Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The Tarot

The Tarot Image

Book: The Tarot by Samuel Liddell Macgregor Mathers

The Tarot by S.L. MacGregor Mathers is a short essay on the Tarot, by a prominent occultist of the 19th Century

The term "Tarot", or "Tarocchi", is applied to a pack of 78 cards, consisting of four suits of 14 cards each (there being one more court card than in the ordinary packs--the Cavalier, Knight, or Horseman), and 22 symbolical picture-cards answering for trumps. These latter are numbered from 1 to 21 inclusive, the 22nd card being marked Zero, 0. The designs of these trumps are extremely singular, among them being such representations as Death, the Devil, the Last Judgment, &c.

The idea that cards were first "invented to amuse Charles VI of France is now exploded; and it is worthy of note in this connection that their supposititious "inventor" was Jacques Gringonneur, an Astrologer and Qabalist. Furthermore, cards were known prior to this period among the Indians and the Chinese. Etteilla, indeed, gives in one of his tracts on the Tarot a representation of the mystical arrangement of these cards in the Temple of Ptah at Memphis, and he further says:

1) Symbolism of Each of the Keys
2) Meanings of the Cards
3) Methods of Divination
4) Tarot Game Play
5) Occult Significance of the Tarot Cards.

Download Samuel Liddell Macgregor Mathers's eBook: The Tarot


Tags: the witches  magic spells for beginners  pictorial symbols  high magic spells  magic powers  golden chain  picture of life after death  black magic chants  sir james  drawings of greek gods and goddesses  

Popular Posts