The Tarot: The Origins, Meaning and Uses of the Cards Paperback

Tarot cards have intrigued me every since I've seen a deck. They're so pretty and mysterious and so different, yet so closely related in look to our familiar playing cards, and so many of the decks are rich in symbolism. I started collecting decks, and even reading them for friends for fun, even

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though I'm a thorough-going rationalist and don't believe they can be tools of divination.

I also don't believe in a lot of nonsense promulgated about their origins. The Wiki will tell you there's just no evidence of playing cards in Europe, either literary or surviving cards, before the 14th century; Tarot cards aren't old enough to have originated in Ancient Egypt. And as for any connection with the Gypsies, as the chapter on "The Origin of Tarot Cards" mentions, "the Gypsies did not appear in the West in any numbers until the middle of the 15th century, a full hundred years after the cards were known in every country from Italy to Northern France." At least Douglas doesn't do anything to promulgate such myths. He even offers a timeline of the of the earliest known references to playing cards and his history seems credible.

I do find this book fun and informative. It has chapters on origins and symbolism, even how to play the game of Tarrocco. It offers three spreads: the classic 9 card "Celtic Cross," the well-known 7 card "Ellipse Spread" (called here the "Horseshoe Spread") and a 13 card "Circular Spread." The book covers each card of the Major and Minor Arcana, devoting pages to each. And I like the deck featured in the book. It's pretty, and with the Tarot I'm all about the shiny!

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