A Cultural History of Tarot

A Cultural History of Tarot PDF Author: Helen Farley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857711822
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Book Description
The enigmatic and richly illustrative tarot deck reveals a host of strange and iconic mages, such as The Tower, The Wheel of Fortune, The Hanged Man and The Fool: over which loom the terrifying figures of Death and The Devil. The 21 numbered playing cards of tarot have always exerted strong fascination, way beyond their original purpose, and the multiple resonances of the deck are ubiquitous. From T S Eliot and his 'wicked pack of cards' in "The Waste Land" to the psychic divination of Solitaire in Ian Fleming's "Live and Let Die"; and from the satanic novels of Dennis Wheatley to the deck's adoption by New Age practitioners, the cards have in modern times become inseparably connected to the occult. They are now viewed as arguably the foremost medium of prophesying and foretelling. Yet, as the author shows, originally the tarot were used as recreational playing cards by the Italian nobility in the Renaissance. It was only much later, in the 18th and 19th centuries, that the deck became associated with esotericism before evolving finally into a diagnostic tool for mind, body and spirit. This is the first book to explore the remarkably varied ways in which tarot has influenced culture. Tracing the changing patterns of the deck's use, from game to mysterious oracular device, Helen Farley examines tarot's emergence in 15th century Milan and discusses its later associations with astrology, kabbalah and the Age of Aquarius.

The Tarot

The Tarot PDF Author: Cynthia Giles
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0671891014
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
With more than 40 illustrations and an entertaining informative text, this elegantly designed book captures the scope, powers, and romance of the Tarot throughout the ages. "Excellently researched, entertainingly and compellingly written".--Booklist.

The History of Tarot Art

The History of Tarot Art PDF Author: Holly Adams Easley
Publisher: Epic Ink
ISBN: 9780760371244
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
With warmth and wisdom, authors Holly Adams Easley and Esther Joy Archer delve into the fascinating history and stories behind centuries of tarot artwork in The History of Tarot Art.

Witchcraft in Illinois: A Cultural History

Witchcraft in Illinois: A Cultural History PDF Author: Michael Kleen
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1625858760
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Book Description
For the first time in print, Michael Kleen presents the full story of the Prairie State's dalliance with the dark arts. Although Illinois saw no dramatic witch trials, witchcraft has been a part of Illinois history and culture from French exploration to the present day. On the Illinois frontier, pioneers pressed silver dimes into musket balls to ward off witches, while farmers dutifully erected fence posts according to phases of the moon. In 1904, the quiet town of Quincy was shocked to learn of Bessie Bement's suicide, after the young woman sought help from a witch doctor to break a hex. In turn-of-the-century Chicago, Lauron William de Laurence's occult publishing house churned out manuals for performing bizarre rituals intended to attract love and exact revenge.

The Tarot

The Tarot PDF Author: Robert Place
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1440649758
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
The Tarot is one of the few books that cuts through conventional misperceptions to explore the Tarot deck as it really developed in the Middle Ages and Renaissance Europe-not, as some would suggest, in the far reaches of Egyp-tian antiquity. Mining the Hermetic, alchemical, and Neoplatonic influences behind the evolution of the deck, author Robert M. Place provides a historically grounded and compelling portrait of the Tarot's true origins, without overlooking the deck's mystical dimensions. Indeed, Place uncommonly weds reliable historiography with a practical understanding of the intuitive help and divinatory guidance that the cards can bring. He presents techniques that offer new and valuable ways to read and interpret the cards. Based on a simple three-card spread, Place's approach can be used by either the seasoned practitioner or the new inquirer.

