Which Romantic Diaries Using Tarot Cards Are The Oldest Known?

The tarot, a divination tool, has its origins in Italy during the Middle Ages. It was initially used for playing games, with the earliest known Italian Love (Amore) cards commemorating fifteenth-century aristocratic weddings. Later, Italian cards were printed for the masses and depicted love-struck couples. The earliest known tarot-like cards were created in Italy and used to play a game called tarocchi, similar to bridge. Although the divinatory aspect of tarot did not become popular until the 18th century, alchemical, astrological, and hermetic imagery did appear in some earlier tarocchi decks.

The earliest known surviving tarot deck, the Tarot de Marseille, dates back to the 15th century and features the traditional structure of 78 cards divided into Major and Minor. The Visconti-Sforza decks, commissioned by the Italian nobility in the 15th century, were hand-painted and featured intricate designs. The oldest surviving set, the Visconti-Sforza deck, was created for the Duke of Milan’s family around 1440.

The oldest surviving tarot deck is the Visconti-Sforza deck, which was drawn and used in Italy in the 15th century. Jean Noblet published the first deck that closely conforms to the Tarot de Marseille pattern in 1663. Tarocchi and Minchiate were introduced to Sicily, and Lévi suggested that the Magus (Bagatto) should be depicted in conjunction with the symbols of the four suits.

The origin of tarot is shrouded in mystery, but it was first reported in the 1400s in Italy. In 1909, the Waite Smith Tarot, also known as the Ryder Waite Tarot, was published, becoming world famous over the 20th century.

What is the earliest known tarot deck?

Tarot decks were first documented between 1440 and 1450 in various Italian cities, including Milan, Ferrara, Florence, and Bologna. These decks included additional trump cards with allegorical illustrations, known as carte da trionfi or triumph cards. The earliest documentation of trionfi is found in a court record of Florence in 1440. The oldest surviving tarot cards are the 15 or so decks of the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, painted in the mid-15th century for the rulers of the Duchy of Milan.

In 15th century Italy, the set of cards included in tarot packs, including trumps, seemed to be consistent, although naming and ordering varied. Two main exceptions were the Sola Busca tarot and the Boiardo deck, which had four suits, a fool, and 21 trumps, but none of the trumps match tarot ones. The Visconti di Mondrone pack, one of the Visconti-Sforza decks, originally had a Dame and a Maid in each suit, along with the standard King, Queen, Knight, and Jack.

What is the oldest known tarot spread?

Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy where practitioners use tarot cards to gain insight into the past, present, or future. The first to assign divinatory meanings to tarot cards was cartomancer Jean-Baptiste Alliette (also known as Etteilla) in 1783. A traditional tarot deck consists of 78 cards, divided into the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. French-suited playing cards can also be used. The first written references to tarot packs occurred between 1440 and 1450 in northern Italy, where additional cards with allegorical illustrations were added to the common four-suit pack.

These new packs were called carte da trionfi, triumph packs, and the additional cards known simply as trionfi, which became “trumps” in English. One of the earliest references to tarot triumphs is given c. 1450–1470 by a Dominican preacher in a sermon against dice, playing cards, and ‘triumphs’. References to the tarot as a social plague or exempt from bans that affected other games continue throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, but there are no indications that the cards were used for anything but games.

What is the first card in tarot reading?

The Fool is the first card of the tarot, representing fire, water, earth, and air sign energy. Major Arcana cards can also be seen with each zodiac sign. Readers may assign different signs to each Major Arcana card, but these discoveries are the most accurate in professional readings. Aries is the Emperor and Fool, Taurus is the Hierophant and Empress, Gemini is the Lovers and High Priestess, Cancer is Temperance, Leo is Strength, Virgo is the Hermit, Libra is Justice, Scorpio is Death, Sagittarius is Judgment, Capricorn is The Devil, Aquarius is The Star, and Pisces is The Moon.

What is the oldest Italian Tarot card?

The Visconti-Sforza Tarot is a collection of 15 incomplete sets from the mid-15th century, now found in museums, libraries, and private collections worldwide. These cards, the oldest surviving tarot cards, date back to a time when tarot was still called Trionfi cards and used for everyday playing. They were commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, and his successor and son-in-law Francesco Sforza.

The cards are of particular historical interest due to their beauty and detail, often executed in precious materials and reproducing members of the Visconti and Sforza families in period garments and settings. They offer a glimpse of nobiliary life in Renaissance Milan, which the Visconti called home since the 13th century.

What country did tarot originate from?

The origins of tarot cards can be traced back to Europe in the mid-15th century. The earliest known tarot-like cards were created in Italy and used to play a game called tarocchi, similar to bridge. These cards have captivated people’s imaginations for centuries with their intricate designs and mystical allure. The history of tarot cards is a fascinating journey, spanning from its origins in medieval Europe to its modern-day use as a tool for personal growth and divination.

The Major Arcana reveals universal archetypes, while the Minor Arcana explores everyday matters and personal experiences. The evolution of tarot from occultism to personal growth is explored, as well as its accessibility and online communities. The art of tarot reading is also explored, with personal connections and symbolic resonance being key aspects. Tarot and personal growth are a journey of self-discovery, and the timeless magic of tarot cards is a fascinating journey.

