TAROT CARDS : THE FORETELLERS
Astrology is the most discussed and popular art of foretelling in India. Though it is rapidly spreading all over the world, but this is not the only art for this purpose. One of the popular arts for reading future is Tarot also.
Life is nothing, but just a sum of past, present and future; in short you may call it THE TIME. Experiences of past we bear with us and grow through its essence, in the realities of present we live and those are the hopes of future, for which we live and struggle. Obviously, the past is already known for everyone, while present is being known, but the future? It is a mystery for all beings. There are so many fears with the hopes and as man is the only creature that is said to be with mind, he always needs to be prepared to face challenges. It is only possible in the case as that we can have some glimpse of future. So everyone wants to know that what is there in the fist of time for him. Curiosity about future is as old as humanity itself. This is the reason for what man has developed so many techniques for knowing future. These techniques are according to the location, time and situations of a community, and of course, supported as to the facilities.
FORMS OF FATE READING
In India most popular art of reading future is astrology, based on calculation of planetary positions at the time of a guy’s birth. Now it is gaining popularity in all developed countries and societies. Though many persons do not have horoscope and they don’t know actual date and time of their birth also. Then, what for them? If you don’t have a horoscope an astrologer can tell the future through study of your palms, and this art of telling fortune is called palmistry. There is another art for study of future, which is called Samudrik. In it, an expert study complete physique, behavior and style of a person; includes the knowledge of palmistry and astrology also, and then decides the fate. But all these arts need experts to tell anything. Many times we suddenly need to know the possible result of our action or the question in mind. If at that time you don’t have an expert then what can one do?
Don’t be hopeless, please. We have another art for that time. It is Shakun-shastra. Make some brackets, suppose a particular result for each bracket and say someone to put his finger in one of them. Obviously, that is the result. Oh, you are not satisfied by that reading! Make some chits as per possibilities of results, fold and put them at a place and ask someone to choose one of them. Open that chit and that is the result. Oh, you are still not satisfied, as man can guess the right chit. Don’t be silly. Have some cards and tame a parrot or any other bird. When you need, ask the bird to select a card. Now it’s OK. Now it is not limited to the person only. With the growing timeframe, some people have taken it as a profession. You can meet them in court campuses, bazaars and roadsides.
ORIGIN OF TAROTS
Like any other art or science, this too has developed with time. In Egypt, it has taken pictorial form. Though, this art has a fragmented history that intrigues historians and scholars alike. Most of the tarot readers think that card lifting by parrots and reading tarot are thoroughly separate things. It may be, because in the technique of parrots there are written cards with certain results, but in tarots there are only pictures on the cards. In written cards, a certain result is destined; which is written clearly that this is going to happen or not. Whether in the method of tarots, a picture reveals so many things and it depends on many other situations.
Some schools believe its origins could be in Ancient Egypt, Ancient India or even in lost continent Atlantida. Mostly Indian Tarot readers believe that originally it may be from India. They tell reasons that reveal this fact, but as we talk of systematic study Tarot is some three thousand years old art, which is started from Egypt. In the beginning astrologers were telling the future through making pictures. As it was not practical, soon they turned to cards. At first they invented cards and then decorated the cards with several pictures. The meaning hidden behind the cards, discovered in long time span. It is based on observation, study and experiences of astrologers.
Several sources reveal that this is originated from Italy. According to the Wikipedia, “Exact sources of Tarot are not completely known, the most commonly-held belief and earliest available reliable information is that Tarot originated as a game in 15th century Italy, by adding to a normal deck of cards 21 trump cards, a fool, and 4 queens of each suit. Some early Tarot decks of North Italian origin, which date to the early to mid-15th century have remained. These were called carte da trionfi or "cards of the triumphs”. Soon afterwards, the cards came to be known as Tarocchi.”
Though wikipedia is unable to tell that when the tarot was first used for divination. As early as 1540, a book entitled The Oracles of Francesco Marcolino da Forli shows a simple method of divining from the coin suit of a regular playing card deck. Manuscripts from1735 ‘The Square of Sevens’ and 1750 ‘Pratesi Cartomancer’ show rudimentary divinatory meanings for the cards. In 1765, Giacomo Casanova wrote in his diary that his Russian mistress frequently used a deck of playing cards for divination.
THE TALE OF STRUGGLE
Like any other art it too has suffered with anticipation of orthodox people. They called it an art of devil. It can be understood through the history of the development in design of cards. The designs of the 22 cards in the Major Arcana can be traced back as far as 1440, when the first known deck appeared in Italy. The 3 decks called the Visconti Trumps are generally regarded as the "forefathers" of the decks that are widely available today. It is believed that they were originally created as a game for Nobles. It is not until centuries later that the cards reemerged, this time as a tool of divination. In the latter half of the 15th century, the cardmakers in Marseilles, France began to standardize the Trumps. Before this organized production, those who played the Trumps could dictate which they wanted to include, and which they wanted substituted or eliminated. Certain cards- Death, the Devil, and the Tower in particular; were considered offensive by the more conservative Nobles. These images caused religious leaders to attempt to ban the Trumps.
The first detailed reference to the Trumps of the Tarot is in the form of a sermon. This sermon, given by a Franciscan Friar in Italy later half of 15th century, contends that the Trumps were invented and named by the Devil. It condemns the use of the cards, and generally credits them with the triumph of the Devil. According to the friar, the Devil wins through the loss of the souls of those who play what was then, quite probably, nothing more than a simple game.
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