Prophetical, Educational And Playing Cards

Chapter I—Prophetical and Other Cards	27-57
Divining cards—Tablets of fate—Tarots—Gambling cards—Their difference—Persian cards—Oldest emblems—Standard packs of Tarots—German designs—French designs—Rouge et Noir—Persia and Sweden—Writers on cards—The three gods—Derivation of name—Mercury and his predecessors—Writer of E-Sigalia—Fortune-telling—The priest of Thoth—Speech—Italian Tarots—L’Ombre—From leaves to cards—Attributes of Mercury—Atouts—de Gebelin—From arrows to cards—Gambling sticks of King Qa—Rods—Devices—Argiphontes—Cyllenius or Agoneus—Caduceator—Chthonius—The study of cards—Rods—Many authorities—Papus—Temple at Baiæ—Book of Thoth—Addha-Nari—Heraldry—Tradesmen’s signs—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu—Terminus—Cestus—Pigs and tongues—Gazelle—Number Thirteen—Joker.
Chapter II—The Book of Thoth, Hermes, and Nebo	58-71
Its leaves—Mercury’s attributes—Il Matto—Nebo—Tablets of fate—The Atouts—Their significance—de Gebelin—Egyptian deities—Parchment records—Thoth the framer of laws—Bible of the gypsies—Attributes of Mercury—Interpretation—Balaam—The “baru”—Tête-á-Tête mysteries—The pack—L’Ombre—Skus—Pagat—Austrian Taroks—The romance of a pack of Tarots—Austrian games—Austrian game books—A clergyman on cards.
Chapter III—Mercurius	72-93
The rank of Mercury—His occupations—His statues—Cadueceus—The purse bearer—The sword—The cup of Hermes—The four symbols—Nebo’s temple—E-Sigalia—Pozzuoli—Its merchants—The Serapeon—Serapis—Roman villas—The temple of Mercury at Baiæ—Mercurius—His work—His parentage—His Infancy—Gifts from the gods—Golden-leaved rod—Wings—The planet—Different cognomens—Representations—Thoth—Inventions—Priests—Sirius—Hermes introduced by the Pelasgi—Books of Thoth—Inventor of games—Great teacher—Titles of books—Connection with cards—Their scientific arrangement.
Chapter IV—Thoth	94-108
M. Maspero’s description of temple—Mr. Rawlinson’s account—Psammetchas—Nebo and Thoth—Symbols—The month—Its device—Tablet of Khufu or Cheops—Hieroglyphically described—Names of gods—Qualities and titles of Thoth—At judgment seat—Sacrifices—Books—Colleges—Priestess of Thoth—Khufu—Thotmes—Cleopatra’s needles—Generations of priests—Gypsies—Hermetic books—The ghosts—Book of knowledge—Its boxes—Magical texts—Amulets—Ritual of the dead—Hall of two truths—Osiris—Confession—Three Writings—King of Sais—The dumb children—Some of the books of Thoth—The temple—Wall pictures—Origin of Atouts.
Chapter V—Nebo or Nabu	109-123
Chaldean god—Different names—Parent—Wife—Presides at birth and death—Sword as symbol—Assyrian gods—King’s temples—Protector—Hymn to Nebo—Borsippa—E-Zida—Great library—Invocations—Titles—Emblems—Stylus—God of Revelations—Nabi, Naypes or prophet—Mr. Chatto’s derivation—Early cards in Italy—Planet—Assyrian gods identical with Roman gods—The Moon—The month—Dog star—Sacrifices—Card emblems—Boar—Temples—Cult—Nebuchadnezzar—All wise—Asshurbanipal—Assyrian invasion—Mingling of cults—Highway of Egypt—Cuneiform inscriptions—Tablets—Texts—Hymn to Nabu—Origin of letters.
Chapter VI—The Atouts of the Tarots	124-174
Consultation of the divinities—Wave offerings—Prayers—Priests and Priestess—Hermetic books—Ishtar—Rods—Jackstraws—Rites—Graven images—Divining arrows—L’Ombre—Egyptian gods on the cards—Number One—The Pagat—Quotation—Baton de Jacob—Meaning of Rod—Choice of the boy—Lottery Chart—Aleph—Meaning—Bohas and Jakin—Initiation of youth—Tablets of fate—Korean superstitions—Fringes of temple—Numbers or letters—Number Two—La Papesse—Isis—Emblems—Qualities—Eve—Derivation of name—de Gebelin—Juno—Emerald Tablet—Mr. Willshire—Juno’s worshippers—Ritual of dead—Beth—Number Three—The Empress—Maut—Attributes—Significances—Figure—Gimel—Dress—Girdle—Titles—Number Four—Emperor—Ammon—Daleth—Persian cards—Titles—Invocation—Number Five—Le Papa—Phthah—Attributes—Hands—Fatima—Number Five’s Meaning—Number Six—Lovers—Cupid—Significance—Vau—Symbolism—Number Seven—Chariot—Mystic meanings—Zain—Arrows—Marked Yes and No—Chinese sticks—Mercury—Pythagoras—The occult seven—Three ages of the world—Seven evil spirits—Hymn to them in Assyric—Seven in the Bible—Other references to that number—Number Eight—Justice—Ma or Truth—The Judge—Attributes—Tiemei—Heth—Ceres—Cups—Number Nine—The Hermit—Aspect—Diogenes—Significance—Rod—Texts—Typical of shelter—Teth—Number Eight—Rota, Wheel of Fortune—Osiris—Anubis—Typhon—The Circle—Wheels of Ezekiel and Pythagoras—Yod—Termius—Use of Yod—Anubis called the Lord of Burying Ground—As jackal—Number Eleven—Strength—Mystic hat—Una—Amazons—Kaph—Goddess Neith—Emblems—Inscription on her shrine—Brides—Number Twelve—Il Pendu—Hanged man—Freemason’s signals—Pagat—Lamed—Its meanings—Vulcan—Number Thirteen—Death—Skeleton—Proverb—Horse of Aurora—Bad luck—Its reasons—Mem and its meanings—Number Fourteen—Temperance—Nut or Nepte—Titles and description—Nun—Oil—Oblations—Number Fifteen—Devil—Set or Sutech—Parents—Title of Hyksos kings—Ears—Zam—Significances—Number Sixteen—Tower—Lighting god—Castle of Plutus—Rameses II and the thieves—Bael—Enlil—Second Dynasty of Ur—Dr. Radau’s translations—Goddess Nin-Mar’s hymn—Ayin—Number Seventeen—The stars—Dog star—Nebo’s mountain—Hebe—Oblations—Gazelle—Typification—Number Eighteen—La Lune—Attributes—Tzaddi—Diana—Number Nineteen—The sun—Zoph—Ra and Rameses—Number Twenty—Day of Judgment—Resh—Significance—Pluto—Ishtar—Epitaph of Lord de Ros—Number Twenty-one—Le Monde—Verity—Four Apostolic emblems—Their manifold meanings—Tau—Le Fou or the Joker—Mat—Emblems—Shin—Gypsies—Early Tarots—Intention of Atouts—Bible of Gypsies.
Chapter VII—Pips of the Tarot Pack	175-195
Suits—Court cards—German, Spanish, Italian and French cards—Emblems of Mercury—Four castes—Lucky devices—Addha—Nari—Phallus—Cteis—Vau—Jod-He-Vau-He—Divining arrows—Golden rod—Numbers 17—Symbols of the Israelites—Indian—Typical of families—Chinese fortune-telling—Zeichiku—Meisir games of Arabia—Naib or prophet—Trèfle—Coppas—Assyrian cup—Cup-bearers—Saki-bearer—Jamshid—Omar Kayyam—Golden cup—Texts—Hall of Two Truths—Osiris—Ma—Thoth—Espadas or Piques—Argiphontes—Meaning of sword in Hebrew—Pitch-pot—Money suit—Collars—Zones—Meaning of suits—Numerical value—Court cards—Their meaning—Seventy-eight Tarots—Rods of Aaron.
Chapter VIII—Some Old Italian Tarots	196-207
Mysteries—St. Paul—Osiris—Bewildered historians—“Portrayed on the walls”—Nebo the Writer—Gypsies—The crossed palm—Spanish cards—The Egyptian fleet—Essay of Count Emiliano di Parravicino—Professional teachers of early days—Cards belonging to the Duke di Visconti—The Royal pack—The artist da Tortona—A wedding gift—Old Tarots—The artist Cicognara—Historic cards—The proverb—Fibbias Tarocci—Museum at Bergamo—Victoria and Albert Museum—Beautiful Tarots.
Chapter IX—Hearts and Diamonds. Spades and Clubs	208-221
Oldest French pack—The costumes—Charles VI—The marriage fête—The fire—Original French Piquet pack—Invention of French pips—Vignoles and Chevalier—Jacques Cœur—The Palace at Bourges—Money or Carreaux—Swords or piques—Sticks or Tréfles—The pun—Red and black—The startling inquiry—Tarots, Playing Cards or the Book of Thoth—Ignorance of writers—French cards born three hundred years ago—Vignolles—Chevalier and Jacques Cœur—Piquet—Agnes Sorel—Black and red—de Gebelin’s history—Confusion—Discussion—Prejudice.
Chapter X—Court Cards with French Pips	222-244
Paio—Stock—Widow—Bunch—Pips—Court cards—Their historic derivation—The number of pip and court cards—The Joker—His origin in America—Cunning Mercury—Fantastic designs—Conservative court dresses—Double-headed and index cards—Costume of the Kings—Their attributes and headgear—Charles of France—Old Tarots in Paris—French cards—The names on the French cards—La Hire—The dress of the knaves—Their attributes—Patch the court fool—Nicknames—The Bowers—Skat—Le Valet—Le Fante—Il Soto—Der Ober—Der Unter—The Queens—Elizabeth of York—Her husband’s picture—The history of Elizabeth our Queen of Cards—Her birth, education, betrothal and costume—The jilting Dauphin—Louis XI—Marriage—The poem—The credulous queen—The elegy of Sir Thomas More—Elizabeth’s effigy in Westminster Abbey—Card backs—Messages and invitations.
Chapter XI—Point Cards with French Pips	245-252
The Pique—Its names—Dr. Stukley’s cards—A Picke—Clubs, the emblem of Agnes Sorel—Hearts—The Ace—The Earl of Cork—Le Borgne—Spanish nicknames—The Deuce—The curse of Scotland—Duke of Cumberland—Chinese card and counter boxes—Pope Joan—Trey—Nicknames for the four and five spots—“Grace’s card”—Lady Dorothy Nevill—The origin of visiting cards—The backs—Derivation of the name of Tarot—The reverse designs—Dolls and their furniture from cards—Thackeray’s invitation—Sir Jeffry Amhurst’s bid to a ball—Luck at Piquet.
Chapter XII—“According to Hoyle”	253-276
The original game played with cards—L’Ombre and its successors—Manilla—The Matadores—Spadille—Nine of Money—The game described in “Cranford”—Punto—Primero—Philip of Spain—Piquet in England—Earl of Northumberland’s letters—Sidney papers—Sir Walter Raleigh—The terms used in Primero—Its Italian rules—Rabelais—Shakespeare’s and other plays—Terms used in Primero—The games that succeeded it—Mawe—Noddy—Gleek—Terms and nicknames used—Ruff, Whisk or Whist—Piquet—Its inventors, Rules, Hands—Ballet—References—Piquet or Cent—Political satire—Hamlet’s speech—“The age is grown so picked”—Euchre—“Heathen Chinee”—American Hoyle—History of Euchre—Dialect—Bower or youngster—Euchre derived from Juch—The German words—An unreliable derivation—Poker—Jack-pot—Widow and Kitty—Poker, Patience—Rules of game—According to Hoyle—His birth and history—The story of Whist—Hoyle’s rules—Cavendish.
Chapter XIII—Engraved Cards	277-291
Print lovers—Invention of Xylographic arts—Earliest wood cuts—Double purposes—Rare prints—Gregineur—Dr. Stuckley’s pack—Cologne engraved cards—Spanish pips—German emblems—Martin Schoengaur—Le Maître—His designs—E. S.—Augsburg—Its guild of cardmakers—The cards of Nuremburg—Jost Ammon—His productions—Italian and Netherland cards.
Chapter XIV—Playing Cards for Educational and other Purposes	292-307
Invectives from State and Church—Destruction in Nuremburg—Its Museum—“The Devil’s Picture Books”—Bishop Latimer—The Text—German instructive cards—Those of China and Japan—The Friend’s cards—Dr. Muruer’s cards—Louis XIV’s cards—History of France—Heraldic cards—Political and other packs—Cards with Mercury’s emblems—Harlequin cards—Musical packs—Japanese cards—Cards as Christian and Jewish Prayer Books—Grammatical cards—Plato’s advice—A tract—Astronomical and religious packs—Historical cards of the United States—Proverbs.
Chapter XV—European Playing Cards	308-321
Cards—Charles V—Proclamation in Paris—Red Book of Ulm—Palamedes and the siege of Troy—Egyptian gambling rods—Cards as postals—Evolution—M. Angelo—Prince of Pisa—Maffei Ringhierri Feliceano and Menesturier—Singer—Chatto, 1392—St. Cyprian—Nearsighted writers—The points of view—Concealed practices—The game of gold—Chinese legend—Connection with divination—Count de Gebelin—“The great dreamer”—Connection with magic—First French cards—Rouge et noir—Rapid spread through Europe—The sailors with Columbus—Introduction of cards into America—Italian verses—Pictures—Literature.
Chapter XVI—Asiatic Playing Cards	322-340
Discoveries of Messrs. Cushing and Culin—Arrows of Divination—The Magi before Pharaoh—The Rod of Moses at Horeb—The connection between arrows and cards—Korean cards—Alaskan rods—The game—Hida Island Indian rods—The next step—Htou-Tjyen or “Fighting arrows”—Chinese lotteries and cards—Derivation of pips—Actor’s cards—Jokers called Blessings—Educational cards—Japanese cards—Historical, gambling and divining arrows—Poetic cards—Cashmere cards—Persian cards—Their emblems.
Chapter XVII—Chess and Other Games	341-364
Chess a battlefield—The Emperor Akbar and his queen—Lady Dufferin’s description of the Palace of Glass—Living Chess—Two Jokers—Derivation of Chess—Troy—Crete—Nig—Egyptian caricature—Korean Chess—Set in British Museum—Chess from Brahmins—Ravan, king of Ceylon—Seffa’s trick—Persian words—Jussef’s escape—Mora—Draughts—The Pharaoh—Greek and Roman names—French games—Checkers—Korean “horses”—Dice—German dice cards—Korean dice—Dominoes—Jackstones—Materials—Ball—Pieces—Kong-Keui—Chinese and Korean games—The sets—Muggins—Milking the cow—Grab—Peas in the pot—Horses in and out of the stable—Sweeping the floor—Spreading the table—Laying eggs—Setting eggs—Hatching eggs—Jackstraws—A set described—Their values.
Chapter XVIII—Fortune-Telling Through the Cards	365-383
Methods—Etteila—Le Normand—Fortune-telling cards—Rules—Meanings of cards with French pips—A fortune told—The hairdresser of Paris—The First Napoleon—Les hautes sciences—Deductions of the fortune-teller—Papus—Definition of suits—Key to the pip cards of the Tarots—Staves, Cups, Swords and Money—Rules for reading the cards.
Chapter XIX—Reading the Book of Thoth	384-392
Rules—The first diagram—Directions for divination—The young man’s career—A second game with its rules—To establish fluidic sympathy—The fourth deal—Etteila’s method.

 

 

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Atouts of an Early Italian Pack of Tarots, 1 to 6	Frontispiece
	Facing Page
Atouts of an Early Italian Pack of Tarots, 7 to 12	30
Atouts of an Early Italian Pack of Tarots, 13 to 18	54
Atouts of an Early Italian Pack of Tarots, 19 to 22, with Two Court Cards	74
Early Italian Tarots, Court Cards	98
Early Italian Tarots, Pip Cards of the Cup Suit	116
Early Italian Tarots, Pip and Court Cards of the Cup Suit	140
Early Italian Tarots, Pip Cards of the Rod Suit	166
Early Italian Tarots, Pip and Court Cards of the Rod Suit	190
Early Italian Tarots, Pip Cards of the Sword Suit	216
Early Italian Tarots, Pip and Court Cards of the Sword Suit	238
Early Italian Tarots, Pip Cards of the Money Suit	264
Early Italian Tarots, Pip and Court Cards of the Money Suit	288
Swedish, Korean and Japanese Gambling and Educational Cards	312
English, German and Chinese Gambling Cards	326
Spanish, English, Dutch and American Gambling, Historical and Educational Cards	354

 

 

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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 symbols with appreciative knowledge, since they had an immense significance when originally adopted.

It is twenty years since The Devil’s Picture Book was published and it is now out of print. The writer has been frequently called upon to furnish papers on the subject, so that it has been kept fresh in mind. At the time that the first book was issued it was the only one that had been printed in the United States devoted entirely to the history of cards not necessarily connected with games. Since then little has been published on the subject, and the information given in the present volume has been largely derived from the writer’s own observations and studies.

A collection of Playing Cards, begun at that time with a solitary pack brought as a curiosity by a traveler from Algiers, that bore the ancient pips of Swords, Staves, Money and Cups, has now grown to hundreds of specimens culled from many different countries. Comparing these with each other, and studying all obtainable histories on the subject, leads to the conclusion that the writers of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were correct when they stated that no historical record existed before the middle of the fourteenth century of games played with cards. But each and all of the writers on Playing Cards agree that there were cards and that they seem to have been used for fortune-telling before 1350, and also that there was a baffling resemblance between the traditions of the cards and what was recorded of the Egyptian mysteries connected with the worship of Thoth Hermes.

It therefore followed that the history and traditions peculiar to the ceremonies connected with that personage should be studied in order to trace Playing Cards to their birthplace and find for them an origin, without weakly stopping at the fourteenth century, and declaring that cards came out of space, as many authors have done.

The heraldic devices of Mercury, which are the emblems of what has always been called, by historians, “The Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus,” are in themselves mute proof of the connection of the Tarots (as they are now called) with the cult of Mercury. These cards are the oldest ones known, and the symbols are retained in Italian Tarots of to-day, so it may be allowed that when Playing Cards are studied as the leaves of the book of a cult, not as a game, their own pictures relate the story that has lain dormant for many hundreds of years. They only required to have a key in order to be intelligible to any one interested in the subject, and this has been furnished by recognizing the four attributes of Mercury in the card pips, which had escaped the notice of students until the present time, as well as the attributes of the picture part of the pack called the Atouts, which are those of Egyptian gods.

The popular notion that cards were invented for the amusement of a crazy French king is quite disproved by the historical records of the Tarots of the fourteenth century and the packs that survive. There are some beautiful specimens in Mr. Pierpont Morgan’s collection, the emblems and devices of which are identical with records of the ancient Tarots, and these cards are very much older than the French packs.

Although the gap between the old cards and the worship of Mercury in Etruria is still to be bridged through accurate historical data, the inferential connection is too strong to be ignored and the rules of the games played with the cards intended for prophesying or fortune-telling, as well as the tradition connected with the Tarots themselves offer connecting links with the cult of Mercury that cannot afford to be disregarded, as has been done hitherto.

Mr. Stuart Culin, in his introduction to “Korean Games,” says: “Investigation has been hitherto comparatively unproductive of results from the fact that most students have failed to perceive the true significance of games in primitive culture, regarding them primarily as pastimes.” But he traces many of the games which are common to all children all over the world to a “sacred and divinatory origin, a theory that finds confirmation in their traditional associations, such as the use of cards in fortune-telling.”

That Playing Cards are derived from the mysteries of ancient days will prove to be such a novel idea to many persons that the well-worn expression: “It can’t be true, I never heard it before,” will be hurled at the author. But such critics are begged to pause, to consider the subject carefully, and to marshal convincing proofs to the contrary before dipping caustic-tipped pens into the inkwells of ignorance, doubt and disbelief.

Court de Gebelin, over a hundred years ago, was scoffed at and called a dreamer by the writers who followed him and wrote on the subject of Playing Cards; yet these same gentlemen with strange accord, while failing to advance any proofs of de Gebelin’s inconsistencies or ignorant deductions, contradicted themselves by agreeing with his bold statement that the Tarots were the survival of the cult of Mercury or Thoth Hermes.

The nineteen-hundred-year-old crusade against cards, as wicked tools of wicked persons, dates from the struggle of the early Christians against idolatry, and this has been transmitted for generations, although there are few persons who can trace their prejudices to the true origin. Nor do they realize how often Divine commands to consult the occult were laid upon the Israelites without carefully perusing the books of Moses.

It may be as well to sum up in a few words the various proofs that the Playing Cards we now use are descended from the ancient mysteries. First, Arrows, and their successors, Straws, Sceptres or Rods. Cups, Swords and Money have always been used in connection with prophesying. Second, the emblems of Swords, Sceptres (or Stylus), Cups and Money have always represented Mercury, Thoth and Nebo as their emblems or attributes. Third, the worship of Thoth was introduced into Italy by the priests of that cult, as is proved historically by the remains of their Temple at Puozzoli, as well as the Temple there to Mercury, near which place the Tarots are still found in common use in their original form, displaying pictures of the Egyptian deities. Fourth, the Egyptians or Gypsies are the fortune-tellers of Europe and always use cards for the purpose. Fifth, the name given originally to the Tarots or prophetical cards that bear the ancient emblems was Nabi, Naypes or “Prophets,” which name is retained for playing cards in many parts of the world.

Thanks are due to the custodians of various museums who have displayed their collection of cards, and in particular to the artist, Mr. Burton Donnel Hughes, who kindly and skillfully designed the beautifully symbolic cover for this book.

M. K. Van Rensselaer.

New York, 1912.

 

 

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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 as for educational purposes, which have a short and easily studied history covering the time of their invention and the amusements for which they were intended. These date no further back than the end of the fourteenth century in northern Europe.

The third division includes the cards used for amusement or gambling, commonly known as playing cards, which are found in common use all over the world, although the designs on them vary with the location, and those familiar in France, England and the United States are unknown in Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Persia, China or Japan, since each of these countries has playing cards peculiar to the nation and quite unknown to the others.

The French and German packs were invented solely for amusement or gambling purposes, while the Tarots, with their typical and heraldic designs, transmitted from early days, are now only to be found entire in Italy, other countries having adopted one portion or the other of the original set as more convenient for games. This separation renders the decks useless for divining purposes; whereas, when intact they are distinctly prophetical or fortune-telling cards, that are derived from ancient mysteries, not only bearing the emblems of the three prophetical gods, but also those of the chief divinities of ancient days.

In some countries, such as Persia, only the emblematic or picture part of the pack, called by the Italians Atouts, is used; but the greater part of the world ignores these entirely and is ignorant that such cards exist, recognising only the pip or suit part of the pack, but in almost every quarter of the globe four suits composing a pack are known, although the symbols on them vary widely.

The oldest emblems are those of the Tarots that are still those most commonly known. These are Swords, Rods, Money and Cups, which are the pips familiar in Italy as well as Spain, Algiers, South America, Cuba, Mexico, Porto Rico, the Philippine Islands and wherever the Spanish language is used, for the Spaniards, when conquering the world, carried their favorite toys with them, introducing them to the natives who accepted the novelty with avidity and used them for games, just as the Spaniards had adopted them from the Italians.

The standard pack has ten pip and four court cards, or fifty-six in all, which are headed by a King, a Queen, a Cavalier and a Knave, and these cards all have names given to them according to the country where they are used. Cards for all parts of the world are made in Paris and local preferences are closely followed, although most countries manufacture their own cards, and a considerable revenue is gained by taxing the product as well as the import of cards. But while the ancient emblems are now commonly used in the countries mentioned, the important part of the ancient pack has been discarded. This comprised twenty-one picture cards, which were a most necessary adjunct to the pip cards, for when the fortunes of the players were to be revealed by reading the prophecies of the gods it was imperative that the two sets should be used in connection with each other, but the complete pack that is still known as Tarots can only be found in Italy.

The German cards were never intended for fortune-telling, but entirely for gambling, and they have devices peculiarly their own. Hitherto no one has explained why or for what purpose these symbols were invented, since they had no particular significance when used in connection with the cards. They are Acorns, Bells, Hearts and Leaves, and are partly heraldic emblems connected with the game of Lansquenet. There are but three male court cards called King, Over Knave and Under Knave.

 

Atouts of an Early Italian Pack of Tarots

7 Il Carro 8 La Giustizia 9 L’Eremita

10 Ruota della Fortuna 11 La Forza 12 L’Appeso

 

France uses the gambling pack invented for Charles VI about the year 1395. This contains three court cards—namely, King, Queen and Knave, and the cards display Carreaux, Piques, Cœurs and Trifles, or as we know them Diamonds, Spades, Hearts and Clubs. This French pack is the only one confining itself to two simple dominant colours, while all other cards are extravagantly blazoned in variegated tints that are by no means as harmonious as the distinctive French Rouge et Noir, which commends itself so well to players for gambling purposes, that the packs of this nation are being now rapidly introduced and adopted all over the world to the exclusion of native designs, even although these symbols have been inherited from the prophetical cards of prehistoric times. This is due to the fact that the cards used for fortune-telling are not as convenient as those that were invented particularly for gambling.

In Persia, where only the Atout or figure part of the pack is used, while the pip part is omitted, the figures are painted in harmonious colours and it is left for the tints of the background to indicate the suits. In the Kile Kort or Cucu pack of Sweden (which also has figures) there are no colours whatever, but the designs are printed in black ink on white cardboard. This is also the case with old cards from the Netherlands, but none of these packs were ever intended for fortune-telling.

There have been many persons who have interested themselves in the history of playing cards, and some of them have pierced the veil surrounding their cradle; but, generally, since these students have only been interested in the cards as toys or gambling instruments or as rare specimens of painting, engraving or stencilling, the studies have not extended beyond the time when playing cards became common in Europe, or about the beginning of the fourteenth century. None of these students followed the clues that would have proved the original purport of the “tablets of fate.”

In “Les Etudes Historique sur les Cartes à Jouer,” by M. C. Leber (1842), the question is asked: “Where do cards come from, what are they and what do they say?” These queries the writer proceeds to answer only in part, for he fails to see the connection of the cards familiar to him, that have French or German pips, with the more ancient Tarots, which, in all probability, he had never seen. But Leber states positively that cards “are of ancient origin and Eastern invention, and primarily they constitute a symbolic and moral game.” He professes to be guided by the emblems on the cards themselves, but he fails to decipher or to understand the evidences shown by the heraldic devices peculiar to one of the ancient Greek gods, which would have answered his questions.

According to the Rev. Edward Taylor and other authorities, the emblematic and mystic cards called Tarots were “born long since in the East, from whence they were brought by the gypsies for thaumaturgic purposes.” Although it is declared that the gypsies always carried and consulted packs of cards ever since the wanderers were known in Europe, these people themselves have no history of their mystic book that they will disclose, so the positive historical record of playing cards as used for gambling games or fortune-telling does not commence before the second half of the fourteenth century.

These cards are the ones we call Tarots, which are still common in Italy, and the emblems on the cards themselves reveal their original connection with the worship of Mercury in Etruria, of Thoth in Egypt, and of Nebo in Babylonia. These three gods have the same attributes, and were worshipped for many generations in the then civilised portions of the world; yet the forms of their worship, that have been so strangely transmitted to us through the greatest of their books, the cards are now little understood and seldom consulted.

Indeed, the very name Tarot has been deemed by some authors as positive proof that the cards are the unbound leaves of one of the great books of the Temple of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, since they derive the word Tarot from Thoth or else from Thror Tahar, which, says Wilkinson (Volume II, page 90), “were the parchment records kept in the Temple, which are mentioned in the time of the eighteenth dynasty that were written on skins.” The same author states (page 207) that “Thoth framed the laws.” In fact, his temple was the seat of all learning, where doctors, lawyers and scientists were able to study and to devote their knowledge to the god they worshipped.

It seems, therefore, that the name is in truth one of the links in the chain of evidence proving that what we use as playthings were once part of the great cult of Mercury and his African or Asian confrères, in whose time the pictures and the emblems were thoroughly understood and were regarded with awe or reverently consulted, since by their means alone could the wishes of the gods be made known to mortals, through the medium of the priests of Mercury, Thoth, or Nebo.

The intimate connection of the triple god is no fanciful suggestion, but is acknowledged by all students. Nebo, of the Babylonians (mentioned in the Bible), Thoth, of the Egyptians, and Hermes, of the Greeks, were all worshipped as gods of speech and inventors of transmitted ideas. It is not credible that in Asia or Africa, even as early as the twelfth dynasty, that voice language or speech was a gift newly granted to mankind, so there must have been some reason for the belief that “these gods gave speech to mankind.” This is one of the superstitions puzzling many modern students who have tried to investigate the mysteries of the Temple of Thoth.

It is now believed that one of the priests who was connected with the cult conceived the bright idea of communicating the wishes of the planets, of the vegetable and the animal kingdoms, as well as those of the patron gods, to mankind through a well-arranged system that had the Temple of Thoth for a centre and its priests as interpreters. The power that this system would give to the learned men congregated in the vast Temple of learning would be great, and would increase their prestige to a wonderful extent. Before that time the primitive people were content with simple means of consulting the wishes of the gods, or with the decrees written at the birth of each child on the tablet of fate by “the writer of Esigalia, who was called Nebü.” The means generally resorted to were those still common in Korea, Japan and China, where the oracle is consulted by throwing a handful of sticks before a shrine. Among the Arabs a sheaf of arrows is used. Gordon Cummings describes his negro servants using sticks which were marked and then thrown on the ground, when the natives desired to be told by their gods where the game lay and what direction to take when hunting.

The scientific arrangement devised by the priest of Thoth that earned for his god the reputation of giving speech to mankind was done through placing on the walls of the temple a series of pictures representative of the chief gods, such as Thoth, Isis, Maut, Phthah and Ammon, as well as various virtues, vices, etc., either pictorially or through heraldic and emblematic devices. These mural pictures could be consulted by the priests by casting on a central altar a handful of arrows, straws or rods, that were always connected with the magic of the Egyptians, as is mentioned in Exodus. As these rods fell they naturally pointed toward the pictures on the walls, and since these represented nearly every event in human life the “speech or commands” of the gods were readily interpreted by the priests, who thus proved that Thoth was the “God of speech” with themselves for his mouthpieces. This superstition was carried out even to the sacrifice of tongues, which was customary as late as the days of the Roman emperors, when tongues were used as one of the sacrifices to Mercury.

It can easily be seen that the primitive arrows were incomplete without the interpretation of the pictures on the walls used in their connection, just as the pip part of the Tarot pack is useless for fortune-telling without the Atouts, which are supposed to be crude Europeanized copies of the pictures on the walls of the Egyptian temples representing their deities. It will also be seen that the cards bearing the comparatively modern pips of Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades, or of Acorns, Bells, Hearts and Leaves have no power whatever of translating the wishes of the gods, since they were invented for another and widely different purpose.

Some old and beautifully painted Tarots have been found in Italy, so it is assumed that their use was common among the upper classes in that country, who could afford to buy the beautiful unbound leaves of the great book of Thoth, long before there is any historical record of cards either for gambling or for fortune-telling, and that these cards were probably used for the latter purpose whenever any wandering priest of the cult could be induced to interpret their meaning.

We find that these mediæval Italian Tarots are usually painted on cardboard by a skillful hand, and that when they were used for amusement the game was called “l’Ombre” (or The Man). The rules for playing it show plainly that it was not originally intended for amusement, but for a serious consultation of the wishes of the divine powers. In short, the game was identical with fortune-telling, since the most important rule determines that only two persons took part, the one to inquire the future, and the other to interpret the meaning of the cards that were dealt. Both the rules for laying out the pack and the value or significance of the cards point to the occult meaning of the game, which is still played with somewhat the same laws, although alterations and modifications have crept in that obscure the original intention, of consulting an oracle which is probably not even conjectured by modern players of Tarocci, as the game is now called.

The arrangement of the unbound leaves of the book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, that is regarded to-day as a mere pack of playing cards, enabled the priests (or initiates, as we may call them) of ancient days to carry a pack on their persons, so that the wishes of the gods might be consulted at any place. This rendered it needless to enter the Temple of Mercury for the purpose, which had been the custom before the Christian era. After this time secrecy was probably necessary, since the priests of the Roman Catholic Church naturally discouraged any consultation with the gods of ancient mythology, although the people might cling privately to the cult that they had enjoyed and had believed in since prehistoric ages. Through appealing to the prophets (or fortune-tellers, as the priests of Mercury would be deemed at present) the superstitious people believed that they were actually receiving divine guidance, and this belief is secretly held by many, even in the twentieth century; although few of those who consult diviners through playing cards realise that they are worshippers at the shrine of Nebo, of the Babylonians; the great god Thoth, of the Egyptians, or their successor, Mercury, of the Romans.

Many links in the chain connecting playing cards with the ancient mysteries can be separately taken up and studied. In the first place, the histories of Mercury show him as being worshipped under several distinct attributes, combined with that of being the Interpreter or Messenger of the gods, and the students who were of his cult learned twenty or more of the arts and sciences which Thoth or Mercury was supposed to have invented, such as speech, music, painting, agriculture and astronomy, all of which were under his protection. Virtue, vice, death, temperance, health, joy and sorrow each had an emblematic figure peculiar to and connected with it, such as a hanged man or a skeleton. Each of these figures, if displayed on the walls of a temple could be recognised even by an unlettered congregation, so the people would have been accustomed to these representations, even after they were removed from the walls to the flat surface of the cards and no longer displayed in their exalted positions.

The emblematic figures found on the Tarots and called the Atouts are still known by the names given to them when the Egyptians introduced them to Europe, and are as familiar in Italy to-day as when worshipped under the protection of Mercury. After a little study the attributes displayed on the modern Tarots show most plainly their Egyptian origin, and mutely declare their pedigree—the image, value and position of each card, unchanged for ages, all silently pointing to this. Yet, while strangely conforming to all the attributes, decorations and posture of the gods as represented in the Egyptian temples, the designs have been so modernised as to be at first difficult to recognise.

It is supposed by several authors, notably by Court de Gebelin, as early as 1773, when he published “The Primitive World,” that originally the twenty-two figures of the Atout or emblem part of the Tarots were painted on the walls of the temples, a fashion inherited from Biblical times, to enable the worshippers to recognise gods, sciences, arts or conditions represented by the figures and their attributes when it was wished to consult them. Discoveries in Babylonia and Egypt since De Gebelin’s time have confirmed his suppositions.

These figures in themselves were insufficient for communicating with the gods, for they were speechless, so for the purpose of transacting business with them the second volume of the book of Thoth was adopted by taking from the peasants their ancient fashion of consulting the gods through the throw of arrows or rods. These were marked with figures representing a father, a mother, a child and a servant, and four tokens or heraldic devices were also scratched on the rods, dividing them into the suits that have been so universally retained. These symbols were always connected with the worship of the gods, and ivory rods bearing these devices have been found in the tomb of King Qa, who is supposed to have lived about 4000 B. C.

Thus, the ancient divining arrows became the pip cards now in general use, while the pictures on the walls, or the Atout part of the pack, is unknown except in Italy, where the complete book of two volumes with twenty-two Atouts and fifty-six pip leaves is still found.

Originally what we call the suits or pip cards were probably simply rods inherited from Moses and Aaron, or perhaps only a quiver full of arrows, or a bundle of straws, which we know were used at the Delphic oracle; and out of these primitive articles the cards were evolved. On them were placed the four heraldic emblems of Mercury by which any statue or painting of him may be readily recognised. These emblems are convincing proof that cards were part of the worship of Mercury, since the four suits of the Tarots represented the four chief attributes of the god, those symbols by which he is universally recognised, which are Espadas (Swords), Denari (Money), Bastoni (Rods), and Coppas (Cups).

Any one familiar with the many beautiful statues of Mercury that are scattered through the great museums of Europe, or the funeral urns or sarcophagi on which Mercury is represented, is aware of this. First, he appears as Argiphontes, with the harpé or sword at his side, given him by his father, Jupiter. Second, he is shown as Cyllenius, or Agoneus, holding a purse, through the meshes of which round coins can be seen, signifying the protector and representative of merchants. Third, he appears as Caduceator, or the messenger of the gods, bearing aloft the caduceus, or magician’s rod. Fourth, he is represented as Chthonius, presiding at birth or leading the soul to the unknown regions, when his emblem is the Cup of Fortune.

This emblem inspired the shape of the beautiful Etruscan funeral vase, which is in itself symbolical and derived from the worship of the Assyrians. He is frequently represented by a cup or chalice, since Mercury was also the cup bearer of the gods, like the butler of the Pharaoh (Genesis xl), who protected his master from poison. When he was the messenger he held to the lips of mortals the seven-ringed cup of sorrow or joy, and the many significances of this cup, although now nearly forgotten, were realised by the ancient worshippers as an important emblem of the functions of the god.

If the Tarots are the direct descendants of the occult images in the Temple of Thoth, as is conceded, it must also be acknowledged that then these cards each has a meaning or intention worth studying, if only to discover their secret; and that if they are connected with the ancient mysteries they represent human life in all its phases. To wrest their secret from them has been the endeavor of many writers, some of whom have learned their portent traditionally, others through careful historical investigation, while some confess to inspiration without authority or support, but not one of these authors discovered the important connection between the emblems on the cards and those representing Mercury heraldically under his chief guises, although such a discovery would have been conclusive proof that their surmises were correct and that cards were the survival of the cult of Mercury and his predecessors.

Nevertheless, a thorough examination of all these writers shows that through different channels they all come to the same conclusions, and by comparing their writings with that of the original rules for the game of l’Ombre (or The Man) quite a definite idea of the value and meaning attached to each card by the initiates or priests of Mercury may be reached.

Raymond Lulle (1235-1315) gives an historical account of Tarots in his “Ars Magna.” Jerome Cardeau (1501-1576) writes of the historic pack in his work “Subtility.” An English writer named Mathers has written exhaustively about the great book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, chiefly with the view of explaining fortune-telling through a correct reading of the mysterious leaves.

Court de Gebelin, although sneered at by the authors who followed him, who found his learning too deep for their understanding, has given a lucid account of Tarots and their connection with divination, while Boiteau, in his “Les Cartes à Jouer et la Cartomancie”; Merlin, in his “Origin des Cartes”; Chatto, in his “Facts and Speculations About Cards,” and Taylor, in his “History of Playing Cards,” agree that cards appeared suddenly in Europe early in the fourteenth century, that the cards of that day were the Tarots, or the fortune-telling cards, that they were altered to suit Dutch, Swedish or German tastes, or the fancies of a French king, following also the desires of each nation that adopted them for gambling purposes, with no thought of the ancient cult to which they had belonged. Not one of them, however, pointed out the connecting link with the emblems of Mercury, or explained the reason for this sudden appearance in civilised nations of these fortune-telling packs, except De Gebelin, while even he failed to connect the attributes of Mercury with the pips on the cards or the emblematic figures on the Atouts that still show the attributes of the chief gods of Egyptian mythology, that would have been such convincing proofs of their origin.

We are indebted to Papus, in his “Tarots of the Bohemians,” for clearly pointing out that the cards are derived from the book of Thoth and for explaining the meaning of each leaf. But even Papus, shrewd and far-seeing as he is, does not bridge the chasm lying between the temples of the Egyptian deities and the introduction of cards into Europe, although he recognises the paramount importance of the emblem of Rods, which he wisely calls Sceptres, since he sees the value that such a symbol of power was to the ancients, and he never condescends to call the pip by its vulgar name of Club.

It is the more strange that the surviving signs connecting the ancient worship of Mercury with the emblems on the pip cards remained unnoticed, for the old Temple of Mercury at Baiæ remains with its vaulted roof in a fairly good state of preservation; and on the ceiling of this temple can still be seen traces of pictures resembling those on the Atouts. Almost obliterated and difficult to see, since the place is dark and there is no means of lighting, they can yet be discerned, even though it would be impossible to reproduce the emblems.

