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diff --git a/42950-0.txt b/42950-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6ccb90 --- /dev/null +++ b/42950-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7703 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42950 *** + +PROPHETICAL, EDUCATIONAL AND PLAYING CARDS + + + + +[Illustration: ATOUTS OF AN EARLY ITALIAN PACK OF TAROTS + + 1 Il Bagattel + + 2 La Papessa + + 3 L'Imperatrice + + 4 L'Imperatore + + 5 Il Papa + + 6 Gli Amanti] + + + + + Prophetical, Educational and Playing Cards + + + By MRS. JOHN KING VAN RENSSELAER + + Author of "The Devil's Picture Books," Etc. + + + LONDON + HURST & BLACKETT, Ltd. + PATERNOSTER HOUSE + 1912 + + + + + PRINTED BY + THE GEORGE H BUCHANAN COMPANY + PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A. + + + + +THE ORACLE OF ISHTAR AND NEBO UTTERED BY A WOMAN BAYA (OR WITCH) A NATIVE +OF ARABELA + + +"I proclaim it aloud--What Has Been Will Be--I am Nebo--The Lord of the +Writing Tablet--Glorify Me." + + + + +CONTENTS + + + 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 + Coeur--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 + Coeur--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. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + 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 + + + + +FOREWORD + + +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._ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +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. + +[Illustration: 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, Coeurs 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 [Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +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 Coeurs, 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. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +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. + +[Illustration: 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 Phoenicia, 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 Phoenician 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. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +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: + + NUM or KNEPH--the creative mind. + + PHTHAH--the creative hand. + + MAUT--matter. + + RA--the sun. + + KHONS--the moon. + + SEB--the earth. + + KHEM--the generative power in nature. + + NUT--the upper hemisphere in heaven. + + ATHOR--the lower world. + + THOTH--divine wisdom. + + AMMON--divine mysteriousness. + + OSIRIS--divine goodness. + +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." + +[Illustration: 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. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +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," +[Illustration: infinity symbol]; 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. + +[Illustration: 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 [Illustration: pointing finger] 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 +[Illustration: infinity symbol], 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. + +TO ENLIL. + + Oh, Enlil, who placed on the waters + A shelter for men and for all, + Great God, who creates and then slaughters, + Come, hark to the children's call. + Nin-Mar, the smiter of mountains, I sigh, I sigh; + Enlil, to thee I cry, cry, cry. + + Shall the Mistress of Mar and his daughters, + His doves and the broods on their nests, + Shall their homes be cast out on the waters, + While their Master is lying at rest? + Nin-Mar, who was the destroyer of lands, I sigh, I sigh; + Enlil, to thee I cry, cry, cry. + + Exalted one! Listen to pleadings, + For my Nippur now covers its face; + My E-Kur, my Ki-Ur have vanished, + May all be restored to their place. + It is Mar, the smiter of mountains, I sigh, I sigh; + Enlil, to thee I cry, cry, cry. + +THE HYMN. + + Great Nippur, and E-Kur and Ki-Ur with Girsu have perished in flame, + Then harken, oh, powerful Enlil, and restore them to greatness and fame. + Oh, then shall thy cities exalt thee, thy harems, thy children, thy + lands, + The doves which fly over the towers, the temples that rise from the + sands. + We pray that thy days may be lengthened, thy cities, like mountains, + arise; + Then open thy ears, mighty Enlil, to thy children's most sorrowful cries. + Listen to Nin-Mar, its Mistress, I sigh, I sigh; + Enlil, to thee I cry, cry, cry. + +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. + +[Illustration: 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. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +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. + +[Illustration: 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. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +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. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +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 Coeur, 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 Coeur 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 +Coeur'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." + +[Illustration: 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. