarot cards - origins?

[nnmartin]

I've just bought a seemingly good book on Tarot Cards. (The Minor Arcana)

I can't quite work out where they come from so I've bet on the New Age section. I know they have been around for a long time.

are there many different types?

the back cover seems to mention Paganism , Kabbalah (Judaism?) and I-Ching.

any help, great!

 

[Quintessence]

I-Ching? Really? >_<

For some reason, there is a lot of BS history about Tarot out there. I don't quite understand why, but it exists. Tarot is only about 500 years old and they were not originally used for divination at all; they were just playing cards. It wasn't until the occult revival in Europe around the 18th and 19th centuries that this happened, and during that time a lot of other influences - particularly the Kabbalah and other Judeo-Christian iconography - impacted how we use and interpret the decks today. But I have never seen I-Ching implicated in anything about the Tarot; if this is true it is a very modern addition onto the discipline. Many newer decks also focus more on Pagan symbolism, but the origin of Tarot itself is not Pagan.

 

[nnmartin]

it seems to be quite a modern book - called the Haindel Hermann Tarot - German.

main themes seem to be Pagan , I-Ching.

I'll try to check on the date.

The book is a spiritual, psychological interpretation of the cards.

 

[Willamena]

Decks based on Haindl's art are a modern intepretation. Beautiful work.

There's a decent history of tarot cards on Wikipedia.

 

[Willamena]

This is the one made by Haindl.

Haindl Tarot

 

[nnmartin]

ok, thanks for the link

The pictures look good in colour, unfortunately my book only has black and white pictures.


here's a section from that link '.....The Haindl Tarot has non-traditional imagery and is highly recommended for an advanced Tarot reader, or for meditation. The author, Hermann Haindl, was inspired by Qabbalah, Runes, I Ching, and Native American influences for the deep and compelling artwork.'

 

[Willamena]

here's a section from that link '.....The Haindl Tarot has non-traditional imagery and is highly recommended for an advanced Tarot reader, or for meditation. The author, Hermann Haindl, was inspired by Qabbalah, Runes, I Ching, and Native American influences for the deep and compelling artwork.'

Yup. The art is amazing.

 

[nnmartin]

I just need to find some real cards now and some willing volunteers to practice on!

Getting the cards out here is probably impossible though.

 

[Willamena]

Can you get an account on E-Bay?

 

[nnmartin]

I guess that is the way forward.

e-bay, E-books, Laptop etc.. the internet has come on a long way over here in the last few years so probably time to start using it. I'm desperate for some Pagan books as well.

 

[Antiochian]

There are endless varieties of tarot cards. I have about four or five different decks. Some are easier for beginners to use than others. Tarot of the Witches, The Witches Tarot, The Rider-Waite, and a number of others are said to be good for beginners. I bought Sacred Circle Tarot, beautiful pictures, but many of the cards were different, and the meanings as well, making me sufficiently confused that I sold them.