They are in the shape of the old Atouts, that is to say, the figures are enclosed in a well-defined line the shape of a card, and the same size if considered in reference to that of the emblematic pictures. Two of them are distinct enough to show a figure, although which one of the Atouts is intended it is now impossible to say. Traces of other Atouts may be discerned all along the roof of the building, although they are being rapidly destroyed by the weather.

Enough evidence exists now to show that, in this house erected to Mercury by the rich merchants of Rome, the emblematic figures were displayed as ornaments on the ceiling and were not concealed in alcoves or curtained niches, which some writers have supposed was done in the more ancient temples of Egypt where pictures have been discovered that have puzzled the savants who have not connected them with the worship of Thoth or Serapis.

Why the emblems of Mercury did not receive recognition from the authorities on playing cards of the past three centuries, or from others, remains a mystery, since it seems to be quite evident that, while the Atouts show the various virtues, vices, arts and crafts, which were under his protection, the pip cards display his four chief attributes, and that these were evidently placed in the book to represent the god when it was necessary to call on his good offices to protect or guide merchants, to direct love affairs, to encourage warriors or to inspire scientists. No other derivation for these devices has even been suggested, and these self-evident links in the chain of evidence connecting playing cards with the worship of Mercury have been totally ignored. Many students have, however, pointed out that the Tarots are the survivors of his cult and were originally the Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus.

In the “Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum,” by William Hughes Willshire, M. D. (1876, page 52), he shows a picture of Addha-Nari, saying, “she is the Isis of the Hindus, a pantheistic emblem typifying Nature, Truth and Religion.” In this Hindu emblematic figure the four symbols of the ancient Tarots (now the suit marks of the numeral playing cards of the Tarots and of Italy and Spain) are placed in the four hands of the figure that has the crescent or emblem of prophetic power on her head—namely, the Cup, the Circle (or Money), the Sword and the Magician’s Rod. “These are recognised,” says Mr. Willshire (page 62), “as being the symbols of the four chief castes into which men were divided on the banks of the Ganges and of the Nile. Accordingly, the Cup denotes the sacerdotal rank or priesthood; the Sword implies the king, a soldier or military type; the Circle or ring of eternity (that in the hands of the protector of commerce became Money) typifies the world or commercial community, and the Staff is emblematic of agriculture or the tiller of the soil.” This connection between these symbols with those on the Tarots has been copied slavishly by many authors as the only explanation for the adoption of these devices. That there were in early days these principal caste divisions is unquestionable, and men of the different professions selected their heraldic emblems when consulting the oracle to worship or consult Mercury as Chthoneus, Argiphontes, Cyllenius or Caduceator.

The bridge connecting the great goddess of India with Mercury has not yet been built, although the foundations have been laid and will soon be given to the world. It is sufficient to say at present that the mythologies of Babylonia and Egypt have mingled mysteriously, and that the mother of Thoth is connected with the Indian deity so that symbols and rites common to one country are often found in the sister continent.

Before the era of printing men crystalised their ideas by making pictures to portray the thing or person that it was desired to represent. Thus the heraldry of to-day is simply this crude idea scientifically treated and classified, and a coat-of-arms is the name of a family pictorially represented. The totem of the North American Indian displays his family cognomen in this way, as do the various symbols of uneducated people all over the world who are unable to express their ideas in written characters.

Signs over the doors of tradesmen carry out the same plan, as the barber’s basin or pole (the latter being really the caduceus of Mercury, that was inherited from the doctors who studied at the Temple of Thoth). The bunch of grapes or bush of a wine dealer shows an inn, and a well-known saying of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu recalls this, for she remarked, “How should we know where the wine was sold if we did not see the bush?”

Thus, also, at a cross-road where directions from the god Terminus (Mercury) were required, his pointing finger (which was also the Yod found on the Tarots) was a pictured sign that all could comprehend. It is the same with all the other emblems connected with this ubiquitous deity, and the ancients understood these devices far more easily than we of to-day, as the lapse of time has caused the intention of many of them to be forgotten, and none more so than those of Mercury on the pip cards of the Tarots. That their meaning is forgotten is not the fault of those who credited transmitted knowledge through pictures instead of written words, as the devices remain as a simple key to the origin of cards that originally were intended only as a means of communicating with occult powers. (See Numbers xvii.)

In order to come closely to the meanings attributed to the devices as well as to the figures on the Atout part of the Tarots, each one must be studied separately, and close attention must be given to the other connections with the cult of Mercury that have not been dropped from the cards in the course of ages, but which remain to enlighten us.

Thus, the girdle or cestus that Mercury stole from Venus encircles the deuce of Money, and all the oldest cards retain this symbol as well as those manufactured now. This card plays an important part in the soothsayer’s pack. Under some conditions it signifies thieving, which probably refers to the theft of the girdle. A pig is always displayed on the two of bells of the German pack that was evidently derived from the Tarots, since it was sacred to Nebo. Pigs and tongues (representing speech) were always part of the sacrifice to Hermes at his annual festival, and both were sacred to Proserpene, whose descent to hell was celebrated on the day she was dragged from her mother, Ceres, and conducted by Mercury Chthoneus, to the arms of Pluto.

A gazelle under a palm tree is placed on the knave of Money, which recalls the worship of Osiris, in which Thoth plays such an important part. According to a legend, the gazelle gives notice of the rising of the waters of the river Nile by fleeing from its wonted feeding grounds on the banks to the recesses of the desert, long before the first signs of the coming flood are noticed by mankind. The gazelle acts in this way as a lieutenant to Hermes, or as a messenger from the gods to humans, and it is sacred to Thoth, who was afterwards, by the Romans, merged into Mercury. Thoth is also represented on the Fool or Joker.

 

Atouts of an Early Italian Pack of Tarots

13 La Morte 14 La Temperan 15 Il Diavolo

16 La Torre 17 Le Stelle 18 La Luna

 

The number thirteen has always received mystic reverence, and the reason for this has been sought by many. Among the Atouts that number is on the card representing Death. Mercury’s festival falls on the thirteenth of the fifth month, so the thirteenth card has more than one significance to the believers in the old pictured symbols, particularly when connected with the Tarots.

The card known to us as the Joker combines in itself all the versatile qualities attributed to the god Hermes himself, and it is small wonder that it was so regarded, as he was supposed to represent in his own person so many and such different things. Among the Atouts it is called Le Fou (the Fool). It has no number in the pack and was not one of the pictures that were placed on the walls, but was probably a statue occupying the centre of the temple, where it might be separately approached. Among the cards it outranks all others, and is as volatile and as little to be depended upon as the god of Quicksilver himself. It controls and dominates every card in both the pip and Atout parts of the pack. It represents the unforeseen, the unexpected, uncertainty or uncontrollable fate, and the destiny that presides over every walk in life. It stands for Destiny, whether it be called Kismet, Luck, Chance, Fate or Mercury, who alone could tell to mortals what he had foretold at their birth, when as “the Writer” he inscribed on his “tablets” all the events of life.

Through studying the Joker and the value bestowed on him in the old as well as in the modern packs the similarity of the powers that he wields with those that were attributed to the Hermes of the Greeks may be recognised, and this representation of irresponsibility, of chance or of luck, is found in every part of the world where divining cards are used. It marks the difference between the Tarots and the French, German and Swiss packs that were invented for gambling only, and were never intended for fortune-telling. That packs in the United States, with French pips, have a Joker, does not prove that in France the gentleman is known, for he made his appearance here after 1850, as will be related later.

The way that the Joker is represented varies most strangely. Sometimes the card shows a group of huddled imps. Sometimes it is a blank like that of Korea and Japan, or it may show the figure of a clown or a jester like that of Austria. It would be interesting to follow the history of jesters through the troubadours from Mercury himself. But each and all representations have the same value when luck rules, and the Joker takes every card in the pack.

 

 

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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 characteristics of mankind, the cardinal virtues, marriage, death, creation, and resurrection, closely following the attributes of the Egyptian deities. They are presided over and controlled by Mercury himself, the card being named in Italy “il Matto,” or “le Fou”; and we know it as the Joker. This figure was also originally intended for Thoth or Nebo and is often presented as a vagabond or tramp, who typifies irresponsibility, the elements of uncertainty, chance, or luck, that pervade all the concerns of life, and which must be acknowledged and provided for under all circumstances, and in all social conditions from the emperor to the beggar.

The close resemblance of this Matto, in all the attributes bestowed upon him in the card world, to the Greek god Hermes should not be overlooked, for he was so rapid in his movements as to have quicksilver named after him, the mineral that has so many qualifications and is so uncertain. The name was probably given to the metal by the scientists who belonged to the Egyptian temple of learning. Then, too, its healing qualities were recognised by the medical world of ancient days, and, as these wise men were under the protection of the god Hermes, that also may have contributed to its having been named after him. Mercury also was the unexpected and versatile god who attended the dying, although he did not cause the death. He was the inventor and patron of games, although he was no gamester himself, but he personified luck and chance; so, with these and many other characteristics, Mercury was, indeed, the Joker of the pack, “the Trump that captures all other cards.”

The twenty-two Atout cards, as they are called, present allegorical figures in which the attitude, the costume, the accessories, and the attributes each have a significance that may be traced back to their origin, and although some of these symbols are still unidentified, the greater part are recognised, so the value of the figure itself is understood. Some of them were connected with one or the other of the arts, crafts, or sciences that were taught by the priests of Thoth, and by them transmitted to their successors in Italy; twelve of them represent the gods of Olympus; the others are connected with Egyptian gods or can be traced to even earlier ceremonies connected with divination.

Before describing each one of the Atouts and their meanings, it must be mentioned that, while many authors have written of different packs of cards, there are but two authors who have made a study of the Tarots, and that neither of these regards the packs as toys or gamblers’ instruments, but as the outcome of a great mystery or religious cult. Court de Gebelin, as early as 1773, declared: “The complete pack of Tarots, with pip and emblem cards together, were part of the Egyptian mysteries, and particularly of the worship of Thoth,” and he traces the resemblance of the figures and the quality or value attributed to them to Isis, Maut, Anubis, or other personages in the Egyptian cosmogony, which theory is confirmed by Papus in his “Tarots of the Bohemians.” A careful study of Sir Gardiner Wilkinson’s “Ancient Egyptians,” and Mr. Rawlinson’s “Ancient Egypt,” shows how accurate these surmises were, for the origin of many of the figures on the Tarots can be traced in these works, although in the days of de Gebelin, Egypt was a sealed book to students.

Sir G. Wilkinson stated in “Ancient Egyptians” (Vol. II, page 207): “Parchment was used for the records kept in the temples and is mentioned in the time of the eighteenth dynasty, when there were histories written on skins called Thr, or Tahar, and Thoth (Hermes) framed the laws.” This proves that the rules governing mankind emanated from the temple of Thoth (as the name is indifferently spelled), and that, if it were necessary to give publicity to the mandates, it could be done outside of the temple with written characters, or ideographically. Probably letters were not used at the time, although Thoth was the god of letters and the inventor of the alphabet; but symbols and emblems were adopted, since they could be more easily understood by illiterate people. This, then, might well have accounted for the figures of the Atouts, even if there were no other reasons for them.

We are indebted to M. de Gebelin for connecting the Tarots with this cult, as well as to Papus, for the latter, in his “Tarots of the Bohemians,” not only accepts the statements made by the other writer, but tries to prove that the Tarot pack was “the Bible of the Gypsies” and states that “it was also the book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus of ancient civilization.”

Other writers who have studied the cards believe that they “are the key to forgotten mysteries”; but none of them have pointed out the significant facts connecting the emblems of the suit cards with the heraldic attributes of Mercury, and none have noted the value and connection between the different figures of the Atouts with those of the gods of Babylonia mentioned in the Bible, yet they are so remarkable that it seems incredible that they should have been so long overlooked by those who were searching for the origin of Playing Cards.

It is quite evident in the first place that the Staff, or magic wand, must have been inspired by the caduceus, or, perhaps, by the stylus, which is also emblematical of Thoth and was used by the Babylonian god Nebo to write on his tablets of fate. The Sword was derived from the Harpé presented by Jupiter to his son, Mercury, and was also used by Nebo. The purse of Money, and the Chalice, have from the earliest times been connected with spiritual uses and the mysteries of the three prophetical gods. Any one of the four denoted Mercury, while not one of the other gods of Olympus, Babylonia, or Egypt was ever so marked, and none of them combined all the sciences and arts that were practised by his priests and dedicated to the honour of the god who was worshipped as the prophet and messenger from gods to men.

The connection of the Tarot cards with astronomy and astrology is a study by itself, but, since these sciences were part of the course of studies pursued by the priests of Thoth, many emblems connected with them are found on the Atouts. These had meaning for those learned enough to read the signs. But each Atout, be it connected with kabbalism, demonology, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek or Roman mythology, is written in a language now partly forgotten, but once widely known and revered.

At first the book of Thoth, or prophetic cards, was only in the hands of the priests; but as the meaning of these detached leaves was from time to time revealed to the educated classes, these persons learned to consult the Tarots for themselves when desiring to know the wishes of the gods. A systematic arrangement of the cards could be made by a couple of players, and this tête-a-tête method of asking for divine guidance is a very ancient custom, and must receive due recognition when studying the cult of Mercury, for it must be particularly noted that all the earliest known games with cards are invariably for two persons and two only, so that when more players were added to the game its name was altered.

It will be recalled how many times magical performances are mentioned in the Bible, one of the most notable being in Numbers xxii, when Balak consulted Balaam. The whole ceremony is there graphically described, but these two men were the only ones who took active part in the ceremony, although Balak sent “the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian to Balaam with the rewards of divination in their hands.” By some people it might be supposed that Balak intended to bribe Balaam for a favorable report from his god, but “When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments” (Numbers xxiv:1). The whole history of the occult transaction shows that these two men alone took part, although others stood aloof and watched from afar.

Prof. Samuel Daiches, in his essay, “Balaam a Baru,” declares that “Balaam was a sorcerer pure and simple,” quoting from certain Babylonian tablets written in cuneiform characters, to prove his resemblance to the “baru” of the ancient ritual who would be deemed a magician in these days. Professor Daiches also states that, in the Babylonian Ritual Tablets lately deciphered, is found the statement that “the diviner and the inquirer in the ceremony have both to be engaged and present when the wishes of the gods are to be consulted,” and that “this was followed in religious ceremonies in many other countries.” This custom is adhered to at present in the Roman Catholic Church when the penitent confesses to the priest, the two people being alone and shielded from observation.

All the early games for the Tarots were arranged for two persons. The modifications that crept in after 1400 allowed other players to join, when different names were given to the newly invented games. The main rules were but little altered and the play was only changed in order that others might take part, which is one of the clearly defined marks indicating the period when the Tarots were discarded by initiated persons and adopted by people in general, who accepted the cards for amusement, leaving the prophetic mysteries to the superstitious. The complete pack of Tarots, as it came from the ancients, consists of two parts, twenty-two Atouts and fifty-six suit cards, or seventy-eight in all; but these are used only in Italy.

A pack called Tarok or Taroc is a favorite in Austria and Hungary, though unknown elsewhere, a fact of which the Viennese are inordinately proud, for they declare, and with truth, that their game is scientific and requires keen intellects to play it successfully. But their handbooks on the game do not recognise the fact that their cards are copied from the ancient Book of Thoth, and that their game is almost identical with the original one of divination called “L’Ombre.” The Austrian Taroks have the same numbers as the originals, and retain twenty-two Atouts, but only “le Fou” or “Mercury” has an emblem resembling those on the old leaves. The designs have within fifty years changed from the German or Italian pips to the French devices of Cœurs, Carreaux, Trifle and Piques.

“Le Fou,” or the Joker, is called Skus, Skis, Skys, or Stüs. The Juggler of the old pack is named Pagat, and although the lowest in number it has peculiar values that recall the fact that when used for fortune-telling it represented the inquirer into the wishes of the gods. The card of highest value in the Austrian Taroks is the World, and is called after its predecessor, retaining the name, as well as its position in the pack, with the value of its namesake, but the picture on the card does not resemble the original, and it requires the inspection of an expert to connect these two packs, since the Austrians have strayed so far from the old designs as to make the emblems hardly recognisable.

The pictures on the rest of the Atouts are not even copies of those that formerly were used in Vienna. One of these packs is now in the writer’s collection, bearing the date 1780; and showing some faint resemblance to the Italian Tarots, proves its descent, for in it the figures of Death and other characters are retained, while the card makers of the twentieth century adorn the Austrian Taroks with pastoral views, which mislead students who have not older packs with which to compare them, so the book describing the Wiener Tarok games claims that these cards and games originated in that city and are peculiar to that locality.

The Austrian Taroks, given to the writer in 1890 by an old lady in New York, were wrapped with a faded green ribbon and accompanied with a note describing how they had come into her possession. It seems that her father left Vienna when a young man, having got into some scrape through playing cards. Before leaving he bade farewell to his betrothed and begged for her garter and her miniature. These he placed with the fatal pack of cards and kept in his desk. After several years the young man, having made a fortune in America, wrote to his ladylove, begging her to cross the ocean to marry him. The answer was that, not having heard from him since he had left, she had married. Her lover consoled himself with an American wife, and had many children, the descendants of whom are now well-known people in New York.

There are several complicated and interesting games played with the Austrian Taroks derived from “l’Ombre,” or “the man,” and originally intended for two players only. One is called the “Great Tarok,” another retains the old name “Tarok l’Ombre,” while a third game (a modification of the last and arranged for more players), is called “Tarok for Four.” The game called “Tapp Tarok” requires but fifty-four cards; it is only a variant of the others and is most popular. “Styrean Tarok,” like the Tapp game, requires three players, the fourth one being a silent partner or dummy. These games are so intricate, and have so many rules, that none but Austrians play with these adapted cards.

In the “Illustrirtes Wiener Tarokbuch,” by Ulman, we find this statement: “Two centuries had not passed after cards were introduced into Europe, when Francis Fibbia, Prince of Pisa, Italy, arranged from the oldest of all games, called Tappola, a new one called Tarok, which is found in Bologna as a favorite game during the fifteenth century. This was played with Trappola or Trappelin cards, when the original suits were retained, which were Cups, Money, Swords, and Staves, but after wood engraving was invented, the French pips were adopted and are now the only ones used in the Austrian Tarok pack.”

It is noteworthy that the Rev. Edward Taylor, in his “History of Playing Cards” (pages 209 and 457), mentions an interesting pack of cards, “the imprint of which states them to be sold by John Lenthall, stationer at the Talbot over against St. Dunstan’s Church, London, who carried on business there from 1665 to 1685, so the cards were probably issued immediately after the Restoration.” They were prophetical or fortune-telling cards, and their use was described in directions published with them. The pips were French; the emblematical figures were imitations of the Atouts and evidently had been copied from part of a pack of Tarots, but the figures had names applied to them that were not exactly like the originals. The Ace of Hearts had a figure that was named Hermes Trismagus, which leads to the supposition that the original connection of Mercury with the Tarots was not entirely forgotten in the seventeenth century, but was known in connection with fortune-telling. As a prophet he was still an important personage. The other figures on the cards represented Roman Catholic saints or modern heroes, so that of Mercury was entirely out of place, unless in connection with his cult.

 

 

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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 catastrophe. Juno commanded admiration by her beauty, but her cold self-esteem drew few followers; still, as presiding over maternity, she delivered, through Mercury, the newly born to its parents. Diana had, perhaps, the largest number of worshippers, since she had a plurality of attractions, and had under her protection many and various walks of life, when Mercury acted as her lieutenant. It was Mercury who lured Proserpine from the side of Ceres, to reconduct the former to earth when spring followed winter, and it is under this form, as Chthonius, that Mercury is allegorically represented as the messenger conducting the soul at death to the future state.

Mercury was the peacemaker, or adjuster of difficulties, as well as the councillor and intercessor, for he could be appealed to with the certainty that his orders could be received by mankind, and by them could be comprehended through a sign language interpreted by his priests. He was in reality more powerful than any of the other gods taken separately, for, although they might be lavishly propitiated, they could not reply to invocations except through their messenger, Mercury. He was also the inventor of emblems, pictorial art, and language, through which he could be directly approached and his wishes communicated in response to invocations by means of the Atouts and the pip cards. Any profanation of his mysteries was rapidly revenged by his worshippers, so it is little wonder that they were not placed in town records or in early histories. Nor, if they were, would these mysteries have been mentioned as Playing Cards, for the ancient Book of Thoth was not classified as a game, and until the Temple of Toth, as well as the Serapeon, near Naples, were destroyed, compelling the exiled priests to carry on their person the emblems taken from the walls, there was absolutely nothing like a card to mention in the official records. Students, therefore, must search for descriptions of wanderers, of soothsayers, of astrologers, of fortune-tellers, of prophets or of gypsies, if they wish to discover traces of the cult of Mercury, since it was gradually and imperceptibly merged into the Playing Cards as we understand them.

There were few of the homes of the rich Romans that were not adorned with a statue of this god under one of his four great attributes. The best known is, perhaps, one by John of Bologna, showing him as Caduceator, or the messenger, under which guise Mercury carries the caduceus and points with his right hand to heaven. When represented in this way, he is the bearer of news, of life, and of health. It was his wand, or caduceus, that, up to the middle of the eighteenth century, was the emblem of the medical man, who always carried his stick or staff into the sick chamber. It is still used by barbers, who display his staff, apparently wound with bloody rags, before their shops, a survival of a custom dating from the time when barbers were the dentist surgeons and “blood-letters.” His wand was also representative of the stylus which was used to write on the “Tablet of Fate,” for Mercury was also the god Nebo of the Babylonians, who is mentioned under this name in the Bible. He is credited with being “the writer in the Book of Fate” and, says a Cuneiform inscription, “had foretold the destiny of mankind since eternity.” The stylus was also the emblem of Thoth, who wrote in the “Book of Good Works” after death.

 

Atouts of an Early Italian Pack of Tarots with Two Court Cards

19 Il Sole 20 Il Giudizio 21 Il Mondo

22 Il Matto 23 Queen of Cups 24 King of Cups

 

As the protector and foreteller of events, Mercury was represented as benign or benevolent, but the second attribute as reproduced in his statues was purely mercantile. These statues are frequently found holding a purse in the right hand, the coins inside being seen through its meshes, emblematic of the Money pip on the cards. When represented in this way the face is no longer joyous or serene as it is when depicted as the messenger; it is stern, cold and calculating, perhaps rather shrewd, yet still self-reliant, and with an air of concentration, but always youthful. As the god could foresee and foretell business probabilities, since they were already written in his Book of Fate, or could give counsel in mercantile transactions, Mercury was always consulted and obeyed. It was due to this that his image bearing aloft the money bag was a favorite decoration in the homes of successful merchants, who credited the counsels of Mercury with having caused the riches of Plutus to fall into their coffers.

The beautiful statue of Mercury seated idly with a sword girded at his side, but trailing on the ground, is well known. Here another and most powerful attribute of the god was silently displayed for worship in all that concerned enterprises other than commerce, since the sword denoted warlike expeditions, explorations, and voyages, and was the symbol of rulers, of soldiers, and of men of a class superior to rich merchants. Besides, under the attribute of “the sword,” Mercury was the patron of books, and of arts and crafts, as well as the encourager of learning. Girded with the ever-ready sword, presented to him for his wit and understanding by his father, Jupiter, Mercury was alert to point out in the Book of Fate the initiative that should be taken, if success was desired, and also to adjust quarrels, smooth away strife, or heal differences. Under the emblem of the sword, Mercury was an often-consulted oracle. The sword (or lightning) was also emblematic of Nebo.

The fourth guise of Mercury was usually kept for serious or sacred periods of life, and was seldom seen in the home, as it was reserved for more grave positions. After Mercury gave up being the cupbearer of Olympus to the beautiful Hebe he retained the badge of office, and “the cup of Hermes” remained as one of his attributes as a reminder of this position. To-day it is used at Christmas in Italy, when presents are placed in Mercury’s cup for distribution instead of being hung on a tree, as is the more northern custom. The seven-ringed cup was sacred to Nebo as well as to Toth, and this votive cup entwined with two serpents—now in the Louvre—proved that the Chalice and the Caduceus were always typical of Nebo.

As Chthonius, Mercury was always the useful helper of mankind. He presided at birth, when he recorded the future events of a child’s life on “the tablet of fate,” as had been done by his predecessor, the god of the Babylonians, Nebo. He also attended the dead, when the tablet was broken, (which was Thoth’s perogative), so he is allegorically represented on funeral urns, where he is seen leading Proserpine to Hell. The vase has been converted into one of Mercury’s emblems on the cards, as the Cup or Chalice. Many of the beautiful Etruscan vases in the Vatican show Mercury with Pluto’s reluctant wife. Perhaps the most graceful of stone pictures on this subject is in the British Museum, where a female figure reclines on a couch, surrounded by a group of mourners, and behind the dying woman stands Mercury, patient and alert, ready to show the soul to its bourn. The cup of sacrifice is overturned, the tablet is broken, and Mercury’s task is to guide her spirit carefully and gently to another sphere.

Here, then, are the four attributes of Mercury through whose aid he speaks to men: the Caduceus, stylus or magic wand; the Coin or ring, emblem of eternity; the Sword, and the Cup or chalice.

Always depicted as a youthful or, perhaps, irresponsible man, sometimes described as inconsequent, volatile and light-hearted, still Mercury was the most affording and helpful of all the gods of Olympus, and it was he who interceded for men, who presided over births and deaths, as well as over love affairs, business, and the arts. He was, therefore, consulted at every turn of life—small wonder that his image was a prized ornament of their homes, under one of his three attributes, or else near their tombs under the fourth.

Temples to Mercury, to Thoth, and Nebo, were the principal and most ornate ones that were built. The great one at Babylon to Nebo was called E-Sigalia. He was worshipped as the “tablet writer” who foretold fate. There is one to Mercury that is still in a fairly good state of preservation and is first of the group to the other gods of Olympus, at Baiæ, a town ten miles north of Naples in Italy. This temple was probably erected by the rich merchants of Rome, near their own beautiful villas, that have rendered the place historical. The other temples are little more than charming ruins, but that of Mercury survives to remind us that mutilated rites are still held in his honour in all parts of the world, although by persons who have lost their clue to the original intention of the cult that they follow.

It is probable that the adjoining town of Pozzuoli was the cradle of Playing Cards in Europe, for it was here that the mysteries of the Egyptian god Thoth were taught by the priests of that cult. Close to the edge of the water are the ruins of the vast temple of Osiris, or Serapis, called the Serapeon. Here the strangers worshipped, who landed there yearly from the Nile, from a vast fleet which was sheltered in the bay of Baiæ. Its arrival was heralded by a number of swift yachts that could be recognized as they passed through the narrow straits between Capri and the mainland with topsails flying, a privilege that was accorded to none but the visitors from Alexandria, who were too powerful to offend and too desirable not to conciliate.

The exports of corn from Alexandria were of such importance to Italy that the trade enjoyed the peculiar protection of the State, and “the Alexandrian corn fleet,” says Merivale (“Roman Empire,” Volume IV, page 392), “enjoyed the protection of a convoy of war galleys that was met by a deputation of senators.”

The visitors landed at Pozzuoli, at the spot where St. Paul disembarked from the Castor and Pollox, in a bay that sheltered mariners from Spain, Sardinia, Elba, Cyprus and all the great trading ports of Asia Minor, the isles of the Ægean Sea and, above all, Greece. This great centre received merchandise, iron and fine tools from the clever workmen of Elba, and gorgeous carpets from Phœnicia, as well as Egyptian goods and cults; so it was natural that what was presented at this port should also be exported from there. Thus it was with the learning and the arts of Egypt that were taught by her priests or initiates in the temple erected by them at this spot, which points to the probability that their great book was from this centre scattered over Europe.

What is now called the Serapeon is one of the most remarkable ruins in Italy, for through some volcanic action it was buried beneath the sea in the twelfth century during the last eruption of the Solfatara, reappearing after another volcanic outburst in 1538. It had been forgotten for centuries, but when the fresh movement of that ever-swaying shore made the waters recede, the temple again appeared above the surface. Some of its marble columns are still erect, although they are honeycombed with holes made by a little bivalve that is still found in the bay of Baiæ, and in these perforations countless of their shells can be seen. Enough of the temple remains to record the fact that the Egyptians were numerous and prosperous on the foreign shore, and it is probable that it was built 211 B. C., although many students think its erection was even earlier.

Serapis, or Osiris, was worshipped as Hermes, or Mercury, by the Romans, which worship was introduced into the neighbouring city of Rome by the Emperor Antoninus Pius, in A. D. 146, which may indicate the date of the Temple of Serapis (Mercury).

Serapis was the god of commerce, so his shrine was enriched by the merchants who thronged to the ever-busy port. It was probably after this temple (the original home of Mercury) was submerged, that the smaller one was erected to him at Baiæ. The latter was a famous marine watering place of ancient Italy, perched on an indentation of the western shore of the Bay of Naples. It is celebrated for the softness of its climate, and the abundance of its hot springs, so it became fashionable about the era of Lucullus, the ruins of whose magnificent villa, as well as those of Cæsar, Pompey and Augustus, still remain. It was a favourite resort until the invasion of the barbarians under Theodoric the Goth.

Horace alludes to the palaces and temples overhanging the sea, but most of these have now fallen into the water, where beautiful columns may be seen beneath the waves.

Besides these luxurious homes, and the vast temple of Serapis that was so near, there remain ruins of a temple to Jupiter, another to Venus, and others that are unidentified. But the one that remains in the best condition and state of preservation is Mercury’s, as the domed roof protected it when the others were destroyed by the ashes from the neighbouring volcano. The façade of the temple has been removed, but one long vaulted hall remains. It is not pierced with windows, and was probably intended to be dark, for the better perpetration of mysteries. On the ceiling may be traced oblong shaped paintings, “men portrayed upon the wall,” that are too much defaced to identify, but they recall the shape and approximate size of the Atouts of the Tarots. These may be seen at stated intervals, and, when originally placed there, would have accommodated the twenty-two Atout cards ranged in the order in which they are now numbered. It was supposed that the emblematic figures representing Osiris, Maut, Isis and other deities with the virtues, vices, love, marriage, death, etc., were placed in recesses or alcoves in the Egyptian temples, but if these half-obliterated figures in the temple at Baiæ were intended to represent the Atouts, a different plan was followed, more like that mentioned in Ezekiel xxiii:14. It may have been that the priests followed the idea of putting the figures on the ceiling, so that they might teach their followers the significance of the emblems when it was no longer worth while to make mysteries of them and to conceal them.

Beside the temple, and opening from it, is an inner room that was probably once covered by a roof, but that has fallen, and now the space is only an enclosed court. In the centre remains what might have been a platform or altar where the sacrifices of pigs or tongues, and of other things immolated to Mercury, were made yearly at the time of his festival, on the thirteenth of May.

Prof. Charles Anthon, in his “Classical Dictionary,” when describing Mercury, says:

“Mercurius was a celebrated god of antiquity, called Hermes by the Greeks. He was the messenger of the gods and of Jupiter in particular. He was the god of speech, of eloquence, the patron of orators, of merchants, and of all dishonest persons, particularly thieves, of travellers, and of shepherds. He also presided over highways and crossways, and conducted the souls of the dead to the world below, and it would be nearly impossible to discover anything about which this versatile god could not be consulted through his learned priests, who had been taught the gift of speech from him that they transmitted to their followers. The Egyptians ascribed to Hermes the invention of letters, and the Greeks accredited him with many other important improvements that made men’s lives happier or better, such as the invention of the lyre, as well as the regulation of commerce, and the improvement of gymnastic exercises, while, by a strange perversion the Greeks made Hermes the protector of thieves, when, in Egypt, he was the god of merchants, so that it may be possible that the crafty god favoured the person who first propitiated him or, perhaps, the highest bidder.”

Mercury was the son of Jupiter by the brightest of the Pleiades, Maia, herself the daughter of Atlas, King of Mauritania, and Pleione, one of the Oceanides, or ocean nymphs whose mother was Tethys, and father, Oceanus. Such distinguished ancestry may well have placed the ever-youthful Mercury among the presiding deities of Olympus, even if he had not inherited the mantle of the Egyptian god Thoth, and with it the ægis of the god of the Babylonians, Nebo, who was the arbiter of the fate of mankind.

His infancy was intrusted to the Seasons, who could not prevent his stealing the trident of Neptune, the girdle of Venus, the sword of Mars, and the sceptre of Jupiter, all of which are displayed on the old pip cards, the sword and sceptre being two of the pips, while the girdle of Venus encircles the Deuce of Money.

The ingenious god presented the lyre that he invented to Apollo, receiving in exchange the “golden three-leaved rod,” called by the poets Aurea virga. It was represented as a wand of laurel, or olive, with two dainty wings on one end, and entwined with two serpents, the whole emblematical of many things besides peace, or a flag of truce, for which it was generally used. This rod entwined with serpents is one of the most ancient symbols and is found on a vase discovered in Babylonia that is supposed to have been used 2350 B. C. Another device showed the staff wound with ropes tied after a peculiar fashion, and when so depicted the caduceus represented commerce and merchants, since the rope tied after a certain fashion was the token of the Phœnician traders. This is retained on the Ace of Sticks in the Tarot pack. When the caduceus was wound with stripes of red and white it represented surgeons, or the healing arts; and, as has been mentioned, is so displayed on barbers’ poles to-day. The stick wound in this way also represented birth, and, set before the door, was a token of Mercury’s recent visit carrying a babe from Juno to its parents. The caduceus served Mercury as a herald’s staff, and this name was sometimes applied to the white wand or rod that in time of war was regarded as a signal for peace.

The wings of Mercury typify the planet named for him, that is so fast that it completes its revolution around the sun in a little less than three months. He is connected with the old Israelitish legend, referred to in Ezekiel ix:2, where Nebo is one of the seven planets.

The important place given to the rod in the Bible must not be overlooked. It is closely connected with the arrow of primitive peoples, that was used not only for war or the chase, but serving also to ascertain the wishes of the gods, for when a bundle of arrows was cast to the ground from a quiver or the hand, according to certain well-known laws, they indicated the wishes of the divine power by the direction in which they fell. This is recalled in Jeremiah, in the story of Jonathan and David, besides in many other instances.

It was a natural sequence that Mercury, who had inherited the “tablet of fate” from Nebo of the Babylonians, should also have received the “wand of the magi” that, when cast before the Pharaoh by his wise men, was able to swallow the serpents that sprang from the rod of Moses. The rod, when used as a sceptre, has other and important significances, and is one of the chief signs of a ruler’s position and power.

Mercury was the most active and useful of all the gods, owing to his temperament, and no event or ceremony was undertaken without seeking his advice. He had many names under which his good offices were invoked, such as Argiphontes, or the slayer of Argus, when he represented warriors. Then he was called Chthonius, or “he who guides the dead”; when thus represented he is generally seated and is without sword, caduceus, or purse. Another name for him was Agoneus, the patron of gymnastic exercises, of commerce, and of executive ability.

Sometimes Mercury is represented in his birthday suit, at others with a chlamys or cloak enveloping him, the petasus or winged cap on his head, the talaria, or winged sandals, on his heels, bearing the caduceus aloft. Ancient representations of Mercury were simple wooden posts, the terminals carved with a rude head wearing a beard, which were the original signposts.

Professor Anthon says: “Hermes may in some degree be regarded as a personification of the Egyptian priesthood. It is in this sense, therefore, that he is regarded as the confidant of the gods, their messenger, the interpreter of their decrees, the genius who presides over science, the conductor of souls to the realms of bliss.”

One of the Egyptian names for Mercury, when he combined many attributes of Osiris and other deities, was Thoth, which, according to Jablonski’s “Pantheon Ægypt,” signifies “an assembly composed of sages and educated persons, the sacerdotal college of a city or temple.” Professor Anthon says: “Thus the collective priesthood of Egypt, personified and considered as a unity, was represented by an imaginary being to whom was ascribed the invention of languages and writing, hence the sacrifice of tongues to Mercury. He was also credited with the origin of geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, medicine, music, rhythm, the institution of religion and sacred processions, the introduction of gymnastic or health-giving exercises, and, finally, the less indispensable, though not less valuable, arts of architecture, sculpture and painting. So many volumes were attributed to him that no human being could possibly have composed them.

“For many years it was customary for the priests devoted to his service to present the results of their labours to Thoth, receiving no reward or glory for the individual work, which was turned to the advantage of the whole sacerdotal association in being ascribed to its presiding genius, who, by his double figure, indicated the necessity for a plural doctrine, of which the interpretation was confined entirely to his initiates, or priests, who translated the occult signs of the gods or the learning entrusted to their care to the inquirers, who frequented the temples to receive knowledge or directions in the material walks of life which they were taught to believe was transmitted by the oracle to ordinary mortals by the priests of Thoth, who alone understood the painted or written signs.”

Besides the arts and crafts before mentioned as being under the protection of the Egyptian god, was the important one of commerce. “This in like manner,” says Professor Anthon, “was intended to express the influence of the priesthood on commercial enterprises.”

“The identity of Hermes with the Dog Star, Sirius, that serves as precursor of the inundation of the Nile, the emblem of which,” says the same authority, “was the gazelle that flies to the desert on the rising of the waters, his rank in demonology as the father of spirits and guide of the dead, his quality of incarnate godhead, and his cosmogonical alliance with the generative fire, the light, the source of all knowledge, and with water, the principle of fecundity. It is surprising, however, to observe how strangely the Grecian spirit modified the Egyptian Hermes, who was transformed by the Greeks into the messenger or interpreter of the wishes of others who were more powerful than himself, but not omnipotent, as the Egyptian mythology regarded him.”

This is seen in the mystic portions of the early Orphic or Homeric hymns, where Hermes is treated quite differently than is done in the Iliad or the Odyssey. The earliest records of Hermes recall all the peculiar qualities of the Egyptian Hermes, and sometimes even the strange legends of the Hindoo Avatars, as well as the Babylonian Nebo. One of the Hindoo gods bears the same emblems that are devoted to Mercury, namely: the Cup, the Sword, the Staff, and the Ring, Coin, or Circle; but a striking difference is noted when Hermes is adopted by the Romans, who even changed his name as well as his characteristics, although retaining his distinguishing marks or emblems.

“The Romans,” says Professor Anthon, “first received the sacerdotal Hermes, whose worship had been brought into Etruria by the Pelasgi, previous to the time of Homer, and, as the earlier Hermes had been represented by a column, he became with them the god Terminus. When, however, the Romans became acquainted with the twelve great deities of the Athenians, they adopted the Grecian Hermes under the name of Mercury, preserving at the same time the remembrance of their previous traditions and jumbling the attributes of the Egyptian god Thoth with that of the Grecian Hermes.”

But, in order to make this favourite god of use, it was necessary to approach him through his own priests, the only persons who were initiated into his mysteries and who could interpret them. Since these priests were already established and had been for some time in Italy, in the great temple of Serapeon, it is easy to see how the cult engaged the attention of the people, and how readily it absorbed the new-fashioned god who strayed there from so many different quarters.

 

 

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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 cosmogony and the remains of his worship flourish to-day among the votaries of the card table, who, however, no longer consult him as the oracle, but use his book for their amusement or pleasure.

“During the Roman period, from 527 B. C. to 332 B. C., that was called the Egyptian renaissance,” says Mr. Rawlinson in his “History of Ancient Egypt” (Volume II, page 502), “Asia poured the fetid stream of her wonderful superstitions into Africa. The exorcisms of Thoth and the powers of witchcraft in league with him are the favorite themes which cover the polished surfaces of the monuments at this remarkable time.” And on page 465, “Asiatic Greeks became in the reign of Psammetchas (about 610 B. C.) close to the throne. Consequently, free communication and commercial intercourse between Egypt and Europe were opened.” This ruler was devoted to art, architecture and adventure, and one of the inventions of his reign was the enchorial or demotic writing which superseded the hieratic. This was attributed to the priests of Thoth, those wise men who sought no personal glory, but who contented themselves with placing their works at the feet of their presiding genius and attributing their own discoveries to him.

Without discussing whether the Assyrian god Nebo absorbed the Egyptian Thoth, or the reverse, we may concede that such strong similarities exist between them that they are virtually the same. With similar heraldic symbols and functions, they were the inventors of many useful arts, that of writing always being attributed to both. Besides, both gods were supposed to have the power of recording the fate of mankind at birth, and both presided at the judgment of souls after death.

