Many
people, including some governments, take Tarot very seriously
The Power
of the Tarot
by Baudelaire
Jones
Tarot cards
have been around for hundreds of years. According to most experts,
Tarot decks first appeared between 1410 and 1430 somewhere in
northern Italy, and probably originated as elaborations of
pre-existing four-suit playing card decks. The resulting hybrid
decks were originally called "carte da trionfi" or "triumph cards."
The oldest surviving Tarot cards were painted for the
Visconti-Sforza family, the rulers of Milan, around the middle of
the 15th century. As early as 1540, these new cards were clearly
being used for divination, and divination may even have pre-dated
the Tarot cards as a medieval book entitled The Oracles of
Francesco Marcolino da Forli describes a primitive method of
divination using the coin suit of regular playing cards.
Whether one
believes in the power of Tarot cards or not, this method of
divination is clearly here to stay. Once associated primarily with
wandering gypsies and carnival booths, Tarot practitioners have
entered the mainstream, opening storefronts, creating websites, and
founding highly profitable corporations. Tarot is big business.
But can a
Tarot reading really predict the future--or is it just a fun
diversion?
The Dutch
government apparently believes in the power of Tarot. In august of
2007, the state began funding Tarot card readings for the jobless.
That's right--Tarot card readers can receive government funding to
counsel the unemployed and help them get back to work. And it's not
just those crazy Dutch people. New York City boasts a Tarot School,
founded in 1995, where anyone can enroll to get a "higher education"
in tarot card reading.
According to
reports, Christian Dior used to consult the Tarot to determine the
best day to show his collection and when to go on vacation. During
Ronald Reagan's tenure as President of the United States, there were
whispered tales of tarot cards being slipped into the White House
through the back door, and former Reagan chief of staff Donald Regan
finally revealed in a tell-all book that Nancy Reagan had an
obsession with astrology and sometimes used it to arrange her
husband's official activities.
During the
height of the U.S. Presidential campaign of 2000,
nationally-recognized astrologer Claudia D. Dikinis announced that
in spite of her personal preference for Al Gore, a reading of her
Tarot cards gave a clear indication that George W. Bush would be the
next President of the United States.
On July 31,
2007, Indian Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to a jail
term of 6 years for illegal possession of firearms. Things looked
bleak for Dutt, until well-known Tarot reader Mita Bahn announced
that after consulting her cards it was clear Dutt would soon be
released. Two weeks later, he was granted interim bail.
Such strange
occurrences are not limited to the rich and famous. On March 20,
1986, Theresa Jackson of Florida sat with her daughter Tina Mancini,
17, and spread a deck of Tarot cards across the table. According to
Mrs. Jackson, "The cards told me a blond child of mine was going to
die." For days later, Tina pointed a .357-caliber Magnum pistol into
her mouth and pulled the trigger.
Do these
stories suggest a real power behind the Tarot, or are they merely
anecdotal, random readings that happened to coincide with real
events? We may never know. Well, maybe there's one way. Maybe you
should dust off those old Tarot cards you have sitting in your
closet and ask them yourself ... if you dare.
About the
author: Baudelaire Jones is the author of
Dialogues of the Dead. If you enjoyed this article, he suggests
a
free Tarot reading.
|
Want More on this Topic?
Search New Age Information
Enter keyword(s) below, then "Search"
|
|
|
