TAROT
(Investigator 109, 2006 July)
There are disparate opinions as to the origin of Tarot cards, their
invention having been variously attributed to the Chinese, Egyptians,
Indians and Hebrews.
Writers, scholars, philosophers and poets, among them T. S. Elliot,
Ouspensky and W. B. Yeates, have dealt with them in various ways,
and the symbols, pictures and images printed on the cards have been
interpreted at times as being authentic lore, messages, prophecies and
inspirations, having spiritual significance and occult wisdom.
According to a French writer, Court de Geblin, the Tarot trumps were
originally religious murals copied by ancient Egyptian priests
who, realizing that their civilization was on the decline reasoned that
their mysteries would survive if disguised as a gambling game. The
claim that the guardians of the cards were the gypsies is based on the
false notion that gypsies originated in Egypt.
To the devotees, divination, or the reading of the cards for their
revelations and disclosure of the future is the most important feature.
To undertake a reading it is necessary to know the meanings attributed
to the cards.
The pack consists of 78 cards divided into four suits; 56 making up the
Minor Arcana, and 22 picture cards known as the Major Arcana (from the
Latin arcanus, meaning inner secrets or mystery).
To each card is attributed one or more meanings, and if a card falls in
an upside-down position when dealt it can have additional meanings, a
total of between four and five hundred different interpretations. Using
the basic interpretations, intuition, and allowing the mind to drift, a
reading can proceed using one of the several standard spreads or card
layouts. Of these, The Ancient Celtic Method and The Tree of Life are
the most popular.
Another use for the Tarot is meditation. Eliphas Levi (1856), in his book, Transcendental Magic, says:
"The practical value of
the Tarot is truly marvelous. A person devoid of books, had he only a
Tarot of which knew how to make use, could in a few years acquire
universal science, and converse with an unequalled doctrine and
inexhaustible eloquence."
It is claimed that in studying the Tarot, one can exercise the mind,
meditate in a world of higher dimensions, and understand the meaning of
symbols that are universal in meaning and found everywhere.
Sorting the wheat from the chaff one can concede that Tarot cards today
are among the most popular forms of character reading and divination.
They were however, developed from playing cards introduced into Europe
in the latter part of the 14th century.
Towards the end of the 18th century, a French writer, Court de Geblin, in his work Le Monde Primitif
(1773-1782), concocted a fantastic tale linking the Tarot trumps with
the religious murals of some ancient Egyptian temple, it was from this
basis that most occult claims about the Tarot have arisen.
Over the next two hundred years they were modified and popularized, and
today it is common to see Tarot readers advertising in newspapers and
magazines offering to read your future in their cards.
The subject of divination by cards has been covered in the chapter on
Cartomancy, basically, as with ordinary playing cards, the Tarot reader
seeks the same result but by using cards with pictures on them, the
pictures acting as a stimulus to one’s imagination.
Like so many other divination systems, Tarot relies on the cold reading
technique which employs ambiguous and general statements, and solicits
information from the victim to be fed back at a later time during the
reading.
Known as the P. T. Barnum effect, (after P. T. Barnum’s famous
quip "there's a sucker born every minute") it convinces the subject to
believe that a vague stock spiel, with few if any specifics, is an
accurate description of their own personality.
This has been, and can be, amply demonstrated by using the following typical and patronizing stock spiel on your friends:
You appear to be a
cheerful, well-balanced person. You may have some alternation of happy
and unhappy moods, but they are not extreme now. You have few or no
problems with your health. You are sociable and mix well with others.
You are adaptable to social situations. You tend to be adventurous.
Your interests are wide. You are fairly self-confident, and
usually think clearly.
Using the standard Tarot card interpretations supplied with the pack,
imagination, and with slight variations, the above, no matter to whom
this spiel is applied it will invariably be seen as an "accurate"
portrayal of the individual's personality.
Given that most seeking the services of a Tarot reader would be a
believer to a certain extent, even this vague description would, to
them, seem specific.
Having convinced the client that you know all about them the next step
is to "read" the cards making up a story as you go hazarding a guess as
to what the client's problem may be.
By fishing for clues, getting the client to open up, and watching
reactions, it soon becomes apparent that tarot reading is simply the
application of elementary psychology using arbitrary interpretations of
meaningless symbols.
Bibliography:
Cavendish, R. 1985. How To Tell Your Fortune. Marshall Cavendish Books.
___________ (Ed.) 1970. Man, Myth and Magic. BPC Publishing, London.
___________ 1968. The Black Arts. Routledge and Kegan Paul. London.
Gray, E. 1960. The Tarot Revealed. A Signet Book. New American Library.
Haich, E. 1985. The Wisdom of the Tarot. Unwin Paperback, Sydney.
Hill, D. 1982. Fortune Telling. Hamlyn Paperbacks. Sydney.
Laycock, D. (Ed.) 1989. Skeptical. Canberra Skeptics.
Leek, S. 1970. Book of Fortune Telling. W. H. Allen. London.
Levi, Eliphas. 1856. Transcendental Magic, Translated by A. E. Waite. Rider 1968 reprint.
Lind, F. 1984. How to Understand the Tarot. The Aquarian Press. UK.
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Waite, A. E. 1959. The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. University Books. NY.
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From: Edwards, H. A Skeptic's Guide to the New Age