The ibis-headed Thoth was also symbolized by a stylus and inkstand, and was often termed “the Scribe,” just as Nebo was called “the Writer,” and had for his device a stylus and inkstand. A month was dedicated to each, that of Thoth being the first in the Egyptian calendar, or our September. Its symbol was a reversed crescent with three lotus flowers, under which were two aspects of the moon, as full and as a crescent. One cannot but wonder if the artistic Egyptians, while adopting the cuneiform characters which resemble long shafts with reversed triangles on top, did not alter the lines and convert the “arrow head” of Nebo’s invention into the graceful flower, thus retaining the original conception of the symbol of the Assyrian god, while stamping it with their own love of the beautiful.

The tablet of Khufu at Wady Magarah shows Thoth bearing in his right hand a sceptre (one of the designs of the Tarot pack). This rod has three triangles on it that resemble the cuneiform characters, which is certainly not accidental.

The name of Thoth is written heraldically as “an ibis standing on a perch (which in shape again recalls the cuneiform) followed by a crescent and the two oblique lines commonly used to express the number one.”

The principal likenesses of the great gods of Egypt seem to be represented in the Atouts of the Tarot pack of cards, called “The Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus,” for the sun, moon, seven stars, etc., are all among the Atouts. Mr. Rawlinson (“History of Ancient Egypt,” page 315) gives the names of the gods, and the qualities for which they were worshipped, revered or dreaded, as follows:

All knew that there was but one god, but these were the interceders.

On page 370 of his book, Mr. Rawlinson says: “Thoth was the oracle or the clerk (recorder) of the wishes of the divine circle, who bears as insignia a palm branch or a stylus, and often a tablet. Sometimes he carries the Crook Headed Sceptre. His titles were Lord of Sesennu and Lord of Truth. He is called one of the chief gods—the Great God—the God Twice Great—the Great Chief in the paths of the dead—the Self-created or Neverborn—the Lord of Divine Words—and the Scribe of Truth.”

Thoth was often represented under two different forms, earthly and infernal, or as Thoth in the House of Selection, and Thoth at the Balance of Souls. As the god who took part in the judgment of the dead Thoth was revered throughout Egypt and it is written of him: “All Eyes are open on thee and all men worship thee as a god.”

 

Early Italian Tarots
Court Cards of the Pip Part of the Pack

25 Queen of Rods 26 Queen of Swords 27 Queen of Money

28 King of Rods 29 King of Swords 30 King of Money

 

Oxen, cows and geese were sacrificed in his honour and the ibis with the cynocephalous ape were sacred to him. Very many images of him are found that show him in attendance on different kings, either purifying them or inscribing their names on the sacred tree. His spiritual office was to be present in Amenti when souls were to be judged, to see their deeds weighed in the balance and record the results. This is recalled in the Atout of the Tarot pack, named Justice. Thoth also reveals to men the will of the gods. He composes the Ritual for the Dead, that great work that is so frequently found bound in the shrouds of mummies, to instruct the soul how to conduct itself in the world of spirits. It is also Thoth who, in the realms below, writes for good souls with his own fingers the Book of Respirations, which protects, sustains, and enlightens them, causing them to “breathe with the souls of the gods for ever and ever.”

Thoth had three great colleges, at Thebes, at Memphis, and at Heliopolis, where he was worshipped by priestesses as well as by priests, and there are many records of the prognostications of the former. If the supposition is correct that the gypsies are descended from the outcasts of the temple of Thoth, near Naples (the Serapeon), when that building was overthrown by an earthquake, it may be noted that in the tribe the women are the principal soothsayers, while the men generally pursue other occupations.

King Shafra, who built the Second Pyramid, married the daughter of Meri-Aukhs. Her tomb at Saccarah bears an inscription stating that she was a “Priestess of Thoth,” and her son was called “a sacred scribe.” From the time of Shafra, scribes are frequently represented as seated or squatting at work, with a pen or brush in the right hand and one or two tucked behind the ear, while the left hand holds the paper or a palette.

“The first and greatest of the builders of the pyramids,” says Mr. Rawlinson, “was Khufu or Cheops. He composed a religious work called the Sacred Book. He was a great admirer and worshipper of Thoth, who is represented with him on the rock pictures.”

Closely copying the Assyrian kings, who placed themselves under the protection of their gods, notably that of Nebo, by adopting their names, several of the Pharaohs called themselves Thothmes, meaning child of Thoth. The third ruler of that name, who has been called the Alexander of Egyptian history, raided the heart of Western Asia, going as far as Nineveh. He was wise as well as valiant, and noted all novelties in the lands through which he passed, which he afterwards sought to introduce into his own country. The two obelisks known as Cleopatra’s Needles were originally set up at Heliopolis, one of the temples of Thoth, by Thothmes III. They were transported to Alexandria and afterwards carried to London and New York, so the genius of playing cards still presides at the two great world centres, where cards are a favourite amusement.

The priests of Thoth were said to have descended in a direct line from father to son for three hundred and forty-five generations. This habit is another one common to gypsies, who rarely marry any but their own people. To the priests of the temple of Thoth many books called Hermetic were ascribed that were so dedicated to the honour of the god that the name of the writer is merged into his. M. Maspero mentions “an Egyptian romance that describes the adventures of a family of ghosts who were living with their mummies in a tomb lighted by a wonderful talisman, which was an incantation written on papyrus by Thoth himself.” Another work was particularly full of wisdom and science, containing in it everything relating to the fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, and the four-footed beasts of the mountains. “The man who knew a single page of the book could charm Heaven, Earth, the great Abyss, Mountains and Seas. This marvellous composition Thoth enclosed in a box of gold, which he placed within a box of silver, within a box of ivory and ebony, and that again within a box of bronze, within a box of brass, within a box of iron; and the book thus guarded he threw into the Nile at Coptos. The act became known, and the box was searched for and found. It gave its possessor vast knowledge and magical power, but always brought misfortune on him.” One of the books of Thoth consists of magical texts, and Mr. Rawlinson says: “The belief in magic was widely spread among the Egyptians, and the behests of the priests were obeyed with confidence that, whether they turned out well or badly for the inquirer, they had been foretold at birth. The fatalism of the North Africans is too well known to be disputed, for they accept misfortune bowing the head and saying: ‘It is the will of Allah.’ This is the inheritance of ages.”

The priests explained to the inquirer into the divine wishes the commands of the god, and then inscribed them on parchment or some convenient material. These records were either hung around the neck or bound on the arm. The ignorant folk considered that these amulets would preserve them from all evil. This practice is observed to the present day by members of different religious cults. One amulet has been translated: “Thou art protected against the accidents of life. Thou art protected against a violent death. Thou art protected against fire. Thou escapest in Heaven and thou art not ruined upon Earth.” Such a valuable insurance against every evil during life or death must have been well worth a handsome fee to the priest who issued it.

Lenormant, in his “Manual” (Volume I, page 516), says: “It is remarkable that the Ritual of the Dead (the Egyptian name for which was Manifestation of Light, or the Book Revealing Light to the Soul) is accompanied by pictures which form the essential portion of it.” So the Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, or the Tarots, is composed of pictures that can only be deciphered by initiates. The Ritual of the Dead claimed to be a revelation from Thoth Hermes, who through it declared the will of the gods and the mysterious nature of divine things to mankind. Portions of it are expressly stated to have been written by the finger of Thoth, and other parts to have been the composition of the god himself. It was held in such high esteem that portions of it were placed in coffins. The Ritual has been divided into three sections. There are prayers for the dead, and a long chapter that has been said to “contain the Egyptian Faith.” This creed is followed by a series of prayers, and spells, and famous chapter (cxxv) describing the seat of judgment known as the “Hall of Two Truths.” Here the deceased is brought before Osiris as supreme judge. The latter is seated on a lofty throne, surrounded by forty-two Assessors, each of whom addresses the dead person in turn, and to each he declares his innocence of crime or sin, saying, “I have not blasphemed. I have not deceived. I have not stolen. I have not slain any one. I have not been cruel. I have not caused disturbance. I have not been idle. I have not been drunken. I have not been indiscreetly curious. I have not multiplied words in speaking. I have struck no one. I have caused fear to no one. I have slandered no one. I have not eaten my heart through envy. I have not reviled the face of the king nor the face of my father. I have not made false accusations. I have not kept milk from the mouths of sucklings. I have not caused abortion. I have not ill-used my slaves. I have not killed sacred beasts. I have not defiled the river. I have not polluted myself. I have not taken the clothes of the dead.” A dead person is always spoken of as “An Osiris,” or “He sleeps in Osiris.”

Egyptian writing was of three distinct kinds, known as Hieroglyphic, Hieratic and Demotic or Enchorial. There is but little difference between the Hieratic and the Demotic. The former is the earlier of the two, but was nearly lost in the Demotic, which, according to Lenormant, was introduced about the seventh century B. C., and rapidly superseded the Hieratic, being simpler. Both were written from left to right.

It was about this time that the worship of Nebo, in Babylonia, and of Thoth, in Egypt, was most important, so it is probable that the priests, who were the learned and scientific men of the day, then reconstructed the art of writing and so earned for their patrons the honour of being gods of writing, although the stylus and the title of “the Writer” had been born for many centuries.

Pasmmetichas, king of Sais, who, as has been already mentioned, fought the Assyrians, must have been a most intelligent person, for during his reign, says Mr. Rawlinson (page 465), “a question was raised as to the relative antiquity of different races of mankind. Therefore the Pharaoh had two children isolated from their species and brought up by a herdsman who was dumb, and suckled by a goat, in order to see what language they would speak, presuming that they would revert to the primitive type of speech. The result of his experiment was thought to prove the Phrygians to be the most ancient nation, and the Egyptians, we are told by Herodotus, accepted it as an established fact.”

Thoth was revered as a great teacher, since his works treated of all things, such as the creation of the world, of divine power, of wisdom, of the art of presaging the issue of maladies by means of the planets. The work treating on this was dedicated to Ammon. Then there were the Aphorisms of Hermes, which consisted of astronomical propositions translated from the Arabic about the time of Manfred, king of Sicily. “The Cyranides of Trismegistus” treats of magic power and the medicinal virtues of precious stones, of plants, and of animals. Many of the other books of Thoth are treatises on chemistry or alchemy. One is called “The Seven Seals of Hermes Trismegistus,” another, “Chemical Tinctures,” and a third, “The Emerald Tablet,” describing the art of making gold. It is said that Sara, the wife of Abraham, found the Emerald in the tomb of Hermes, on Mount Hebron. One essay is to Tat or Esculapius, another is entitled “The Virgin of the World,” as Isis is sometimes called, and is a dialogue between her and her son Horus.

Many small statues were found in a well in the temple of the Sphinx, that may have originally represented the gods now found among the Atouts. This would be a most valuable confirmation of the theory of their original position in the temple when the priests and initiates wished to consult the occult.

In an age when letters were only used by the learned, and pictured emblems or symbols took the place of an alphabet, it was natural that the priests of Thoth, when pressed to divine the fate of men, should place sketches of the great gods on the walls of their temples, so that, by combining them with the rods of divination, the wishes of the supreme beings could be easily conveyed. The custom of adorning the walls of the temple is referred to in Ezekiel xxiii:14. “She saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans (or Nebo and his confrères) pourtrayed with vermilion, girdled with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea.” This was possibly the origin of the Tarots, or the Atout volume of the Book of Thoth.

 

 

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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 were taught by their prophets or priests to consult the predestinations of Nebo, who inscribed at birth what would befall each person during life. Nebo had many names or designations. He was called Laghlaghghi-Gar, or illuminator; Gishdar, or god of the sceptre; Ilu-tashmit, or god of revelations; and the spouse of Tashmit; his name signifies Proclaimer Herald in Assyrian, and Height in Hebrew.

Nebo, called Nabu by the Babylonians, was the son of Enlil, or Marduk, the Merodach of the Bible (Jeremiah l:2), who became merged in the Jupiter of the Romans. Nebo was the husband of Tashmitum, or Tashmit, or Tashmetu, sometimes called Erna. Her name is translated as signifying “revelation,” “she who listens,” or “she who intercedes.” She is frequently invoked and besought to placate her more important spouse, or she is appealed to by worshippers to intercede with her consort to reveal what he had prophesied on the “tablets of fate.”

As the grandson of Ea, who was the god of doctors, Nebo inherited the privileges of healing. He also presided at birth and death, and could cure diseases. One of his symbols seems peculiar and is still retained on the Tarots. It is a sword, for in the minds of the men of his day a pestilence was a certain follower of war. Although Nebo was not the god of war, he was first its herald and then the healer of the sick or wounded, so it was under these conditions that a sword became his attribute.

Nebo shared with Shamash, Gula, and Nergal of Assyrian mythology, the power of restoring the dead to life, which, being interpreted, means curing the ill, whether from disease or sin.

It was to Nebo that the Assyrian kings ascribed their wisdom, for he was deemed to be the source of all knowledge, and the wonderful inventor of the art of writing that enabled the wise men who were his priests to preserve the records of the different reigns and the history of wars, the description of buildings and their donors, of deeds of valour and of charity, for the enlightenment of posterity.

The great temple built at Calah in the time of Ram-man-nerari III (812-783 B. C.) is inscribed with a dedicatory inscription placed by the king on the statue of Nebo. It closes with the sentence:

“Oh! posterity, trust in Nabu,
Trust in no other god.”

Nebo was also the patron of agriculture, who taught the husbandmen when to plant, the best time for irrigating, and a favourable time for the harvest. Being the messenger from heaven to earth, one of his symbols was the lightning. This emblem is preserved on the Japanese cards, although it is probably accidental. A hymn to Nebo attests his having lightning as an attribute, and the tablet upon which it was transcribed in cuneiform characters has been translated as follows:

“Lord of Borsippa, Son of E-Sagila! Oh, Lord, to thy power
There is no rival. Oh, Nebo, to thy Temple E-Zida there is no rival,
Or to thy home, Babylon. Thy weapon is the lightning,
From the mouth of which no breath does issue or blood flow.
Thy commands are as unchangeable as the Heavens,
Where thou art Supreme.”

The chief temple of Nebo was at Borsippa, on the opposite side of the Euphrates to Babylon; the town was sometimes called Babylon II. Nebo’s temple was styled E-Zida, the true house, and E-Sagila signified the lofty house, which was the temple of his father, Marduk. The connection with lightning is too marked to be overlooked when studying the derivation of Mercury’s attributes from those of Nebo.

The mighty king Ashur-banapal invokes Nebo on thousands of tablets that have been found in his great library. Nebo is called “the opener of the ears to understanding,” “he who gives the sceptre of sovereignty to kings, that they may rule over all lands,” “the upholder of the world,” “the general overlord and the seer.” All these attributes were combined with the scientific attainments of Nebo, and he was proclaimed as the inventor of language and the art of writing, together with being the great teacher and encourager of learning and scientific investigations. This is all emphasised by his numerous titles, such as “Speaker,” which is said to be derived from his name, signifying “to speak,” or “one who announces the fate of mankind,” which was another inheritance of Mercury’s when he was called the “Messenger of the Gods.” The attribute, then, in both cases, was the emblematic Sceptre of the ruler, the caduceus. The Sceptre was also named by the Assyrians “the Proclaimer,” and was variously represented, sometimes by the Staff with twisted serpents, although in earlier times it was generally pictured as stylus, which was closely copied in the representations of Thoth. The entwining serpents of the caduceus sacred to Mercury were directly inherited from votive emblems peculiar to the Babylonians, and they received force and significance after the rods of the Egyptian magi were turned into serpents and swallowed by the rod of Aaron.

When Nebo is called “Ilu-tashmit,” or god of Revelations, who teaches through his invention of writing and of speech, he is then regarded as a soothsayer or prophet. The Hebrew word for prophet is Nabi, and this leads to the interesting discussion that was started by Mr. Chatto in his “History of Playing Cards” (page 22), when he speculates on the name of Naibi, given to cards by the earliest Italian writers who mention them. As Naypes or Naipes is still the name printed on the wrappers and on the Four of Cups of Spanish cards, it evidently was connected with prophesy, and this card has peculiar values and significances among the gypsy fortune-tellers. Mr. Chatto states that in Hindustani the word Na-eeb or Naib signifies a viceroy or overlord, and quotes from “several Spanish writers” who have “decidedly asserted that the word Naipes, signifying cards, whatever it might originally have meant, was derived from the Arabic.” All the writers on playing cards quote from Corvelluzzo, who states: “In the year 1379 was brought into Viterbo the game of cards, which comes from the country of the Saracens and is with them called Naib.” The Arabian “divining arrows” are always made from a tree called Nabaa.

This little history, which is one of the earliest records of cards that were then no longer considered prophetic, has seemed to close all inquiry into the birth of games or their vehicle. No inquiry was therefore made into anything preceding this period. However, had cards been regarded as the survival of one of the most ancient of cults, connected with it by its traditions of prophesy or fortune-telling, the true story might have been unravelled centuries ago, for a study of the traditions, religions or superstitions of Africa and Asia would have revealed that Naibi (the name given at that time to cards) meant prophesy or revelation, and was inherited from the great “Writer on the Tablets of Fate,” Nebo the prophet, the Assyrian god. The prophets of the Bible were called Nabi, and it seems to be no accident that the mountain dedicated to Nebo and bearing his name should have been selected for the death place of the great prophet, Moses.

In the earliest histories of Assyrian mythology Nebo was not the influential personage that he became afterwards. But it was still early days when he was accorded the honour of having one of the planets named for him, which afterwards became identified with Mercury. When Nebo took his place among the mystic seven great gods, he found associated with him Marduk (or Jupiter), Nergal (or Mars), Ishtar (or Venus), Nineb (or Saturn), the Sun, represented in a chariot drawn by horses, as copied in the seventh card of the Atouts, and the Moon (Nan-nar), who was called the “Heifer of Anu,” and was the presiding genius. She received the name because the horns of the new moon resembled those of a cow. Her Assyrian temple was at Ur of the Chaldeans, and she was also worshipped in Egypt and is represented by the eighteenth Atout. Her horns are always typical of wisdom and prophesy, and, as such, are used on Michael Angelo’s famous statue of Moses.

 

Early Italian Tarots
Pip Cards of the Cup Suit

31 Ace of Cups 32 Deuce of Cups 33 Trey of Cups

34 Four of Cups 35 Five of Cups 36 Six of Cups

 

The first month of the Babylonian year was sacred to Nebo and his father, Marduk, and was called Nesan. The Egyptians made Thoth, or September, the first month; that began August 29th, as we figure it, with the rising of the Dog Star, which also was sacred to that god. This is symbolised in the seventeenth Atout, called The Stars, represented by an oblation to Osiris.

Daily sacrifices were made to Nebo, the offerings being bulls, and other animals, fish, birds, vegetables, honey, wine, oil and cream. Their technical term was Sattuku and Gina. It is probable that the wild boar was sacred to Nebo, as it was to Mercury, being one of the animals sacrificed to the latter, and the emblem is still found on the Two of Bells of the German cards. The boar was sacred among the Assyrians, and its flesh was forbidden on certain days in the Babylonian calendar. Its name was Nin-shakh, or Pap-sukal, meaning “Divine Messenger,” the name that was synonymous with that of Nebo.

There were many great ceremonies connected with the rites of Nebo, for the scientists, doctors, warriors and kings were all anxious to conciliate the arbiter of their fate, and there were many statues erected in his honour all over the land. The one representing him that was kept in E-Sagila, at Borsippa, called by Nebuchadnezzar “the house of the temple of the world,” meaning the lofty home, was yearly conducted with great ceremonies across the Euphrates in a car, or ark, shaped like a ship, in order that Nebo might pay homage at the temple of his father, Marduk.

The cult of Nebo reached its height when Nabu-polassar (626 B. C.), Nebu-chadnezzar (605 B. C.), and Nabonnedos (556 B. C.), adopted his name, thereby throwing themselves on his mercy, or invoking his protection. Nebuchadnezzar adopted it as signifying “Oh, god Nebu, protect my boundaries.”

About the ninth century before Christ there were innumerable temples devoted to the cult of Nebo dotted over the land, for those were troublous times, and, doubtless, the rulers and their people were anxious to have all the advice that they could obtain from the “Arbiter of Fate.” He was styled “the all-wise who guides the stylus of the scribes,” as well as “the possessor of wisdom,” and “the seer who guides all gods.” These inscriptions are found in many places, not only on the temples but on clay tablets.

Ashur-banipal extols Nebo on many of the tablets found in his great library at Nineveh, thanking him for his instructions and the inspiration that enabled the king to record in writing his valiant deeds, that were thus preserved for the benefit of his subjects. One of them reads, “write for posterity.”

The Assyrians invaded Egypt many times, and the Egyptians in return overran Palestine, Persia, Babylonia and Assyria, so that by intermarriage and constant intercourse the scientific attainments and the mythologies of both became influenced or mingled.

Although the capital of Menephtah, the Pharaoh of the Exodus, was at Thebes, the site of the great temple of Thoth and the favourite residence of “the Ruler” was Zoan, or Sau, as it is now called, which is three miles from Goshen. It was there that Moses and Aaron had their interviews. From that time on Thoth and Nebo became almost one god, and it is by no means stretching a point to connect the cults of Assyria and Babylonia with those of Egypt. Isaiah xix:23 says: “There shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.” In the same chapter (third verse) we find: “And they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.” It is, therefore, but a simple conclusion to suppose that the magi of Egypt adopted the great tablet writer of the Assyrians as one of their inspiring gods, and, that afterwards, when the pair were introduced to Europeans, they were merged into Mercury, while “The Book of the Writer” became known as “The Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus” (three times great), now called the Tarot pack of cards.

“The Bearer of the Fate Tablets,” dedicated to Nebuchadnezzar at Borsippa, has been translated, “Oh! Nabu! On thy unchangeable Tablets which determine the boundaries of Heaven and Earth, decree the length of my days. Write down posterity.” Which we would read, “Tell me how long I am to live and bestow children upon me.”

There is a colophon in Semitic Babylonian, written by Nabu-baladhsuigbi, son of Mitsircea (the Egyptian), probably during the reign of Nabonidus, the father of Belshazzar, that is also an invocation in the same style. The inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I, king of Assyria, which “is the longest and most important of early Assyrian records,” says Professor Sayce, dates from about 1106 B. C. This inscription was found under the foundations of the four corners of the temple of Kileh Shergha, the ancient city of Asshur, and is now in the British Museum. The one hundred and fifth sentence mentions divining rods as the “Oracle of the Great Divinities,” being placed within the temple. “This Elalla,” says Professor Sayce, “was a stem of papyrus covered with writing.”

Many tablets of Assyrian times have been deciphered from the cuneiform text and are designated as “Tablets of Grace,” or “Tablets of Good Works.” These are supposed to be those that Nebo wrote describing the virtues of men. Besides these, the Babylonians mentioned tablets on which the sins of the evil were recorded. The pious worshipper, therefore, prays that the Tablet of his sins and iniquities may be destroyed, saying: “May the Tablet of my sins be broken,” showing how prevalent was the belief that Nebo controlled fate entirely, both when predicting the future and also after death, and in this Thoth resembles him closely.

Similar connections are met with in the Old Testament, when Moses cries, “Forgive their sins—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.” (Exodus xxxii:32.) The belief that such records are kept by the Almighty is referred to also in the New Testament. “Your names are written in Heaven.” (St. Luke x:20.) The verse in Ezekiel ix:2, “One man among them was clothed in linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side,” is supposed to refer to Nebo, “the Heavenly Scribe.”

In a long cuneiform text inscribed on a terra cotta prism found at Nineveh, King Asshur-banapal glories in having received from Nebo and Tashmitu (his consort) the power to understand “the art of tablet-writing.” In “Babylonian Magic and Sorcery from the British Museum,” by Leonard W. King, M. A., Assistant in the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, British Museum, there are tablets invoking the protection of Nebo as well as of other gods. One of them has been translated as follows:

“Oh! Hero Prince, First born of Marduk;
Oh! prudent ruler of Spring of Zarpanitu;
Oh! Nabu, Bearer of the Tablet of the destiny of the Gods, Director of Isagila,
Lord of Izida, Shadow of Borsippa,
Darling of Ia, Giver of Life,
Prince of Babylon, Protector of the Living.”

It may be stretching a point to observe that the “arrow-headed” letters on the tablets of Babylonia closely resemble a sheaf of arrows that have fallen haphazard. But this may be seen in the name of the god Nebo.

 

 

 

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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 temples, are recorded from early days. Some have been found that date from at least five thousand years before Christ. Directions for “wave offerings,” “burnt offerings,” etc., are frequent in the Old Testament. The commands for marking the “rods” with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, for the purpose of laying them on the altar and awaiting results when the wishes of the Lord would be revealed, are given in Numbers xvii. Prayers to Nebo, Thoth, and Mercury are found everywhere in the countries where they were worshipped. The use of divining arrows (rods), when demanding the wishes of the gods, is a known historic fact, so it is readily seen whence the Egyptians received their inspiration to gather together the customs, ceremonies and superstitions of alien religions, to absorb them in the worship of their god Thoth.

The temples of the Egyptian gods were generally gorgeously decorated, and those of Thoth were filled besides with learned women and men who devoted the result of their studies to the common good, without a thought of self-aggrandisement. They made themselves the go-between of Thoth and man, when revealing the wishes of the occult beings. The number of Hermetic Books, written at Thoth’s dictation, is given by Jamblichus as 20,000.

Naturally, when sacrifices or offerings were made, the worshipper demanded a reply to his inquiries, thus taxing the ingenuity of the prophets, who were, in fact, no wiser than himself as to the predestinations recorded at birth. So, sometimes they found the desires of the gods hidden in the entrails of animals or in the palms of the hands.

Astronomers and astrologers, observing that the heavenly bodies conformed to certain laws, decided that these laws also governed the lives of men. In the worship of Ishtar, the great Babylonian goddess, who has been identified with both Venus and Diana, the flight of birds had portent; while at the oracle of Delphi straws (a variant of the rods of Aaron or the divining arrows of the Asiatics) were employed to ascertain the wishes of the gods, and it is the descendants of these that are now sometimes known as Jackstraws, that came to us from the Chinese, and at others are identified as the pip cards now in common use.

A close study of each card of the old Tarots reveals much of the history of the book and its original intention, for the resemblance of the different cards to the different Egyptian deities is clearly displayed to the student. The attributes and costumes of Maut, Isis, Phthah, Neith, Amun, Thmei, Nepte, Seth, Anubis, and Ra are all to be traced on the detached leaves of the ancient book. The costumes are those of Italians of about the thirteenth century, it is true, but the caps, the girdles, the positions and the attributes, as well as the qualities assigned to each by the fortune-tellers, are too apparent to be ignored. It would seem that the cards were designed by some person to whom these different marks had been described, but who had no knowledge of the original pictures of these gods that are still so instructive in Egypt. While the attributes are retained, the pictures do not recall the old ones that can still be found in mummy cases or historic monuments. It was therefore impossible for those who wrote on Playing Cards before the great discoveries in Egypt to recognize the connection of the Tarots with the ancient mysteries, although the symbols of Mercury might have given a clue, had these been noted.

Without declaring that the deductions connecting the Atouts with the Egyptian gods is infallible, the strong resemblance between them must be carefully considered, and the intention of each card studied with all the obtainable history connected with it.

 

I. LE BAGATLEUR (Il Bagattel)

This card, also known as the Juggler or Pagat, bears various names, according to the locality where it was used. “It is derived,” says Count Emiliano di Parravicino, in the Burlington Magazine for December, 1903, “from Bagat or Paghead and Gad, that signifies fortune, and the card is often called Bagatto (or cobbler), since there are sometimes tools placed on the board in front of the figure, one of which (in the corrupted designs of modern cards) resembles a cobbler’s awl.” The figure on this card represents the Player or Inquirer, and when the cards are laid out, according to the rules of prophesying, it is controlled by all that are dealt close to it. That is to say, the cards surrounding this figure tell the events that are likely soon to befall the inquirer. The first Atout represents a young man standing behind a table. On his head is a hat of mystic meaning, for it is shaped like the sign of “eternal life,” ; his left hand carries a wand, called by de Gebelin “son Bâton de Jacob, ou Verges des Mages.” This magician’s wand was readily recognized by the shrewd Frenchman, who evidently understood the symbolism of the rod of Aaron (or Jacob). The rod is really the caduceus of Mercury that has so many significances. It is one of the pip devices that has been reproduced in the Ace of Rods, Staves, or Sceptres, as it is variously called, and, by placing it in the hand of the inquirer, it denotes that he has been given the power to consult the oracle. The other articles placed on the table before the youth are the other devices that mark the suits of the cards, namely: Money, Cups and Swords, although on modern Italian Tarots these emblems are often changed for others that lack significance. In “the lottery chart,” called Tsz-fa-to, used by the Chinese fortune-tellers, there is a figure like the Bagatleur, holding up his hand in the same way, which recalls the many mystic meanings attached to the “blessing hand.” The Pagat or Magician (as this card is often called) is sometimes expressed merely by the Hebrew letter Aleph, which is placed beside the figure, or is used alone, when an Initiate understands the symbol as well as if the Pagat was in its place. What relation the Hebrew alphabet has to the Tarots is a matter for conjecture, but the characters are often placed on early packs, and some writers have pointed out that, in their opinion, these letters offer fresh evidences of the origin of cards and their connection with divination. So Papus says: “The first letters of the alphabet express hieroglyphically man himself as a collective unity—the Master principle—the ruler of the world.” In very old packs the earth is represented at the bottom of the picture, ornamented with its fruits. The centre is occupied with the man, whose right hand bent towards the ground, the left hand raised towards heaven, thus representing two principles, the one active and the other passive, of the great All, and it corresponds with the two columns of Jakin and Bohas of the temple of Solomon and of Freemasonry, as well as with the great statues erected before the tombs of the Egyptian kings. The meaning may be thus stated: “Man with one hand seeks for God in Heaven, and with the other he plunges below to call up the demon to himself, and thus unites the divine and the diabolic in humanity.”

It is well known that among primitive people, boys, upon arriving at manhood, went through certain ceremonies with fasting and incantations so this card also represents a youth making his first offering to the gods of the temple, and consulting them as to his future life, or asking what Nebo or Thoth had written at the time of his birth on their “Tablets of Fate.” In order to learn from the gods what his future occupation should be, one of the symbols of Mercury is lifted haphazard from the table before him. Thus, if a sword be grasped, a man will be a soldier, and a woman will have a person of rank for a husband. The Cup represents the Church or Love. In primitive nations various articles are still placed before a child, and the one selected influences its occupations, when mature. In Korea a bundle of yarn, a handful of rice, a few coins, a cake of ink, a brush, and some paper are placed before a baby, on attaining its first birthday. If it selects the yarn, it denotes a long life; the money means prosperity; the writing materials signify that a scholar’s life will be the one followed, while rice means happiness. Hebrew letters can be expressed by numbers as well as by the conventional characters; this is well exemplified by the way they were used in making the fringes of the temple of Solomon, the strands of which were peculiarly knotted in groups of different numbers, that, when deciphered, represented a text. A similar knotted fringe adorns the Taleth or praying scarf, worn by the Jews when worshipping in the synagogue, on which a text is typified by groups of knots expressing Hebrew letters. “This fringe is made with four threads, one of which is longer than the others. Two threads are bound together with the longest one in a double knot, then it is wrapped seven times, then eight, then eleven, followed by thirteen, with two knots separating each.” “According to the Kabbalah,” states Professor Rosenau, in his book entitled “Jewish Ceremonial Institutions,” “these knots and windings have a secret meaning, making thirty-nine in all; they correspond to the numerical value of the letters constituting two words, or ‘the Lord is one,’ since each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has numerical significance.”

Among uneducated people symbols took the place of written characters in early days, so, since these knots conveyed a sound and a meaning, a number is also indicated by the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. These letters or numbers that were occasionally placed on the early Atouts have the greatest value when deciphering the attributes found on the Tarots, since each one has occult significance attached to it, evidently placed there with the intention of assisting the early fortune-tellers to decipher their meaning, although omitted in the later books of Thoth-Hermes, when they were used only for amusement or gambling.

 

II. LA PAPESSA (THE FEMALE POPE)

This card is supposed to represent Isis. She is typified by a seated female figure with two pillars behind her, between which hangs a curtain indicating her temple. She is crowned with a triple tiara, and has an open book in her lap. This goddess instructs and persuades. Law, erudition, and occult science are under her protection. As the first female figure among the Atouts, she represents the priestess of the temple of Thoth, also Eve, also the mother. When a woman is the inquirer, this card represents her, instead of the Pagat, which represents a man inquirer. The name of Papessa, given to this card by the modern Italian card-painter, seems to be a corruption of Isis. The former name is misleading, and has no connection with the original meaning of the figure, for it has nothing in common with the mythical Pope Joan of the Roman Church, while all the attributes show that the figure represents Isis, or, perhaps, Tashitum, the consort of Nebo, called “the Interceder.” “The Italian card-makers,” says de Gebelin, “named numbers II and V of the Atouts, mother and father, or Papessa and Papa;” but he declares “their emblems are Egyptian and the triple phallus worn by number II is the one borne by Isis in the Fête des Pampylies, where Isis joyfully receives Osiris. It is the symbol of regeneration of plants, or spring.” The card is also supposed to represent Juno in the Roman mythology. “The attitude connects it,” says the same authority, “with la haute magic, since it is the first of the symbols of the Emerald Tablet, one of the books of Thoth, that was discovered on the mount of Nebo.” Wiltshire says: “Believers in magic find occult meanings in the hands of this figure.” Roman women sacrificed to Juno on their birthdays, as she was not only the goddess who presided over maternity (making Mercury her messenger, who carried the child to its parents) but she was also the protector of women. Part of the great book of Thoth, called the Ritual of the Dead, said to have been written with the finger of Thoth, and generally placed with a mummy, says: “I am yesterday. Yesterday is Osiris. Phthah goes around. The divine Horus prefers Thee. The god Set does so in turn, as well as Isis, whom thou hast seen.” The Hebrew letter on the second Atout is Beth, which hieroglyphically expresses mouth or tongue, one of the things used in the sacrifices to Nebo and to Mercury.

 

III. L’IMPERATRICE (The Empress)

This card betokens Venus Urania according to the Roman mythology, or Maut according to that of Egypt. The vulture is its emblem, one of Maut’s attributes signifying maternity. The mouse also represents her, and it typifies fecundity. The card has many significances, such as speech, action, initiative, friendliness, protection, progress, production, and helpfulness. The figure is that of a seated woman holding a shield and a sceptre. In old cards she is crowned with a diadem that has twelve stars on its points. This card also symbolizes generation and productive forces. Its letter is Gimel, the meaning of which is the throat, or the hand of a man half closed; hence, it signifies that which encloses, that which is hollow, a canal, an inclosure. The card also represents a woman friend, but not always one that is desirable. The Egyptian goddess, Maut, wears a cap and crown, and she bears a sceptre. Her flowing robes are confined below the breasts with a girdle, the typical zone that has such occult meanings. Among the Persians and tribes of North Africa, the girdle is always removed from a bride, as part of the wedding ceremony, and neither is she nor the bridegroom allowed to wear one for seven days after the marriage. Maut is called “Lady of Heaven,” and “Giver of Life,” and has been identified by some as the Ishtar of the Babylonians.

 

IV. L’IMPERATORE (The Emperor)

The fourth Atout shows in profile a male figure seated on a throne. He represents Jupiter or Amun, the Ammon of the Egyptians, the Marduk of the Babylonians, and the Merodach of the Bible. This letter is Daleth, suggesting growth, nourishment, generation, divine will, long life, strong character or personal ability and ambition. This card and number three have similar representations on the Persian cards, which pack alone of those adopted by different countries retains the figure-pictures, to the entire exclusion of the pip cards. This seems to point to the fact that, while the Egyptians or Assyrians overran Persia and imposed some of their customs and religious beliefs on the people, the great gods were adopted reluctantly, and the key to their wishes was not bestowed on the conquered people, as would have been the case had their use, in combination with the prophetic arrows or rods, been taught at the same time. The great temple of Ammon was at Thebes, the southern Egyptian capital. The name Ammon means concealment, to veil, to hide. “His most common title,” says Mr. Rawlinson, in “Ancient Egypt” (page 322), “was Suten-Netern, king of the gods, also called Hek or Hyk, the Ruler, the Emperor, Lord of Heaven, strong bull.” His image, like that of the fourth Atout, is represented as seated on a throne. He is crowned, and wears a collar and bracelets. He bears the sceptre, the symbol of power and plenty. One of the invocations to Ammon begins “Hail to thee, Lord of Truth, whose shrine is hidden.”

 

V. IL PAPA (The Pope)

The pronunciation of the name of this card alone proves its connection with the Egyptian god, Phthah, but, besides this, it has many strange significances assigned to it, all of them pointing to the same conclusion. The figure denotes the religious superior, as it wears the triple crown, combined with the two pillars of the temple. The African god was greatly revered and feared, while many temples were dedicated to his worship. Four figures kneel before Il Papa, whom he blesses with uplifted palm, sacred to religious ceremonies, and inherited from the “hand of the Cohen” of the Jews. In the old cemetery at Prague there are hundreds of tombstones, on which the uplifted hands are carved to represent ideographically the descendants of Aaron, who alone can bestow benediction in this way. The hand plays an important part in heraldic emblems. “The Ulster, or bloody hand,” is a mark of rank, not only in English heraldry, but is venerated by Orientals as well. A bloody hand is frequently found stamped beside the lintel of the door among North Africans, and small silver or brass facsimiles of the right hand are also fastened to the door or worn on the person, to ward off the evil eye, when it is called the “hand of Fatima.” Arabs frequently wear this hand, that is then covered with engraved quotations from the Koran. Their name for it is Kam or five fingers. The number five—Khamsa—is considered so powerful and mystic that it is believed to bring bad luck if it is mentioned, so the word is not pronounced, but the Arabs say “two-three” instead. The Neapolitans generally wear a hand with one finger outstretched as a charm, one of the many links connecting them with Egypt. The fifth Atout in its position and consequence represents aspiration, health, intelligence, union, strength of will, religion and faith. The accompanying letter is He, the meaning of which is aspiration. The triple-barred sceptre is an especial emblem of Phthah, who was known as “the revealer,” the one who made hidden duties manifest.

The first four figures of the Atouts are connected with family life. The inquirer in number one, the parents in two and four, and the influence of State and Church in three and five, forming a significant group when studying the cards and their meanings.

 

VI. GLI AMANTI (The Lovers)

The sixth card has not yet been connected with any of the occult gods of Egypt or Babylonia. The figures seem to belong solely to Cupid. The card shows a young man between two females, symbolizing virtue and vice. Cupid hovers overhead, blindfolded, and with bent bow, ready to “shoot an arrow into the air.” When used for prophesying, this card is typical of a young man starting in life, whose future depends upon the choice before him, since good and evil both seem to claim him. The card also denotes affection, love, friendship, charity, union and sight, the latter being indicated by the letter, which is Vau, the hieroglyphic sign for eyes, light or brilliancy. The import of this figure is personal magnetism. This card also indicates marriage, and is emblematic of the legal tie, as well as of luck and good fortune.