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +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. + +[Illustration: 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 +23d 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. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +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." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +"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 Coeur. + +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." + +[Illustration: 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: + + JUCH (interjection).--A loud burst of joy. As example, "The good man + dreamed as if he were still at the card club, shouting, 'Juch, Juch, + Grun (the leaf suit in the German cards) is chosen.'" + + JUCHEN (verb).--To shout "Juch." + +In the New English Dictionary, commonly called the Oxford Dictionary +(1905), we find the following: + + EUCHRE or UKER or YUKER.--Of uncertain origin, supposed to be German. + As Bower, one of the terms used in this game, is of German origin, it + has often been supposed that the word Euchre is also from the German, + but no probable source has been found in that language. Can it be that + it is the Spanish Yuca, in the sentence "Ser yuca," given by Cabillero + as an American expression for "cock of the walk," meaning to "get the + best of anything"? In 1847 Euchre was common in Mississippi, and is + alluded to in various celebrated lawsuits growing out of disputes over + the game. + +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. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +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. + +[Illustration: 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. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +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." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +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 Coeur 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. + +[Illustration: GAMBLING AND EDUCATIONAL CARDS + + 79-80-81 Swedish Cards for old Cucu game. No. 80 is the Joker. + + 82-83 Korean Cards showing numeral and suit marks with feather design + on reversed card. + + 84-85-86 Japanese Educational Cards with quotations from favorite + poets, for game of Hayku-Niu-Isshu.] + +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. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +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. + +[Illustration: GAMBLING CARDS + + 87-88-89 English Court Cards with French pips. About 1840. + + 90-91-92 German Cards, showing Six of Acorns, Six of Leaves, and Six + of Hearts. + + 93-94 Chinese Cards showing Money and Rod emblems.] + +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. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +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. + +[Illustration: GAMBLING, HISTORICAL AND EDUCATIONAL CARDS + + 95-96 Spanish Cards showing Four of Cups (with name Naypes, meaning + prophetical) and Knave of Money (with the gazelle of Osiris). + + 97 English Educational Cards--historical. One of the Jubilee pack + containing Queen Victoria and all her descendants. + + 98 Netherlands Domino Card for teaching music. + + 99 United States Domino Card. + + 100 United States Numbered Card for game of Grabouche or Flinch. + + 101 United States Educational Card for game of Authors. + + 102 English Educational Card for teaching arithmetic.] + +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 Phoenician. 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. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +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: + + KING OF SPADES.--Great happiness. A journey. A voyage on business. A + happy life. + + QUEEN.--Happiness throughout life in every way. + + KNAVE.--A birth. A child. A sweet disposition. Affability. + + TEN.--Inherited wealth. Business. Fortune. Journey on account of + business. Travel. + + NINE.--Successful voyages. Commercial enterprises. Faithfulness. + Illusions. Flirtations. + + EIGHT.--Social position. Constant love. Unimportant position. Bad + companions. + + SEVEN.--Good news. A letter from a distance. Bad news. An invitation. + + SIX.--Long life. Sad life. Sickness. Death. + + * * * * * + + KING OF CLUBS.--Trouble. Happiness. Disaster to friends. Good news of + friends. + + QUEEN.--Misfortune. Bad friends. Slander. Loss. + + KNAVE.--Discord in family. Unhappiness between lovers. Illness. + Protracted sufferings. + + TEN.--Happiness. Indifference. Trouble from outsiders. Slander. + + NINE.--Annoyances. Troubles from friends. Quarrels. Lawsuit. + + EIGHT.--Friendship. Faithful lover. Powerful enemy. Enemy overcome. + + SEVEN.--Loss. Thief. Loss recovered. Loss irreparable. + + SIX.--Disagreeable news. Slight trouble. Bad news. Trouble for + friends. + + ACE.--Engagement. Happy marriage and riches. Broken engagement. + Separation of lovers. + + * * * * * + + KING OF DIAMONDS.--Fortune from the sea. Enterprises successful. + Misfortune. Loss. + + QUEEN.