>In the real world, Tarot operates > on several levels. At the highest level, it's a symbolic guidebook of the > stages of life and enlightenment and a kind of philosophical teaching aide. > At the middle level it's a semi-magical apparatus full of arcane symbology > (how much depends on the agenda of the publisher of any particular deck) > which lends itself to divination of various sorts. At the lowest level, it's > simply a fancy deck of playing cards. True today, but... > The more mundance uses of the deck to play Shereba, for instance, > would be a consequence of the design rather than a driving force behind it, > much like Tarrochi is a poker-like game (or maybe bridge-like, I forget) > that happens to be played with a Tarot deck. I have a friend who has done a lot of research into the history of both games and the occult. Tarot decks were used for gaming for, literally, centuries before the fortune-telling aspects were invented (IIRC, in late 18th century France) The exact origin of the "major arcana" symbolism is unknown, but I've heard plausible speculation that it was a representation of the "floats" in Italian religious parades. Alexx Opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of my employers. alexx at carolingiaSPAMBL@CK.org http://www.panix.com/~alexx >From "101 Spells Not Worth Memorizing": "6.5 Charm Dead 6.6 Charm Friends 6.7 Charm Potted Plants 7. Charm Self"