 

Early Italian Tarots
Pip and Court Cards of the Cup Suit

37 Seven of Cups 38 Eight of Cups 39 Nine of Cups

40 Ten of Cups 41 Knave of Cups 42 Cavalier of Cups

 

VII. IL CARRO (The Chariot)

This is one of the most mystic of cards, its number being one that was regarded as occult by the ancients. It displays a picture of a king or a conqueror, in his car drawn by beasts, precisely as Nebo was frequently represented in the texts, “when the gilt chariot never marks the way.” Sometimes the car is drawn by horses, frequently by oxen, sometimes by lions, and occasionally by black and white sphinxes. This car typifies Mars, the god of war mentioned in Babylonian mythology and in the Bible, “when every nation made gods of their own and the men of Cuth made Neral (Mars).” (2 Kings xvii:30.) As has been mentioned, Nebo bore a sword and was regarded as accompanying warriors, although he generally represents the pestilence that follows in the wake of war. The Hebrew letter of the seventh Atout is Zain, that expresses an arrow, thus suggesting a weapon as well as a soldier, so it denotes victory, a ruling power, triumph, protection, a domineering character. “The arrows of divination” are frequently referred to in the Bible, for instance, when “the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way at the head of the two ways to use divination. He made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked at the liver.” The tablets found at Nippur frequently refer to all the arts of divination, as when a text in cuneiform characters says: “the arrows were marked Yes and No,” or, “the king had shaken the arrows, questioned the house gods, and looked into the liver.” Mr. Culin, in his “Korean Games,” considers that divination by arrows is one of the most primitive forms, and it is still kept up in Korea, China, Japan, etc. The sticks used for the purpose in China are in the form of arrows, and are kept in a cube-shaped box resembling a quiver. They are shaken in a peculiar way until one jumps out, when the design on it, and the direction in which it points to the shrine, are considered to have replied to the inquirer.

The Chariot of the Atouts was, under certain conditions, supposed to represent Osiris. It was also called “the chariot of Mercury,” in the sense that he was the messenger of Mars when war was to be proclaimed, or when his caduceus was used as a flag of truce. Seven was always considered by the Egyptian savants a mystical number, so this card played an important part in occult science. Count Emiliano di Parravicino, in his essay published in the Burlington Magazine, December, 1903 (page 238), says: “Mgr. Antonio Dragoni (1814) suggests that the Atouts, numbering twenty-one [not counting the Joker (Fou), which has no number], represent the Egyptian doctrine beloved by Pythagoras, of the perfect number Three and the mythical number Seven. Hence, Thoth, the Mercury of the Egyptians, forms with the pack of pip cards his book or picture of the creation of three classes of images, which symbolize the first three ages of the world—i. e., the golden, the silver, and the bronze. Each of these three classes is to represent in its seven divisions a greater reference or mysticism, a mysterious book of the highest value in the art of divination, since this book of unbound leaves contained the key to all mysteries, although its contents were undecipherable to all but those taught in the temples of Thoth.” This proves that other thinkers besides Papus and de Gebelin had come to the same conclusions from their study of the Tarot pack, although without having the benefit of exchanging views on the subject.

The Babylonians believed in seven evil spirits, as the following prayer, translated from a cuneiform tablet, will prove:

Seven are they. They are seven,
The same in the mighty deep;
And Seven are they in heaven,
’Though in water, sometimes they sleep.
They are neither male, nor female,
These awful spirits that fly,
But like destructive whirlwinds,
They swirl across the sky.

Without a home or offspring,
Compassion and mercy are nil,
Since prayers or supplications,
They neither hear nor feel.

Like wild beasts bred in the mountains,
They defy both gods and men,
Polluting even the fountains
The rivers, the marshes, the fen.
Evil are they, strangely evil,
In temples, in cities, in homes;
For Seven are they, cruel Seven,
With weird and terrible forms.

Mr. Willshire, in his “Catalogue of the Playing Cards in the British Museum,” says: “It hardly requires a reference to the Bible to notice the frequency with which the number Seven is mentioned. Not only was the Seventh day to be kept holy, but, then, there was the mystery of the Seven stars, of which Nebo (Mercury) was one, the latter being the most rapid and brilliant. Also of the Seven golden candlesticks, and, in Zachariah iii:9, we find that on the stone laid before Joshua there were Seven eyes. Mercury invented the lyre, according to the Egyptians, in the year of the world two thousand. At first it had only three strings, but in the hands of the Muses, Seven were adopted. Then also the Seven virtues were called the Seven cords of the human lyre, having their analogies in the Seven colours of the prismatic spectrum. Then there were Seven precious stones, namely: Carbuncle (garnet), Crystal, Diamond, Agate, Emerald, Sapphire, and Onyx, besides the Seven chief metals.” The emerald was considered the stone of Thoth, we may infer, since one of his books was entitled “The Emerald Tablet.” Among the Berber tribes, of North Africa, the women put seven marks on their foreheads, to protect them from the evil eye; this is also done among some of the Negro tribes. When consulting the pip cards, the Sevens have peculiar and occult values, marking the boundaries between those lower and higher. They also make combinations that influence the consideration of other cards.

 

VIII. LA GIUSTIZIA (Justice)

The figure on the eighth card is represented in the most modern fashion, and yet, with its attributes and values, it is much as Egyptians would have known it when the worship of Thoth was at its height. It is the goddess of Truth or Ma. Her title was sometimes adopted by the kings, who called themselves the friends of Truth. Mr. Rawlinson, on page 385 of “Ancient Egypt,” says: “The chief judge of every court is said to have worn an image of Ma around his neck, and when he decided a case he touched the litigant with it, in whose favour the decision was made, in order to testify that everything had been done with justice and truth. In the final judgment of Osiris, the image of Ma was placed in the scale, and weighed against the good actions of the dead.” It may easily be perceived what a forceful figure the one of justice must have been to the people who consulted the oracles in the temples of Thoth. Justice is represented on the Atout as a seated female figure, on a throne bearing her usual heraldic marks of a sword and a pair of scales. Law and order are denoted by every line and emblem on the card, which, summed up, expresses conscientiousness, balance, power, and poise, in all their forms. The leaf also corresponds with some of the attributes of the god Tiemei, and again represents one of the deities of Olympus. Heth, the letter corresponding to it, means a field, and from that springs the idea of anything requiring labour and continued effort, the elements and existence. When it typifies Ceres, of the Olympic gods, it denotes the mother as she is generally represented, with her daughter, Prosperpine, endeavouring (as the original type of a mother-in-law) to keep her from the arms of Pluto, while Mercury leads the wife forcibly away. This card is the dominating one of Cups (meaning sacrifice) of the pip part of the pack.

 

IX. L’EREMITA (The Hermit)

The Hermit is one of the most mysterious designs on the Atouts, and has not yet acknowledged all its intentions. For the meaning assigned to it, and its value for soothsaying, hardly correspond with the personage depicted, so it is supposed that the artist who modernized the ancient design has altered it too completely to be recognised by those unacquainted with the original intention. It shows an old man, holding a lantern aloft, and by some is regarded as a watchman calling the hours of the night, and by others, as Diogenes searching for an honest man. But the attributes or values given to the card rather quarrel with the design, for they signify friendship, protection, and wisdom. The rod or staff signifies a pilgrim, certainly an overseer, and is a favourite emblem in the Bible, as in Psalms xxiii:4, “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me,” or, in Isaiah x:15, “If the staff should lift up.” It is the cane of the medical man, and represents the Sceptre suit of the pip cards. This Atout typifies strength of character, philanthropy, the wisdom of silence in difficulties, circumspection, prudence, and sympathy; in short, all the qualities desirable in a friend. The letter is Teth, which represents a roof or place of safety, suggesting the idea of a shelter and protection given by wisdom and forethought. The card also typifies human love and humanity.

 

X. RUOTO DELLA FORTUNA
(The Wheel of Fortune)

This Atout has many and various connections with the superstitions of ancient days. It is the Wheel of Fortune, and, among other things, represents Osiris judging the souls of the dead. Anubis clambers up on one side, while Typhon descends on the left of the wheel. “There are two ideas,” says Papus, “expressed by this symbolic card. The first is that of supremacy, the second of eternity.” The former is typified by Anubis and Typhon climbing or falling, one reaching to overpower the other, while the wheel turns eternally, lifting first one and then the other. Thus it is in life, for fortune changes from good to bad with unceasing regularity, sometimes slowly and sometimes rapidly, but always controlled by an unknown force, that is called luck. The circle signifies eternity, and the Wheel of Fortune is one of the oldest known symbols in the world. It is deemed by some to have its analogy in the “Wheels of Ezekiel and of Pythagoras,” with all the significances attached to these emblematic figures. Being numbered ten, its Hebrew letter is Yod, the hieroglyphic meaning of which is “the forefinger extended as a sign of command.” This sign is recognised even by the uninitiated, and is one of the surviving attributes of Mercury in common use to-day. It was placed under the head of Mercury, when he was erected by the roadside as Terminus to point out a road. In every synagogue is found a pointer, called Yod, because its long arm terminates in a beautifully modelled hand, with the forefinger outstretched. This is used by the reader of the Scriptures to keep the place, since the text is written in fine characters not easily followed without the pointing finger of the Yod. The Wheel of Fortune typifies magic power, fortune, expression of the will of the gods, or their commands, supremacy, superstition, and luck. Anubis was the conductor of spirits to the judgment seat (or Mercury, as Chthonius); he also held the balance in the hall of the dead. He is called “Lord of the Burying-ground,” and is represented as a jackal. The Wheel of Fortune is derived from Osiris, on the judgment seat, with Anubis as assistant.

 

XI. LA FORZA (Strength)

This Atout shows a female figure, wearing the mystic hat, or vital sign , seen on the Pagat, or the first Atout. The girl forces open the mouth of a lion, expressing vitality, force, courage, daring. It would seem the ancients believed that, in suffering or trouble a woman was superior to a man, for endurance and strength of mind.

The figure also typifies innocence, so the fable of Una and the lion seems to be depicted, whether intentionally or not. Another symbol is that of the Amazons, who pretended, say modern writers, to great strength, in spite of being women, but the translations of some of the cuneiform tablets lead one to suppose that these female warriors were more noted in their own times for their wit than for their strength. The value given to the card indicates it to be under the protection of Minerva. The Hebrew letter for this card is Kaph, which typifies a grasping hand. This card represents subtle and mystic occultism, with its influence over mankind; in fact, female charity. It recalls, by its costume and attributes, the Egyptian goddess Neith, whose temple was at Sais, the chief city of the Delta. She wears a peculiar emblem on her head, sometimes called a “shuttle,” recalling the device of the Atout. Mr. Rawlinson, in his “Ancient Egypt” (page 342), says the inscription on her shrine reads: “I am all that was, and is, and is to be. No mortal hath lifted my veil.” The last expression would be understood in Egypt, for the lifting of the veil is the conclusion of the marriage service, when the bridegroom sees his wife for the first time. Therefore, one meaning of the card is a bride.

 

XII. L’APPESO (The Hanged Man)

The hanged man is a remarkable figure on the twelfth leaf of the Book of Thoth. The person is suspended by one foot from a gibbet that is crudely made, by placing a bar in the fork of two opposite trees that have been lopped of other branches. The hands are tied behind, and the right leg crosses the left, by which the figure is suspended. This peculiar form of punishment was at one time inflicted for certain kinds of crimes in Etruria, and was probably typical when it was adopted. It has been suggested that one of the signs of recognition between Freemasons consists in crossing the legs, although these persons generally remain upright and are not contortionists, so it is difficult to concede this connection with the figure on the Atout. It shows a young man, who is said to be the Pagat, or inquirer, of the first Atout, who, having passed through the temptations of youth, begins to aspire to an ethical future. This is exemplified by his position, indicating discipline, or submission to a superior will. Perhaps another idea is, that since all the blood has run to his head, the powers of knowledge are concentrated, and will be increased. The card expresses equilibrium, charity, courage, knowledge and prudence; also wisdom and fidelity. Lamed is the corresponding Hebrew letter; it designates the arm, so is, therefore, connected with expansive power and movement, as applied to all ideas of extension, of occupation, of possession. The figure being raised above the earth, and in a position of pain, together with humility, typifies a mind withdrawn from temporal ideas, or a martyr to science. Vulcan is supposed to be the Olympian god typified by L’Appeso, not only on account of the strong arm, but also because he was thrown out of heaven and lamed for life.

 

XIII. LA MORTE (Death)

This thirteenth Atout is represented on some cards as a skeleton mowing off the heads of men, on some as a rider on a white horse, and on others on a black one. There is an old proverb: “Death comes riding on a white horse,” and sometimes the clouds betokening rain are called “the white horses of death.” One of the horses of Aurora was called Abraxas, the numerical value of these letters summing up three hundred and sixty-five, or the number of the days of the year. The occult meanings attached to this card and its number in the Atouts are well known, for the latter is connected with bad luck or death in all European countries, and in every place where the worship of Mercury or the Hermetic art, as connected with cards, has penetrated. It is not so regarded, however, by savage tribes, who have not followed this cult. This superstition is, therefore, by many deemed to be one of the proofs that the cards were descended from those mysteries. It is supposed that this image of Death was the half-way position in the temple of Thoth, and therefore divided the Atouts to the right and to the left, since they were placed in sequence on both sides. Thoth Hermes, the unnumbered Atout, was represented by a statue that occupied the centre of the building, under which stood an altar. On this altar the rods (or pip cards) were thrown when consulting the oracle. At any rate, the altar (or its remains) occupies the centre of the ruins of the temple of Mercury, at Baiæ. The central position of Death was deemed to indicate the dividing period of a man’s life. The inquirer, after consulting the pictured figures, representing the family, religion, government, and friends of the beginning of his life, now learned of the more serious affairs of later years, not necessarily death or bad fortune, but, rather, a transforming force, since this Atout marked such a distinct epoch in the path of life, and was to be considered most seriously. Still the card also portends sorrow, destruction, and death. The letter is Mem, meaning fertility and formation, or the development of the being in an unlimited space, perhaps regeneration after destruction, or immortality in another world.

 

XIV. LA TEMPERAN (Temperance)

It is probable that this figure was intended for Nut or Nephthys. Of her but little is positively known, and, so far, no temple erected to her has been discovered. She was called the wife of Seb, and the mother of Osiris. Her titles are “the Elder,” “the Mother of the Gods,” and “the Nurse.” She is usually represented as veiled and pouring a liquid from a vase. Her figure frequently appears in tombs, as if she was the guardian angel or protector of the dead soul. This idea of an oblation to the gods, through pouring wine or oil before them, is found to be common among the Babylonians, and to “pour oil on the troubled waters” is no mere figure of speech.

The fourteenth Atout is represented as a winged female pouring liquid from one jug to another, signifying individual and corporeal existence, production, fruition, health, temperance, economy and offspring. Its letter is Nun, signifying fruit of any kind and all things produced. Neptune is typified by one of his nymphs offering an oblation when mingling the waters. There may be a remote and more occult connection with this device and divination, for one of the earliest methods of consulting the gods was through pouring water on oil, or oil on water, and prognosticating from the results. This process is found to have been used among the Babylonians as early as two thousand five hundred years before Christ. Two books have been discovered on this subject that give full directions for consulting the wishes of the gods through those means, and they have been fully translated by Dr. Arthur Ungnad. One is, “Interpretations of the Future among the Babylonians and Assyrians,” and in it are found many directions for discovering the wishes of the gods, such as: “If the oil fills the cup, the person dies;” “If the oil floats on water to the east, the person will die;” “If to the right, it is good luck, if to the left, it is misfortune.” The name, Temperance, given to this card, seems to be rather misleading and modern, since the picture evidently typifies this most ancient custom.

 

XV. IL DIAVOLO (The Devil)

Set, or Sutech, the principle of evil, who is connected with the myth of Osiris, needs but little explanation. Even moderns can comprehend at a glance all that it typifies. Mgr. Antonio Dragoni is one of the earliest persons to identify this card with Set or Typho, the son of Seb, who was the brother of Osiris, and one of the geniuses of evil. Any one who has attempted to read the myth of Osiris will appreciate the difficulties of unravelling it. The Hyksos, or shepherd kings, selected Set as their sole deity, and Seti I assumed his name, thus placing himself under the protection of the evil one. Afterwards the worship of Set ceased entirely and he was abhorred. The long ears retained on the figure of the fifteenth Atout mark the connection with Set, for that was one of his distinguishing attributes. The Hebrew letter that represents this card is Zain, which means arrow, or any weapon of destruction. The intention of this Atout is destiny, chance, fatality, superstition, illness, temptation; it represents a spirit of evil, hatred, jealousy, and suspicion.

 

XVI. LA TORRE (The Tower)

In this leaf, a building struck by lightning is portrayed, through a thunderbolt shot by Jupiter, and conveyed by the “Messenger,” Mercury. The “lightning god” was one of Nebo’s titles, and the mark is retained on the Japanese cards, although probably accidentally, since there is no connection between their playing cards and the original Atouts. Some writers call this tower the “castle of Plutus” (the Roman god of wealth), deeming it a warning to misers, for it recalls the legend relating to an incident in the life of Rameses II, recorded in Herodotus. The Pharaoh ordered a tower to be built for his treasures, and he alone had its key, but daily he discovered that his valuables were disappearing, although there was only one egress. A watch was set, and it was found that two of the sons of the architect could enter by displacing a stone, that had been left for the purpose of thieving, and when the men were entrapped inside, they threw themselves headlong from the tower. This picture shows a connection with Egyptian legend that must not be disregarded in seeking to trace the Tarots to the mysteries of Thoth. Besides, some persons believe that the card represents the destruction of the temples of Babylon, and due weight must be given to the significance awarded by that people to lightning, when consulting the gods through divination, particularly as it was the weapon of Jove (Merodach), who was connected with the Baal of the Bible, and sometimes worshipped as Enlil, who was frequently implored not to destroy his people by lightning. But there are other legends connected with the destruction of ancient temples that are even older than that of Egypt, and we are lucky to have access to one that has lately been translated from the Sumerian language, written in cuneiform characters on one of the tablets discovered by Prof. Herman V. Hilprecht in the Temple Library of Nippur. Above two hundred of them were of a religious or historical character, which he set apart for the well-known scholar, Doctor Radau, to translate. These related chiefly to the worship of the gods of the second dynasty of Ur, or about two thousand five hundred years before Christ. “Although the beginning of the Babylonian religion, as portrayed in these tablets,” says Doctor Radau, in “Miscellaneous Sumerian Texts from the Temple Library of Nippur” (page 389), “has to be sought somewhere at about 5700 B. C., when the religions of Babylon were systematized.” One tablet relates how a king of that period conquered his enemies with the help of the chief god, who at that time was named Enlil, “the Governor of the gods,” “the god who destines fate.” It was his son, Nebo, who was his confidential messenger, his “lightning-rod,” and who wrote on the “tablets of Fate” the decrees of the supreme being at the birth of each mortal. It may be noted that Nebo is given a different father at different times, but so it is in the mythologies as now interpreted; the oldest accounts name the chief gods, whose qualities and symbols later became merged in more modern ones, and they were given different names at various times, which is most confusing. The great temple consecrated to Enlil is called E-Kur, and is at Nippur. This name for this particular tabernacle became the common name for temple in general (page 411). No king of Babylon ventured to do anything or take any step without “kissing the hand” of Enlil, to obtain his consent and approval. According to Doctor Radau, Enlil was afterwards succeeded or displaced by Marduk (the Merodach of the Bible, and the Jupiter of the Romans), although the supremacy of Enlil lasted some three thousand five hundred years, quite long enough to leave an impression on the “Book of Fate.” One of the tablets translated from the Sumerian language has been given almost literally, and is an invocation to Enlil, bewailing the destruction and begging for the restoration of the principal cities of Babylonia, together with the temples that had been destroyed, which were, in fact, the homes of the priests, who always dwelt in the sanctuaries. Doctor Radau (page 444) calls the song, “The Lamentation of the Goddess Nin, of the City of Mar, who was called Nin-Mar.” He gives a literal translation of the cuneiform text of the tablet that has a well-defined metre, and is divided into sections. The first three verses are an invocation to Enlil, the supreme god, by this goddess, Nin-Mar, who declares that she is “Mistress of Mar,” who, through the power granted to her by Enlil, was once able to destroy the enemies of her country and lay waste their lands, but the power has left her, as her “Master” sleeps. Nin-Mar gets a sympathetic god, named Nin-ib, to sing a hymn with her, in which the destroyed temples are recounted. Nin-ib was the solar deity of Nippur, also a war god, but inclined to be beneficent to mankind. One of his titles was “the warrior,” and he is identified as the planet Saturn. His symbol was a man with a lion’s head.

The Atout of the Tower typifies the money pip of the cards, with all of its mundane significances, so its meaning is easily translated as intending sorrow, destruction, vice, descent, perverseness, wickedness, degeneration. Ayin is the letter of la maison de dieu, or le feu de ciel, as the card is variously called, and both its design and its complementary letter express all that is crooked, bad, and false.

 

XVII. LE STELLE (The Stars)

This Atout shows a young woman “beneath the mystery of the stars,” the seven stars of the Bible, that were the seven planets of antiquity. The name star is derived from that of Ishtar, the great Babylonian goddess. The central and most brilliant star on the Atout represents Mercury as the god of speech, or the transmitter of the wishes of gods to men, or Nebo, “the writer on the tablets of Fate.” The Dog Star was called Thoth by the Egyptians, who also considered this god the author of speech, language, and writing, like his predecessor, Nebo, whose mountain was at the plain of Moab, (Deuteronomy xxxiv:1), and he also had the same planet dedicated to him. He, the differentiating letter, means voice or speech, just as Nebo, or Nabi, means prophet, proclaimer. Hebe, who succeeded Mercury, as cupbearer to the gods, represents him here dispensing the essence of life equally between two jugs; and, to carry the resemblance still further, the picture recalls oblations to Osiris, which were typical of the mingling of life and power, as exemplified by pouring out water when standing on the earth. Thus, two of the elements are shown, a third one having been represented in the lightning of the preceding card. The different connections between the ceremonies of the ancients with the Cup and the cupbearer have been described in the chapter relating to that emblem. On some of the oldest of the Atouts, before their designs became confused by ignorant artists, when some of the most distinctive emblems were omitted, or altered, a gazelle stands behind the woman. This still further shows the connection of this card with old Egyptian legends, for it was said that the gazelle gave warning of the rising of the Nile, by fleeing to the desert, even before the inhabitants expected the flood. The gazelle is sacred to Osiris. This animal is also retained on one of the pip cards of the Spanish pack. The Stars typify immortality, creation, hope, song, music, speech, and the connection between humanity and a supreme power. It will be recalled that all these things were attributed to Mercury, Thoth, and Nebo. A god pouring a liquid from one vessel to another is frequently found on Egyptian seal cylinders. It is generally the sun god, although other gods are frequently represented.

 

Early Italian Tarots
Pip Cards of the Rod Suit

43 Ace of Rods 44 Deuce of Rods 45 Trey of Rods

46 Four of Rods 47 Five of Rods 48 Six of Rods

 

XVIII. LA LUNA (The Moon)

The eighteenth Atout speaks for itself. The legends connected with it are far spread, but all are practically the same. Two dogs bay at the moon, that is represented at the top of the picture. They are symbols of Marduk, which seem to have little connection here. A crawfish crawls from the water to land. The meanings are manifold, for the letter Tzaddi (although its hieroglyphic idea is similar to that of Teth on the ninth card) has different significances, according to its position in a word. It chiefly means an aim, an end, a succession, and its value varies.

The occult significance of this Atout is the material body, with its gratifications, such as gourmandising, drinking, covetousness, gambling, selfishness, and the danger of self-indulgence. Then, also, the card warns of hidden dangers, enemies, and accidents, representing, besides the ibis-headed Thoth, the god of letters. To discover all its significances, the eighteenth card must be studied with due regard to conditions, position, and the meaning of those adjoining it, all of which aid in deciphering the obscure intentions of this leaf, that is assigned in mythology to Diana.

 

XIX. IL SOLE (The Sun)

A representation of the sun is the design on the nineteenth Atout, the accompanying letter of which is Zoph, signifying a defensive weapon. This Atout indicates the elements, precious stones, and minerals; an awaking, revival, excitement, transition, nutrition and digestion; also self-esteem, indulgence, eagerness to make money, and probable success by self-exertion; also a worldly person, or a happy marriage. The god Ra is represented by the sun in Egyptian mythology. He was greatly revered by some of the Pharaohs, such as Rameses, who adopted his name.

 

XX. IL GIUDIZIO (The Judgment)

The Day of Judgment is the symbol of this Atout, and its letter is Resh, representing typically the head of man. The picture shows an angel blowing a trumpet from the clouds, while below, the earth is yawning, to allow the dead to rise. This is a strange emblem to be placed among the heathen leaves, for it is peculiarly Christian in its significances; but even the oldest designs show it pictured in this way. As it stands, it expresses motion, movement, travels, readjustments, originality, determination, respiration, and regeneration. Then, also, it typifies scenery, skill, and artistic capabilities. The Romans dedicated it to Pluto, the ruler of the nether world. It has many of the attributes of Ishtar, the goddess of the Babylonians, from whose name Easter is derived. She represented spring, and was the protector of vegetation, growth, and agriculture. The angel blowing the trumpet is a very old design, and one often used on tombs or cenotaphs. It recalls Theodore Hook’s witty epitaph on Lord de Ros, of whom little good could be said, and who was accused of cheating at cards, but whose family erected a fine monument to his memory, on which was the representation of the angel of the Resurrection. Under it Hook wrote: “Here LIES England’s Premier Baron patiently waiting the last trump.”

 

XXI. IL MONDO (The World)

This card shows the nude figure of a woman, in an ellipse of leaves and flowers, the victor’s wreath of the Grecians. She represents verity or truth. In the four corners are the emblems of the apostles that St. John borrowed from Ezekiel, and the latter from Assyria and Babylonia. These are the Man, Lion, Bull and Eagle. Besides typifying the apostles, they, in a manner, suggest the four attributes of the pip suits, and also the four elements. The inscrutable-looking man represents brain, knowledge, and mystery. The ox typifies strength, and the lion courage, while the eagle suggests inspiration and the power of soaring above mundane affairs. These four emblems represent also the four seasons, when the ox stands for autumn, the man for winter, the lion for summer, and the eagle for spring; so the complex meaning of the twenty-first Atout suggests that the head or wisdom of man prescribes the will of the ox, the courage of the lion, and the aspirations of the bird, through the mouth of Truth. The attributes of the designs on the cards are also included in this leaf from the book of Thoth. The wand that the figure holds represents the Stave, or caduceus, or magic wand of Aaron, “that was kept for a token,” as well as fire. The Cup betokens the south, and summer, and water. The Sword, earth, and the Coin (or Ring), eternity and air. Il Mondo’s letter is Tau, which symbolises perfection. The meaning of the whole card covers the elements of success, luck, happiness, marriage, contentment, bliss.

 

XXII. IL MATTO (The Fool)

The twenty-second Atout has no number upon it, and is called Le Fou, Il Matto, or the Joker. It is the presiding deity himself, Thoth, Nebo, or Mercury, in all his various moods, with all his many qualifications. These are denoted by the cards that fall near him, when being dealt, that are controlled or influenced by his overwhelming personality and qualifications. He generally brings news and good luck. Count Parravicino declares: “the Italian name is derived from an Egyptian one, Mat, which signifies beginnings or perfection.” The card represents everything that is typical of Mercury, such as irresponsibility, with all its consequences. The figure of Il Matto carries the attributes of Mercury: the staff he holds in his hand, while a purse dangles from his side. He is travelling or walking, as if carrying news, or a message, and also suggests a wanderer, a pedler, or a merchant. Motion, energy, and luck are expressed, as well as fickleness, inconstancy, and unconventionality that may amount to insanity. The letter is Shin, and expresses cyclic movement. In some of the old Italian Tarots, Il Matto is represented as being naked, or else in tattered garments, like a beggar, when he symbolises folly, frivolity, or chance. In the Austrian Tarots he is dressed like a harlequin, or else simply with cap and bells. He is the gypsy wanderer, as we know him, believed by some persons to be the descendant of the Egyptian priests of the temple of Serapeon, at Pozzuoli, who were forced to wander by the destruction of this temple.

It must be remembered that no Tarots have been discovered that are over five hundred years old, and that a great gap exists between these and the mysteries of the temple of Thoth; therefore, some of the emblems or symbols that we know may not resemble those of the originals. We must also recall that there is more than one cult represented among the Atouts; therefore, many of the attributes of different deities are mingled confusingly, perhaps, on one and the same card. The student is necessarily limited by conditions, for many of the virtues accredited to the emblematic figures have been received traditionally, or have been discovered by intuition, and are attributed first to one god, and then to another, as the study of ancient myths or cults reveals a hitherto unexpected connection.

The intention of the Atouts, as a whole, is the representation of a youth and his parents or governors and sponsors. These are followed by everything that can express human life, such as ambition, love, marriage, temptation, friendship, luck, trials, illness, hatred, jealousy, despair, hope, enemies, success, and death. When combined with the pip cards, the whole makes an interesting game of life, presided over by the versatile god, Mercury, “the writer on the tablets of Fate.”

The whole of the Tarot pack has been called “the Bible of the Gypsies,” “the Athor of the Egyptians,” “the Thora of the Hebrews,” “the Great Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus,” and “the Key of Things Hidden from the Beginning of the World”; so, how should poor mortals be able to unravel all its secrets and lay them bare before an uncrediting world.

 

 

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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, but this was the original pack. In Germany there are only three court cards, like the French ones, but there is no female in the set. The German suits are Herzen, Grünen, Eicheln, and Schellen; the Spanish, Bastos, Otos, Coppas, and Espadas; the Italian, Bastoni, Danari, Coppe, and Spade, and English, Rods, Money, Cups, and Swords. These pips are emblematically displayed through appropriate symbols, and, besides, each of them represents an idea and a number, all of which are valuable assistants when grouping the cards, in order to divine their hidden meanings that are almost lost to us, although quite decipherable by those who held the key to the ancient mysteries.

The reason for invariably having four suits would be incomprehensible were it not recognised that there were four emblems that were peculiar to and always represented Mercury, namely, his Caduceus, his Money, his Chalice, and his Harpé or Sword, which also typify the four grand divisions into which the classes of people were divided all over the known world of the day, particularly in Egypt, for they were Workmen, Merchants, Churchmen and Soldiers, who were easily recognised through the symbols. If any man of one of these castes wished to consult the oracle he selected the emblem of his class and in this way communicated to the god his status in the community.

Since four was not a favorite number among the mystics, there could have been no other reason for selecting that number for dividing the pack into suits, and none other has been suggested by students. As it stands, it shows that it was arranged scientifically and with a decidedly well-considered purpose that met all the requirements of the worshippers at the temple of Mercury.

That the pips have this interpretation seems natural, for if it had been intended to select lucky devices common at the time it is more probable that a swatzka, a circle for immortality, or a wheel or perhaps an ankh, that were favourites among the Egyptians would have been chosen, since all these devices are quite as old and significant as the ones adopted, being closely connected with mysticism, it seems to be sufficient proof that the ones selected were taken because they represented Mercury, so these pips must be considered valuable links in the chain connecting them with his worship, even if they stood alone and were not supported by every card in the Atout part of the Tarots.

That the religions, superstitions and deities of Asia, Africa and Europe have mingled from time to time there is no doubt. E. Levi, in his “Dogme et Ritual” (Vol. II, page 230), says: “Passing from India to Egypt with its occultism, and then to the Hebrews and their theosophy, the stick (or the wand) corresponds with the Phallus of the Egyptians and the Yod of the Hebrews that is used to point to the sentence read from the Scriptures. Thus the vase (or cup) of Mercury is the Cteis, and the primitive He, the Sword, is the conjunction of the Phallus and the Cteis represented in Hebrew anterior to the captivity by the Vau, while the Circle or Money that may be vulgarly considered the emblem of the world is the final He of the divine name. Thus we have Jod-He-Vau-He, or conventionally pronounced Jehovah.”

The wand or staff of the Tarots represents the cards as they were originally used for divination, when a bundle of arrows, of rods, of straws or of sticks were gathered together and cast down before the images in the temple, so that their direction might be noted and inferences drawn as to the wishes of the gods.

Divination arrows with many mystic significances were common among all primitive nations. The “golden rod” given to Mercury was evidently the magician’s wand used when the plagues of Egypt were overwhelming the land. The staff of Moses brought forth water, while that of Aaron curled into a serpent when it symbolised eternity. There are few of the rock pictures of Egypt that do not represent their Pharaohs, their gods, and their priests with a sceptre, a rod, or a staff as an emblem of authority. So it was typical in ancient days, requiring then no explanation. It may be noticed in the Atouts that the cards representing the divinities show each god carrying a staff or sceptre. This fact greatly aids in identifying them, for the old Italian artists understood enough to place the sceptre in the hand of the emperor, and give only a staff to the hermit or priest.

Divining arrows have been connected with worship from very early days and probably preceded the rods. The former are mentioned more than once in the Bible, and the first verses of Numbers xvii are particularly interesting as being a historical reference to the divine commands to consult the occult, as well as marking the period when rods were substitutes for arrows. “The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel and take every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers ... twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.’” It was Aaron’s rod that put forth leaves and fruited, showing that he was the one selected by the Lord, who conveyed his commands in this way.

It would be interesting to know what were the distinctive symbols of each tribe, but the only trace of them is found in Genesis xlix, which indicates that Judah had a lion or a sceptre. The symbol of the uplifted hands still marks the Cohen or Aaron’s descendant, while the “Magen Dovid,” or the “shield of David,” the six-pointed star, has been so widely adopted by Freemasons as to have become almost identified with them. By some people it is called Solomon’s seal.

This record of “marking” or numbering the rods is most important, for through it we trace the origin of the marks which in the hands of the wily Egyptian priests were afterwards placed on material they deemed more convenient than the primitive arrows, such as papyrus, or parchment, thus converting the divining arrows of the past into pip cards as we now know them. Rods with notched ends, and also some on which figures of men are cut, have been lately found in the tombs at Abydos. The divining rods of the Alaskan Indians are given numbers by painting stripes of different colours on them, while the rods of the Haida Island Indians, off the coast of North America, are differentiated by tribal distinctions, such as the Bear, the Tortoise, and so forth. The names of the different families show how little the savage people have parted from ancient customs. The long, thin, arrowlike paper cards of Korea show the same tribal marks.

As in Biblical times the rods were called after the men who used them as representing the ruler of their families, so substituting their pictures was probably the next step. The cards then were numbered up to ten, while the father, mother, child, and servant were represented in what we name Court cards. This enabled a man to ask queries of the gods in a most particular way. Should he be a soldier he would select a Sword emblem to typify him and his family, and then, laying the cards of that suit before the testimony (which signifies the tables of stone or the commandments), he awaited the answer that was conveyed to him after the priest had consulted the cards with reference to the way they were dealt in connection with the pictures on the walls.

In Chinese fortune-telling the gamblers resort to a “shrine of the god of war,” says Mr. Culin, in “Korean Games” (page 23), “and throw numbered arrows or sticks to divine the wishes of the gods, while sometimes paper lots are employed.” The arrows are kept in a tube like a quiver, or dicebox, and shaken out at random. The shrine is finely decorated, containing mystic figures and devices, and it stands upright against a wall. A table on which to shake the arrows is placed before the shrine. On page 26 of “Korean Games,” Mr. Culin states: “In Japan fifty slender, rounded splints of bamboo, called Zeichiku, varying in length from two to fourteen inches, are used. The fortune-teller gathers them in his right hand, raising it reverently to his forehead, muttering incantations, then parts the sticks into bundles, prophesying good or evil according to the number in each, and it is said that each splint, having its value and meaning, covers all events of a man’s life as recorded in a book of ‘oracular responses’ that the diviner keeps beside him for reference.”

Mr. Culin also mentions the “Meisir game of the Arabs,” when seven arrows were shaken from a tube or quiver. This old game was played before the time of Christ, and Mahomet prohibited it, calling it “the work of devils.” Arrows made of nab-a tree were used. (This name was seemingly derived from Naib or prophet.) They were of a bright yellow colour, and when shaken in the box gave a peculiar ringing sound, so arrows made of any other wood were considered undesirable and were discarded. Each arrow had a name and was marked with a numeral.

The significant and historical Staff or Rod of the Tarots was replaced in the French pack by the design of a clover leaf, or, as it is called, Trèfle, which we name a Club, a cognomen that recalls the original intention, so would otherwise be meaningless. Nor does the Coin or the Denari take the place of the one that originally represented Mercury Agoneus, the protector of merchants and of commerce. This sign when consulting the oracle denotes fair people and also the element of water, and anything floating on it or living in it, besides all things connected with trade, mercantile transactions, or development.

The Coppas or Cup suit is appropriately typified by a Cup or Chalice or the Vase of Mercury Chthonius. This device is superseded by the Hearts of the French pack, which symbolise the passive principle of the universe. Corresponding as it does with the chalice of the clergy, it betokens not only men of religious life, but those of knowledge and power through learning, and also scientific men and those in the government and law. Love and instruction are typified by the symbolic Cup that denotes fair people, who are also represented by the suit of Denari when the cards are consulted about the affairs of life.

The Cup plays a prominent part in the symbolism of ancient days. In “Records of the Past,” by Professor Sayce (Vol. III, page 86), is a letter from Dusratta to Amenophis III, translated from a cuneiform tablet discovered at Tel-el-Amarun, in Upper Egypt:

“And to my father did thou send much gold,
An oblation dish of solid gold and a Cup of solid gold,”

showing that the Cup symbolised not only a connection with sacrifice, but was also a bond of friendship. Votive cups are found in the temple of Osiris, showing that they were used in his worship. Some are very small, as if intended for children to use.

The “Cupbearer” to Royalties in Babylonia and Egypt was a most important post, for the person was chosen for faithfulness, since poison could be so easily conveyed in wine and drunk unsuspectingly by the king. The “Sakibearer” or Butler of Persia became one of the heroes or gods. He was also called “the Spiritual Instructor,” showing a connection with the priesthood, or “He who hands a Cup of Celestial Love,” which is typified by the wine as well as the Cup. “Jamshid, one of the greatest rulers of Iran” (Persia), says Major Sykes, in “The Glory of the Shia World” (page 139), “was able by means of his seven-ringed Cup not only to predict the future, but also survey the entire world.” This Jamshid had many of the qualities of Thoth Hermes attributed to him, for he introduced into his country the use of iron, the arts of weaving, wine-making, and healing, with many other arts and sciences, his memory is greatly revered. Omar Khayyam sings of him

“Iran, indeed, is gone with all his Rose
And Jamshid’s sev’n ring’d Cup,
Where? No one knows.”

The Cup placed in the sack of his brethren by Joseph was no mere accident, as it had for them a most important and symbolic meaning that is indicated but not enlarged upon in the Bible. Babylon is called “A golden Cup in the hand of the Lord.” (Jeremiah li:7.) That it was a symbol connected with power, priesthood, sacrifice, and friendship is indicated whenever it is mentioned in the Bible—for instance, Psalms lxxv:8, where it is said: “For in the hands of the Lord there is a Cup”; or the thirty-seven other times it is again spoken of in the Old Testament, and the thirty-two references to it in the New. The cups discovered in Babylonia and Egypt are of many different shapes that indicate the particular uses to which they were to be put. Those intended for holding the sticks when consulting the oracle of Thoth resemble a modern dicebox, as well as the box still used for sticks in China and Japan.

In Egypt immediately after death the soul was supposed to descend to the Lower World, and was then conducted to the Hall of Two Truths, where it was judged in the presence of Osiris and the forty-two Dæmones (the Lords of Truth) and Judges of the Dead. The Director of the Weights was Anubis, who placed in one of the scales of Justice (or Ma) a figure of Truth, and in the other a Cup containing the good actions of the deceased, while Thoth stood by, tablet in hand, to record the result. This shows the positive connection of Thoth with the emblems that afterwards became one of the devices of Mercury when he succeeded Thoth in both the upper and the lower worlds.

Late discoveries in Crete show frescoes representing handsome youths as cupbearers to King Minos.

The Espadas or Sword suit speaks for itself, and here, as well as in the name of the Club suit, the origin of the Spade is preserved, for Les Piques of the French pack (that represents the Halbert of mediæval times or the guardians of the person of the king), resembled garden spades to the English, who called them by that name, that when spoken recalled the pronunciation of the Spanish pip Espadas. A Harpé or Sword was presented by Jupiter to his son Mercury as a token of bravery and skill when he was the Messenger who killed Argos, or the herald of Mars. His title was then Mercury Argiphontes when he represented the best qualities of the warrior, such as courage, bravery, decision, and temperance. The suit typifies dark people and the element of air, and protects those who fly, whether birds or men. Altercation is also denoted by the Sword suit, as are troubles, sorrows, transformations, lawsuits, hatred, enemies, spies, or rivals. The word in Hebrew signifies lightning, brightness—as in Job xx:25, “the glittering sword cometh out,” which is particularly typical of the bright planet and the god of lightning. The Sword as “Messenger” is frequently referred to, as in Numbers xxii:31, “The angel of the Lord standing in the way and his sword drawn in his hand.”

