Thursday, February 5, 2009

Different Tarot Decks Designs

The first description of tarot decks appeared as early as the beginning of the 15th century when Martiano da Tortona mentioned some card games that resembled a lot to tarot. The symbols on these early illustrations were Greek deities while the suits matched four types of birds, a pattern totally different from the basic Italian decks. These forefathers of the tarot deck counted only sixteen cards, but they surely enjoyed great popularity. Later, other decks are described by Italian documents throughout the 15th century. Given the heraldic, social, poetical and philosophical interpretations of the cards, modern researchers are surely impressed by the vividness of the symbolism and the ideology behind it.



The oldest tarot deck preserved to our times were designed according to the specifications of the Visconti family. The sixty-six cards are presently on public display at the Yale University Library in New Haven. Another well-known deck was painted by Bonifacio Bembo according to the instructions of Maria Visconti, they are preserved with the exception of two who were either lost or never existed. These latter tarot decks are known as Visconti-Sforza and their design is very popular nowadays too.



Lots of modern reproductions combine batons, swords, coins and cups with trump cards as the clear image of traditional iconography of the old times.



An analysis of the first-made tarot decks indicates a reduced number given the painstaking effort required for their design. Tarot decks have survived from Marseilles, Egypt or Switzerland and in time they came to be associated with magic and mysticism. Occultism and magic fans were the first to embrace and widely use the cards for all sorts of symbolic interpretations that have survived to our modern world too.



The tarot deck cannot be given a clear origin, yet, some scientists revealed that the etymology of the word tarot is Egyptian, meaning the royal road. According to tradition, Gypsies are said to have spread the tradition of card reading in the first place, but we don't know for sure when tarot decks started to gain mass attention. What we know for sure is that Eliphas Levi introduced the tarot in the English speaking world, initially for aristocrats and then among the middle classes.
For more about psychic tarot and tarot decks, check out our website at www.psychics4you.co.uk

Some Online Tarot Readings Tips and Information

Online tarot readings represent one fine example of modern forms of entertainment we can thank the Internet for. There are two service levels available for web page users, and they both revolve around money, some are free while others remain fee-based. Normally, many sites run according to a membership pattern and if you want to become part of the structure you need to pay. Who are the customers? Well, divination does attract lots of fans. Here is an explanation of the regular success of a online tarot reading.



We are all troubled by various daily problems, and life is anything but simple and easy; there are hundreds of moments in a life time when we long for guidance, and many think that a peek into the future could be helpful. Online tarot readings could seem like bringing a bit of clarity into a foggy situation, although the reliability of such predictions is often questioned. Even the sites that perform the online tarot readings include disclaimers warning users to take all the info in the divinations as a pure entertainment form without applications into real life.



Actually a online tarot reading can be compared to the horoscope column in magazines in terms of accuracy and relevance. Moreover, taking every prediction with a grain of salt is the safest and most harmless way of dealing with divination as such. One further issue here requires all the attention: most of the online tarot readings are generated by special softwares, and there is not a real person interpreting the deck for you. Thus, the card symbolism is in fact a random card spread with aleatory explanations. Sites with membership services will provide one-to-one tarot predictions, but these kind of readings take money out of your pocket.



Online tarot readings therefore distinguish themselves a lot from the face-to-face ones performed by tarot grandmasters. More energy transfer comes with direct physical contact which is why tarot interpretations could be a lot more meaningful in such cases than when performed online. However, the warning we've launched about trusting cards too much remains valid. It is false and irresponsible to change your life course on the basis of card predictions; take things lightly and you will neither be disappointed nor suffer some personal disillusionment because of faulty choice making.
For more about online tarot readings and how to print your own tarot cards, go to our website.