Thursday, 01. May 2008
The Pasteboard Masquerade
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The Tarot first appeared in northern Italy, during the birth of Europe’s cultural revolution. Those original decks were probably designed between 1420 and 1440, although the earliest extant cards date from later in the 1400s.

This Italian game eventually made its way throughout Europe, and countries such as France, Spain, and Germany soon became major cardmaking centers themselves. This spread and popularity resulted in a variety of different Tarot decks. But because there are few surviving early decks, and because the cards themselves were neither named nor numbered until several decades after their invention, it is uncertain which pattern represents the original sequence of allegories.

Exploring the Alphabetic Tarot


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The Tarot has entertained card lovers for centuries. Yet while its symbolic content has been traced to a variety of influences—such as social hierarchy, the Virtues, Biblical and classical allusions, astrology and perhaps even alchemy—these do not explain why the Tarot’s designers settled upon these specific images, or why they arranged these images in a particular sequence. Could the trumps also have been influenced by the Hebrew alphabet, as esotericists have long claimed?

Essays on the Tarot


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The Tarot Art Nouveau was painted by the Italian artist Antonella Castelli. It was published in 1998 by Lo Scarabeo, and is now distributed by U.S.Games Systems with a booklet translated into english. There is a separate deck called the Art Nouveau Tarot by Matt Myers, but it is less representative of art nouveau and shows the additional influence of stained glass design. In contrast, this deck by Castelli is deeply art nouveau, reminiscent of the work by Alphonse Mucha and Aubrey Beardsley. This style became immensely popular at the turn of the last century. In Italy it is known as Liberty, and in Germany as Jugendstil (young style).

Reviews of decks


An interpretation of the linguistic symbolism found in the Marseilles and Dellarocca Tarots. And a theory that at least some versions the of the Tarot may be a lexicon of the Hebrew alphabet: The Pasteboard Masquerade.
Amusements with a pack of tarot cards by Mark Filipas.
Very worthwhile site!
Category: Symbols & Geometry Category: Tarot & Oracles




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