The Cup and the Sword pips are recalled by a game played in Korea called Pitch-pot, one of the oldest games known to history. Arrows are thrown into a vase of water placed two and a half lengths from the player, who kneels on a mat to throw his weapon into it. After all the arrows have filled the cup the loser must drain it at one swallow.

The Money suit not only recalls the connection with merchants, with Mercury as their protector, but probably had an earlier origin in the mystic circle so beloved by occults. Isaiah xl:20 mentions the one “that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,” which quotation is fraught with symbolism. The royalties on the Egyptian tombs always wear a broad collar or necklace, the narrow cord being the emblem of the slave; but the King wears it as denoting his submission to the gods, while claiming to be supreme among men. The circle placed on their heads was a sign of unceasing power, and the zone or belt worn by female goddesses or princesses signified maidenhood or supremacy and had other mystic meanings. The coin placed on the cards signified many things besides merchants and their occupations, but it was generally connected with the material things of life. The Chinese coin still retains the hole in the centre, making it a hollow round. It is supposed by some that the coin was originally the mystic serpent with tail in mouth, thus completing the circle. Zwvoi meant the Serpent which girdles the globe and represents the Zodiac or Ecliptic line denoting the path of the sun.

The four Court cards dominate and control the pips of their own suits and play an important part wherever placed. The suits of Money and Cups denote the home and family life and are considered benign, while Money represents friends, partners, or strangers, and Swords may mean any one of them as desired by players; but the last two suits are usually deemed material or malignant, being the opposite to the benign suits. In general, Rods represent enterprise and glory; Coins denote investments or transactions; Cups typify love and happiness; while Swords seem to call for hatred and misfortune.

Then the number of each of the cards betokens something, for, dealt in four packets with three cards in each one of the heaps, a singleton is left for the fourth packet. The first pile should contain an Ace, Deuce, and Tray, which portend commencement. That is to say, if Rods are the suit these three cards tell of the beginning of an enterprise. If the suit is Cups they mean the beginning of a love affair, and in the same way hatred or a quarrel is denoted as beginning if the Sword suit is used, while Ace, Deuce, and Tray of Money announce the inception of a business transaction.

 

Early Italian Tarots
Pip and Court Cards of the Rod Suit

49 Seven of Rods 50 Eight of Rods 51 Nine of Rods

52 Ten of Rods 53 Knave of Rods 54 Cavalier of Rods

 

The second packet includes the Four, Five, and Six, which denote inertia, stoppage, opposition, concentration.

The Sevens, Eights, and Nines represent balance, poise, or result, and the Tenth card means uncertainty.

Each number has the same value or meaning. That is to say, an Ace of Rods means the beginning of an enterprise, the Deuce that the enterprise is arrested, while the Tray signifies that the enterprise having been established, can be continued.

The Ace of Money is the commencement of fortune, the following two cards mean opposition and good fortune. The Ace of Cups the dawn of a love affair, the Deuce opposition to it, and the Tray consent. The Ace of Swords means enmity, the Deuce that the enmity is arrested, and the Trey declares open rupture or war.

Therefore the packets of three with the singleton may be classified as, first, commencement; second, opposition; third, balance. The first three indicate dawn, the second three noon, while evening is represented by the Seven, Eight, and Nine, and the Ten card shows bewilderment or night.

The court cards in the Tarots have four to each suit that are named King, Queen, Cavalier, and Knave, and they represent man, woman, child, and servant. The male figure denotes enterprise, the female characterises affection or love, the youth typifies conflict, strength, struggle, rivalry, or hatred, while the Knave means transition. The court cards also express pointedly the meanings of the suit that they represent. They betoken family life, with the King as father, the Queen as mother, the Cavalier as son, and the Knave as daughter, child, or servant.

The King of Rods or Staves is a dark, kind friend; his Queen represents an amiable, good, charitable, or friendly person. The Cavalier is dark and good; the Knave is a dark messenger or child.

The court cards of Money typify fair people who are friendly, kindly disposed, or indifferent; the King representing the male, the Queen the female. The Cavalier portends strangers, and the Knave messages or news. These figures of the Rods and Cups bear inverse value to the Swords and Money, for the latter do not belong to the family, but indicate outsiders, strangers, or the world in general.

The King of Cups is a fair man and frequently means a lawyer, a councillor or a clergyman. The Queen is a blonde friend, perhaps the best beloved, and the Cavalier is sometimes a fair-haired lover, while the Knave is an infant, a messenger, or a birth.

The Suit of Swords always is unlucky, and its King betokens a dark, bad man, an enemy or some one to be mistrusted. The Queen represents a brunette who is wicked and to be feared, a gossip, a treacherous character. The Cavalier is an enemy or a spy, and is dark; while the Knave is bad news, delay, or malice. The whole group indicates opposition raised outside of the home.

It will be seen that if each one of the seventy-eight cards belonging to the Tarots be given the meaning assigned to it in the foregoing rules, nearly every emotion, every incident, every characteristic of man is typified, and the combinations are as endless as are the chances of life. As the cards are dealt and fall together, one balances or controls the other, so that when their meaning is deciphered as a whole there is a most interesting picture of ordinary life.

The game is played by two persons, one who deals and one who reads the cards, or rather interprets with superior knowledge the meaning of the great Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus. It can readily be seen how the game could be taken advantage of by the unscrupulous, who induced credulous persons to believe that the leaves of the book revealed the future. This faith, indeed, was inherited through generations, who received it from Moses and many of the Hebrew prophets, as well as from the priests of the temple of Thoth and those of Mercury; so it is small wonder that the mysterious leaves were regarded with awe, and that their revelations are received with implicit obedience, since the orders of the gods could be transmitted through the rods of Moses and Aaron that became the pip leaves, and the message was exemplified through the emblematic figures on the walls. The pips translated the meaning of the Atouts, without which neither part or volume of the book could be fully understood. Therefore all fortune-telling with packs of Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs is nonsense, since these cards were invented for games or gambling and have nothing occult or prophetic about them.

 

 

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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 having been broken, no ordinance concerning games of cards or fortune-telling, and no official record pointing directly to cards under the name now generally given them. What may be recorded concerning the priests of the cult of Mercury remains to be discovered.

Nor can we date the period when these same leaves came to be regarded as affording amusement, or from being wholly in the hands of initiated persons and regarded as a vehicle for consulting the wishes of the deities, they fell into the possession of soothsayers or unscrupulous fortune-tellers, who did not hold the interpreting key and made improper uses of the ancient Book of Thoth.

Nor, again, is there any record of when cards became the tools of gamblers, who used them for games of chance, although their consultation might always have partaken of the elements of “chance,” but in a very different way.

However, it is well known that the introduction of Christianity into Rome gradually caused the deities of Olympus to be disregarded, so that those who still worshipped the gods of their ancestors did so in secret, and when St. Paul set foot at Pozzuoli, close to the temples of Osiris and Mercury, the first step was taken towards the downfall of the ancient rites.

It is quite natural, therefore, that writers on the origin and history of Playing Cards have found no record of their invention, no monument to their inventor, and no cradle at their birthplace, since they looked solely for the cards that were familiar to them and for games played with those cards, while they failed to recognise that the cards were part of a cult and were the heraldic emblems of Mercury (as displayed on the pip cards) and those of ancient Egyptian gods (as depicted on the Atouts), and, therefore, these writers declare that no link exists between the Italian Tarots of the present day and the great Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, while they acknowledge that Playing Cards owe their invention to the Egyptians, who, having inherited the “men portrayed upon the walls” from the Babylonians and the traditions of Nebo, “the one who writes the tablets of fate,” elaborated the ceremonies, simplified their code, and introduced them to Europe, first through the priests of the Serapeon, and then, by means of the Tarots, to other parts of the world.

Some claim that the gypsies were originally the initiates of the temple of Thoth, and that it was they who carried Playing Cards as a means of divination through Europe. One of their customs is to demand that the palm of the right hand be crossed with a piece of money before beginning to read a fortune; and by some this custom is supposed to date from the time when the fortune-teller demanded from his clients an oath of secrecy, which was ratified by making the sign of the cross. Unless there was some such meaning originally attached to the custom, there would seem to be no reason for this performance being enacted in connection with fortune-telling with cards, and as far as is known with no other transaction in the commercial or nomadic world.

There are many signs suggesting that the gypsies were able to translate the symbols on the cards at an early date, soon after they appeared in Europe, and it is certain that for several centuries these nomads have used Playing Cards for telling future, past, or present events, and have done it with so much self-confidence that it would seem that they possessed a key to the occult mysteries. It is, therefore, unwise to discard this theory entirely, for the gypsy tribes scattered over Europe certainly aided in widely distributing the cards. Nor does the connection of gypsies with the ancient mysteries quarrel with the statement that cards were part of the worship of Mercury, since no man can say that these people were not the original priests of the temple who were cast out of their shrines and forced to wander about the world. In England these nomads are frequently called the Egyptians, while their own name for themselves is Romany.

Spain has contended with Italy for the honour of originating Playing Cards, but without proving her case, for Spain preserved only a mutilated pack of pip cards, showing the symbols of Mercury, indeed, but unaccompanied by the emblematic Atouts that were the first volume of the book; these have never been known in that country. But, then, Spain was not the home of the gods of Olympus, nor was that country in close contact with Egypt, as was Italy. There is no historic record of yearly communications between the two opposite shores of the great sea, as is the case with Italy, for Seneca has left an interesting description of the great fleet from Alexandria that yearly visited Pozzuoli, on the bay of Naples.

These vessels carried not only wares, but merchants and missionaries, from the great seats of learning at the temples of Egypt. The priests of those days were not necessarily religious men, but they were scholars and scientists, who thought that their best use in the world was the diffusion of their learning and knowledge.

Since it is clearly established that the worship of Serapis, Thoth, and Mercury was followed at Pozzuoli from a very early date, preceding Christianity, it may be conceded that the people there were imbued with the appreciation of its mysteries and adored them. When Christianity refuted the doctrines of the heathen gods, those who followed the ancient rites were forced to conceal them. Hence it is that if Playing Cards are derived from this mysterious worship, through which they consulted the wishes of their gods, no trace of them can be found in the legal records before the middle of the fourteenth century, when the cards were established as a game but not as a cult.

Count Emiliano di Parravicino, in his essay on Tarocco cards in the Burlington Magazine for December, 1903, declares that professional players or teachers, known as barrattieri or rabildi, were organized in guilds that were recognised by law as early as the beginning of the thirteenth century, which seems as if the deposed initiates, or the priests of Mercury, were still vital and a recognised necessity, although under a new title.

Happily for the card student, there still remain several packs of Italian cards that link the present ones with the ancient emblems of Mercury. The ducal family of Visconti inherited sixty-one cards that originally belonged to Duke Filippo Maria Visconti, having been executed for him by Marziano da Tortona early in the fifteenth century. These were mentioned by Breitkopf in his work published at Leipsic in 1784. This pack differs from its compatriots and successors in having five, instead of four, court cards. The Atouts are beautifully painted with all the attributes connected with Mercury. That of “the Lovers,” No. VI, represents Duke Filippo Maria wearing a broad-brimmed hat on which is inscribed “A bon Droit”; the female figure is dressed as a bride and is probably a likeness of the Duke’s first wife, Beatrice di Tenda, the widow of Francisco Cane. These figures are surrounded with small shields blazoning the arms of Visconti and Pavia.

Among these Atouts No. XIII, Death, is represented on a black, instead of on a white, horse. The figures on the other cards resemble those still commonly used, but, unfortunately, there are fifteen cards missing from the pack. This historic collection of Tarots has been frequently described and reproduced, since Marziano da Tortona, who executed the pictures, was a scholar, as well as a skillful artist. He introduced some original features in his treatment of the pictures while strictly conforming to the heraldic devices that marked their origin, for no man living at that time would be ignorant enough to change the devices, since they still told their story to the people of the day, who understood heraldry even if they could not decipher written words.

This celebrated pack of cards was probably a wedding gift to the illustrious couple, since the artist was also their secretary. That it was prized, but little handled, and kept as a work of art is proved by the good condition of the pictures, which are almost as fresh as when they left the hands of the designer. They are treasured possessions of the descendants of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti and are seldom allowed to be seen or exhibited.

Another interesting collection of early Tarocci (little Tarots) is described by Count di Parravicino, who states that the pack was painted early in the fifteenth century by a Ferrarese artist named Antonio Cicognara. These cards have been owned in one family several centuries with an authentic history of them, for in the annals of Cremona, written by Domenico Bordegallo, is found the following reference to the pack:

“1484. In this year our townsman, Antonio di Cicognara, a most skillful painter of pictures and an admirable miniaturist, designed and illuminated a magnificent pack of cards called Tarots, which have been seen by me, and he made a present of them to the most honorable, reverend, and illustrious Lord Ascanio M. Sforza, Cardinal of the Holy Church, Bishop of Pavia and Novara, at one time dean of our cathedral and now commendatory of the canons of St. Gregory, and son of the most illustrious and excellent Francesco Sforza and the Lady Bianca Visconti, born here in Cremona.”

“The same artist,” states Count di Parravicino, “illustrated other packs for the sisters of this Cardinal. They were nuns in the Augustine Convent founded in this town by the aforesaid Madonna Bianca.”

This naïve record of the amusements of the religious communities of the fifteenth century presents a novel picture to the minds of those who suppose that cards were not permitted within the sacred precincts, although such was not the case, as is confirmed by a proverb of the day that says “Mind what the friar says, not what he does.”

The Tarocco cards were thus called from the game “Little Tarots” or “Tarocci,” played at the time, said to have been invented by Francis Fibbia. Thus the older name of Tarots became corrupted to Tarocco, although the number and value of the original pack remained unaltered.

The cards painted for Cardinal Sforza are still in existence. Some are shown in the Carrara Museum at Bergamo; others are in the possession of Count Alessandro Colleoni; while thirty-five cards of this pack are owned by Mr. Pierpont Morgan and are exhibited by him in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

It is impossible to do justice to the beauty of this set of cards that are painted in the most delicate manner. The background is of gold picked out or embossed with a diapered pattern dotted in raised designs on a smooth surface; the figures are cleverly moddeled and beautifully executed; the faces are painted with the delicate touch of an accomplished miniaturist. That of the Knave of Money is seen in profile, and is so expressive that it is probably a likeness, since the treatment is even more careful and the features better drawn than those of most of the Atouts.

The Knight of Cups in the pack (originally owned by Count Alessandro Colleoni, now owned by Mr. Morgan) is mounted on a white horse and is dressed in an embroidered coat, with white leggings and pointed shoes. The hair is parted and falls in waves on either side of the face, which is that of a very young boy and rather effeminate. There is a crown on the saddle-cloth of the horse that probably denotes the rank of the rider.

The King of Swords also seems to be a likeness. He wears black armour, and his shield displays armorial bearings. The Queen of Money has a beautifully embroidered robe with a regal mantle falling from her shoulders. Her hands are particularly well drawn and her attitude is remarkably graceful.

Temperance, Death, and Strength are among this pack, the former pouring the water and oil together, which is one of the earliest known devices for consulting the wishes of the gods. Death is the usual skeleton, who in this case bears a sceptre, and Strength also repeats the emblem of the sceptre or the caduceus.

 

 

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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 binding of a book of the fifteen century. The heraldic devices on the cards and the detail of the costumes, which are essentially French, point to their having been produced in the time of Charles VI. The robes, beards, etc., of three of the Kings are similar to the portraits of Charles or his courtiers. The velvet hats are surmounted with crowns and the robes are trimmed with ermine. The dress of the Knaves corresponds with that of the pages, or else with that of the sergents d’Armes of the day, while the Queens are dressed like the portrait of Isabella of Bavaria. The court cards of the fourth suit show a marked contrast to the richly bedecked ones of the three other suits, for the figures are habited like savages, which is supposed to recall a fête given on the occasion of the marriage of one of the queen’s maids of honour to the Chevalier de Vermandois, that had such a horrible termination.

Charles VI had had attacks of mania, but was at that time more reasonable. Hugonin de Janzay, one of his favourites, planned to entertain him by inducing him to take part in a mummery, for which the king and five other men were to be dressed as savages, and were to enter the fête to surprise the guests. The party were dressed in linen soaked with tar and covered with fur, so were completely disguised. They rushed into the ballroom shouting and rattling their chains, when the Duc D’Orleans, brother of the king, seized a torch from an attendant to look more closely at the strangers, and by mischance set the inflammable clothes on fire. Most of the men were chained together and could not escape, but one of them freed himself and saved his own life by plunging into a cistern of water which was placed in the buttery for the purpose of rinsing the drinking cups.

The king, who was standing at a little distance talking to the Duchess de Beri, was saved by that lady, who, with great presence of mind, wrapped her velvet cloak around her royal master. This gruesome incident brought on another attack of mania, that lasted until his death on the 21st of October, 1422, after a reign of forty-two years. It is presumed by M. Paul la Croix, in his essay on “Cartes a Jouer” (1873), that this celebrated incident was perpetuated in the French cards that he thinks were invented and painted at about that time.

The fragments of the second pack, that apparently belong to the same period, closely resemble those with which we are familiar, since they are not Tarots but bear the pips invented by the French, and M. la Croix states (page 241) that he “credits the tradition declaring that these particular cards are the first Piquet pack, and that these were the original cards that dethroned the Tarots of the Italians to become the favorites of the French nation.”

These French pips were afterwards adopted by the less ingenious English, while the Germans invented devices of their own, called Grünen, Eicheln, Herzen, and Shellen, at about the same period. Although the Spaniards remained faithful to the Tarots, they discarded the Atout part of the pack, retaining only the suit cards with the pips of Cups, Money, Swords, and Staves. The emblems adopted in the several countries nearly five hundred years ago (when a wave of card playing seems to have swept over Europe), have retained their hold on the affections of those who adopted the individual devices, for each nation still clings to the pips that were then chosen, and it is only by degrees that the French designs are emigrating to different parts of the world.

The “Jesse” pack of cards, now to be seen in Paris, are painted on cardboard, and the figures are dressed in the fashions of the day. The emblems recall the heraldic tokens of two of the courtiers of Charles VI, as well as the one identified with one of the most beautiful and learned women of her day. It is said that the invention of these pips was due to the anxiety of Queen Isabella and her ministers to divert the unfortunate monarch, so as to prevent his interfering with their schemes.

It was with the alteration of the pips, the adoption of Coeurs (Hearts), Carreaux (Diamonds), Trèfles (Clubs), and Piques (Spades), the distinctive use of red and black unmingled with other colours, and the discarding of the fourth court card, together with the Joker, and the Atout part of the old pack, that the fortune-telling Book of Thoth became transformed into a set of toys or gambling instruments. It is little wonder that their original intention, purpose, and history became obliterated and finally almost forgotten, so that when a French writer ventured to state that cards were part of the Egyptian mysteries he was treated as a foolish dreamer.

The invention of the French pips is attributed to two persons, both of them courtiers of the king, who probably worked together to produce a simple and convenient set of devices that should be easily recognised and as well adapted for playing, as were the original Tarots suited for divining the lives and characteristics of mankind. One of the inventors of the French pips was Etienne Vignolles, whose nickname was La Hire, and this name has been found on some of the old cards, as if he wished to be perpetuated in this way, and not as the brave old soldier who was well versed in chivalric customs, and who, according to historians, had always his sword drawn against the English. The second person to whom is credited the invention of the Piquet pack is Etienne Chevalier, secretary to the king, and his treasurer, who was noted for his original and inventive genius and his quick wit. It is more than probable that to his facile pencil the new designs should be attributed. The men who formulated the rules of the game for which they invented the cards must have been clever, as it is arranged with such care that these rules have remained practically unaltered for five hundred years, and Piquet is still a favourite in men’s clubs and the best tête-a-tête game known.

The Piquet pack contains five pip cards, Ace, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten, with three court cards, King, Queen, and Knave, called by the French names of Le Roi, La Reine, and Le Valet or varlet. With this handful of cards we are all familiar. Here was a great modification of the old suits with their heraldic devices. The Cavalier of the Tarot pack was discarded, thus reducing the court cards to three instead of four, while five of the pip cards were also omitted. The game was thoroughly scientific, needing close attention and discretion even with the curtailed pack of cards. It showed the soldier’s hand in its stratagem, and that of the artist in its simple colours.

The king’s banker was Jacques Cœur, whose beautiful palace in Bourges shows a pun on his name in every lintel, door or window where a heart is cut in stone or wood to remind one of the owner. Tradition states that it was in honour of Jacques Cœur that his heraldic emblem, Coeurs (Hearts), was placed on the cards to perpetuate his memory, to the exclusion of that of his patron, Mercury, the god of merchants.

The Money emblem was changed to Carreaux (Diamonds). This device may have been inspired by the little lozenge panes of glass in the windows of Cœur’s palace, or by the tiles in the floors, or perhaps by “les fers de fiche,” which would have retained the original idea of the “divining arrows” from which the old cards came. M. la Croix says: “The Sword of the ancients became Pique (Spade), to do honour to the two soldier brothers, Jean and Gaspard Bureau.” The Trèfle (Club) was the heraldic device of Agnes Sorel, a greatly accomplished woman who displaced the queen in the affections of her husband. Sorel is the French for what we call shamrock or clover, and was a pun on the name of the lady.

M. la Croix thinks that these cards were devised some time between the years 1420 and 1440. If so, they could only have been born at the very end of the mad king’s life.

The distinctive marks of the French pack are the two dominating colours, red and black, that strongly contrast with the various and mingled colours seen in the Tarots. The reason for simplifying the pips in this way is not recorded, although the change makes it much easier for players and was a clever idea, but no sharp division like this is called for when playing the game of Piquet (or little Pique), for which these cards were primarily used. It was probably intended to simplify the work of the card maker, as it demanded only the two colours commonly used by printers, black and red.

It was about the year 1785, over three hundred years after the French had become accustomed to their new cards, and had entirely forgotten that there were any others, that Court de Gebelin, a French writer, published his essay on Tarots, which he calls “that strange collection of unbound leaves that are the parents of all modern playing cards.” It is entitled “Extràit du Monde Primative Analysé et comparé avec le Monde Moderne, Tome I, Du Jeu des Tarots.”

 

Early Italian Tarots
Pip Cards of the Sword Suit

55 Ace of Swords 56 Deuce of Swords 57 Trey of Swords

58 Four of Swords 59 Five of Swords 60 Six of Swords

 

The account begins with the announcement that the origin of the Tarots and their allegories will be traced and explained, as well as their connection with the cards of the day. The essay being in French, a free translation with necessary omissions must be given, while the curious are referred to the original. M. de Gebelin begins:

“If it were announced that one of the ancient books of the early Egyptians that contained most interesting information had escaped the flames that consumed their superb libraries, every one would doubtless be anxious to see such a precious and rare work. If added to this information it was stated that the leaves of this book were scattered over Europe, and that for centuries they had been in the hands of all the world, surprise and incredulity would greet the suggestion. Yet when, to crown all, it was realized that no one had even suspected the connection of the scattered pages in their possession with those of Egyptian mysteries, nor had any person deciphered a line on them, and that the fruit of an exquisite wisdom is to-day regarded as a collection of extravagant pictures without any significance, the world would be surprised at its own supineness or ignorance. Despite incredulity on these points, a great Egyptian book, the sole survivor of a valuable library, is still in existence, and, what is more strange, this book is so universally used and seems to be so insignificant that no savant has condescended to study its unbound pages, nor has any student suspected its illustrious origin. Composed of seventy-eight leaves that are divided into five classes, this book is, in one word, what is commonly known as the Tarot pack of cards. Of ancient origin, the bizarre pictures that they display do not betray the intention or motive for assembling together such peculiar figures and emblems. These pictures, that seem to be incongruously mingled, call for an answer to the enigma, and they should not be treated as trifles or merely for amusement.” Such is the opinion of a scholar who lived over one hundred years ago, and this opinion has survived the ridicule, abuse, and disdain showered on de Gebelin after he had pointed out that the Tarots were in truth the Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus.

There is only one spot in the world where these cards remain in their pristine condition and are played with to-day, and where they are offered for sale, and it is interesting to note that it is close to the place where the worship of Thoth first made its appearance in Europe.

The Tarots are now used for playing several games, and these, if analysed, will show marks of the ancient mysteries. Through them can be traced not only a birthplace, but a history declared by de Gebelin to hark back to the borderland of civilization. He points out that the writers of his day have confined their studies to French cards used in Paris, when they were looking for the origin of playing cards, entirely ignoring, or at least never referring to, the Tarots, of which probably they had never heard.

The history of French cards was not hard to relate, since it goes back little over three hundred years. There is a record of their birth, and, as has been mentioned, there are survivors of the original pack now to be seen in Les Cabinet des Estampes in Paris, which display Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades.

Merlin, Chatto, Singer, and Breitkopf look farther afield than de Gebelin’s predecessors, whose writings are now forgotten, but all of them, while acknowledging that the images or the pips of the Tarots with which they are familiar have some connection with an old condition of affairs, fail to trace it, since no reliable historical or legal record of cards that are called “Playing Cards” can be discovered prior to the Middle Ages, so they assumed that cards could not have existed before that date, but the possibility that they might have lived and flourished under another name is overlooked.

These authorities acknowledge that the shape, the sequence, and the grouping of the Tarots display system, which they decide is interesting but incomprehensible, yet they fail to unravel the significance of these arrangements. They touch upon the strange resemblance of various figures and their value in the game of L’Ombre (The Man) to the civil law, philosophy, and religion of the ancient Romans, Greeks, or Egyptians. Mr. Singer points to one of the Atouts that he says “resembles the attributes of Osiris,” and other cards impress him as recalling those of Mercury, as well as other mythological personages that he writes “seem to be found among the Atouts.” But all the authors arrest themselves at this point without inquiring if these ancient gods whom they recognised were placed with intention or by chance on the cards, and, although they concede that the cards were used for divining purposes, they fail to connect them distinctly with the mysteries of past ages.

De Gebelin declares that “the Tarots could only be the outcome of the work of sages,” and that “these cards were intended for the use of initiates and not for gamblers.” He alone pierces the mystery of the origin of the Tarots, while the others content themselves with supposing that cards sprang in their present form into use precisely as Minerva emerged fully equipped from Jove’s head; they write that cards had no existence, no form, and no record, previous to those accorded to them about the thirteenth century.

To call an antagonist “a dreamer” or “a fool” is an unconvincing form of argument. To declare that a proposition is untrue because it is presented for the first time and has not been looked into is absurd; so to-day, over one hundred and twenty-five years after Court de Gebelin spread his pearls before the uncomprehending students of Playing Card lore, it may be well to recapitulate his theories and study his conclusions with minds opened by latter-day revelations of the ancient rites, mysteries, and cults, and not to reject them without investigation.

 

 

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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 found in England.

Sometimes the collection of fifty-two cards, adopted from the French, was called “a stock,” notably in the play of “The Three Ladies of London,” where one of them says: “Now, all the cards in the Stock are dealt about.” But the word is now only applied when it is wished to designate those cards left after a hand has been dealt, although they are more commonly called “the widow,” or “the forsaken one.” In Queen Elizabeth’s day, a pack of cards was called “a bunch,” and Shakespeare terms them “a deck,” which designation is still used in Scotland and in parts of the United States.

The designs on the cards representing the numbers are technically termed pips, or peeps, perhaps from the seeds of apples, pears, and oranges, that are so called in England; and they are also called spots.

In the “Metamorphosis of Ajax,” by Sir John Harrington (1615), he says: “When Brutus had discarded the kings and queens out of the pack, and shown himself sworn enemy to all the Coate cards, there crept in many new forms of government.” This rather unique and old-fashioned way of designating the figures in the pack leads some persons to suppose that the name implied “coated figures, that is to say, men and women wearing coats, in contradistinction to the other devices of flowers or animals.” The term does not seem to have been general, however, and it is more probable that they were called “court cards,” since these representative persons are dressed in ermine, with rich embroideries and jewels, and two of each suit are crowned, so that they were recognised as “coated,” or fashionably dressed. It has been pointed out that the original French court cards were probably likenesses of the kings of France of the day, as well as their consorts and mistresses; while in England, they were copies of well-known portraits of Henry VIII and his beautiful mother, Queen Elizabeth of York, so that they were rulers of the card kingdom, as well as of their respective countries. The cards were, therefore, called “of the court,” or “court cards.”

The collection necessary for most of the games played with the French cards vary in number, but this is merely a matter of local preference, as demanded by the games in vogue. In Paris, a Piquet pack requires only thirty-six cards, while, in the United States, Nonsuch Euchre calls for sixty-one, including the Joker, which card is unknown in France. A standard French or English pack contains fifty-two cards, divided into four suits, like their forefathers, the Tarots. The distinguishing feature of the junior pack is the two colours into which it is parted, for two of the suits are painted black, and two are red; this distinction marks the difference between the French cards and those of all other nations, where local pips are used.

The Tarots had four court cards to each suit, while the French and Spanish packs have only three members of the court world. The Spaniards omit the woman from their cards, while the French drop one of the men, the cavalier, a mounted figure that gives variety and value to the royal family in other countries, and makes the game more like one of war, and not merely a compliment to a distinguished lady. However, the King, Queen, and Knave are now the only ones with the French emblems, and these are followed by ten pip cards, in which number one, or the Ace, is sometimes the highest, and, at others, the lowest in the pack, according to the game to be played.

In the United States, a pack is incomplete without the Joker, which then makes fifty-three cards to a standard pack. Many writers have tried to connect the number fifty-two with the weeks of the year, but, as can easily be seen by studying the Tarots, this was not the original number, and the French, when inventing their new set of cards, probably had no such connection in mind, and the Piquet, which is the earliest French pack, contains less than fifty-two cards.

The Joker did not make its appearance in the United States until about the middle of the nineteenth century, and then for a rather strange reason. The cards used in the Northern States were those inherited from France or England, while those used in the extreme South-western States were of Spanish origin, but the packs of none of these countries had retained the old figure of Mercury. The Joker, however, suddenly appeared in the American packs, the reason for this being as follows, cards are printed or stamped on large sheets of paper, which are afterwards cut apart to the required size. When arranged on the sheet, one space in a corner was not used, and, therefore, left blank, although the back was printed exactly like all the rest of the pack. Having no need for this card, the makers generously threw it in, and placed it on the outside of the wrapper, so as to show the colour and design of the back. The value of the new card was rapidly recognised by players, who, impelled by some unknown power, assigned to it the position originally occupied by Il Matto of the Tarot pack, with all its old privileges of taking every other card. It was particularly valuable in the game of Euchre, that sprang into popularity at the same time that the Joker (or the one who played tricks and took them) was adopted. So, through this accidental appearance of a blank card in the pack, Mercury suddenly asserted his old supremacy, and cunningly resumed his wonted place and power in the card world, although his original prominence and his cult had been entirely overlooked and forgotten for over five hundred years, except in one particular town in Italy, where the old Tarots are retained in their pristine condition.

Instead of using a blank card on the outside of the pack, some of the European card manufacturers make a hole in the wrapper, through which may be seen the Ace of Hearts, stamped with the government revenue stamp. In England and the United States, the name of the manufacturer is printed on the Ace of Spades, and the revenue stamp is pasted on the wrapper of the pack. German card makers often place a blank card in their wrappers, but it has not been incorporated into any of the local games, nor does it bear a revenue stamp or the maker’s name upon it.

As soon as American manufacturers discovered that card players considered the odd card of value, the Joker was quickly represented by various grotesque figures, that differ in every pack, and are somewhat confusing to players. It, therefore, seems a pity that a uniform design is not agreed upon, as is the case with the court cards. Any deviation from the dress of the figures on the latter meets with instant opposition from players. It seems peculiar that the card is never represented by Mercury, or a fool, or a clown, or perhaps, a red devil, which would make it easy to distinguish from the Ace of Spades, which is often, and sometimes disastrously, mistaken for the more powerful Joker. The most desirable image that might now be used would be a reproduction of the beautiful flying figure of Mercury, carrying the caduceus, by John of Bologna.

No French packs, and very few English ones, contain a Joker, since the games that call for its use are not favourites in those countries. However, the Joker, with all its inherited value, is known in the Japanese and Korean packs of cards, where it seems to be of sporadic growth, and is apparently not connected with the ancient god, Mercury, the quondam ruler of the cards.

Nor are the makers of the French packs wedded to one costume for the court cards, as are those of England, where the slightest change in the dress, emblems, or colours, causes a remonstrance from players, who insist on retaining everything as they have been accustomed to it for several hundred years. The English people, however, do not reverence the images because they are those of their own royal families, for it remained for an American to identify the origin of the pictures, and to connect them with the originals.

English players even resented the alteration made about 1870, when the cards were cut in two, and reversed, making what are known as “double headers.” These are sometimes declared to be an American innovation, but in “Cartes a Jouer,” by M. Merlin, a pack of Venetian cards, dated 1602, is illustrated, the court cards of which are so divided.

Another novelty invented and introduced in America, is the “index,” or the number of the card printed in the upper left-hand and lower right-hand corners. This was necessary for playing Poker, where the players keep the cards squeezed together as closely as possible, to prevent other players looking into their hands. These useful little numbers have given their name of “squeezers,” or “indexed cards” to this fashion. English clubmen, however, absolutely refused to adopt cards printed in this way.

The costume of the King in English and American packs is a grotesque reproduction of that of Henry VIII of England, and that of the Knave is like the dress of the page of his day. The long sleeves were nicknamed “pokeys,” since food or precious articles might be concealed in them, so these bag sleeves were the ancestors of pockets and reticules.

It is quite as important to retain the position as the dress of each figure, if the wishes of players are to be respected. Thus, the King of Hearts holds the sword of Mercury uplifted in his left hand. It is an heraldic weapon, and not a rapier, or what is known as a dress sword, that would have been usual with the costume of the period. His mate on the English cards, the red King of Diamonds, has a battleaxe displayed in the upper left-hand corner, and he is the only king whose face is in profile. His right hand is raised, as if bestowing a blessing.

The two black kings each hold uplifted swords. That of Clubs faces towards the left, as does the King of Hearts, but Clubs holds an orb in his right hand. The King of Spades faces towards the right. All the kings have long hair, resting on the shoulders, and curling upwards at the ends. They wear small, pointed moustaches (with the exception of Hearts), and all have beards divided in the middle and curled. Crowns and long, flowing robes, trimmed with ermine, complete the costume, excepting on the modern, double-headed cards, where their royalties are curtailed of half of their splendour.

It was once fashionable to assign names to the royal family of cards. This custom has been retained in France, and is the only one, with the exception of the colour and designs of the pips, that has been kept, for the early dresses have been entirely discarded, and fantastic ones, with no heraldic meaning and no inherited intention, have been substituted. The revolution that overturned the throne of France also upset the costumes of the card world, that had closely resembled the original designs up to that date, but when royalty was banished, the cards followed many and various fashions.

In the originals, the Knave of Clubs was named Roland, for one of the heroes of French literature in the time of Charlemagne. The king of that suit has a legend printed beside his name, “faut sou” or “lack penny.” The Queen was called Tromperie.

The King of Diamonds received the historical name of Corsube, and the motto of his Queen was “en toi te fie,” or “self-trust.” The King of Spades was Apollin, a Saracenic hero, and the Queen of Hearts bears the motto, “La foie etsp. d. u.,” or “lost faith.” The date of these cards is about 1450.

In another pack, of probably nearly the same date, the King of Hearts is named La Hire. This was the nickname of the warrior who was said to have assisted in the invention of the game of Piquet, and the pips unalterably connected with it. The King of Diamonds has, beside his name, that of Hector of Troy, said to have been the ancestor of the kings of France. The Knave of Spades is Ogier the Dane, reminding the players of one of the peers in the time of Charlemagne. The kings of this historic pack were Alexander, Cæsar, David, and Charlemagne. The queens were Judith, Pallas, Argine, and Rachel. Judith was intended for Isabella of Bavaria, mother of Charles VII, and a very disreputable person; Pallas typified Joan of Arc, who gave her life for her nation; Argine was supposed to represent the wife of the king, Marie of Anjou; and Rachel was Agnes Sorel, whose emblem, the sorrel or clover leaf, had been placed among the pips.

The Knaves in the card kingdom of England wear battlemented caps of red velvet, shaped like those worn in that country by the servant class in the middle of the sixteenth century, when the dress of each man and woman marked his or her position with peculiar distinctness. To be quite correct, the caps should be black, but the touch of colour is well-liked on the cards. The warriors or police of the pack are the black knaves who hold pikes as weapons. The Knave of Clubs looks to the right, and his comrade to the left. These cards typify Boaz and Jakin, or the pillars of the Temple of Solomon, revered by Freemasons.

The Knave of Hearts is a soldier, like his comrades, but of a somewhat higher grade, and he carries on his right arm a halberd “at rest.” In his left hand is a branch of olive, representing the messenger of peace, clearly descended from the emblem of Mercury, whose wand was often used as a flag of truce. The Knave of Spades carries a twisted ribbon, strongly suggestive of the caduceus; and he is supposed to represent Patch, the favourite court fool of Elizabeth of York. Both the Knave of Hearts and the Knave of Spades are in profile, and look over the left shoulder. The hair of all is long and curly. With the exception of Clubs, all of the Knaves wear moustaches, but no beards. Diamonds once sported a quiver with arrows, but this has now become part of the dress, and is difficult to separate from its trimmings. Before they were so ruthlessly cut in half, these Knaves had funny short, fat legs, with broadtoed shoes.

The names given to the knaves in different localities and in different games are not written on the cards, as is the case in France, but they receive them from the players, and are sometimes historical and rather affording. In the old game of Gleek, they were nicknamed Tom. In other games, the Knave of Clubs was designated Pam, and in Germany, he is called Wenzel, Wencelaus, or der Treffle-Bube.

Jack was the name given to all the Knaves in All-Fours, which cognomen has clung to them. In Euchre, the Knaves of Trumps are called Bowers. The rules of that game make the Joker the highest card, followed by the Knave of the suit declared to be trumps, and the Knave of the suit of the same colour. Thus, if Hearts are trumps, its Knave is called “the right bower,” and the Knave of Diamonds becomes “the left bower.” This word is a corruption of a dialect word, meaning “young man,” and was given to the Knaves when Euchre was invented, about the middle of the last century, at the same time that the Joker was reappointed to his old place in the pack.

In Skat and the games from which it has been adapted, such as Tappé Tarot, of the Austrians; L’Ombre, of the Italians, and Primero, of the Spaniards and English (to all of which the German game bears a strong resemblance), the Knaves are called “Matadores.” In France, the Knave is called Varlet, or Valet; in Italy, Fanté; in Spain, Soto; but there are local nicknames for all the Knaves in different countries and in different games. Obermann and Untermann, or, for short, Ober and Unter, are printed on the two male figures in the German packs, where three court cards are retained, but where no Queens are to be found, although the Tarots had four royal personages, including a Queen.

The attributes, dresses, and devices of the queens of the card kingdom are historical and most interesting, for, like their kings and valets, their fashions have survived unchanged for practically four hundred and twenty-five years, since the French cards were introduced into England.

None of the faces are in profile, but the Queens of Diamonds and Clubs incline to our right, while the Queens of Hearts and Spades look towards our left. The robes are trimmed with ermine and are confined at the waist by jeweled buckles. A wimple or veil floats from the fair hair that is parted over the brow and crowned with a diadem, worn quite far back instead of on the top of the head.

The representation of the Queens on the cards is a close copy of the costume of the many portraits extant of Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV of England, wife of Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII. Some of her likenesses are in different collections in England, the most interesting one being in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The picture of Henry VII, which hangs as a pendant to that of his lovely wife, is marked 1505, or four years before his death, and looks like an elderly, careworn man, but that of his consort was probably painted at the time of her marriage, as she is portrayed as a young, sweet-faced woman. It is this picture that has been placed on the cards, where it has remained practically unaltered for four centuries, while her husband’s likeness has not been perpetuated among the court cards.