The Cards

The Cards PDF Author: Patrick Maille
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN: 1496833015
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 247

Book Description
Tarot cards have been around since the Renaissance and have become increasingly popular in recent years, often due to their prevalence in popular culture. While Tarot means many different things to many different people, the cards somehow strike universal chords that can resonate through popular culture in the contexts of art, television, movies, even comic books. The symbolism within the cards, and the cards as symbols themselves, make Tarot an excellent device for the media of popular culture in numerous ways. They make horror movies scarier. They make paintings more provocative. They provide illustrative structure to comics and can establish the traits of television characters. The Cards: The Evolution and Power of Tarot begins with an extensive review of the history of Tarot from its roots as a game to its supposed connection to ancient Egyptian magic, through its place in secret societies, and to its current use in meditation and psychology. This section ends with an examination of the people who make up today’s tarot community. Then, specific areas of popular culture—art, television, movies, and comics—are each given a chapter in which to survey the use of Tarot. In this section, author Patrick Maille analyzes such works as Deadpool, Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman, Disney's Haunted Mansion, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, The Andy Griffith Show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and King of the Hill. The cards are evocative images in their own right, but the mystical fascination they inspire makes them a fantastic tool to be used in our favorite shows and stories.

The Tarot

The Tarot PDF Author: Robert Place
Publisher: TarcherPerigee
ISBN: 1585423491
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 331

Book Description
The Tarot is one of the few books that cuts through conventional misperceptions to explore the Tarot deck as it really developed in the Middle Ages and Renaissance Europe-not, as some would suggest, in the far reaches of Egyp-tian antiquity. Mining the Hermetic, alchemical, and Neoplatonic influences behind the evolution of the deck, author Robert M. Place provides a historically grounded and compelling portrait of the Tarot's true origins, without overlooking the deck's mystical dimensions. Indeed, Place uncommonly weds reliable historiography with a practical understanding of the intuitive help and divinatory guidance that the cards can bring. He presents techniques that offer new and valuable ways to read and interpret the cards. Based on a simple three-card spread, Place's approach can be used by either the seasoned practitioner or the new inquirer.

The Occult World

The Occult World PDF Author: Christopher Partridge
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317596765
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 780

Book Description
This volume presents students and scholars with a comprehensive overview of the fascinating world of the occult. It explores the history of Western occultism, from ancient and medieval sources via the Renaissance, right up to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and contemporary occultism. Written by a distinguished team of contributors, the essays consider key figures, beliefs and practices as well as popular culture.

Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy

Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy PDF Author: Dimitra Fimi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 135035001X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 233

Book Description
Focusing on representations of Celtic motifs and traditions in post-1980s adult fantasy literature, this book illuminates how the historical, the mythological and the folkloric have served as inspiration for the fantastic in modern and popular culture of the western world. Bringing together both highly-acclaimed works with those that have received less critical attention, including French and Gaelic fantasy literature, Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy explores such texts as Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Alan Garner's Weirdstone trilogy, the Irish fantasies of Jodi McIsaac, David Gemmell's Rigante novels, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison Keltiad books, as well as An Sgoil Dhubh by Iain F. MacLeòid and the Vertigen and Frontier series by Léa Silhol. Lively and covering new ground, the collection examines topics such as fairy magic, Celtic-inspired worldbuilding, heroic patterns, classical ethnography and genre tropes alongside analyses of the Celtic Tarot in speculative fiction and Celtic appropriation in fan culture. Introducing a nuanced understanding of the Celtic past, as it has been informed by recent debates in Celtic studies, this wide-ranging and provocative book shows how modern fantasy is indebted to medieval Celtic-language texts, folkloric traditions, as well as classical sources.

Tarot in Culture

Tarot in Culture PDF Author: Emily Elisabeth Auger
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780993694448
Category : Tarot
Languages : en
Pages : 528

Book Description
Tarot in Culture (ed. Emily E. Auger) is a well-illustrated (260 illus.) two-volume multi-author anthology of papers on Tarot with a foreword by Rachel Pollack. Contributions range from original, in-depth, thoroughly documented studies of Tarot history, art, and literature to artists' statements and other primary source documents. Volume Two (526 pp) contributors include Ed Buryn, Julie Cuccia-Watts, Tabitha Dial, Joyce Goggin, Mary K. Greer, Bruce Hersch, Brian Johnson, Danny Jorgensen, Jeana Jorgensen, Carol S. Matthews, Robert Place, Christine Parkhurst, Casey J. Rudkin, Leslie Stratyner, Catherine Waitinas, Batya Susan Weinbaum, and Emily E. Auger. Tarot in Culture is both accessible to the Tarot student and of interest to scholars of other fields, including historians and theorists of art, esotericism, literature, the occult, and popular culture and genres.