August 21, 2010
Tarot Prophecies: The Debate Over The Cards’ Origins
Tarot Prophecies: The Debate Over The Cards’ Origins
The origins of the tarot are shrouded in mystery and are the subject of some fairly heated debate. While most modern scholars believe they entered into usage as regular playing cards in Europe during the mid-1500s, there are others who believe that their roots are more ancient, and less mundane. Whatever the case truly may be, the fact is that the cards are now widely associated with cartomancy, or tarot prophecies.
Historians are now fairly certain that the name is likely derived from the Italian word ‘tarocchi’, or that it is in some way associated with the Taro River in northern Italy. This supports the theory that they were first used in a game of trumps that was popular amongst the aristocracy of northern Italy at the time.
Some mantic arts practitioners, on the other hand, still believe that it comes from the combination of two Egyptian words, ‘tar’, and ‘ro’, meaning ‘royal road’. This theory was originally put forth by Antoine Court de Gebelin in 1781, and is based on his belief that Gypsies traveling up from Egypt were heirs to Egypt’s ancient mystical knowledge, and that it was through them that the cards had been introduced into Europe.
There is a major flaw in De Gebelin’s theory, however. It lies in the fact that Gypsies do not originate in Egypt at all. As we know now, they are originally from Rajasthan in India. As such, it is quite unlikely they had any knowledge of Egypt’s ancient mystery religions. His theory has been further disproved by the advances in Egyptology that the discovery of the Rosetta Stone made possible.
Another important theory, which many people ascribe to, links them with the ancient Hebrew mystical practice of Kabbalah. Still others feel there are strong links to numerology. The famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung even believed them to represent archetypal symbols that could be used in analytical psychology.
Debates over meanings and origins should not be a cause of division amongst people who believe in tarot prophecies. Cards have been used, in one form or another, as a method of divination for centuries. Questions about where they came from only add to their mystique.Sick of information that is wrong or just doesn’t work? Click here to go to the net’s leading site about this topic! Go there now!: Psychic Tarot Reading, Psychic Readings Online and Psychic Love Reading
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