spirituality - lesson 11: cards

hat trick design created their own set of playing cards using only typographical elements. the deck of cards features the usual 52 cards and 4 suits each reinterpreted using letters and numbers. more

the origin of playing cards lies in them being used for divinatory purposes. through cleromancy/ sortilege cards are thought to allow messages from the subconscious mind to emerge into the conscious world. along with other objects such as sticks, arrows, bones and beans, cards were used for the casting of lots, the oder in which they fell or were dealt would then be interpreted. korean playing cards often bear an arrow on the back as a nod to their lineage.

chinese domino cards showing characters from the story of the rivers banks, date unknown

the origins eastern playing cardsthe origin of playing cards as they are known today is thought to be 9th century china. from china they were introduced to europe and then the rest of the world. certain chinese cards bore symbols imitated from paper money which denoted their value. all early card games have their roots in primitive conditions and so it is not known who is the inventor of them. as the early printed cards of the tang dynasty bore the same symbols as the printed money of the era, they were not only used as the tools for gaming but also the stakes for gambling. the oldest chinese card game based on money is made up of 120 cards composed of 4 identical sets of 30 cards each. the cards are narrow, flexible strips of card approximately 2cm wide. there are nine cards to each of the three suits coins, strings of coins, and myriads of strings of coins; and three extra cards, the red flower, the white flower and old thousand which are distinguished by seals and inscriptions. these extra cards would often feature imagery of instances in chinese folklore.

early korean playing cards, date unknown one of the most popular card games in the east is the japanese flower game 'hanafunda'. the hanafunda deck has 48 cards composed of 12 suits, with 4 cards to a suit. each different suits represents a month of the year, and each card within a suit represents a season of the year. the pictures are usually stylized flowers and fauna particular to japan throughout each season of the year. variations of the flower game are also popular in korea such as 'hwa-tu'. interestingly almost all early card games relate to the human interest in the natural world and their place in it. another place where cards are closely entwined with religious symbolism is in india.

hwa-tu is the korean version of the japanese playing card game hanafuda. hwa-tu is translates into english as 'flower cards. 48 cards, divided into twelve suits each named for flowers or plants during a month of the year; each suit contains four cards, one for each season.

hindu playing cards, date unknown some theorists believe that playing cards arrival to europe was via india by traveling fortune tellers. the reason for this is that some european cards feature up the four suits: the ring, sword, cup, and baton, which are commonly seen in hindu iconography. there are also striking similarities between the spanish game of hombre and the indian game 'ganjifa'. alternatively some experts say that cards probably travelled to india from europe thus explaining the similarities, the debate continues to this day.

normally indian cards are small lacquered discs with a diameter of 2.5cm, indian playing cards are separated into 8-10 colored suits. suits are divided into ten different incarnations of vishnu: matsya the fish, kourma the tortoise, varah the boar, nara-simah the lion, vamanavatara the dwarf, paracu rama of the axe, rama chandra the gentle rama, krishna the black, buddha the enlightened and lastly kalki the white horse. it is interesting to note that the symbols used on the cards are similar to ones that exist in the stories of the scythians, which persisted in the legends and rites in greece.

italian (venetian), playing cards, with the swords back-to-back and curved outwards,1462 to further support the idea that playing cards entered india from europe is the many cards which feature the symbols for french suit symbols, also there is no mention of card games/playing cards in 'the book of one thousand and one nights'.

spanish, 1575

tarot cards by nicolas bodet, belgian, 1743-1751

italian (milanese), tarot cards, 1820

playing cards in europe italy's claim to be the first european country to have playing cards probably holds the most weight, due to venice's importance as a seaport. wether they were brought by travelers or merchants it is not known but emblematic cards bearing distinctly eastern symbolism had appeared by the late 14th century. playing cards prompted endless and elaborate theories into their meaning, some claim that the cards came from india or persia whilst others say egypt. the eastern designs rapidly evolved into the basic 'latin' suits of swords, staves, cups and coins, which are still used in traditional italian and spanish decks. it has been said that the four italian suits are the four sacred symbols of hermes, forging another link to fortune-telling. those who sought help from hermes would have to offer silver to the priests, (the crossing of a gypsy's palm with silver is the the survival of this ancient rite.) it is more likely however, that the suits and numerical values are copies of the four chinese suits of coins. playing cards vary across italy due to each province being ruled separately when cards arrived. however, the most interesting deviation of playing cards to occur in italy are... tarot cards according to history tarot cards are first documented in italy shortly after the arrival of playing cards. evidence indicates that they were created between 1410 and 1430 in northern italy, when additional trump cards with allegorical illustrations were added to the four-suit decks. the book 'le jeus des tarots' by court de gebelin (published in 1781 in paris) offers an insight into how tarot cards may have evolved from playing cards. gebelin's theory suggests that playing cards had come to italy from egypt and that the iconography on many of the first cards which surfaced was based on hieroglyphics. from this point the theory follows the hieroglyphic system that all gods were letters, all

letters were ideas and that all ideas were numbers with each number being a perfect sign. based on this it is interesting that the number 7 translates to the tarot card system retaining all its spiritual affiliation being represented by the chariot of the sun. also, 13 represented by death retains its early eastern significance of misfortune. tarot reading systems varies from place to place, but is nearly always used for divinatory purposes. later developments by the 15th century in europe, the suits in playing cards varied from country to country but always the symbolism chosen to represent the different cards had spiritual connotations; in germany, hearts, bells, leaves, and acorns became the standard suits and are still used in some german decks today. the four suits spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs now used in most of the world originated in france in around the late 15th century. the trfle (club) was probably copied from the acorn and the pique (spade) from the leaf of the german suits. as cards were normally printed and colored by hand it made them almost exclusive to the wealthiest and most noble people. this being the case it was no wonder that these people soon began to grace the cards that they played with. in early european games kings were always the highest card in their suit. however, by the late 14th century special significance began to be placed on the nominally lowest card. now known as the ace, it sometimes can the highest card and the two, or deuce, the lowest. this concept may have been hastened in the late 17th century by the french revolution, where games started being played 'ace high' 'as a symbol of lower classes rising in power above the royalty.' cards and their connection to money remains to this day, be it through gambling or payment for a tarot reading - the two are never far apart. ultimately cards a provide the notion of chance with a physical property. whether it is the desire to see the future or to improve it playing card's appeal is to give an insight into the unknown.

english, 1678

german, early 17th century

italian, early 18th century

french, 1856

british, date unknown

american, 1865

during soviet russia the only vendor for playing cards (and most other things) was the soviet state. one of the limited number

of decks they offered were these devoted to mayan culture. more

--text extracts and some images were taken from the excellent book: 'a history of playing cards a bibliography of cards and gaming' by catherine perry hargrave ISBN 0-486-41236-9 dover publications, mineola, new york published in 1966