The reason for placing the likeness of Elizabeth of York on the cards may be briefly stated. She was born in the palace of Westminster, February 11, 1466, and was the eldest child of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. For some years the little royal princess was heiress to the throne. When his daughter was about nine years of age, King Edward made an expedition into France, and war with that country was averted only by her submitting to become tributary to the invaders. In the articles of peace, the Princess Elizabeth was contracted to the Dauphin Charles, the eldest son of Louis XI and the great-grandson of the crazy Charles VI, for whom the French pips were said to have been invented.

“From the hour of her contract with the heir of France, Elizabeth was always addressed in the palace,” says Miss Strickland in her “Lives of the Queens of England,” “as Mme. la Dauphine,” so “the most illustrious Maid of York” (as she was also called) was taught to speak and write French by ladies sent to England by Louis. They also dressed the princess in the latest French fashions. The simple veil of fine white muslin, that had been the customary court dress, was replaced by a velvet hood with long lapels heavily jeweled. Flowing sleeves trimmed with ermine took the place of the tight ones with broad lace cuffs that had formerly been the style in England, and a robe confined at the waist by a girdle and jeweled buckle took the place of the stiff, tight bodice. All these items of dress have been closely copied in the cards, where they may be easily studied.

 

Early Italian Tarots
Pip and Court Cards of the Sword Suit

61 Seven of Swords 62 Eight of Swords 63 Nine of Swords

64 Ten of Swords 65 Knave of Swords 66 Cavalier of Swords

 

Elizabeth was also taught embroidery by her French dame d’honneur, but, above all, was instructed to play with the cards bearing French pips instead of those with German emblems, showing Acorns, Leaves, Hearts, and Bells, that were probably used before that time in England, since they are the only ones found in that country.

The marriage contract was treacherously broken by the French king, who married his son to Anne of Bretagne, and this slight to the Princess Elizabeth so infuriated her father that it caused his death.

After years of sorrow and vicissitudes, Elizabeth married Henry VII, January 16, 1486, thus uniting the houses of York and Lancaster, and her heraldic rose remains on the cards to remind us of this important event.

John de Gigh, a prebendary of St. Paul’s, wrote a Latin epithalamium on her marriage, and a part of it describes this exalted lady on her wedding day. A free translation of it may be given as follows:

Oh! royal maid,
Put on your regal robes in loveliness.
A thousand fair attendants round you wait,
Of various ranks, with different offices,
To deck your beauteous form. Lo, this delights
To smooth with ivory comb your golden hair,
And that to curl and braid each shining tress,
And wreathe the sparkling jewels round your head,
Twining your soft, smooth locks with gems. This one shall clasp
The radiant necklace framed in fretted gold
About your snowy neck, while that unfolds
The robes that glow with gold and purple dye,
And fits the ornaments with patient skill
To your unrivalled limbs, and here shall shine
The costly treasures from the Orient sands.
The sapphire, azure gem that emulates
Heaven’s loftly arch, shall gleam, and softly there
The verdant emerald shed its greenest light,
And fiery carbuncle flash forth its rosy rays
From the pure gold.

This graphic description of hair, costume, and ornaments seems to be still repeated in the cards of to-day that closely resemble the portraits of this dainty queen.

Elizabeth was a believer in fortune-telling and consulted an astrologer on many occasions. It was predicted that all sorts of good fortune would befall her in 1503, on the day that she completed her thirty-seventh year. This is alluded to in the elegy that Sir Thomas More wrote on his royal mistress, describing in it the folly and vanity of such divinations and their untrustworthiness, as follows:

Yet was I lately promised otherwise
This year to lie in weal and in delight;
Lo! to what cometh all thy blandishing promises,
O false astrology and divinitrice,
Of God’s secrets vaunting thyself so wise?
How true is for this year the prophecy?
The year yet lasteth, and lo, here I lie.
It booteth not for me to wail and cry,
Pray for my soul, for lo, here I die.

For, after a short and sad married life, Queen Elizabeth died on her birthday, February 11, 1503. “She was,” says Miss Strickland, “one of the most beautiful of our queens. Her portraits are numerous and her monumental statue is in King Henry’s Chapel at Westminster Abbey. It was designed by Torregiano and shows the sweet expression of her mouth.”

The portrait of this lovely, gentle lady may well remain as queen of the Card Kingdom, with that of her son, Henry VIII, as king. In England the Queen of Hearts is still frequently called “Queen Bess.”

The plaid or chequered backs fashionable at one time on cards were later discarded, since they could so easily be used by gamblers, who put marks on the cards that could not readily be discerned by unaccustomed players. The chequered backs gave rise to the supposition that the board for playing chess had been transferred to the backs of the cards, and the chessmen had been converted into printed figures on the faces of the cardboard. This idea has been proved incorrect, since cards are in no way derived from the game of Chess.

In France the backs of the cards are highly glazed and are of a plain, uniform colour, generally red or green. In Spain card makers use speckled backs. The modern Tarots have designs engraved on a very thin paper that is pasted on the back, the edges of which are turned over the face of the card, making a narrow border. These designs are sometimes “the woman of Samaria,” and at others a Hercules throwing rocks down a precipice. The backs of old English cards were generally plain, and when paper was scarce or expensive, old cards were too useful to be destroyed, and were used for various purposes; hence we find them in the bindings of old books.

Sometimes they were cut up for paper dolls. The richly dressed figures of the court cards were ingeniously put to this purpose, while a skillful cutter could with a pair of scissors fashion sleds, chairs, tables, etc., from the pip cards.

In “Henry Esmond,” Thackeray mentions that an invitation was sent on a Ten of Diamonds, and this was a common practice in America before the Revolution. There are several cards preserved in different families on which invitations have been written or printed. One of them is as follows: “Sir Jeffery Amhurst’s compliments to Mrs. Paul Miller, and desires the Favour of her Company to a Ball at the New Assembly Rooms on Saturday the 23^d inst., being the Anniversary of St. George. Head Quarters April 18th, 1763, New York.”

In the days of Charles I and the Commonwealth, there was a Sir John Northcote, ancestor of the present peer, who took the Parliamentary side against the king. His father was Justice Northcote, who at a game of cards won an estate in Devonshire from a Mr. Dowrish. The game played was Piquet, and to commemorate this transaction, the hands held by the players were afterwards inlaid upon the table they used, that is still preserved by the family.

 

 

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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 from the outline of the hallebarde of the soldiers who were on guard about their king) received from the English the name of Spade, and for this several derivations have been given. One of them is that the shape resembled that of the shovel or spade common among miners, but the more probable origin is the one that is suggested from the Tarot pip called by the Spaniards Espadas, the name of which was transferred to the new emblem, which is a suggestion that the Tarot cards were not unknown in England before the arrival of the French pack, although no cards of this period have been found in England.

This is strange, for fragments of an old pack called Dr. Stukley’s cards are now in the British Museum, bearing Bells and other German emblems. They are of about the date of the invention of the French pips, but since they were found in the binding of a Latin book that may have been imported into England, the originals may never have been used in that country.

In Yorkshire, the common people call a Diamond a “Picke,” says Mr. Taylor, “because it is picked or sharp-pointed as the diamond stone.” Other authorities declare that “it is to be gathered from its resemblance to a mill-pick,” and others assume that the small window frames of early days are responsible for the name Diamond, as they were generally lozenge or diamond-shaped. The name “Picke” may also have been a corruption of the French Pique, assigned from the original to the pip of another colour.

The name Club by no means describes the clover or sorrel leaf that was the emblem adopted by Agnes Sorel, but was probably the name originally given to the Rod or caduceus of the Tarots, again showing that these cards were probably known in England before the French pips became fashionable. They may have appeared first at court, and then among the noblemen and upper classes, although it was probably a hundred years before these emblems became common, as fashions moved slowly in those days and cards were not cheaply reproduced, but for some time were expensive luxuries only to be found among the rich.

Hearts are the only pips whose emblem is correctly described by its name.

The name of Ace seems to have been derived from As or Asso, which was the unit of the Roman coinage. It is represented by a single device, placed in the centre of the card, a fashion followed in all countries.

A nickname for the Ace of Diamonds in Ireland is “the Earl of Cork.” This is explained by Mr. Taylor, who says: “It was because it is the worst Ace and the poorest card in the pack, and the Earl of Cork was the poorest nobleman.”

The Spaniards call the Ace of Money Le Borgne, or “the one-eyed.” The Trey of that suit is Le Seigneur. The Trey of Cups is named La Dame, or the Lady, and the Deuce of that suit La Vache, or the Cow. The Nines of Cups and of Money are “the great and little Nines,” while the Ace of Sticks is “the serpent.” This is the caduceus of Mercury, around which originally were wound the two heraldic snakes, which have now degenerated into two strips or ribbons.

The Aces of the Swiss pack have flags wrapped around the central pip, and those of Germany have beer mugs and kindred subjects printed on them. In European countries, cards can only be purchased from tobacconists or in beer gardens.

The Spaniards call the Two spot Dos, the Germans name it Daus, and the French and English dub it Deuce. Although it is always the lowest in the pack, since in almost all games the Aces are “high,” there is an old proverb which says, “There’s luck under the black Deuce,” and old whist players had a habit of trying to prevent the good fortune from falling to an adversary when they turned it up for trumps by saying, “Not when the right elbow is on it,” and suiting the action to the word.

In England, at one time, the Nine of Diamonds was called “the curse of Scotland,” or “the cross of Scotland,” referring to the arrangement of the pips, which, with the addition of a few connecting lines, can be made to look like the heraldic St. Andrew’s cross on the arms of Scotland. Mr. Taylor quotes on page 235 from “The Oracle or Resolver of Questions” (1770), saying “the Crown of Scotland had but nine diamonds in it, so that was the origin of the name for that card.”

An explanation is given for calling the card “a curse,” as there is a tradition that it was on this card that “the Butcher Duke of Cumberland” wrote his sanguinary order after the battle of Culloden, and yet another reason given is that, in the game called after her, the Nine of Diamonds is named Pope Joan, to whom a large forfeit must be paid. Old Chinese laquered boxes, that also contained beautifully carved mother-of-pearl counters (chips), always had several little trays in them, which obviated the necessity for spoiling a fresh pack of cards and folding them for the necessary trays. The Chinese boxes had the Kings, Queens, Knaves, and Nines of Diamonds painted on their bottom. These were placed in the centre of the table and the forfeited counters paid into them. The game called for one chip to be paid to the King, two to the Queen, three to the Knave, and four to Pope Joan (the Nine of Diamonds), causing this card to be disliked by players, who considered it “a curse.”

We call the Three spot a Trey, which name is probably derived from the Spanish Tres or the French Trois.

The Four of Hearts is sometimes called Bob Collingwood, and is by some considered an unlucky card, while the Four of Spades has received the name of Ned Stokes; but these are probably localisms and have but little interest for the general public. The Four of Clubs is nicknamed “the Devil’s bed-posts,” and in the old game of Gleek all the Fours were named Tiddy. The Four of Money frequently bears the emblem of the double star, signifying the “house of David,” that was one of the signs adopted by Freemasons.

In the game of Gleek the Fives were called Towser, and the Sixes Tumbler, and these were lucky cards, as they counted double when they were turned up as Trumps.

“In Ireland,” says Mr. Taylor, “the Six of Hearts is called ‘Grace’s card,’ from the spirited answer returned by one of that family to Marshal Schomberg, who sent to tempt Grace to espouse the cause of William of Orange. A reply was written on the Six of Hearts as follows: ‘Tell your master that I despise his offer, and that honour and conscience are dearer to me than all the wealth and titles that a prince can bestow.’”

Lady Dorothy Nevill, in her interesting book, “Under Five Reigns,” says (page 320): “Visiting cards, it is not generally known, originated from ordinary playing cards, which were used as such as late as the end of the eighteenth century. A proof of this is that when, some time ago, certain repairs were being made at a house in Dean Street, Soho, a few playing cards were found with names written on their backs behind a marble chimney piece. One of the cards in question was inscribed Isaac Newton, and the house had been the residence of his father-in-law, Hogarth, in one of whose pictures of Marriage a la Mode, Plate IV, several ‘playing card’ visiting cards may be seen lying on the floor on the right side of the picture. On one of them is inscribed, ‘Count Basset begs to no how Lady Squander slept last nite.’ As time went on, specially devised visiting cards with somewhat ornate calligraphy took the place of playing cards, and these, in time, developed into the small and simple pieces of pasteboard in use to-day.”

Although the Tarots and the cards of many nations have well-decorated engraved backs, these sometimes were simply chequered or covered with tiny dots, which made some writers believe the name Tarot to be derived from taroté, or spotted; but this was not the case, since the original name for cards was the “Book of Thoth.”

 

 

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“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-tellers or the priests of Mercury. The game having now but few interpreters, the cards have nearly ceased to bear the messages of the gods, and the cult of Mercury is forgotten.

L’Ombre was played during the fourteenth century in Spain, and wandered to England, France, Germany, and Austria. It still receives its original title in the first two countries, and is played by country folk, but in France it seems to have been discarded.

Under the name of Skat, and played with the pips of that country, a modified form of the game is known in Germany. In Austria the game is called Tappé Tarok, and the ancient names are assigned to strangely designed cards quite foreign to the original Tarots, although the pack includes twenty-two Atouts and fifty-two pip cards that bear the French, but not the Italian or German, designs. For this game the old rules are largely retained, and it is considered difficult and highly scientific, so this rearranged pack has taken the place of the old Tarots in Austria. Tappé Tarok is a fashionable game in Vienna, where the “Hoyle” of the day calmly announces that it originated in that city with the cards invented for it, totally ignoring the lineage of the true Tarots, of which their Tarok pack is simply an alteration, with the French pips exchanged for Cups, Money, Swords, and Staves. That the new symbols were adopted at the same time that the emblematic figures of the Atouts were cast aside, to be replaced by meaningless pictures, is most probable, and one author declares that the change was made “lately,” but a pack in the writer’s possession proves that such was not the case, for the designs are those of the old Tarots.

After the fortune-telling pack had been adopted for a tête-a-tête game, it spread rapidly from Etruria to other places, and L’Ombre is mentioned in early Italian books of history, romance, and poetry, where the game is frequently called Tarroco or Minchiate. In England the Poet-laureate Waller immortalized “a card torn at L’Ombre by the Queen,” who was Catherine of Braganza, the wife of Charles II. It is Belinda’s game in “The Rape of the Lock,” and in many pictures of that time players are depicted either tête-a-tête, or else three persons are seated at three-sided tables that were particularly fashioned for this game; these are still treasured in old mansions, where they are called Ombre or Preference tables.

The Spanish nickname for L’Ombre is Manilla, which is also that of one of their favourite cards. Some of their towns have had this name given to them, one of which is in the Philippine Islands and one on the African coast. La Manilla is one of the “Matadores,” the name given the four cards that are selected to outrank all the others, and so called because they are “killers” or “slaughterers,” since they kill or take all other cards.

The Ace of Espadas (Swords) is the first Matador, nicknamed Espadilla, or little Sword, after the Harpé of Mercury that is represented on this card, the suit being called after its emblem. In England the card is called Spadille.

The second Matador is the one named Manilla or Malilla, and is the Nine of Money. The third Matador is the Ace of Sticks, called Basto, “he who knocks or beats.” It is the Caduceus, or Rod, and the suit takes its name from it. In certain parts of the game it is played with great effect, as is mentioned in “Cranford,” by Mrs. Gaskell, where is a description of some ladies playing a game that was then called “Preference”; where Miss Barker at the card table was “basting most unmercifully, although she declared that she was too ignorant to know Spadille from Manille.” The fourth Matador is the Ace of Cups, and is called Punto, which means the point or spot.

Players of Skat will readily recognize these terms and the value of the cards. Rules and play vary in different countries, so it would take close study of each game to point out the various rules, names, etc., that connect the games of the day with their five-hundred-year-old ancestor.

In England the eldest descendant of L’Ombre seems to be Primero, Prime, Prima-sta, or Preference, for all are the same game. Some writers claim that when Philip of Spain was wooing Mary of England he taught her the game fashionable at the court of his father, Charles V, but Primero was in vogue among the people from the days of Henry VIII to that of James I, so much so that Piquet, the French game taught to Henry’s mother when the French pips were introduced into England, was greatly neglected except in court circles.

In the Earl of Northumberland’s letters we find a reference to the game, as in one of them is the following sentence: “Jocelyn Percy was playing at Primero on Sunday in Essex House, when his uncle the conspirator called on him.”

In the Sidney Papers, Vol. II (page 83), there is an account of Sir Walter Raleigh, William Ambrose Willoughby, and Mr. Parker “being at Primero in the Presence Chamber, the queen was gone to bed. Lord Southampton, as Squire of the Body, desired him, Willoughby, to give over. Soon after he spoke to them again that if they did not leave he would call in the Guard to pull down the board, which Sir Walter Rawley seeing put up his money and went his ways.” This occurred in 1598.

In Marcus’s “Life at Primero,” many of the terms used in the game are mentioned, such as Prime, Rest, Eldest Hand, Flush, Stop, Pack, etc., all of which have been adopted in one or more modern games. In Minshew’s Spanish Dictionary there is an illustration of players at Primero in the time of Queen Elizabeth.

In “Capitolo del Gioco della Primera,” by Berni, the game is thus mentioned: “To describe what Primera is would be little less than useless, for there can scarcely be any one so ignorant as to be unacquainted with it, although played differently in Florence from Venice, Naples, France, or Spain, but none of these various ways of playing the game are superior to the Rules of Rome, where the game principally flourishes.”

In one of the works of Rabelais, edited by M. le Duchat, two kinds of Primero are described called “the lesser” and “the greater.” In the former only pip cards are required, but in the latter the whole Tarot pack is retained, as in Austria, where Atouts and pip cards belong to Tappé Tarok. The Germans play “the lesser Primero” and call it Skat. This shows how widely the rules of the game have parted from the original laws, which is the reason that it is now almost impossible to harmonize it with the fortune-telling game that it was primarily. In Italy it is called Minchiate, Tarocco, and Tarocconi. These now differ as much from the original as bridge whist does from these games.

The terms of the different games were frequently used in old plays or romances in England, as well as in other places. Shakespeare mentions Primero in “Henry VIII” (v:1): “I left the king at Primero with the Duke of Suffolk.” Again, in “The Merry Wives of Windsor” (iv:5), Falstaff says: “I never prospered since I foreswore myself at Primero.”

Sir Harry Wildair (1701) says: “The Capot at Piquet, the Paroli at Basset, and then Ombre. Who can resist the charms of Matadores?”

Lady Lurewell answers: “Ay, Sir Harry, and the ‘Sept le va, Quinze le va’ [of Basset], ‘the Nine of Diamonds at Comet’ [or Pope Joan], ‘three Fives at Cribbage and Pam,’ the ‘Queen to the Knave of Clubs in Loo.’”

The terms in Primero have been so generally adopted in modern games that they are familiar to all players, although as a collection they are no longer used for one game. Primero is played by dealing four cards, at which the players look, and, if they are unsuitable, they say “Pass.” The Sevens are the highest cards and are worth twenty-one points. The other numbers have values that differ according to the locality where the game is played. Quinola, or the Knave of Hearts, represents the Joker, and the cards left after dealing are not called the Widow or the Stock, as in some games, but the Rest. Punto, or “point,” is not the Ace of Cups, as in Spain, for in England it is the Quinola. Flushes are four cards of the same suit, and Prime is a hand in which there are four cards of the same value, but each one of a different suit.

Card games followed each other, first one and then another becoming the fashion, only to be replaced by a new one or a modification of some old one, and after L’Ombre and Preference came Mawe, Post, Lodam, Noddy, Barkerout (probably Baccarat), and countless others, to the now all-important Bridge or Auction Whist.

Mawe is described in Mr. Singer’s “History of Playing Cards” (page 258) “as a playe at cards grown out of the country from the meanest into credit at court with the greatest.” The game is frequently referred to by name in books or plays written about 1580. The Ace of Hearts is called Rumstitch or Romstecq, the name given to Mawe in the Netherlands. In Germany the game is played with a Piquet pack of thirty-six cards, and any number of persons from two to six may form the party. The Italians call a similar game Romfa.

Noddy is a childish game, but it was fashionable in the seventeenth century, and is frequently referred to by writers of that time.

Gleek is described in Cotton’s “Complete Gamester,” where it is called “a noble and delightful game or recreation.” It is also mentioned by Villon, who wrote in 1461, and other contemporary authors. M. le Duchat, the editor of Rabelais, declares that the name is derived from the German word Glück, meaning chance or luck. It is played by three persons only, each of whom is dealt twelve cards, eight being left in the widow, that is called the “stock.” The Deuces and Treys are taken from the pack. If the Four is turned up as trump, it is called “Tiddy,” and each player pays four counters to the dealer. A Mourival is a hand holding all the Kings, Queens, Knaves, or Aces. The players bid for the stock, as is done in Nonsuch Euchre. The eldest hand says, “I’ll vie the Ruff”; the next, “I’ll see it”; the third, “I’ll see it and revie it,” or, “I’ll not meddle with it,” which terms are closely copied in modern games. The Ruff is the highest flush, or else four Aces. The game of Ruff seems to have succeeded Gleek, and many games have been evolved from it, including Bridge, Poker, and Euchre, each one of which has adopted certain rules to the exclusion of others, in this way making such different games that few people can trace them to the originals. To ruff is a term still used by provincials, by which they mean to revoke.

The steps from Ruff to Bridge are called by different names, such as Trump or Triumpo by the Italians and Spaniards. “Ruff and Honours, Alias Slam, was once a favourite in England,” says Cotton in 1680.

In 1737 Richard Seymour published some rules, in which he says: “Whist, or the silent game, vulgarly called Whisk, is said to be very ancient among us, and the foundation of all the English games upon the cards.” Dean Swift declares that in his time “Whisk was a favourite among the clergy.”

“His pride is in Piquet,” says Lord Godolphin in Pope’s “Moral Essays,” showing the position that this game occupied in England in 1733, about three hundred years after its introduction to the English court. It is still played at the clubs to-day, showing what a strong hold it has upon the affections of card players, and its original rules are hardly altered, while the cards remain practically the same as when invented by La Hire, Etienne Chevalier, and Jacques Cœur.

It is supposed that the first reference to Piquet in print is in the works of Rabelais, already quoted from (1533). Probably the earliest book of rules is the one published at Rome in 1647, and translated into English in 1652. The rules were very much the same as those laid down afterwards by Cavendish in 1882. The “point” was called the “ruffe,” or, in French, Ronflé.

In “Les Facheux,” by Molière (1661), there is an interesting Piquet hand described by Alcippe, one of the players. In 1646 a Ballet du Jeu de Piquet was produced, in which the dancers were ranged according to their colours, the blacks opposite to the reds and both sides headed by the court cards. This ballet became a great favourite and was often produced, as it interested the audiences, who appreciated the various movements of the dance that reproduced and corresponded with the play of the game.

English and French plays frequently refer to the card games of their day, and Piquet is often mentioned. In the Epilogue to “Sir Harry Wildair” (1701) is the following:

Vat have you got of grand plasir in dis town?
’Tis said Vidont is come from France, dat vil go down.
Piquet, Basset, your vin, your dress, your dance,
’Tis all you see tout a la mode de France.

John Hall was one of the early writers in England who referred to Piquet, originally called Cent in that country. He says, in 1646, “a man’s fancy (or character) would be summed up at Cribbage; Gleek requires a vigilant memory, Mawe a pregnant agility, Picket a various invention, Primero a dexterous kind of rashness.”

 

Early Italian Tarots
Pip Cards of the Money Suit

67 Ace of Money 68 Deuce of Money 69 Trey of Money

70 Four of Money 71 Five of Money 72 Six of Money

 

In 1659 a curious pamphlet was published called “Shuffling, Cutting, and Dealing in a Game at Pickquet,” a political squib which used the terms of the game to describe the politicians.

Hamlet says: “How absolute the Knave is. We must speak by the card or equivocation will undo us. By the Lord, Horatio, these three years I have taken notice of it, the age is grown so picked (piqued).”

As the French cards, with the game of Piquet for which they were invented, were introduced into England in the time of Edward IV, it is possible that Hamlet used a familiar term when he declared the age was picked, as this is an expression frequently used in the game.

It is generally supposed that Euchre is a variant of the French game Ecarté, the name of which is taken from one of the rules, meaning “to put away or discard.” In the United States, Euchre was adopted about 1840, appearing first in the Middle West. It was for this game that the Joker was reinstated in the pack, a card that at first was a blank one left imprinted, but its adoption was accomplished very slowly, and it did not change the games or completely dominate the packs until within the last few years.

Others assume that the game had a nautical derivation and was invented by old salts, as the names given to the commanding cards have reference to the forward anchors of a ship.

In the year 1870 the first celebrated and authentic illustrated history of the game of Euchre was published by Bret Harte:

Which we had a small game,
And Ah Sin took a hand;
It was Euchre, and the same
He did not understand;
But he smiled as he sat by the table
With a smile that was childlike and bland.

The verses continue describing the game, in which all cheated, and its disastrous termination, “When we went for that Heathen Chinee,” is too well known to require repetition.

In early editions of “The American Hoyle,” as the book is called which is the acknowledged authority on card games in this country, the history of Euchre is given tentatively, but the account is rejected by later editions, or, at least, not republished. Although the compilers of these later editions evidently did not value, or perhaps credit, the history given by their predecessors, it may well be quoted, since no other has been advanced. The edition of 1864 says:

“The origin of this fascinating game is somewhat uncertain. From the fact that the word Bauer (a peasant) is pronounced similarly to the names of the leading cards of the game, some have supposed it to be a German invention, yet the game is unknown in Germany except in those parts where it was introduced by wandering Americans.” Nor do the German pips and cards lend themselves to the chief features of the game, particularly since they have no Joker, which is the most important card in Euchre.

In speaking of this game, Hoyle writes as follows: “As it has been traced to the counties of Bucks, Lancaster, and Lehigh, in the State of Pennsylvania, where it first made its appearance about forty years ago, it is not difficult to conjecture how it arose. Some rich farmer’s daughter of those American Teutonic regions had occasion to visit Philadelphia, and carried back to her home a confused memory of Ecarté. From her dim account one of her ingenious rustic beaux created the rudiments of the original game of Euchre, which it is claimed is a corruption of Ecarté, which by alterations and additions grew to what it is. Conjectural as this is, a number of corroborative facts seem to indicate that it is the fact.”

So far “according to Hoyle,” but any one who has studied games and their sequences may also suppose that among the descendants of the Prince of Hesse’s soldiers who were left after the war with England to spend the remainder of their lives in exile, the old games common in their country were remembered, and a game was evolved that suited the cards with the French pips, which were the only ones obtainable in this country, even although they differed from those of the Fatherland. Euchre resembles Gleek or Glück, a game well known in Germany, so the tradition of the farmer’s daughter, although ingenious, is probably without foundation.

Many of the terms used in Euchre and Nonsuch Euchre are probably derived from the dialect spoken by German immigrants and their children. The name Bower is the American-German word signifying “youngster,” which may well describe “the Knave child,” as it was at one time called in England. This word was naturally bestowed by Pennsylvania Germans on the card, for they still speak a patois peculiarly their own and clearly derived from their ancestors. It was probably they who gave this name to the Knave, and it is retained for the aforementioned game, where certain Knaves have a particular value.

The word Euchre seems likely to have been derived from the shout of exultation usual when playing certain games of cards in Germany, although the evil tendencies of the imp who presides over the spelling of English words has altered the original word Juch to the peculiarly unmeaning one of Euchre.

Juch pronounced Yuch, is a cry of exhultation. There is not only a verb to cry out, Juch, but a somewhat unusually constructed noun made from that verb, which is Jucheier; whereas Jucher would be the normally constructed noun made from that verb. Therefore, it seems quite natural to assume that Jucher, describing a player shouting with exultation when winning a point, must have been used unconsciously, whether this word is to be found in the dictionary or not, for it is certainly this exclamation that is used as the player throws down the card winning the third trick in Euchre when the opponent has ordered or taken up the trump card or made the suit. The words Keno or Domino are commonly used to declare winning one of those two games, particularly in foreign countries, and since Euchre is evidently derived from alien games, and was introduced by persons speaking a patois of English and German, the name is probably taken from the verb mentioned. Ch is pronounced in German like K, so Jucher has the sound of Euchre. In Grimm’s “Deutsches Woerterbuch,” we find the following definition:

In the New English Dictionary, commonly called the Oxford Dictionary (1905), we find the following:

It would seem that the compilers of the English dictionary had not given enough weight to the localisms of Pennsylvania when they could discover only a Spanish derivation for the terms used in Euchre, a game unknown in Spain. The game that apparently started in the western part of that State seems to have travelled down the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, for the earliest mention of it comes through the boatmen on those great streams.

Poker seems also to be a game evolved by gamesters of the United States from the old Primero, with its ancient derivations, for so many of the rules and expressions common in the modern game may be traced to the fourteenth century. It is played by four or more persons, who bet on the value of their hands, a pair being the lowest and a straight flush being the highest hand, the names of which were inherited and explain themselves. Jack Pot, Widow, and Kitty are some of the cant words used in the game, the derivations of which are evidently from Primero. The first signifies the Pool under certain circumstances. The Widow (or the forsaken, the discarded one) was originally called the Stock, or the cards unused after dealing. The Kitty is the name for the forfeit paid at the end of each game by its winner to the gambling house, that frequently amounted to a considerable sum of money.

In 1908, a variation of Poker was arranged in England, although one writer thinks that it originated in China, but without giving any authority for the statement. The game is called Poker Patience. It can be played by one or more persons, who are supplied with a board on which are twenty-five squares that, when covered with the cards, according to the rules, will count ten poker hands, five horizontally and the other five vertically.

The first card is placed on square No. 13, directly in the middle of the board, and the next card played must touch the first one on one of its eight adjoining squares. The third card should touch either the first one or the second, and so on until the twenty-five squares are covered. The hands are counted exactly as in Poker, a straight flush being the highest, and counting thirty points, while a pair is rewarded with only one point. The flushes are not of much scoring value, being only five points, but they are not difficult to make. This game is easy and interesting when used as a solitaire, but when two or more players are pitted against each other and bent on preventing the score of the opponent, it will be seen that there is a great deal of “play,” for there are so many cards left in the Widow that the game is uncertain until its finish, as a card that is most desirable may never turn up, and, therefore, there is much chance as well as skill in the baby prodigy.

“According to Hoyle” has become a proverb among card players, most of whom could give no more explanation for the term than they could for the origin of Playing Cards, although it trips so readily from the tips of their tongues. But whenever a play at cards is disputed, the justification is that it is “According to Hoyle,” which leads to the query of how and where the sentence originated that is freighted with so much weight and expression. With this cant phrase goes another, that was once frequently on the lips of card players, which condemned an unlucky player or a careless partner to “go to Halifax.”

These proverbs will be explained by a cursory glance backwards over the life story of Edward Hoyle, born in England, in 1672, near the little town of Halifax, in Yorkshire. He was of a good family and was educated for the law, for which his clear, analytical, and logical mind seemed to be particularly adapted. Living in London, he amused himself in the evenings by meeting some friends at what was the precursor of men’s clubs, the Crown Coffee House, in Bedford Row, to play Whist or Triumph, a title that was about that time shortened to Trump, a name that is retained to designate the highest suit elected by the players at the beginning of each hand, either by turning up the last card of the deal or by electing a suit according to the preference of the players. The French retain the old name of Atout for that purpose, although those picture cards have not been used in that country for centuries.

The first mention of Whist under the revised name is in “The Compleate Gamester,” which was published in 1674, and was intended to supply standard rules for the fashionable games of the time. But Cotton’s laws were confusing, and the game was played in various ways in different parts of England, since this standard was not universally accepted, and it is said that Whist was a favourite only in the servants’ hall, so that these unarbitrary rules led to quarrels and sometimes even to bloodshed.

But when Edward Hoyle became interested in the game of Whist, he had for partners or opponents some of the deepest players and most distinguished men about town, and the gamesters gradually adopted regular rules for their own guidance, which usually originated with Hoyle, so the fame of his decisions about disputed points was noised abroad throughout London. This led to his taking pupils at a guinea a lesson, and finally Hoyle wrote out his rules for their benefit, distributing them first in manuscript, but finally publishing them in “A Short Treatise on Whist,” for which he received one thousand guineas. Hoyle’s rules were adopted by the clubs and players throughout England, so, when any dispute arose, his book was consulted, and, instead of the players saying, “It is the wish (or the voice) of the gods,” as had been the original custom when consulting the oracles of Mercury, and continued by card votaries, it became customary to say, “It is according to Hoyle.”

That gentleman lived until 1769, and his rules remained unaltered for over one hundred years. In 1864, however, the Arlington and Portland Clubs, finding that modifications were needed, revised the rules, after which the “Cavendish rules” became the mode, but books on card rules are still issued under the name of Hoyle’s “Games of Cards,” so “According to Hoyle” is still a fashionable saying among the votaries of the card table.

 

 

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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 beautiful pictures, intrinsically valuable, although put to what, in the opinion of connoisseurs, was a debased use. Since the cards, as gamblers’ tools, or the instruments of diviners, had little attraction for print lovers, the latter traced the origin of the cards from an interest in the method of their production. But the history of these instruments followed, since it was an integral part of the story of the pictures that had at first been produced by hand, and then by mechanical arts. This led to an awakened desire to understand the connection of the gambling toys with the period when prints were first issued. But when these learned men studied the histories of the European countries for the first printed or legal record of Playing Cards, and decided on the fourteenth century as the date of their birth, they never looked into the haze of the past to the period when cards were not bits of pasteboard, but of very different character. So the mystery of their origin was not unfolded, although all of the written records mentioned that cards were called the Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus, who was evidently an unknown person.

It was owing to the necessity of producing cards cheaply, on account of their widespread use, that xylographic arts were invented and perfected, thus leading the way to printing, that art which has enlightened mankind as nothing had done before in the same space of time.

Mr. Singer states that “the earliest examples of woodcuts were intended for Playing Cards,” although it is generally believed that the earliest example of a woodcut that survives is the picture of St. Christopher, which was discovered pasted inside of the cover of an old book. Many Playing Cards have been preserved in the same way, since frugal persons utilized the precious paper on which the cards were printed, and did not waste it, as is done in this extravagant age.

That the oldest known print is that of a saint does not disprove Mr. Singer’s statement, for many of the rude figures produced by the first engravers served a double purpose, being equally well adapted for court cards or as representations of historical or saintlike characters, they were often adopted first for the games, and then transferred to the homes of peasants, where the pictures were accorded the name of a patron saint and revered accordingly, so in many such places priceless cuts and engravings have been found, and from there have been transferred to museums or to private print collections, where they are recognised as rare and valuable specimens of the art of the graver’s tool.

These old figures and the cards that followed them are not classed under the head of games or Playing Cards, so students wishing to examine examples of early European Playing Cards must seek the print rooms of the British Museum, or the Nuremburg Museum, and the national libraries of Vienna, Bologna, and Paris.

Since among the first productions of the graver’s tools were gambling cards, Mr. Singer and others have studied the games for which so much time and labour were devoted. “It is evident,” he says, “that since the earliest specimens of engraving on steel and on copper both in Italy and Germany are cards, there must have been a great demand for them, and that their cheap production was eagerly seized upon by the card makers, who through it considerably shortened their labours and increased their output, so from this moment games with cards rapidly spread over Europe,” while the Book of Thoth was abandoned to gypsies and fortune-tellers.

The cards painted under Grigoneur for the French king, and now in Les Cabinet des Estampes, Paris, are probably the oldest extant, and are about contemporary with the Italian packs in Bologna and those in Mr. Morgan’s collection, that are painted, but not engraved.

A pack in the British Museum goes by the name of Doctor Stukley’s cards, for he was the first to exhibit them. They are stencilled and have German pips. There is no Queen among the court cards, but her place is taken by a male figure called Ober, accompanied by a King and Unter. There are no Aces, so the cards were probably intended for the popular game of Sixty-six. These cards were rudely printed and coloured with stencils. They were first shown to the society of Antiquarians, London, November 9, 1763, and have been frequently exhibited and discussed. They were found in the binding of an old book, supposed to be Claudian, printed before 1500, and to these we owe a debt of gratitude for exciting an interest in Playing Cards, to which much of their history is due. The supposition that the German pips were used in England before the French cards were introduced is sustained only by finding this solitary pack. The book itself was not printed in England, while the name assigned to the suit of Spades is clearly derived from the Spanish Espadas, which points to the probability of the Swords, Rods, Cups, and Money pips having been known in England. The Trèfle of France was called a Club, as had probably been done with the Rod suit of the old cards.

A nearly complete pack bearing these designs and almost facsimiles of the Stukley pack is in the Historical Society of New York.

Among the earliest specimens of ornamental engraved cards are some that were executed at Cologne, the different cards of which are so widely separated that the complete pack can nowhere be found. Solitary examples are scattered in different museums, where they are treasured as beautiful representations of “the master’s” art, although no person knows his name. The wrapper of these cards has been found, and on it is a well-executed design of three ornamental crowns, placed inside of Gothic arches, that are connected by a gracefully twisted ribbon on which is the inscription “Salve Felix Colonia” which is the only remaining clue to the engraver, the date of execution, and the birthplace of the pack.

In it are five suits instead of four, and these have original emblems that, however, never seem to have been popular or intended for gambling, or even for divination, but they were probably the invention of the artist, who had little idea of the significance of the original emblems of Cups, Swords, Staves, and Money, for not only was a fifth and unprofitable suit added to the pack, but the pips were changed to artistic designs that may delight the senses of the connoisseurs, but fail to appeal to a card player, since the designer was evidently not as clever as the Frenchmen, who invented a new set of emblems for their royal master, and through constructing the game Piquet, that could only be played with these cards, clinched their adoption by players. The five suits of these German cards were Hares, Parrots, Pinks, Roses, and Columbines, with four court cards to each suit, and they are illustrated in “Playing Cards,” by Mr. Singer (page 47), and are attributed by him to Martin Schoen, or Schongaur. “The costume of the figures,” he says, “belongs to the fifteenth century, and seems conclusively to establish the fact.” To this statement other authorities do not agree.

One of the earliest examples of Playing Cards executed on copper was produced in Germany before 1446. The artist is known only by his initials, and is called “The Master E. S.” His cards are original and finely executed, although his emblems stray as far from the ancient ones peculiar to Mercury as the games to be played with them differ from divination. The devices are Roses, Cyclamen, Savages, Birds, Stags, and Lions. This “Master E. S.” seems to have copied most of his designs for a smaller set of cards, and he also executed a pack that had Shields, Flowers, Animals, and Helmets for pips. These are artistically grouped, and the escutcheons display coats-of-arms of the nobility that go far to establish the date of those that are not marked. But the pips, although they were gracefully marshaled, were troublesome and confusing to the players, which has caused these cards to be chiefly valued as examples of the graver’s art, lacking the simplicity of the French pips, with their harmonious red and black colours, these peculiar designs failed to revolutionise the Playing Cards in common use, as had evidently been the intention of “The Master.”

The little that is known of “E. S.” points to his having been the immediate predecessor of Martin Schongaur, of Colmar, who was the unrivalled engraver of his time, and has been described as the Van Eyck of engraving. He was “the actual creator of the art as practiced in modern times,” says Max Lehrs in his essay on the Playing Cards engraved by this master. “To him we owe the technical method of producing the appearance of relief and solidity on a flat surface by the combination of a number of parallel lines on transverse lines, which effect had only been obtainable before his invention by the addition of colour to the finished prints.” His home was probably in the vicinity of Freiburg, or Breisach, and it is supposed that he died in 1467.

The cards attributed to “E. S.” are scattered over Europe, but they seem to be universally acknowledged as the first specimens of engraved Playing Cards. The dainty pictures served as models to the students of the Master, and have often been copied or adopted as accessories to other pictures. The Four of Men and the Ober Knave of the same suit, the Four of Dogs, and the Three of Birds were used to adorn the cover of a Bible that is now in the University Library of Erlangen. These designs were also used in the tooling of other books.

