The wisdom of Tarot Cards was created for centuries:
The Tarot cards first appeared in Europe in the 14th century. Some sources say they appeared supposedly about 1370. However, the origin of the cards is not yet defined exactly. Majority of researchers believe that Gypsies practicing card-reading brought them to Europe, or probably that the cards came together with knights who came back from crusades in the East
While perusing the list of self-published tarot decks, I saw a magnificent deck that I absolutely loved. Unfortunately for me, the deck I wanted was only available in its "special edition" version, which was quite expensive, but I thought it would be worth it, so ordered one because the deck was so beautiful.
Well, it arrived today. The Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti is one of the most impressive I have seen. It arrived in a beautiful box, wrapped in gold paper with pretty purple bows :-). And it included my very own custom card, that says "'Oh, bother,' said Pooh, as he slapped a fresh clip into the Uzi."
I am VERY happy. It reads great. It feels great. It looks great. YAY!
So I've been doing pretty well collecting really nice tarot decks and posting all about them on this website. I've been getting decks from tarot vendors like The Mystic Eye and Tarot Garden and Ebay. For the most part, I have received my decks without a problem.
Today, however, a deck I had been waiting for arrived, and as soon as I opened the box, I was knocked over by the stench of stale cigarette smoke. Being highly allergic to cigarette smoke, it gave me an immediate headache. And even though the deck and book were shrink wrapped, the smoke got THROUGH it. *ARGH*
They really ought to put a disclaimer on ebay "From Smoking Household." I've noticed that smokers don't seem to understand just how stinky it truly is, and how badly it affects some people.
The really fun French Fortune Telling Cards that I got this week were finally FINALLY scanned (because I have been lazy). They are actually quite pretty cards. My only big problem with these cards is that they are made of cardboard and not out of nice laminated card stock. So I can't really use them for reading. Instead, I will have to put them away, or find some way to copy them onto card stock for reading. Even though there are 24 of these, and they are non standard in terms of tarot, I really do like them anyway.
You can see all of the cards if you click this handy link .
While browsing ebay searching for my next tarot fix, I did a search on antique cards to see if anything interesting would come up. Well it did indeed. I found a really cool card game from 1884 that uses Greco Roman mythological figures to play the game. It is indeed quite interesting.
While not exactly tarot, it is quite the find. It shows how people in 1884 regarded the "Heathen Gods" and basically what they thought of them. It's fun to compare what we "know" now of the gods to what we "knew" then. It's also quite interesting to read the attitudes that are displayed in the directions towards the "Heathens."
Now, if only I could stay away from ebay for awhile, I'd be happier.
You can see all of the cards for the game, with all of the various gods, goddesses and demi god type creatures by clicking this handy little link.
When I was 12 or so, waaaay back in 1972, I went into a strange store with my cousin on one of our downtown excursions. In that store, I found a strangely compelling large cardboard shrink wrapped fanfold book with an attached deck of cards. It was called "French Fortune Telling Cards" and had a really silly looking picture of Napoleon on the front cover. At the time, I really didn't have much money, but decided that this strange thing had to come home with me. So I shelled out the, I think $2.95 or so to buy the contraption and immediately began playing with it, reading fortunes for anyone who would stand still long enough.
Over the years, I stopped playing with this deck and replaced it with other tarot decks that I thought were pretty or something I wanted to learn more about. I couldn't figure out where the original deck might have gone. It is either in piles at my grandmother's house, or somewhere in my mother's house. Not certain which. And in any case, it would not be in the greatest possible shape. I started wishing I had this deck, and decided to try looking for it.
As part of the therapy for my tarot addiction, I email Jeanette Roth periodically and ask her for deck after deck, figuring that someday she won't have what I want and I will be cured of my addiction :-). With my last order, I asked her if she had ever heard of this strange non tarot deck, thinking that it was such a strange thing that she couldn't possibly have. But guess what? SHE HAD IT! I BOUGHT IT! IT ARRIVED TODAY!
I will try to scan or at least photograph these at some point when I have two second when I'm not doing 2000 other things. I am just so thrilled to have it. Of course, I love the other decks I ordered too, but this one is going to be very special.
My favorite obsession, currently is collecting Tarot decks. I've been collecting Tarot since 1974, although my first deck is lost somewhere, I have made up for it by collecting far too many other decks and books on Tarot, and I'm reading and learning as much as possible. You can see the decks right here.