What is the first card in Tarot reading?

The Fool is the first card of the tarot, representing fire, water, earth, and air sign energy. Major Arcana cards can also be seen with each zodiac sign. Readers may assign different signs to each Major Arcana card, but these discoveries are the most accurate in professional readings. Aries is the Emperor and Fool, Taurus is the Hierophant and Empress, Gemini is the Lovers and High Priestess, Cancer is Temperance, Leo is Strength, Virgo is the Hermit, Libra is Justice, Scorpio is Death, Sagittarius is Judgment, Capricorn is The Devil, Aquarius is The Star, and Pisces is The Moon.

Is tarot ok for Christians?

The aforementioned parties are currently situated within the divine domain. The hands are the primary focus of this study. Despite the appeal of the notion that one can exert control over one’s life by employing tarot cards to discern hidden truths, There is no empirical evidence to suggest that tarot cards facilitate any of the aforementioned outcomes.

How old is the Lenormand deck?

The Petite Lenormand tarot deck is based on the 1799 game of chance, Das Spiel der Hoffnung. It was originally designed as a boardgame with 1 (The Rider) as the start and 35 (The Anchor/Hope) as the end. Players played by rolling standard six-sided dice, with some cards giving money or moving the player forward, while others forced them to pay into the pot or move them backwards. If a player lands on 8 (The Coffin) or overshot 35 by 1 and ends up on 36 (The Cross), they are stuck there until they roll a double number on a later turn or another player lands on the card. If a player overshot 36, they deduct the number of spaces from the result and move backwards for the remainder.

The deck also features German- and/or French-style playing cards in the upper field, allowing it to double as a standard German 36-card deck. If used as a card deck, the numbered cards in each suit range from 6 to 9, followed by the Panier (banner), three Face Cards (Untermann (Jack), Obermann (Queen), and König (King), and the Daus (Deuce), replacing the Ace.

Divination is carried out by either laying out a spread or a grid of cards, with the center card on the second row being the topic. The Grande Tableau (Great Scene) layout allows the reader to interpret the pattern to see how all cards are connected to the topic or person the reading is for.

When were the first tarot cards created?

Tarot decks were invented in Italy in the 1430s, adding a fifth suit of 21 specially illustrated cards called trionfi (“triumphs”) and an odd card called il matto (“the fool”). These cards bore Italian suitmarks and belonged to an experimental period of card design when queens were often added to the series of court cards previously consisting of only a king and two male figures. In standard cards, the four figures were subsequently reduced to three again by suppressing the queen, except in French cards, which suppressed the cavalier (knight).

The trionfi each bore a different allegorical illustration instead of a common suitmark, possibly representing characters in medieval reenactments of Roman triumphal processions. They were originally unnumbered, so it was necessary to remember their order. When added to the pack, trionfi functioned as a suit superior in power to the other four, acting as a suit of triumphs or “trumps”.

What is the oldest card deck?

From 1418 to 1450, professional card makers in Ulm, Nuremberg, and Augsburg created printed decks, with playing cards competing with devotional images as the most common uses for woodcuts. Early woodcuts were colored after printing, either by hand or stencils. The Flemish Hunting Deck, held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the oldest complete set of ordinary playing cards made in Europe from the 15th century.

As cards spread from Italy to Germanic countries, Latin suits were replaced with the suits of leaves, hearts, bells, and acorns. France initially used Latin-suited cards, but around 1480, French card manufacturers simplified versions of German suit symbols. This resulted in the French suits of trèfles (clovers), carreaux (tiles), cœurs (hearts), and piques (pikes). The names pique and spade may have derived from the sword (spade) of the Italian suits.

In the late 14th century, Europeans changed the Mamluk court cards to represent European royalty and attendants. The earliest courts were originally a seated “king”, an upper marshal holding his suit symbol up, and a lower marshal holding it down. The Ober and Unter cards still found today in German and Swiss playing cards were replaced by the “Knight” and “Fante” or “Sota” before 1390, possibly to make the cards more visually distinguishable.

What is the oldest extant tarot deck?

The Sola Busca tarot is the earliest 78-card tarot deck, featuring all plain suit cards illustrated and trump card illustrations deviating from classic tarot iconography. Created by an unknown artist in the late 15th century, the deck is notable for its age and quality of artwork, featuring expressive figures engraved with precise contours and shading. The Sola-Busca deck comprises 78 cards, including 21 trumps (trionfi), the Fool (Matte), and 56 suit cards.

The names and illustrations on the trump cards are somewhat idiosyncratic for its time, a trait shared by later French suited tarot decks like the Bourgeois Tarot and the Industrie und Glück Tarock decks.

The characters depicted in the Sola-Busca cards include Nebuchadnezzar and Gaius Marius, the uncle of Julius Caesar. Trump cards loosely follow the rise and fall of the Roman Empire but also include members of the Roman Pantheon such as Bacchus. All characters can be easily linked to their equivalents in standard tarot decks.