STAR WHEEL
The Original Tarot Deck
The Original Tarot Deck
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Dr. Arthur Edward Waite (1857–1942) was a genuine scholar of occultism whose published
works include The Holy Kabbalah and The Key to the Tarot first issued in England in 1910. Waite utilized symbolism as the key to the Tarot pack. In The Key to the Tarot he writes: “The true tarot is symbolism; it speaks no other language and offers no other signs.” What are the Tarot cards about which Waite so skillfully writes? What is the message of eachcard and when and where did these fascinating cardboard symbols first originate?
The precise origin of Tarot cards in antiquity remains obscure. Court de Gebelin writing in Le Monde Primitif in 1781 advances the theory that Tarot cards derived from an ancient Egyptian book, The Book of Thoth. Thoth was the Egyptian Mercury, said to be one of the early Kings and the inventor of the hieroglyphic system. Gebelin asserts that it is from the Egyptians and Gypsies that Tarot cards were dispersed throughout Europe. The emergence of Tarot cards in Europe predates by over five centuries the work of Waite. A German monk, Johannes, describes a game called Ludas Cartarum played in the year 1377. Covelluzzo, a fifteenth-century chronicler, relates the introduc tion into Viterbo of the game of cards in the year 1379. In the year 1369 playing cards are not mentioned in a decree issued by Charles VI of France against various forms of gambling; however, 28
years later, the Prevot of Paris, in an ordinance dated January 22, 1397, forbids working people from playing tennis, ball, cards, or ninepins excepting only on holidays. It is generally accepted that playing cards emerged in Europe in the latter half of the fourteenth century, probably first in Italy as a complete 78-card deck—or some inventive genius subsequently combined the common 56 cards known as the Minor Arcana with the 22 esoteric and emblematic Tarot cards known as the Major Arcana to form the 78-card pack.
Tarot decks are currently sought by teenagers, students, homemakers, businessmen, professional people, collectors—indeed, persons from all walks of life. Newspapers, magazines, radio, and televi-sion frequently comment on the Tarot vogue. Teenagers enjoy Tarot parties. Adults attend Tarot luncheons, charitable benefits, and Tarot picnics at which card readings are performed. Hollywood has even indulged in the growing trend with “popular” Tarot readers being present at parties to service the well-known guests.
One of the fascinating aspects about Tarot cards
is their personal affect upon the individual who
uses them. Waite successfully presents a new
dimension to their meaning in The Key to the Tarot.
Any Tarot reader, be they a serious scholar or a per
son dabbling in the occult, will benefit from
Waite’s insight and keen perception.
U.S. Games Systems, Inc. is pleased to publish the Universal Waite Pocket Tarot Deck, based upon the authentic reproduction of the original “Rider Pack”.