Augsburg may lay strong claim to be considered the first seat of the art of engraving on wood, as a Guild of Card Makers is mentioned in the Town Roll of 1418. Sheets of cardboard on which the pack was printed from the block, but not yet coloured by hand, are to be found in museums, and it is supposed that the celebrated woodcut of St. Christopher, dated 1423, was produced in Augsburg, which about that time became the great exporting centre of card makers, against whom the manufacturers of Vienna, Venice, and Viterbo caused ordinances to be passed in their respective cities, forbidding the Augsburg and Nuremburg cards to be sold within their boundaries. This law is enforced to-day, which has prevented the introduction of foreign or French pips into Austria and Italy.

An interesting sheet of cards produced by the tool was acquired by the writer in Nuremburg in 1910. It is about ten by twelve inches in size, and is made of several sheets of paper pasted together. The reverse side shows a lozenge pattern, and each one of the spaces contains a fleur de lis, emphasised at the corner by a square. The sheet has not been cut apart, and there are eighteen cards printed on it, comprising all those belonging to the court, and six pip cards bearing the usual German devices. The figures do not include a Queen, but have the King, the Ober, and the Unter. The King of Eicheln (or Acorns) is seated, wears a crown on top of a turban, and holds a sceptre. His Ober and Unter both carry two swords. Their dresses are richly trimmed and they wear lace at the neck and wrists.

The King of Grünen (or Leaves) also wears a crown on top of a turban, but holds his sword in his right hand instead of his left, as is the case with his brother of Acorns. His chair is more ornate than that of any of the other kings. He wears at his neck two muslin lapels, such as were once worn with black silk gowns by ministers when preaching. One of his Knaves plays a flute, the other beats a drum. The King of Bells wears a five-pointed coronet and has a book on his knees. His Ober has a wig and a richly embroidered coat, but is bareheaded, as is his Unter, who is a ludicrously stout figure, parrying a thrust with his sword from an unseen warrior. The King of Hearts has a crown with fleurs de lis, and on the side of his chair is an anchor with the initials M. S., leading to the supposition that these cards were engraved by Martin Schongaur, the successor to the “Master E. S.” The execution, however, is far inferior to his usual delicate work. The Ober of Hearts is armed with a pike and his hair is tied with ribbons, the two ends of which float carelessly down his back. He and the Unter of his suit can “ruffle with the best of them,” for both have side arms as well as long pikes, and their coats are handsomely embroidered, while they wear lace at the throat and wrists.

The four Deuces are on this sheet. That of Hearts has an escutcheon on which is a lion rampant. The Two of Leaves shows a deer and a unicorn rampant regardant. The Two of Acorns has a Bacchus astride of a beer barrel, holding up the Cup of Hermes, and the Two of Grünen has the sow sacred to Prosperine and Mercury, that was always sacrificed to them at the feast of Hermes, on the thirteenth of May, when Spring commenced, and Mercury led Prosperine from Pluto back to earth and to her Mother, Ceres. The pig was also sacred to Nebo, so its position on the cards is fraught with meaning. The Ten of Leaves and the Seven of Hearts complete this valuable sheet that shows an early process of card production.

 

Early Italian Tarots
Pip and Court Cards of the Money Suit

73 Seven of Money 74 Eight of Money 75 Nine of Money

76 Ten of Money 77 Knave of Money 78 Cavalier of Money

 

A beautiful pack of cards was engraved by Jost Ammon, who was born in Zurich in 1539. His wood engravings are very numerous. He died in Nuremburg in 1591. The interesting cards attributed to him were published, it was said, to inculcate “Industry and Learning” rather than “Idleness and Debauchery,” so may be placed under the head of Educational Cards. Each one shows a pip, under which is a clever sketch that is fully described by some appropriate Latin verses. The pips are Books, Winepots, Cups, and Printer’s Balls. One of the cards represents a wood carver at work, supposed to be a likeness of the artist. Another shows a printer. A third has on it a bibliomaniac surrounded by flies that he is striking at with a flapper, and the accompanying verses are forcible, if inelegant. On the Three of Printer’s Balls are a lady and gentleman playing cards. The Six of Winepots shows two men at a game of Draughts. Some of the cards have pictures of men and women playing musical instruments, while others depict various homely occupations.

These symbols did not take the place of those simple devices that convey at a glance to a player the suit or number of a card, so necessary from a gambler’s point of view. Their authorship has been disputed, but the cards remain as interesting specimens of wood engraving.

The greater part of the early Italian cards are printed with a pale ink of a grayish tint. The earliest specimens are a set of Tarots that are much larger than the standard size of Playing Cards, being about four by six and a half inches. These cards are finely executed, and are one of the first of the educational packs, since the emblematic figures of the Atouts are Rhetoric, Arithmetic, etc.

The specimens of engraved cards of the Netherlands are of a later date, being about the middle of the eighteenth century. They are carefully done, and the two red suits are distinguished by being printed with a pale red ink, while the Spades and Clubs are printed in black. These cards are pretty miniature pictures, with local figures and landscapes, while the pips are French and are placed in the upper left-hand corner.

The Dutch have also several educational packs of cards. Some are historical, with Kings, Queens, and Knaves representing their royalties. There is also one showing the chief products of their kingdom and its dependencies. A third pack illustrates the costumes of the different provinces.

Germans, French and English were very fond of teaching children through educational games of cards, and a great collection of these may be found in the print room of the British Museum under the head of Lady Charlotte Schrieber’s Collection, but it is carelessly kept in drawers, the packs tied with bits of string or worsted, and it is difficult to study on this account.

 

 

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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 the ignorant from traps laid for gain against them.

Cardinal John Capistran, who visited Nuremburg in 1452, found the inhabitants devoted to all games of chance, and so addicted to gambling that the prosperity of the town was threatened.

The good Cardinal preached against the vice of gambling with such fervor and eloquence that the cathedral could not contain the crowds who went to listen to him, so a pulpit was erected before the church, in the great square or Market Place, under the clock, where a procession of wise men bowing before the King still takes place daily at noon, and from this rostrum the Cardinal ordered that all cards, dice, chessmen, draughts (checkers), etc., should be brought before him and publicly burned; an order that was implicitly obeyed.

How well the good man succeeded in obliterating games of chance or hazard may be questioned, since Nuremburg is still one of the chief centres of card making, the descendants of the original makers being in active business to-day, who sell sheets of cardboard that were concealed for many years, on which the cards are printed, but not cut apart, for probably the manufacture was checked at the time, but never entirely suppressed. The celebrated museum of the town has one of the best collections of native Playing Cards to be found, while the dramatic holocaust is recalled with pride by the inhabitants, who value the woodcut that is commemorative of the event.

English preachers denounced card playing, and the Scotch dubbed the packs “The Devil’s Picture Books.” Robert Burns says:

The Ladies, arm in arm, in clusters,
As great and gracious a’ as sisters,
·····
On lee-lang nights, wi’ crabbit leuks.
Pore owre the devil’s pictured beuks.

The Sunday before Christmas, 1529, Bishop Latimer preached a sermon against gambling at St. Edward’s Church, in Cambridge, taking for his text “Who art thou?” and filling his sermon with phrases that were culled from Primero, which was the favourite game of his day. This knowledge showed such an intimate acquaintance with the game that his offended hearers used it with great effect against him. The sermon is now remembered only because of these phrases and expressions that give students a clue to the rules and play of the old game.

One ingenious preacher took for his text: “As God has dealt to every man” (Romans xii:3), implying that the Almighty had sorted and distributed the cards of life. This practical allusion to gambling so horrified his congregation that they nearly pulled the minister from the pulpit. Yet St. Paul evidently referred to the “tablets of fate,” on which the destinies of men were written at birth as “the measure of fate,” since these traditions must have been active in the mind of the apostle. Modern people seldom place themselves in the atmosphere of Biblical times, which leads to much misconstruction and misunderstanding.

The various proclamations and edicts passed against Playing Cards are a history in themselves, although it is a pity that they are of too late a date to throw much light on the first alteration of the cult of Mercury into games, a change that was probably gradual, and so insidious or secret as to have no public record. Still, it is through these legal papers that we get authentic dates and the earliest mention of cards as gambling instruments or toys; but at the end of the fourteenth century, at a time when cards were denounced as such, and by name there is still no interdiction of fortune-telling, which may have been conducted too secretly to occasion attention, or, perhaps, the general law against vagrants or gypsies may have been deemed sufficient protection.

M. la Croix says: “The Germans were the first to apply cards to instructing young persons, by endeavouring to teach them different sciences illustrated by the cards, that had printed on them historical tales, sums of arithmetic, heraldic devices, astronomical symbols, bars of music, or quotations from the poets, with the pips displayed in the corners to deceive people into imagining that they were enjoying a play, when in reality they were being gently led along the paths of learning, and that this idea seems to have found favour in other countries, particularly in Great Britain and France.”

In this list of countries that adapted cards to purposes of instruction might have been included China and Japan, had M. la Croix studied the games of those nations. The latter country has two packs that are devoted to quotations from the poets, or historical tales.

Numerous specimens of these educational cards are now to be found in all card collections, although to those who regard Playing Cards as part of the cult of Mercury these instructive bits of pasteboard are no more related to the Tarots than are advertisements or school books.

There are some puritanical persons who regard Playing Cards with horror, and will not touch “the devil’s picture books” that display the symbols of Hearts, Clubs, etc.; but these same people adopt with avidity these educational cards that sometimes have the pips slyly tucked into a corner. Or, perhaps, they use cards that have numbers printed on them to indicate the pips, with other marks to show the suits and the court cards, so these good people play Grabouche, Pinocle, Bezique, Flip, and other games that are, in truth, recognised as games of chance.

In 1507 a set of instructive cards was invented by Dr. Thomas Muruer, the celebrated opponent of Martin Luther. The pack was printed at Cracow and called Chartiludui Logicae, and these were intended for the use of the inventor’s pupils in the art of reasoning. At first people were delighted with them and their novelty, and then they turned against this method of instruction and threatened to burn the doctor for inventing them.

This pack was an imitation of the Tarots, and was composed of ten logical cards with sixteen suits of emblem cards, the pips being the German Bells, Acorns, Leaves, and Hearts, with additional symbols of crayfish, scorpions, etc.

When Louis XIV was eight years old, it was necessary to educate him, but he was a dull and reluctant pupil, so Cardinal Mazarin invented some “instruction cards” for the youthful king that illustrated fables and proved attractive to others besides the agrammatist.

A little later, some cards depicting the history of France were designed by the artist Desmarits, who, finding that they were received with favour, followed them with a geographical set, and then with one called harlequin, in which the figures of well-known persons were grotesquely dressed.

There are later French packs illustrating the kings and queens of France, and also some that commemorate the Revolution, the Empire, the reign of the Orleans family, and that of Napoleon III; for in that country not only were the cards used for illustrating their historical events, but the court cards changed their dress with the rulers, not keeping to the costumes of the fifteenth century, as the English cards have done.

The French also issued a pack of cards to teach heraldry as early as 1680, and one for music in 1808, while in 1820 two instructive sets were issued, one of them on botany and the other one on astronomy.

Heraldic cards were published by M. Claude Finé in 1659, and others were issued in 1725. This idea was followed in England in 1675, when some German cards were adapted to the needs of the other country. The Germans issued another pack on which were heraldic devices in 1700, and a similar one came out in Venice in 1707. The cards are not useful for gambling or fortune-telling, but they are ornate, and are fine examples of print work, and as such find places in collections.

In 1656 practical cards for teaching spelling, arithmetic, etc., were issued in London by F. Jackson, and at about the same time satirical and political cards were published. Those interested in full descriptions of these packs can find a list in “The Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum,” by Mr. Willshire.

Cards for divination have appeared from time to time, but the emblems were so fanciful and so unauthoritative that the unhistoric designs have not found favour. One of them in the British Museum shows traces of being derived from the Tarots, as Mercury is seen hovering over a sailing vessel under his guise of protector of merchants. It is to be remarked that it is the Seven of Bells and is called Commerce. The Eight of Bells is the Wheel of Fortune. The Two of Leaves is Hope, and the Six of that suit is the Death card. It is evident that the artist picked out at haphazard certain designs on the Tarots for imitation, and that he had no comprehension of the meaning or value of the numbers, such as three, seven, or thirteen, accorded to them by mystics.

Humourous, or what are known as harlequin, cards have been published in all countries, where the emblems themselves have been taken for the foundation of fantastic figures. One of these packs was designed by Mr. William Thackeray. There are several French and Belgian packs, but far the best one was designed by Mr. Charles Caryl and issued by Messrs. Tiffany & Co., New York.

Musical cards are ingenious, and, by following the rules, several pretty airs may be played. Cards for the game of Authors were lately popular, and the game called Doctor Busby was a capital one for teaching children observation and concentration.

The Japanese cards, that have been referred to, are original in conception and design. The pack emblematic of the weeks of the year seems to be intended for gambling, although it shows no traces of a descent from the Tarots, for the cards display no suggestion of the pips or emblems of Mercury. Nor are there any emblematic figures like those of China, where the cards show evident imitations of the Stave, Money, and Sword pips, with some court cards. The Japanese themselves declare that Portuguese sailors introduced gambling cards into the country, but the only proof lies in the tradition and in the name by which cards are known in Japan, which is Karta, for the Portuguese use cards with the Cup, Money, Sword, and Stave pips, and no traces of these are to be found on any of the Japanese packs. In that country divining cards or sticks are used, which seem to have been inherited from China, and the methods of using them follow closely the rules adopted in all primitive countries, where the old superstitions referred to in the Bible are still active and in force.

A chap book of the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century had a large circulation, for it described one Richard Middleton, who, being caught playing with a pack of cards in church, was haled before a magistrate, who was amused when the soldier declared that he looked upon the cards as his Prayer Book, and described what they conveyed to him as he ingeniously connected each one with some Biblical reference.

This original description led to his release, and it has frequently been quoted. A variant of the story appeared in “The American Hebrew” that is worth repeating, as the original Christian ideas have been altered to suit the synagogue. It says: “The Ace is the only God. The Deuce, the two tables of stone that Moses broke at one blow. Try to keep them. The Trey is the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The four is our four ancient mothers, Sarah, Rachel, Leah, and Rebecca. The five, the books of Moses. The Six, the six days of the week, and the Seven is the Sabbath, when God rested and the seven-branched candlestick was made. Eight righteous persons were saved from the flood, Noah, his wife, three sons, and their wives. Joab came to Jerusalem at the end of Nine months. Ten Commandments are the cornerstone of the jurisprudence of the civilized world. The Knave is the constable who took me up. He was a fool, or he would not have disturbed me at my devotions. Queen Sheba and King Solomon are the Royal family. The former dressed fifty boys and fifty girls alike in male attire, and, to test the king, asked him to tell which were which. The wise one ordered water to be brought, and then quickly picked them out, greatly to the astonishment of the queen; but the children had betrayed themselves, as the boys only washed their wrists, while the girls washed to their elbows. Furthermore, there are three hundred and sixty-five spots in a complete deck of cards, corresponding to the days of the year, fifty-two to a pack corresponding to the weeks. Twelve picture cards, one for each month. Four suits, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Diamonds represent wealth, Hearts love, Spades health and labor, and Clubs power.”

In the British Museum is a pack of grammatical cards printed by Jane, June 1, 1676. A small treatise of instruction that went with the cards begins as follows: “To all ingenious gentlemen the Purchasers of these Sciential cards. It was Plato’s custom, after he had ended his disputation, as he went forth from his school, to give this admonition to his scholars, ‘Videte ut ocium in re quapiam honesta collocetis,’ or, ‘Nothing is more irksome to nature than not to know how to spend one’s time,’ and if the mind have not some relaxation from its grave and Serious Employment it cannot endure. I should have been very injurious to you if I should have Obscured this Grammatical Epitome and Deprived you of that which will make much both for your Leisure and Profit.”

There is another pack in the same collection with “a short tract” teaching their use, saying: “For as your cards are entitled Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs, so ours are to be called by the names of Orthographie (Spades), Etymologie (Clubs), Syntax (Hearts), and Prosodie (Diamonds).” By such gentle paths were men lured from vice to literature!

Astronomical cards were early adopted in Nuremburg, as was natural, for one of the most celebrated astronomers lived in that town, and the Tarots certainly lent themselves more easily to conceptions based on astronomy than to any other science, since so many of the Atouts have derivations from the planets. There are also French cards that are dated 1620, and Italian ones of about fifty years earlier, all of them being on the same subject.

Many of the Atouts in the Tarots are connected with the signs of the Zodiac, but the emblems on them are not clearly displayed, so inferences from them are mere guesswork.

The astronomical cards of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, showing the signs of the Zodiac, are clearly inspired by the Tarots, but the designs are supplemented by figures that show no connection with the Book of Thoth.

An English pack, dated 1700, called Virtues and Vices, has the former so repulsively and the latter so attractively displayed that they can serve no good purpose.

Historical cards are interesting to students of costume. In the United States one pack commemorates the war of 1848 with Mexico, and the Kings represent the generals of the day. On the Aces are views of well-known country places, One is of the headquarters of General Washington at Newburgh; another is Highwood, on the Hudson River at Wiehawken, opposite Forty-second Street, New York, the residence of Mr. James Gore King.

A pack of cards of 1863 represents the battle between the “Monitor” and the “Merrimac,” and the court cards are soldiers in the uniforms of the day, such as zouaves, etc.

A pack in the British Museum displays small and very indecent pictures with descriptive legends. Some of the latter are amusing, such as, “Hee that has no Head wants noe Hatt.” Under the picture of a bachelor maid is:

I know well how the world waggs,
He’s most beloved that has most Baggs.

Under the sketch of an old woman with her pet is written: “Two heads are better than one, which made the old woman carry her dog to Market with her,” and its mate has: “Men and Doggs may goe abroad, but Women and Catts must stay at home.” Another reads: “Two Doggs and a Bone, Two Catts and a Mouse, Two Wives in a House can never Agree.”

The picture of three doctors entering a room with their sticks to their noses and approaching a sick man bears the legend:

If you’ll avoid old Charon, the Ferryman,
Consult Dr. Dyett, Dr. Quiett, and Dr. Merryman.

The following card has on it: “An Ounce of Mirth is worth a Pound of Sorrow.”

 

 

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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 that Charles V of Spain, in 1369, denounced cards, calling them by the local name of Naipes, or prophets; and also a third record that, in 1387, dice, cards, and chess were banned by John of Castile.

It is evident through these trustworthy records that gambling was widely practised in Spain, and that, even if cards were not particularly named in the first-mentioned edict, it was but little more than eighteen years later that they had become so common it was necessary to forbid their use through an official decree.

In 1395 the Provost of Paris issued a proclamation against Playing Cards, showing that their abuse in the capital of France had become intolerable. With these and other evidences, it may well be asserted that by the beginning of the fifteenth century Playing Cards were commonly known in the capitals of Europe, where they were publicly used for games and gambling, as well as for fortune-telling.

It has already been mentioned that there are records of Playing Cards in the “Red Book of Ulm,” of 1397, and an account in Nuremburg, dated 1384, when a monk preached against the inordinate love of gaming among his congregation.

Aretino assigns the invention of cards, as well as of chess, to Palamedes, in the Grecian camp before the wall of Troy, thus claiming a very early date for their introduction to Europeans; but, while little credence has been placed on this record, it is more than probable that Tarots were part of the equipment of the camp if the soldiers wished to have their future foretold by the messenger of the gods, and gambling sticks, made of ivory and marked with men’s heads, have been found in the tomb of King Qa, at Abydos, Egypt.

History states that the Crusaders played at “tables” (as draughts or checkers were then called), and also that King Richard Cœur de Lion was fond of chess; but the English histories do not mention cards at that date. German authors infer that cards were introduced into Europe by the Crusaders, who, finding the Tarots common among their enemies (or prisoners), the Saracens, learned to play from them, and as the pictures on the cards were attractive, they used them to send home as missives to their families, and these authors support their theory by pointing out that cards are still called “briefe,” or letters, in Germany, while we might say that these pictures were the ancestors of the postal cards of the present day.

Writers harp on the lack of historical data concerning Playing Cards before the middle of the fourteenth century, oblivious of the fact that previous to that time it is probable that Tarots would not have been classed with games, and that educated people had not learned to use the pack for amusement, nor had the lower classes grasped the fact that they could be converted into a means for gambling, so they disregarded the ancient symbols, which they considered only useful for fortune-tellers, so cards at that date would not have been classed as gambling tools.

As soon as a game was arranged for the cards, however, they were eagerly adopted by all classes of society as a welcome diversion. From that time on, numerous descriptions are to be found in the archives of European countries, appearing almost simultaneously. Gough (a writer mentioned by the Rev. Edward Taylor in his “History of Playing Cards,” page 187) expressly states that “the Italian game called La Minchiate, which was played with the ancient Tarot pack, was invented at Sienna by Michael Angelo to teach children arithmetic.” It would seem that the writer was slightly confused in his ideas, for the cards invented for teaching arithmetic were not true Tarots. He may be correct, however, in supposing that cards were arranged by the painter for educational purposes, and that they followed closely the number and arrangement of the older pack, for there are such cards still to be found in collections, although hardly of so early a date.

There seems no reason to doubt the record that “Francis Fibbia, of Pisa, invented the game of Tarrochino (or little Tarots), in 1419, receiving as reward the permission to place his own coat-of-arms on the escutcheon of the Queen of Staves, and that of his wife on the Queen of Money,” as stated by Leopold Cicognara, for we are told that there is a picture extant showing this prince with a number of cards scattered before him, on which are these arms, so it may be that he arranged a game for common use from the more ancient one of L’Ombre, since the games closely resemble each other, and the former is popular to-day in parts of Italy, where the ancient Tarots are still used.

Rafael Maffei, who lived at the close of the fourteenth century, has left a description of what he calls “a new invention,” or a game played with Tarots. A Bolognese gentleman named Innocento Renghierri, who lived in 1551, declared that “cards were invented in days of yore, and by an industrious and very learned person.” Unfortunately, neither the name of the inventor nor the date is mentioned, for, if given correctly, it might have saved much trouble and dispute.

 

Gambling and Educational Cards

 

In the “History of Viterbo,” by Feliceano (1742), there is a statement quoted from Covelluzzo that cards called Naib were introduced into that city in 1279 from a Saracenic source. This name given to the cards in Italy is interesting, since it is the one used to-day in Spain, for which various derivations have been given. It was probably derived from the Hebrew word for prophet, emphasising the original intention of cards for divination purposes. It seems strange that one of the best known and most widely spread cults has received so little recognition or study among those who have interested themselves in the religious progress and civilization of mankind. Even if regarded as toys or gambling instruments, Playing Cards certainly fill a great part in the lives of men, while their origin and the influence they have wielded in the past should surely have created more interest than has been the case.

A Frenchman, Père Menestrier, studied the history of the cards that were known to him as early as 1704, when he published “Des Principes des Sciences et des Arts Disposé en Forme de Jeux.” Others followed his example, but they all looked upon cards simply as gambling instruments, or regarded them as interesting historical fashion plates picturing French celebrities, or else as rare engraved plates; so they treated the cards of their own countries only from this point of view. Of course, most of the writers knew only the cards of their immediate surroundings, and, if they ever were cognizant of the ancient Tarots, disregarded them entirely.

When, in 1836, Samuel Weller Singer published his “History of Playing Cards,” he was interested in engraving, with its kindred arts, and he found that the earliest work on wood or metal had been done to reproduce cards. This book was followed by the “History of Playing Cards,” by William Andrew Chatto; “Origin of Playing Cards” (1865); “History of Playing Cards,” by Rev. Edward Taylor, and many others. Although two persons in the priesthood devoted time to studying cards, they did not do so with reference to their religious influence on their congregations. Still, they acknowledged with surprise that these unbound leaves offered an interesting study, and, while each one pointed out the probable connection of Playing Cards with the Book of Thoth and the cult of Mercury, not one of them proved the statement, but slurred it over, as if rather ashamed of the idea, although the fact could easily have been proved through a careful examination of the marks, the pips, and the emblems on the cards themselves, that are so undoubtedly the heraldic devices through which Mercury is always recognised, and which he received from the most ancient forms of worship in Babylonia.

These authors, with other German, French, and Spanish writers, unanimously decided that, since there is no legal record or trustworthy mention of cards intended for use in games before the year 1392 (the one that they seemed to agree upon, ignoring the account given of the martyrdom of St. Cyprian in 258, who was killed for remonstrating against playing cards), and since chance has not disclosed a hitherto unknown monument to their birth and cradle, that these playthings were suddenly invented just about the date when they appeared simultaneously all over Europe for the amusement of pleasure-loving mortals. However, they quarrelled a bit as to whether cards were first known in the Occident or in the Orient, but none of the authors studied divination, and the rules known to astrologers, fortune-tellers or gypsies that are carefully preserved, as well as the evident connection of Playing Cards with the tools of the diviners of ancient days.

These authors proved entirely too near-sighted and would not read what the cards themselves displayed before their semi-opened vision, probably because they despised the professional prophets. Besides, the French, Spanish, German, and English writers each claimed for his own country the first knowledge of Playing Cards used for games, without recognising that their bantlings all came from a common mother stock, the great Tarot pack. Thus the arguments, deductions, and theories of these writers can command respect only to a limited degree.

Merlin and Chatto have treated cards as interesting examples of the xylographic art, and it is certainly true that they were an important factor in developing it; but this period in the history of Playing Cards was by no means its childhood, as the writers seem to consider. Many of them did not know that almost every one of the European countries had emblems peculiar to the locality, which is also the case in Asia. None of the museums have even now any packs except those peculiar to their own State.

In the Middle Ages games became necessary amusements in camp and home, so there was a demand for a rapid and inexpensive form of reproduction that should take the place of the expensively painted replicas of the Book of Thoth, which before had been within reach only of the wealthy.

Of course, the original emblems had never been entirely lost or forgotten, but had been concealed in the hands of the initiates, who regarded them with reverence and transmitted them secretly from one to the other, but did not use cards for gambling or amusement. These persons did not reveal the history or import of the Book of Thoth to the triflers of the outside world, and had no desire to see their treasured secrets cheaply reproduced, to be carelessly handled by curious or pleasure-loving people.

The author of “The Game of Gold,” published at Augsburg in 1472, says he has read that “the game of cards was introduced into Germany in 1300.” This is one of the first written accounts of Playing Cards used for games. It was pointed out by Chatto that there is a Chinese legend claiming Playing Cards as being used in China some two thousand years before Christ. Doubtless the Chinese recognized that their games of divination, as still commonly played, were identical with the cards used for chance, as the little flat cards are still used for both purposes.

When Columbus made his first voyage across the Atlantic, his men gambled continually, and, although the superstitious sailors threw the cards overboard when they feared that they would never reach land, they manufactured new ones immediately on their arrival in America, and taught the savages their game, so we know without question that cards reached America in 1492. They were called Naypes and bore the emblems of Swords, Money, Cups, and Rods.

After these records of Playing Cards come some that are of later date. In “Capitolo del Gioco della Primera,” by Berni, published in Rome in 1526, the author claims that “playing cards were invented by King Ferdinand,” which statement may be regarded with amusement, since other Italian records prove an earlier date.

There is an interesting invective against cards published in 1550, called “Il Traditor,” which may be translated:

What is the meaning of the female Pope,
The Chariot and the Traitor,
The Wheel, the Fool, the Star, the Sun,
The Moon, and Strength, and Death,
And Hell, and all the rest
Of these strange cards?

Showing that the Egyptian temples had not disclosed their secrets that identified these pictures on the Tarots common in Italy with the cult of Thoth, Mercury, and Nebo.

Painters have transmitted to us pictures of many games of cards, and perhaps one of the earliest is the one ascribed to Van Eyck, of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, about the year 1493. The early Dutch painters often depicted boors playing cards, and those by Jan Steen, the two Teniers, and others are well known. Hogarth devoted a series of engravings to depicting grotesque figures playing chess, draughts, and cards.

After the fourteenth century, it is easy to learn the important position that Playing Cards reached in Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and England through the works of other painters, miniaturists, and engravers, while books such as “Fortune-Telling,” by Francisco di Milano, published in 1560, or the one by Francisco Marcolini, published in Venice in 1540, prove the hold that the new amusement had taken on the people at that time.

Proclamations against cards followed each other rapidly from State and Church, so histories are filled with the denunciations of the clergy of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries against the old sin that had reappeared under a new form for them to combat. Mercury was as active as ever, and had quite as strong a hold on the affections of the people as he had in the days when St. Paul landed in Italy, close to the Temple of Mercury, and it was quite as hard to overcome his influence as it had been when Christianity first began to overthrow the heathen gods. Perhaps the day may come when those who believe in fate and predestination will confront these preachers with the divine commands to consult the prophets so often mentioned in the Bible, notably when the Rods of the Israelites were marked and laid before the testimony.

 

 

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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 direction by Mr. F. H. Cushing and Mr. Stewart Culin, who have discovered, by patient research in America and the Eastern part of Asia, the value of the arrow in divination, in music, in money-making, and in symbolism, as well as in war, for which purpose it was primarily intended. It was put to minor uses by its simple adaptability to the needs of the people, who were direct in their purposes, and who used the tools that were at hand no matter for what they were originally intended.

Any student of the Bible knows how often the gods were appealed to, not only through the different offerings, but also for the purposes of directly divining their wishes, which was done most frequently through a simple stick that could be cut from any sapling. This became in turn a “divining arrow,” or a magician’s wand when in the hands of the Egyptian magi. “The staff of Moses” as used during the plagues of Egypt, or the rod “that put forth leaves” when marked with Aaron’s name. Small wonder, then, that the “golden-leaved rod,” or Aurea virga, given by Apollo to Mercury, was a venerated symbol, probably derived from the Egyptians, and by them from the Assyrians, where it was symbolically used in the worship of the gods, and when it was placed on the cards all persons could understand at a glance the intention and meaning of the Rod. It was not only adopted from the Babylonians, who used it with the serpents twining around it exactly as it is seen in Mercury’s hands, but the people had seen it put to practical use by the great marshal of the Israelites, who confounded their wise men, or magi, with their own weapons. “And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: ... Take thy rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments, for they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” (Exodus vii:9.) Then Aaron was commanded to take “the rod which was turned to a serpent,” and to “smite the waters that were turned into blood”; but the magicians did the same thing, and again were able to produce the next plague by imitating Aaron’s rod when it was stretched forth. But these wise men failed with their enchantments to produce lice at their biding, saying: “This is the finger of God.” It is more than likely that these magi were priests of the temple of Thoth, who were the learned men of that day.

Moses was also commanded “to lift up thy rod,” so that the children of Israel should “go on dry ground through the midst of the sea” (Exodus xiv:15), and to use the same rod to “smite the rock in Horeb” (Exodus xvii:6). These examples may be multiplied, but enough has been quoted to show the importance of this symbol in the minds of primitive people.

Looking next to a people of this century who have retained almost unchanged their inherited customs, Mr. Culin has dwelt at length on the people of Korea, who with the culture inherited from their neighbours, the Chinese, have still a childlike simplicity and follow in the footsteps of their ancestors in their habits, games, and heraldic devices.

In “Korean Games,” Mr. Culin traces the origin of Playing Cards directly to “practical arrows bearing cosmical or personal marks used by primitive man.” See also Numbers xvii:3. He says: “The pack of cards used to-day stands for a quiver of arrows with the emblems of the world’s quarters,” and further states that the most primitive Playing Cards of Asia, the Htou-Tjyen of Korea, still bear the marks of their origin. This confirms the opinion already formed by the writer, who studied the subject from the Biblical and African point of view, concluding that the pips on the Tarot cards had a meaning that could be traced to the diviners of a period much earlier than the fortune-tellers or gypsies of Europe; that the cards themselves were not intended for a game, but were originally devoted entirely to consulting the wishes of the gods; and that it was more than probable that the cult of Thoth Hermes was a scientific adaptation of the arrow worship of early man; and that the gift of speech that Mercury was credited with bestowing on humans was the comprehension of the signs and the ability through them to transmit to men the wishes of the gods.

The Korean cards are printed on paper, and are, therefore, one step higher in the scale than those found among the Alaskan Indians. These are simple round sticks on which are painted stripes of red and black, to denote their value. In some sets the ends are notched like arrows, which probably adds to the numerical value of the card. The Indians keep their sticks in a sealskin pouch wrapped around with a thong of leather, on the end of which is a shark’s tooth that is passed under the wrappings to hold them in place and secure the contents. A handful of oakum accompanies the bag. This is needed during the consultation of the wishes of Manitou, for these sticks are used for divination purposes as well as for play. A heap of oakum is placed on the ground, under which the sticks are hidden. The players squat in a circle around and draw from under the pile one stick after the other, the meaning of which is interpreted by one of the party.

 

Gambling Cards

 

The Alaskans also have a game somewhat like the Mora of the Egyptians and the Italians, only it is the value of the sticks or the stripes painted on them that must be guessed.

One step higher are the sticks used by the Hidah Indians, the natives of a little group of islands in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of North America. These sticks show the totem marks of the tribes or families, such as the Bear, the Tortoise, etc. They are clearly derived from arrows, and sometimes have notched ends, and are still used for divination, although also for games. Taken with those from Alaska, they are the most primitive packs known.

The next step forward is from the wooden shafts or rods to thin slips of yellow oiled paper, narrow and long, that belong to the Koreans. The use of these “cards” is still the same, and the close resemblance to the North American packs is marked, showing that all came from a common source. These Korean cards serve as a link connecting the primitive arrow or rod with the step that follows, from which come the Chinese gambling tools.

The Korean cards are made of strips of paper about eight inches long by three-quarters of an inch wide. They are uniformly decorated on the reverse side with a feather, which Mr. Culin considers important as attaching the cards to the original winged shaft. There are eighty cards in the pack, divided into eight suits of ten cards each, numbered from one to nine with numerals peculiar to these cards, which, like the device on the other side, come from arrow feathers. The suit marks correspond to the totemic emblems of the Koreans.

These cards are a vital bridge between the primitive traps for divination and the more enlightened devices of the canny Egyptian priests, for it was through the use of strips of bamboo, simple straws, or the arrows of the period that the priests first transmitted the wishes of the gods to mankind. But whether the cult of arrows originated in Egypt and travelled from that centre both east and west, being modified, simplified, or elaborated by every nation through which it passed, or whether it started on the Pacific Ocean, to sweep across Asia to Africa and Europe, has not been made clear.

It is more than probable that the simple art of divining through the fall of arrows is due to the primitive tribes of Asia, and certainly in Exodus, Numbers, and others of the books of Moses, there are many records of the direct command of the Almighty to his people to carry out his wishes through using the “rods,” or to consult his orders through occult means to be revealed by the rods. These are authentic records on the subject, and are supported by the tablets found at Babylonia, so we may suppose that “the arrows of divination” spread gradually from this Asiatic centre, becoming altered from time to time, until in many places all traces of the original purpose was lost, and the art of consulting the wishes of the gods through them lapsed into the pleasure of gambling.

The Korean name for their pack of cards is Htou-Tjyen, signifying “Fighting Arrows,” according to Mr. Culin in “Korean Games” (page 128). “The suits,” he says, “represent Man, Fish, Crow, Pheasant, Antelope, Star, Rabbit, and Horse, the name of the card being written on it in Chinese characters in some packs. Six Generals, or Court cards, representing the heads or the chiefs of the different families, and two entirely blank cards, or Jokers, complete the set.”

Other packs have different totemic marks, but all agree with each other in general appearance. It is said that there are a number of games that are played with these cards, but they are difficult for a foreigner to understand or learn.

A close connection exists between the Korean pack and the lots used by the Chinese to divine the lucky numbers in the game called Pak-Kop-Piu, as these cards retain the feather device, and the names of both are nearly identical with the word for arrows.

The most common packs of Chinese cards are narrow, like those of the Koreans, but are less than half the length, sometimes only about two and a half inches long by a quarter of an inch wide. These packs generally have plain red or black backs with no designs on them, and are printed with black ink on white paper. There are at least twenty-five different kinds of Playing Cards common in China. Some of them are intended simply for divination, others are for gambling, and some for the amusement or instruction of children.

Some are very primitive in their markings; others closely resemble dominos, having similar spots on them denoting their value; while the cards in common use have distorted emblems that are clearly derived from the Sword, Stave, and Money pips of the Tarots, although the Cup of Hermes is not retained. It is noticeable that the Money emblem has a design upon it, and is not the simple ring of primitive times. This leads to the suggestion that these particular cards were devised from those of Mercury. Since there are Court cards and a Joker, it would seem as if the Chinese had adopted part of a pack of Tarots, omitting the Cup suit, since it had no meaning for them, but copying the other emblems in their own peculiar way; but this is only a guess as to the origin of this particular set of cards, and only those used for divination bear these devices.

The Chinese also have Actors’ cards, bearing portraits of the heroes and heroines of certain favourite plays. These have three Jokers, that in China bear the name of “Blessings.” Then there are flower packs and educational packs, Proverb cards, and cards to teach writing, so that the Chinese have in their own original way marched step by step with Europeans, but on parallel lines that have not met. The Chinese declare that they have known and used Playing Cards for two thousand years, in which statement they are probably correct, as certainly the Rod, the Sword, and Money emblems were known and used by the Babylonians in their religious rites two thousand five hundred years before Christ.

Owing to cards having been introduced into Japan by Portuguese traders, the packs are called by the Portuguese name of Karta, as has been mentioned. But the resemblance to European cards stops there, for the “shut-in nation” invented designs and games for themselves, keeping them distinct from divining instruments, of which they have a full share, some of them being identical with the Chinese rods for divination.

One Japanese game is historical, and the packs are beautifully painted in miniature, with gold backgrounds and gold backs. The cards are three by three and a half inches in size. Two sets always come in one box, and the game is played by matching cards. They far surpass European ones, for they are most carefully designed and painted. The two sets in the writer’s possession resemble dainty miniatures, and the small figures might almost be taken for likenesses of living people.

Then there are other sets of cards of the same size as those described, but differently marked, as they have three suits indicated by the colour of the emblems, blue, green, and red. There are two emblematic Court cards, one of them the picture of a house, the other one showing a stream over which a bridge is thrown. The pack in the writer’s collection is rare, for none like it has been described, and there are none in the foreign museums.

Another set of cards is called Bakuchi-No-Euda, or gambling cards. Those in common use are of cardboard about two to two and a quarter inches square, with black backs and flowers painted or stencilled on them, representing the weeks of the year. The game played with them is called “flower matching.” January is represented by a Matsu or Pine tree, followed by the Plum, Cherry, Wistaria, Iris, Peony, and Clover. The eighth suit has a sketch of a volcano, representing August, which is the sacred month; during it pilgrimages are made to the mountain. The card which follows represents a Chrysanthemum; then comes a Maple for October. November is represented by rain, sometimes with a little man scampering through the driving storm with a half-opened umbrella over his head, his shoes flying off in the mud, with the symbol of thunder and lightning placed in one corner of the card. December has the flower sacred to the Mikado, the Kiri.

Each card shows the flower representing it in different stages of development, according to the four weeks in the month. Each has a definite value, and the game is played by three persons, who match cards to make different combinations. The Joker is blank, so these cards were never intended for divining, but were prepared solely for amusement.

Divining arrows, represented by bamboo splints, are used in Japan as well as in China, and are nearly identical in both countries. Fifty sticks are kept in a quiver or a tube of cane, resembling the shape of the modern dicebox. “The splints vary in length,” says Mr. Culin, who describes them in “Korean Games” (page 26), “from two to four inches.” One person consults the oracle, which is interpreted by a “Baru,” or fortune-teller, as described in “Our Neighbourhood,” by Mr. Purcell: “Having rattled his rods together by rolling them between his palms, he raises them to his forehead.” The sticks are then laid out in order on a table, and their meaning is deciphered through referring to the “Book of Oracular Responses,” or through the “inspiration of the magi, who declares that he passes one hour daily in a trance, during which he receives instruction as to the prognostication he must deliver.”