--Unhappiness averted. Danger escaped. Sorrow. Trouble. + + KNAVE.--Chagrin. Misfortune averted. Danger. Unhappiness averted. + + TEN.--News. Secret intelligence. Gossip. Scandal. + + NINE.--Illness. Sorrow. Accidents. Danger. + + EIGHT.--Invitations. A love affair. Pleasure for the beloved. A love + affair in the family. + + SEVEN.--Happy journey. Arrival of friends. A short trip. A journey. + + SIX.--Pleasure. Good news. Annoyances overcome Good fortune. + + ACE.--Prosperity. Good luck. Discouragement. Misfortune. + + * * * * * + + KING OF HEARTS.--Reunion. Prosperity. Fidelity. Endurance. + + QUEEN.--An excursion. A journey. A prevented visit. Delayed journey. + + KNAVE.--Love. Happiness. Pleasure. Concord. + + TEN.--Fidelity. Lovers. Friendships. Treachery. + + NINE.--Good news. Tidings. Letters. Visits. + + EIGHT.--Honours. Approbation. Jealousy. Misery. + + SEVEN.--Pain. Slight illness. Recovery from illness. Health. + + SIX.--Good fortune. Happiness. Reverses. Troubles. + +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: + + FIRST ROW.--Six of Diamonds, Nine of Clubs, Seven of Hearts, Seven of + Diamonds, Ten of Spades, Queen of Clubs, Ace of Hearts, Ten of Clubs. + + SECOND ROW.--Six of Spades, Seven of Spades, Eight of Clubs, Six of + Clubs, Nine of Spades, King of Clubs, Ace of Clubs, Seven of Clubs. + + THIRD ROW.--King of Hearts, Knave of Hearts, King of Diamonds, Queen + of Spades, Knave of Spades, Queen of Diamonds, Six of Hearts, Ten of + Diamonds. + + FOURTH ROW.--Queen of Hearts, King of Spades, Ace of Spades, Eight of + Diamonds, King of Clubs, Eight of Hearts, King of Diamonds, Nine of + Hearts. + + FIFTH ROW.--Ten of Hearts, Nine of Diamonds, Eight of Spades, Ace of + Diamonds. + +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: + + RODS.--Enterprise, glory. + + CUPS.--Love, happiness. + + SWORDS.--Hatred, misfortune. + + MONEY.--Money, commerce, mercantile interests. + +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: + + RODS. + + Creation. Enterprise. Agriculture. Fire. + + KING.--A dark man. A friend. Generally married. The father of a + family. + + QUEEN.--Dark woman. A friend. A serious person. A very good + counsellor. The mother of a family. + + CAVALIER.--A dark young man. A friend. + + KNAVE.--A dark child. A friend. Also represents a message or letter + from a near relation. + + ACE.--Commencement of an enterprise. + + TWO.--Opposition to the beginning of an enterprise. + + THREE.--Realization of the commencement of an enterprise. The basis of + the work is now definitely established, and the undertaking can be + fearlessly continued. + + FOUR.--Obstacles to be prepared for. + + FIVE.--Obstacles surmounted. + + SIX.--Failure. + + SEVEN.--Certain success. + + EIGHT.--Partial success. + + NINE.--Great success. + + TEN.--Uncertainty. + + + CUPS + + Preservation. Love. Instruction. Earth. + + KING.--A fair man. A friend. A barrister, judge, or ecclesiastic. A + bachelor. + + QUEEN.--A fair woman. The loved one. The mistress of a house. + + CAVALIER.--Young, fair man. A friend. The lover or the loved one. + + KNAVE.--Fair child. A messenger. A birth. + + ACE.--Commencement of a love affair. + + TWO.--Opposition. Unimportant obstacles raised by one of the lovers. + + THREE.--Mutual love. + + FOUR.--Serious obstacles from others. + + FIVE.--Obstacles overcome. + + SIX.--Obstacles insuperable. Widowhood. Separation. + + SEVEN.--Success and happiness. + + EIGHT.--Jealousy and trouble. + + NINE.--Children. + + TEN.--Uncertainty. + + + SWORDS + + Transformation. War. Hatred. Lawsuits. Air. + + KING.--Dark bad man. A soldier, an enemy, or one to be mistrusted. + + QUEEN.--A dark wicked woman. A gossip. A calumniator. Jealous. + + CAVALIER.--Young dark man. An enemy. A spy. + + KNAVE.--A child. An enemy. Bad news. Delay. + + ACE.--Commencement of enmity. + + TWO.--Enmity does not last. + + THREE.--Hatred. + + FOUR.--Enemy defeated. + + FIVE.--Enemy triumphs at last moment. + + SIX.--Enemy powerless. + + SEVEN.--Enemy successful. + + EIGHT.--Enemy only partially successful. + + NINE.--Duration of hatred. + + TEN.--Uncertainty in the hatred. + + The court cards generally indicate an opposition raised outside of the + home. + + + MONEY + + Development. Money. Trade. Commerce. Journeys. Water. + + KING.--Fair man. Inimical or indifferent. + + QUEEN.--A fair woman. Indifferent. + + CAVALIER.--A young, fair man. A stranger. An arrival. + + KNAVE.--A fair child. A messenger. A letter. + + ACE.--Commencement of good fortune. Inheritance. Gifts. Economy. + + TWO.--Difficulty in getting inheritance or good fortune. + + THREE.--A small sum of money. + + FOUR.--Loss of money. + + FIVE.--Success coming that will balance loss. + + SIX.--Ruin. + + SEVEN.--A large fortune. + + EIGHT.--Partial success. Great loss of money at last moment. + + NINE.--A durable fortune. + + TEN.--Great successes and great reverses. + +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." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +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. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Prophetical, Educational and Playing +Cards, by Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42950 *** |