There is another Japanese game called Hayku-Niu-Isshu, or the Poems on One Hundred Arts. For this there are two hundred cards, that are kept in boxes especially provided for them. On each card is printed or written either the first or the last half of one of the hundred poems that give their name to the game, which all well-educated Japanese are supposed to know by heart. “The one hundred cards having the latter half of the poems written on them are dealt and are laid out in rows, face upwards, before the players, one of whom is appointed reader. He holds the remaining hundred and reads them aloud in whatever order they fall. Skill in the game consists in remembering the line following the one read and rapidly finding the card on which it is written. Especially must each one watch his own and pick it up before it is seized by another. If an opponent is nimble he snatches the card from the careless player, giving several from his own hand, and the one who is first able to match and discard all of his cards wins the game. The players usually range themselves on opposite lines and play against each other.” Such is the account of the game given by Miss Alice Mabel Bacon in “Japanese Girls and Women” (page 22).

The cards of this set in the author’s possession are rather small, being two by two and a half inches, or a trifle larger than the Flower pack. They are arranged in small wooden boxes, with a description of the rules of the game printed on the top; the lid moves up and down in a groove. The verses are written in fine running characters on a white ground.

In Hindustan we find strange circular cards that have strayed far from the arrow shape, and seem much more to resemble the European pips. There are eight suits, indicated by the colour of the background, on which are depicted Men, Bullocks, Elephants, and Tigers. The Money and Cup suits may be traced in two of the emblems, the former painted like a double ring, and it is questionable if these cards were ever intended for divining purposes, since they seem to be used purely for amusement.

Persian cards are about two inches by one and a half square. The suits are shown, like those of Cashmere, by the colours of the background. They have nothing in common with the arrow-shaped Korean, Chinese, or North American divination cards, but rather incline to the emblematic figures of the temple of Thoth as retained by the Tarots, for every card displays a symbolic representative figure. These cards are rare even in Persia, and only two incomplete sets are in the writer’s collection, one of which contains six, and the other eighteen, cards.

Three of these cards have black backgrounds on which is displayed a white and yellow animal of a species unidentified. The third card of the set shows a great dragon with a forked tail twisted around a lion. Three of the cards have green grounds, on which are seated figures, and one of them so closely resembles the Emperor, or Osiris, of the Tarots in position and design that it seems it must have been derived from that figure. Of the other two, one resembles the Atout called the Empress, and the other is a seated male figure, in the attitude of some of those in the Tarot pack. Four cards have black grounds sprinkled with dots of yellow. These four all show dragons or mythical animals, and are alike in every respect, which is not always the case with the other designs even when of kindred suits. As none of the Atouts have animals depicted on them except in a subordinate way, it would seem that some of the Persian cards are original, while others may have been copied. Another green suit has only two cards, although there might be more if the pack were complete. The ground is semé, like the last, with orange-coloured flecks, and displays a seated figure with an attendant, its peculiarity being that this King has his legs folded under him in Oriental fashion, while the figures on all the other cards are seated like the Egyptian gods. Two cards have gold grounds, and on them are two standing figures, one beating a drum, the other man holding what may be a magician’s rod or, perhaps, a flute. There are three cards of a dull yellow hue flecked with brown dots. These closely resemble the Atouts, as one of the seated figures holds up a circle or the Money mark, like the Queen of Dinari; and against the knees of the other a child leans, recalling Isis with Osiris. The eighteenth card is the Joker, and shows a likeness of the late Shah of Persia. It was brought from that kingdom in 1904. These cards do not seem all to have belonged to the same pack, for five of them have been much more used than the others. The Persians are secretive about their games, probably because the religion of Mahomet, following that of the Jews, forbids any representation of the human form. Therefore, games bearing such an emblem must be used in private, and descriptions of them are not readily obtained by foreigners. The cards themselves offer an interesting problem, since they retain the emblematic figures without any pip cards, and they stand alone in this respect in Asia, where the pip or arrow cards are more generally to be found than the figure cards. But, then, the Persians use the cup or vase for divining purposes, as a rule, although in some parts the arrows or rods of divination are common. There are also “sticks” found among the common people that seem to be used in this way, but the natives are chary of describing their purpose, so no trustworthy account of them can be offered.

 

 

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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 the Book of Thoth, their successors, the Playing Cards, or their predecessors, the divining arrows.

On the other hand, Chess is distinctly a mimic battleground, with armies of warriors drawn in serried ranks, defying each other to mortal combat, whether there are only two armies, as in the modern games, or four, as on some of the Asiatic boards. The figures are the rank and file of the army, with their castles for base and retreat, their cavalry, their executive officers, and generals, with the monarch to preside over the field. That in Europe one of the figures is called a Queen is strangely out of place, for her actions and moves during the game are those of an active lieutenant or aide-de-camp. The name has been given to the piece in modern days, for originally and in the East it is called the Vizier. That the piece may be called after the dame who invented the game, as is said, seems improbable.

Some writers declare that Chess came from Southern Africa, where it is well known; but it is also found in primitive form in Korea and throughout Eastern Asia, and traces of it have been seen in Central Asia, where (in Babylonia) stones have been discovered that are marked in squares, as if intended for Draught or Chess boards.

A pretty legend is told of the Emperor Akbar, of India, for whom his countrymen declared that the game was invented by one of his wives, who wanted to amuse her husband, after the manner of wives, and to keep him at home, particularly as the king was suffering from a sunstroke that made it inadvisable for him to venture to head his army. With this end in view, she ranged the courtiers on the black and white squares in the courtyard within the precincts of the palace, in order that the king might amuse himself fighting his battles in a harmless way from his divan, that was placed in one of the balconies overhanging the enclosed space. A graphic description of the palace is given in “Our Vice Regal Life in India,” by Lady Dufferin (page 150). Referring to the legend, she says: “There is a curious place which is a five-storied open court, each platform getting smaller, till the top one is a mere little summer house. Each one is supported on rows and rows of pillars, from them one looks down into a court, where the Great Mogul used to sit and play Chess with live pieces.”

In “India, China, and Japan,” by Bayard Taylor (page 108), the author says: “This palace of Sheesh Mahal (or Palace of Glass), with its courtyard paved with squares of black and white marble, has an open terrace in front, where is the throne of Akbar, which is a block of black marble about six feet square. It is said that when any one seats themselves on it, blood gushes from a split in the side, and red stains on the surface support this tradition. Opposite the throne is a smaller one of white marble, where the emperor’s fool sat and burlesqued his master.” This fellow carried a staff of office and conducted the pieces to their positions as indicated by Akbar and his opponent.

The game of chess, with living pieces, became a favourite with the Rajahs of India, so many of the courts of different palaces were also arranged for Chess or Parchesi, a game played with pieces, but with less complicated rules than for Chess. Though the court jester was the master of ceremonies, he has not taken his place permanently among the chessmen, although he may be sometimes found among them, notably in a beautiful gold and silver set of men made for one of the kings of Bavaria and now in the Museum at Munich. In this set there are two Jokers, who are placed in front of all the others in the middle of the board as at present arranged, but their value and moves seem not to have been recorded and are now practically unknown.

It was at one time supposed that the figures of the chessmen were transferred to pasteboard cards, thus making a masked army instead of one that was on an open field, and that Playing Cards originated in this way; but this theory is no longer tenable. Mr. Wiltshire, in “Playing Cards,” derides the idea that they are derived from Chess, saying: “Chess is a game of calculation and combination, and cards are purely chance,” which opinion is sustained, for up to this time the history of the two games points to no common derivation.

It is claimed that Chess was first played before the walls of Troy, having been invented by Palamedes to amuse the Greeks, who were tired of the monotony of the siege. This is probably one of the first records of games, although it is not certain that the one referred to was Chess any more than that it was a game of cards, which some writers have supposed.

In “The Sea Kings of Crete,” by Rev. James Baikie, is an account and an illustration of a gaming board just discovered in the palace of Minos, which certainly dates from one thousand four hundred years before Christ, but it resembles a Draught board more than one for Chess.

There is an Egyptian caricature of a lion and a unicorn playing a game on a table with men, which, however, are too indistinct to describe as chessmen. There is a set of chessmen in the British Museum, the date of which is uncertain, that are by some considered to have been of such early origin that they prove that the Egyptians had the game, although deductions of this kind are sometimes overthrown by subsequent discoveries.

That chessmen of the conventional type are by no means absolutely necessary for a game is shown by the Korean Tjyang-Keui, whose figures closely resemble the pieces used by the Chinese. The men of the set in the writer’s collection are of wood about the thickness of an ordinary checker or draughtsman, but they are octagonal in shape, and the size of the pieces varies, since it is indicative of the value. Sometimes the pieces are circular in shape, and have their value painted in incised characters on both sides in red, blue, or green, according to the side they represent. The King or General is much the largest piece and about an inch and a half in diameter. The Chariot, Elephant, Horse, and Cannon are of medium size, while the Pawns and Councillors are the smallest. The pieces in the writer’s collection were kept by the original owner in a netted string bag. The board differs from those of Europe, as the men are placed at the intersections of the squares, and not in their centres, as is customary in other places. The game, as played in Korea, is logical, and was the inspiration of various games played in Germany, where marbles are placed in stated positions on boards made for the purpose, with rounded holes, and marked off with diagrams. In some games the board represents a fort to be defended; in others, a series of positions to be captured by one or other of two armies of equal value.

A very interesting set of chessmen in the British Museum was found at Nig, in the Isle of Lewis, and is described as “North European, Twelfth Century.” The backs are carved with intricate interlacing designs like those on the reverse of the old Tarots. The Queens rest their cheeks on their right hands. The Kings have swords laid across their laps. The Bishops are mitred, and all are seated.

An anonymous writer declares: “The most probable conjecture is that Chess descended from the Brahmins, through Persia, to Arabia, about the sixth century, and passed into Europe two or three hundred years later.” Continuing, the writer says: “A mathematician named Seffa originated the game for his master, Ravan, King of Ceylon, who was so pleased with the device that he asked the inventor to name his own reward. The cunning sage demanded enough wheat to cover the board, starting with a single grain for the first square, two for the second, and so on, doubling the grains until the sixty-four squares were covered, finally adding the whole amount together, so when computed, it was found that more wheat would be required than the world produced in ten years.”

The Persians claim that Chess was invented in their country, pointing out the retention of some of their names and expressions in the English game, such as “Check,” from the Persian Sciack or King, and “Mat,” signifying “dead,” hence “Checkmate,” or “The King is dead.” These words may well have their derivation from the Persian or Arabic, but they are not universally employed, although Chess is of ancient origin and has been played for centuries in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The term Rook, that is sometimes used instead of Castle, is undoubtedly of Indian origin, derived from Rokh, and signifying dromedary. In China this piece is called Ku, and in Korea Tcha, words in no way connected with the Arabic.

There are many historical descriptions of Chess in Europe too well known to be repeated; besides which, there are numerous copper, steel, and wood engravings showing persons playing Chess.

In “A History of the Moorish Kings” (1396), there is an account of a game played when Jussef, the heir to the throne, was ordered to be beheaded by his usurping brother. An alcade was sent to the prison for the purpose of carrying out the command, but, finding Jussef playing Chess, and becoming interested in his skill, he waited until the game terminated to dispatch the prince. However, before it was finished, the usurper, Mehemed, was murdered, so Jussef succeeded to the throne and rewarded the kindly executioner with money and honours.

One of the earliest descriptions of Chess in the English language was written by Thomas Hyde in 1694, at about the time that Cotton’s “Complete Gamester,” on the subject of gambling and its tools, appeared. There is a rare book, entitled “The Game and Playes of the Chess,” that, strange to say, contains little or nothing concerning the game beyond its title.

“It is remarkable,” says Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, in “Ancient Egyptians” (Vol. II, page 415), “that a game so common as Mora among the lower order of Italians should be found to have existed in Egypt from the earliest period of which their paintings remain, even in the reign of the First Osirtasen.” The game, which requires no accessories, is skillfully played by holding up certain fingers to an opponent, who tries to guess the number; it was probably carried to the Southern ports of Italy by the Egyptians, when the yearly voyage was made to the Bay of Naples, at the time that the great Temple of the Serapeon was erected at Pozzuoli and the cult of Thoth Hermes introduced.

Draughts were also found in early days at or about the same place, and that game is represented as being played on the sculptures of Beni Hassan in grottoes on the east bank of the Nile. The same authority says: “This would be coeval with Joseph, or 1740 B. C.”

An anonymous writer in an English paper states that one of the frescoes of the palace of Rameses II shows the mighty Pharaoh himself playing against some of the beauties of his harem.

Many writers consider that the Roman Latronculi and the Greek Digrammisnios were games of Chess or Draughts. A Spaniard, named Antonio Torquemada, published rules for the latter as early as 1547, and a Frenchman, named Pierre Malet, described the Parisian game in 1668. The latter called for a board of sixty-four squares, the men moving but one block at a time, and the crowned pieces having the right to move backwards. The game was not popular in France until the days of the Regency, when the Polish game, that is played on a board with one hundred squares, each player having twenty pieces, became the vogue.

This variation of the old game of Draughts was introduced by a man named Manoury, who started life as a waiter in one of the cafés. He gave lessons to Marshal Saxe and Jean Jacques Rousseau, besides writing out the rules governing the game for the use of his pupils.

In France and England players use the black squares on the Checker board, but in Holland and Russia the white ones are those that are favoured, and it is strange how puzzling this slight change is to unaccustomed players.

Draughtsmen or checkers are made of many different materials, such as clay, bone, wood, and ivory. Some old ones in the British Museum are of ivory, two inches in diameter, and were found in Leicestershire. On one of them is a figure like Il Pendu, or the Hanged Man, of the Atouts. In the writer’s collection there are some draughtsmen of unpainted wood most beautifully carved. One of them displays a winged figure with a cap of Mercury hanging over his head, on top of which is perched a die, a Four Spot on one side of it, while the other displays an Ace. The cap is suspended in the air over a table covered with a fringed cloth, on which rests a rose and a laurel wreath. A motto surrounding the checker reads: Fert Praemia Favsta. On the reverse is a hand emptying a purse on a Backgammon board, the legend being Freqvens Tibidissipat Avrum. Another checker, a mate to the above, shows a table on which is a Backgammon board and two players busy over the game. The man is seated, while the woman is standing with arms upraised, and having evidently just lost a game, is upbraiding her companion. The motto is Ars Sortem Corrigat Astx. The reverse shows a draped Cupid opening a money chest, the motto being Sat Loevlo Havt Ocvio. A black man of this set shows a warrior talking to a harpist, the motto being Juam Rari Amici Chari. The reverse shows a figure of Mercury, as Luck, with a philosopher and a courtier trying to hold the flying figure with ropes that have been thrown around the waist of the flitting god. The motto is Ah Fortuna Bona Me Condona. These checkers are part of a set that was once in Lady Charlotte Schriber’s collection of games. They are probably of German manufacture, as they closely resemble sets of draughtsmen that are in the Nuremburg and Munich collections.

In Korea the game of Draughts is a favourite one. The pieces are not flat and round, like those of Europe, but the “horses,” as they are named in Korea, have shanks about two inches long, with round, solid bases, making them easy to pick up and move, but they would be awkward if the game called for “jumping,” as does that of European players. With this exception, the rules for playing resemble those common in Europe.

The Japanese, the Siamese, and the Chinese all play the game with the assistance of dice, and the men as well as the boards show an origin common with those already mentioned. They are games of luck or chance, but are not used for fortune-telling, and have nothing in common with cards, arrow divination, or prophesying, unless students can hereafter trace them to the Urim and Thummim of the Bible.

Games with dice are favourites in all Asiatic countries, but the men themselves and the games played with them are far more elaborate and scientific than those of Europe, and capable of a great variety of combinations quite unknown to English-speaking nations. The mathematical calculations necessary for the Asiatic games are intricate and complicated, but well worthy of adoption.

About 1815 the Germans issued a pack of cards that had dice on them instead of the commonplace pips. The set in the writer’s collection is incomplete and incomprehensible without the rules, that have been lost. The cards have the dice on the lower half, while the upper part displays different designs, such as a diligence, a ship, a bookcase, and an easy chair. The two designs last mentioned have “doctor” printed under them.

 

Gambling, Historical and Educational Cards

 

Games of dice are probably the oldest known, and are found in all Asiatic countries. The evolution from them to dominos is easily traced, for the latter is evidently a pair of dice placed together. The pieces in a Korean set of dominos in the writer’s collection are of the size that a pair of European dice would make if glued side by side. Besides the games of chance, dice are used for divining purposes all over the world, but particularly in Africa and Asia.

Jackstones, or Knuckle-bones, is another old game. There is in the British Museum a most interesting marble group of boys playing Jackstones. A lively dispute, if not an active fight, over the result of the game is in progress, and the little men are scattered over the ground while the boys wrestle.

Jackstones may be of many different materials, although those most commonly used are the simple round pebbles found by any roadside. A set in the writer’s collection is of bone, which was common in New York about 1850. Others are of glass and are said to be Phœnician. Ivory and sheeps’ knuckles are favourites with children, who in modern times have added a small rubber ball for a Jack.

The game seems to be universal, for children on the Nile, in Hungary, Austria, France, England, and the United States all seem to play the same primitive game that is common in Asia. In “Korean Games” (page 58), Mr. Culin calls it Kong-Keui, and says it is played by boys with five or six stones or pieces of bricks. When girls play, they use cash or coins, and then the game is called Tja-Ssei. When played with stones, it is called Ishi-Nago, or throwing stones, and ten of these are used. The Chinese call the game Chaptsz, or picking up stones.

No rules for the Western game seem ever to have been written, but they are transmitted from one generation to another with almost no difference, whatever the country may be, although it is noticeable that the innovation of the rubber ball for a Jack seems to have been introduced by the Polish or Russian Jew children to the New Yorkers, as it is chiefly played by these little immigrants. The game has nothing to do with divination, and is one merely of skill, as it is a simple amusement of the most primitive kind, for, given a handful of stones, any one can learn the game, and, with a moderate amount of practice, can play it with more or less skill.

There are five pieces to a set; four are of equal value, and the fifth is called the Jack. Any one of the five may be used for the Jack, which is simply the stone that is tossed into the air while the others are gathered in the hand.

The sets (or their order) are agreed upon beforehand by the players. Any number can take part, for each one plays for himself, and the winner is the one who independently executes all the difficult sets without failing. Any place is convenient for the game, and the stones are generally thrown on the lap, the ground, a pillow, a doorstep, or even the pavement.

“Muggins” is the name of the first set, which consists in gathering all five stones in the palm of the right hand and throwing them into the air together, then catching all five on the back of the hand. Without stopping, the stones must be thrown again in the air and all five caught together in the hand. This makes all the stones of equal value and all of them Jacks (the technical name for the stone thrown in the air while different movements are being done). The Muggins set requires considerable dexterity, and a player dropping any one of the stones loses his turn, which passes to the player on the left. The next set is not started until all the players have successfully accomplished their turn of Muggins, which must be done five times in succession without failing.

“Milking the Cow” is the name of the second set. The stones are gathered in the hand and the Jack is thrown into the air, and while it is “up,” one stone is quietly and gently placed upon the table from the palm, but must not be thrown or dropped, and the Jack caught as it comes down. This is repeated until all the stones are discarded one after the other, the art being to do this without letting more than one escape at a time. If this is not done, the turn passes to the next player on the left; but, if successfully accomplished, the stones are swept into a heap and caught up in the hand while the Jack is in the air. All the players must do this in succession or lose their turn. Those who have not completed the first Muggins take their turn here, and must do it five times without fault before beginning to milk.

“Grab” is the name of the third set, and it is difficult. It is called “Laying Eggs” in Korea. It is done by laying four stones about two inches apart in a row, tossing the Jack and picking them up one by one. The first stone is kept in the hollow of the palm of the right hand while the Jack is tossed and the second stone is picked up. This is retained, and the third stone is picked up in the same way, and so on until all are caught in the right hand. Then all are placed in a heap and are gathered while the Jack is tossed. The left hand is not used at all in these two sets.

“Peas in the Pot” is the first set of the second part of the game. The left hand is partly closed and four stones are placed about an inch apart in a row, the first one touching the thumb. Players, to show their skill, will often make the spaces wider, but they must not throw the Jack any higher than is usual, which is about a foot and a half. The play consists in throwing the Jack, and, while it is in the air, one stone after another is picked up and put in the pot (which is the left hand). Some players push the stones into the pot. To do so, the thumb and forefinger of the left hand are opened to allow the stones to pass in, but this is considered unworkmanlike by good players. The stones, after being placed in the pot and the left hand removed, are gathered with one swoop as the Jack is tossed.

“Horses in the Stable” is played with the fingers of the left hand outstretched to form stalls. The stones are placed about four inches away on the table, and must be pushed into the stalls one by one while the Jack is aloft. Then all are gathered up at once in the right hand while the Jack is tossed. In Hindustan the native girls have their photographs taken when playing this set of Jackstones.

“Horses out of the Stable” follows. The stones are pushed out with one motion, one beside the other, and then caught up with one sweep as the Jack is tossed. The art consists in getting the stones close together when they leave the stalls, so that they can be grabbed with one sweep while the Jack is up.

“Sweeping the Floor” comes next. The stones are placed four inches apart in a square, and the third finger of the right hand must sweep inside two of the stones without touching them while the Jack is aloft. They must then be gathered and caught with one sweep of the hand.

“Spreading the Table” is done by arranging the square with four stones, as in the preceding set, after which they are pushed together with one sweep and caught in the right hand while the Jack is up.

“Laying Eggs,” called Al-Nat-Ki in Korea, is the next set. American children play it exactly in the same way as do the Asiatics. Four stones are placed on the table, the Jack is tossed, one stone is picked up and laid down while the Jack is in the air. Then another stone is picked up as the Jack is tossed and laid down as before, until all are used. In “Korean Games,” Mr. Culin describes this play, but no reference is made to the preceding sets, although they are played in Europe.

“Setting the Eggs,” or Al-Houm-Ki, calls for four of the stones being placed beside the left hand and pushed under it, as is done in “Peas in the Pot.”

“Hatching the Eggs,” or Al-Kka-Ki, consists in holding all the stones in the right hand, with one tucked under the little finger. This is then dropped gently on the table while the Jack is tossed, the other stones being held in the hand, and this is repeated until all are down.

A good player may work right through the whole number of sets before the opponents have a chance to play at all. Children often arrange handicaps among themselves to prevent this. One peculiarity of the game seems to be that it is a point of honour among the children to take no unfair advantage of each other, but to try to assist and make the others win if possible, and it is one of the few games played by children that seldom lead to quarrelling. There are variations of the sets, but the above is the standard game.

Quite different from the last, which is simply one of skill, is the game known as Jackstraws, which is a primitive game, but it is played all over the world, and is evidently derived from the “arrows of divination.” A set of Chinese Jackstraws in the writer’s collection was made about the middle of the last century, probably for exportation, for some of the straws are European in character. They are of ivory, which is most delicately carved, and are not coloured, as are some of the sets of Chinese Jackstraws that are carved out of bone. They were imported by a naval officer who was on the expedition under Commodore Perry which opened the treaty ports of Japan to American trade.

In this set there are two hooks, for separating the pieces one after another without shaking any of the bunch. The long, slender “straws” are four inches in length. There are eight that are carved to represent Javelins, and eight carved like Spears. They count, respectively, one and two marks if taken from the rest of the pile without shaking. Then there are twenty Straws, counting ten apiece, that are delicately carved, each one entirely different from any of the others. There is a Spade, a hooked Spear, an Arrow, an Axe, a Flag, a Standard, a Halberd, a war Hammer, a Javelin, a Sabre, a Lance, a Sword, a Trident, and a Pitchfork. These all seem to be intended to represent weapons familiar in the antiquated warfare of China. The five European implements are a long-handled Shovel, a pair of Tongs, a Bodkin, a Pen, and a Musket. The skillful player who captures the Tongs counts twenty, since it is twice as difficult to disentangle as any of the other Straws, that are valued at ten marks apiece.

 

 

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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 through the hand, as is done by the Gypsies, or by the cards, as practised by the priests of Mercury; but these are only a few hundred years old, and probably have but little relation to the actual rites that have left no authentic record and now can only be guessed.

Consultation of the cards serves to amuse the idle, the curious, and the credulous, so a brief recapitulation of the two methods most in vogue may interest readers, who can try for themselves to read what the divining tools say through the interpretations used by two of the most celebrated fortune-tellers of the past century, namely: Etteila and Mlle. le Normand. The latter used modern French cards, while the former required a complete Tarot pack that is not easy for most people to obtain.

Cardmakers have not been unready to invent for their customers various fantastic packs with weird symbols, and to bestow on these modern creations various significances that have no relation whatever to the old Tarots; therefore they are valueless in the eyes of those who believe in the ancient mysteries, which have been implicitly credited for ages, and have a significance that is not difficult to understand, although the different shades of meaning attributed to them by the Initiates have been lost.

The fortune-telling packs issued by the card makers of the day generally bear French pips, since these symbols are the ones familiar to manufacturers in France, England, and America. They have, in addition, badly drawn, inartistic pictures that are foolish and meaningless, since they are neither heraldic nor symbolic, and they are only intended for amateurs, since the true fortune-teller or Gypsy of to-day prefers the cards with the ancient pips of Money, Swords, Rods, and Cups, together with the Atouts.

A pack published in Frankfort-on-Main has the French, not the German, pips, as would seem natural, and the cards are named “Le Normand Karten.” They are great favourites in Europe, where they are used for foretelling the future and describing the past or present by credulous persons who follow the rules laid down in the accompanying book or key, believing that the cards were originally arranged and interpreted by the celebrated French cartomancie, Mlle. le Normand herself, who had wonderful luck in her business and has had many successors.

This pack is one and a half by three inches in width, which is smaller than ordinary Playing Cards, and more convenient for laying out on a table. The pack contains only thirty-six cards, with three court cards to each suit, namely: King Queen, and Knave. The six pip cards are Ace, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten. Each one has a meaningless picture on it, such as a coffin, birds, flowers, or keys, and male or female figures dressed in the fashion of 1850. In the upper centre of each card is a small space, on which are the court figures or the pip symbols that are represented on an ordinary pack of French cards.

The directions for consulting the cards are printed in German and French in a small book accompanying them, so, since any pack with French pips would serve for the same amusement, the rules and interpretations may well be here given, as many persons enjoy consulting the cards to discover through them, if they may, the past, present, and future.

Shuffle and cut the cards, and then hand them to the Inquirer to cut three times. Deal one at a time, placing them face upward on the table in rows from left to right. The first four rows each should have eight cards, and the fifth row only four cards, which should be placed in the middle under the others. These signify the end of life, and the row is, consequently, shorter than the others. The cards for this row must be put so that there are two outside of them on either side, both left and right on the row above them, which makes the two outside lines count only four cards from top to bottom, while the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth lines have five cards under them.

If the inquirer is a female, she is represented by the Ace of Spades, and if a male, he is betokened by the Ace of Hearts. These cards also represent husband and wife, or two lovers, and great attention must be paid to the place where they fall in dealing, for all the other cards are dominated and controlled by one of these two, taking their significance from them. The portent of the other cards is great or less in degree according to their position, whether it be near or far, above or below, these two representative cards. Those touching them are supposed to show the events that are happening at the present moment, those far from them are in the past, or the future, depending whether they are above or below the two important ones.

The meaning of the thirty-six remaining cards is explained as follows:

With this key to the interpretation of the cards, as arranged according to Mlle. le Normand’s theory, they may be read as follows, counting on the cards as they fall near or far from the Ace of Hearts. If they are above or close to and on the right, they mean the first description; if on the left, they signify the second one. If below on the right, the third description is the one to be taken, and if below on the left, the fourth.

Suppose a young man is the inquirer, and the cards be dealt as follows:

This could be explained through the key as being a young man who from birth had been surrounded by envious, jealous, and quarrelsome persons, who formed his character, leading to the greatest unhappiness in the family life. The marriage of his parents having been unfortunate, it reacted on the boy’s welfare. A trusted friend or guardian stole the fortune that had been left in trust. But, endowed with good health, these troubles were disregarded in youth. His character being unbridled, capricious, frivolous, inconstant, peevish, and given to imagining grievances, although affectionate to his friends, his disposition made him uncongenial to most persons.

Secret enemies, who had been trusted as friends, embittered his life in a way that nothing could overcome. A long journey undertaken for the sake of forgetfulness was filled with annoyances and mishaps. Some brightness entered into it through the companionship of a charming woman, which might have resulted in a happy marriage had not the jealous spirit that controlled the young man’s career prevented. An early death is prognosticated.

Let us now consider the other method of fortune-telling, which was followed by Etteila, a celebrated French fortune-teller, who lived in Paris about one hundred years since, who wielded a vast influence over his compatriots, who firmly believed, as, indeed, he did himself, that he had discovered the key to the Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus through an old pack of Tarots that fell by chance into his hands.

It is said that Napoleon Bonaparte had great faith in the deductions and revelations of this ci-devant hairdresser’s apprentice, to whom Josephine presented him. The empress was an ignorant and credulous woman, owing to her education in the West Indian island of her birth, the society of which was corrupted by Negro superstitions of a most complicated and far-reaching character.

Etteila published a book called “Collection sur les Hautes Sciences” (1780). It included an essay on “The Sublime Book of Thoth” that is now very rare, but he saw what few others had seen, that Playing Cards were of Egyptian origin, although he failed entirely to trace their progress through the temples of Nebo and Thoth to the Mercury of the Romans, so, of course, never connected the pips with the emblems of Mercury or discovered that they originated from the divine commands given to the Israelites, as well as to the desire of primitive people to consult the Tablets of Fate that were inscribed by Nebo, the great god of Babylonia. Many of the statements and beliefs of Etteila would have doubtless been received with greater credence if these tokens had been pointed out. But Etteila declared that he had discovered the different subtle meanings connected with the Tarots, and that he had elucidated many of the points that had previously been obscure. He certainly obtained astonishing results when consulting the Tarots, or a set of cards that were probably invented by himself, and which are now rare. They were adorned with figures of men and women dressed in the fashion of his day, with numbers on them, but with no pip marks. They were printed on a yellow-tinted paper, and when issued were accompanied by a small book of rules for their use in divining.

Papus, in his “Tarots of the Bohemians,” having digested various works on the Gypsies, kabalism, and occultism, worked out many rules for divining with the Tarots. He places great reliance on magnetic currents, the position of the stars, and the signs of the zodiac, suggesting astrology, but he finds these symbols in the Tarots. He also gives value to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in connection with the Atouts, but, after all, he declares that intuition plays a most important part when reading the Tarots.

As has been pointed out, the Book of Thoth, or the Tarot pack, is divided into two volumes, twenty-two leaves of which are called Atouts and bear symbolic figures more or less correctly described by the names written on them. The fifty-six leaves of the second volume are divided into four suits, namely: Cups, Swords, Rods, and Money, with four court cards to each suit: King, Queen, Knave, and Cavalier, followed by nine numbered cards headed by the Ace.

Papus (page 308) defines the meaning of the suits as follows:

These four sets of principles must be remembered. The four court cards represent people in general or particular who come in contact with each other during the events of life. The Kings represent men, the Queens women, the Cavaliers youths, and the Knaves children.

The court cards of the Rod and Sword suits represent dark people, while those of the Cup and Money suits represent light or fair people. The latter are benign, the former indifferent or malignant.

The key to the pip cards as given by Papus is as follows:

The pips of the Rod and Cup suits indicate that which comes from within or at home. The pips of the Money and Sword suits indicate that which comes from outside or abroad.

In order to practise card-reading with success, the Book of Thoth must be mastered in every detail, and every significance of each of the seventy-eight leaves must be committed to memory. After this the laying out of the cards and the reading of their meaning would become mechanical, were it not that the position of each one, as well as of the surrounding cards, is capable of such subtle and illusive connections that only those well versed in cartomancy, or, perhaps, inspired by the dominating genius of Mercury, can translate their import.

First, then, the direct meaning of each card must be remembered, and then its significance when it is reversed; thirdly, its value owing to its position on the table and when in contact with other cards must be known. The card is read in one way when it is required to reveal the character, and in another when the social position or the thoughts of the inquirer are to be revealed. The same card signifies, under other circumstances, past or future events according to its position. A malignant card may be entirely changed if surrounded by benign cards. Thus each condition must be given due weight when the cards are being consulted.

“Human life,” says Papus, “passes through four great periods, namely: childhood, youth, maturity, and old age; so, when the Tarots are being read with regard to the past, present, or future, this is the first thing to be dwelt upon to the exclusion of every other significance that may be seen in the cards. If, however, they are being read regarding events, it will be seen that commencement, apogee, decline, and fall are represented.”

If a business transaction is the subject of inquiry, the suit of Rods must be the one selected, since it indicates creation, enterprise, agriculture, art, and the element of fire.

If a love affair is being inquired about, Cups must represent it. The Cup indicates instruction, preservation, the earth, and affection.

A lawsuit, quarrel, or trouble has Swords for an emblem, as they denote transformation, hatred, war, trouble, and the air.

Business calls for the Money suit; that typifies development, trade, commerce, and water, with ships, travelling, and all that is connected with movement. The Money suit is sometimes named Pentacles.

The Cups and Staves denote the house or the home, the family or near relatives and friends. Money typifies outsiders, or the world in general, or unknown persons. Swords may be either close relations or the public, whichever is indicated by the surrounding cards.

The Atout cards may be divided so that the first seven cards refer to the intellectual life of man. The next seven cards point to his moral condition, and the last seven of the Atouts declare the various events of his life. Taken with the pip cards, a fair narrative of all concerning the ordinary events of life may be read in the cards, that is at least curious and amusing, even if no credence is placed in the revelations, and this is supposed to be what the ancients meant when they declared that Mercury had invented “speech, letters, and books.”

 

 

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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 table, after which the Atouts are shuffled and cut according to the above directions, to be dealt according to the rules of the game, remembering that the first card to the left indicates commencement or childhood, the second one to the right and above it is youth or apogee, the third on the right signifies decline or maturity, while the fourth position means old age or fall; in short, past, present, and future.

A simple way of reading the cards is as follows: With the pip and Atout cards shuffled and cut separately, the Juggler, or first card of the Atouts, must be taken from the pack and laid in the middle of the table, so that the other cards may be dealt around it; for it represents the Inquirer, and the cards that fall close to it reveal the events in life most nearly connected with him.

After the cards are cut, the Inquirer may select seven cards from the Atouts without looking at them. The Bagatleur represents the Inquirer. Deal four of them one by one, beginning at the left side, so as to fill the following diagram:

		II
I				III
		IV

Then take three Atouts, selected without looking at them, and place them in the centre, as follows:

				II
I		V		VII		VI		III
				IV

The last three show past, present, and future; the other four indicate the character of the person or the events about which the cards are being consulted. The diagram demands seven Atouts besides the Bagatleur or Inquirer.

Then, without seeing them, twelve pip cards must be taken by the Inquirer from the suit that has been selected, and these must be laid in a circle around those already in place, commencing on the left and working downwards and towards the right. The first card should be next to No. I; the fourth should be under No. IV; the seventh should be opposite to the first one and next to No. III; the tenth should be on the top, above No. II, while the twelfth card falls beside the first one, completing the circle. The Juggler is then supposed to be placed in the middle of the diagram or laid above the circle.

The twelve pip cards indicate the different phases through which the person will pass, or the evolution of the events during the four great periods of life. Commencement is indicated by the Atout in position No. I; apogee, by the Atout in position No. II; decline or obstacle, by the Atout in position No. III, and fall, by the one in position No. IV. Then the three other Atouts indicate the special character of the person; in the past by No. V, in the present by No. VI, in the future by No. VII.

The pip cards should be studied where the future is indicated by the cards in the circle occupying places from seven to twelve, the present by those occupying positions from four to seven, the past by those occupying positions from one to four. (These numbers refer to the positions occupied, and never to the number of the pips on the cards, or to the numbers placed on the Atouts.)

The above is a short and hurried method of consulting the cards, but Etteila had a second one that was used when a whole career was to be revealed, as well as the character, or the influence of education, friends, and family. It also indicated the future position and chief events of life. In short, it was supposed to be a repetition of the scene when a young man, on reaching maturity made a solemn sacrifice in the temple, when the “Tablets of Fate,” that had been inscribed by Nebo, Thoth, or Mercury at his birth, were consulted. In this way their wishes were obtained that should govern his career in life. This ceremony was never repeated, although the orders of the gods were often requested on particular occasions without going through the entire performance or the full consultation that had been made at maturity.

According to Papus, four deals are required for this process of divination, but his methods are unnecessarily complicated, so they may be simplified without altering the results.

Shuffle all the Tarots without making any distinction between the Atout and the pip cards. Let the Inquirer cut them three times, and then cut them in three packets of about equal size. Take the central heap, deal out twenty-six cards, and lay them to the right in a pile. Shuffle those remaining with the rest of the pack, and let them again be cut, and then again cut into three piles. Select the centre and deal seventeen cards, placing them in a pile beside the one containing the twenty-six cards. Shuffle the stock again together, and let them be shuffled and cut as before, taking again the centre packet and dealing eleven cards. Collect the remaining twenty-four cards and put them aside. This is the Widow, or Stock, and these cards represent the events that might have happened in the life of the Inquirer, but were eliminated by luck or chance, and these often prove most interesting.

The first packet, containing the twenty-six cards, represents the soul or the character of the Inquirer, and of those most closely connected with him. The pile containing the seventeen cards represents his mind or the events controlling him. And the pile of eleven cards represents the body, the ills or annoyances of life, or the events to take place, such as the profession to be chosen, the journeys to be taken, with other happenings.

The cards should be spread out on a table, so that they can easily be seen and interpreted according to their value, as given on pages 000-000, the upper row containing the “soul” pile, the second row the “mind” pile, and the third row containing the “body” pile.

“From this system,” says Papus (page 330), “Etteila deduced his subtle arguments upon the creation of the universe, the Kabbalah, and the Philosopher’s stone.” If any person can emulate him in these deductions, they must be “wise in their generation,” and must have established direct communication with the great god Nebo himself, the “writer of the Tablets of Fate.”

For the second deal, the whole pack of seventy-eight cards must be shuffled and cut three times. Deal seventeen cards, laying them on the table face up. Then take the eighteenth card and the seventy-eighth card that should be on the bottom of the pack, and “the meaning of these two cards,” says Papus, “will tell you whether any fluidic sympathetic communication is established between the Initiate and the Inquirer.” Then the seventeen cards laid out can be deciphered and disclosed.

The third deal is “Etteila’s great figure,” which gives the key to the past, present, and future of the person about whose fate inquiry is being made.

Take out the Atout numbered One, or the Juggler. Deal ten cards side by side on the left of the table. Shuffle and cut three times, and then deal ten more across the top. Then shuffle, cut, and deal ten more on the right side, thus forming a hollow square, with the thirty Atout and pip cards falling indiscriminately, but arranged side by side.

Deal thirty cards in a ring in the centre, leaving seventeen cards besides the Juggler, or on one side for the stock, which has the meaning ascribed to it in the other deals.

To read the cards, they must be picked up one by one, beginning with the last one dealt on the right side of the open square and the last one of the ring, explaining their meaning and significance as they are placed together in pairs, and then discarding them entirely. The twenty cards that are first taken up relate to the past.

The next twenty should be lifted in the same way, starting with the top card of the square, and mating it with the one nearest it of the centre circle, which should be the eleventh one dealt. These twenty cards represent the present.

The remaining twenty cards, that should be selected in the same way, foretell the future.

The fourth deal is simple, and through it answers may be obtained to any queries that are put that have not been covered by the three preceding revelations. Shuffle all the cards together and cut three times. Then deal seven cards from right to left and read the answer.

Papus declares that the above system of fortune-telling is based upon Etteila’s method “as given in his Book of Thoth that is very rare,” and that his method has “never before been seriously elucidated by any of his numerous disciples.” Papus, therefore, is one of the first to explain it upon “simple principles,” which, however, require further simplification to be practical, probably owing to some misprints in his volume.

The manner of telling fortunes by cards, according to the supposed rules of the priests of the temple of Thoth, requires a complete pack of Tarots that are at present difficult to obtain. Spanish, French, or picture cards issued for games are without real value or connection with one of the earliest cults of the world. Fortune-telling with cards is useless unless divined through the emblems of Mercury or his predecessor, the great Egyptian god Thoth, by reading the signs and symbols pictured in his Book of Thoth Hermes Trismegistus called

The Tarots.