Can you tell me the history of tarot cards?

Tarot cards are divination tools in ancient western countries. They have been popular in Europe since the Middle Ages, and their status is equivalent to the Book of Changes in China. Its origin has always been a mystery. Tarot cards ***78 cards, of which 22 are Grand Akana cards, which are used to illustrate the general fortune of fate, and 56 are Little Akana cards, which can be used to predict more detailed situations to make up for the shortcomings of the former.

The origin of this ancient divination tool has always been a mysterious legend, and many experts who study mysticism try to find clues. Some people say that it comes from Egypt, which means "sacred journey" and "god of wisdom and magic" in Egyptian. Some people say it comes from ancient Rome. In Latin, Rotr means "wheel of life". Some people say it comes from Hebrew. In Jewish, Tarah means "law". It is said that from Persia, the gypsy word Tar means "playing cards". It was the gypsies who introduced the word "tarot" to Europe. It is said that since ancient India, Indian gods have held some symbols of tarot cards, such as cups, power, swords and rings. It is said that bamboo sticks originated from the fried ceremony in China and China, and the "Yezixi" card in the Tang Dynasty is said to be used to entertain court wives.

▼ Ancient Egyptian theory

The word Tarot is taken from Egyptian characters tar (Tao) and ro (King), meaning "King". So "Tarot" itself refers to his correct determination as a king, which is also the origin of this divination method. It turns out that "Tarot cards" are not divination in the form of cards, but originated from "Strange Books" in ancient Egypt. Toute is the Egyptian moon god, as well as the god of culture and education. The Book of Tut is a mysterious book dedicated to conveying God's will, and the pharaohs made various decisions according to it. When the Egyptian dynasty died, in order to prevent foreigners from getting the book, they drew it as a card and gave it to the gods. Later, it was introduced to Europe by Alexander, and in the Middle Ages, it formed the present tarot card. It is said that after the destruction of Alexandria in Egypt, the Moroccan city of Fez became a new world-class academic center, where scholars from all over the world gathered. Unfortunately, they didn't have a common language and characters, so they prepared an album full of mysterious symbols, and replaced the language and characters with pictures. Later, these pictures evolved into playing cards. However, this statement is too unbelievable and has no factual basis. In addition, Thoth (translated by some as "Egyptian Moon God") was one of the many gods in ancient Egypt, in charge of wisdom and magic, and he was also the inventor of numbers. Some people think that he invented twenty-two Akana cards in tarot cards as one of the rituals of Egyptian wizards. But there are not many legitimate reasons for this statement. Tarot experts who believe that tarot cards originated in Egypt agree that there must be relevant literature records in Egypt. However, in 1799, Napoleon's army discovered a clay tablet engraved with ancient Egyptian characters. But this clay tablet does not record any information about tarot cards, and even other Egyptian documents have not found any records about tarot cards. For followers of Egyptology, this is really a depressing thing. But whether these statements are right or wrong, it is undeniable that many tarot symbols originated in ancient Egypt.

▼ Italian theory

According to historians' research, as early as14th century, some aristocrats in European countries had already played tarot cards. During this period, the Vatican banned tarot cards and characterized them as the devil's Atlas and pagan objects. In addition, the earliest known tarot cards appeared in Italy at the end of14th century15th century. Italian poker game talocci "tarocci" is similar to tarot cards, with only 22 cards, similar to the 22 main cards of Grand Akana. At the same time, the meanings of love, victory, love, death, reputation, fate and future praised in Italian poetry are similar to those of tarot cards. So many people agree that Tarot cards originated in Italy. However, many scholars who study tarot cards believe that these evidences can only show that tarot cards once appeared in Europe, and they do not believe that tarot cards originated in Europe.

▼ Gypsy theory

Scholars who study tarot cards believe that tarot cards are most likely brought to Europe by gypsies in Asia or Africa. They make a living by divination, and tarot cards are one of their divination methods. However, Gypsies are nomadic people who wander around. Is it possible to develop a very systematic philosophy of tarot cards? Tarot cards may not be the product of gypsies, they just learned from other civilizations.

▼ Jewish theory

After a series of studies, experts found that Tarot cards were closely related to Kabbalah of the ancient Hebrews, so they were more reliable. Kabbalah is an ancient Jewish philosophy. It is said that God taught Moses (or "Messer") a knowledge of mutual cooperation and spiritual strength. Twenty-two Akana cards of tarot cards are deeply related to the twenty-two letters of Hebrew and Kabala. Someone has compiled a comparison table of tarot cards and ancient Hebrew letters. The research on tarot cards in recent decades shows that the statement that tarot cards originated from ancient Jews is highly credible. To sum up, the origin of tarot cards should be roughly as follows: First of all, the big Akana of tarot cards originated from Kabaka, an ancient Jew. Because ancient Jews often came into contact with ancient Egyptians, they also absorbed many Egyptian religious symbols. With the frequent wars in the Middle East, the predecessor of Tarot almost disappeared. Later, gypsies didn't know how to use tarot cards, but I believe they may not know much about the philosophy of tarot cards. They used it as a divination tool. Tarot cards were introduced to Europe in 12 and 14 centuries, and became popular in the West in the Middle Ages. They can be found in many pictures and books at that time. Tarot cards are everywhere, whether it is the palace or the people. It was not until the rise of the church that Tarot cards were regarded as the mysterious magic of paganism and were suppressed from then on. Under the protection of a willing heart, the tarot card survived and showed its mysterious atmosphere in front of the world. After the church's power weakened, tarot cards developed again, and new tarot cards were introduced one after another. Especially at the end of19th century, the research on tarot cards became more systematic after the researchers linked tarot cards with the scroll cultural relics of ancient Jewish esoteric religion, and Ryder Tarot cards were one of the representatives.

▼ China Theory

Because paper is one of China's four great inventions, the earliest cards were also invented by China people. Archaeologists found the picture of the card game in the paintings of the Tang Dynasty, and the preserved historical documents recorded that there was a card game called "Ye Zi Xi" in the ancient court of China. Many scholars believe that "Ye Zi Opera" must have its special cultural background. Otherwise, simple entertainment games can't be developed and popularized in China court, which attaches great importance to cultural etiquette. Moreover, the philosophy of tarot cards is very similar to the simple argument method in ancient China, and the positive and negative positions of tarot cards are very similar to "fortunes depend on each other". Some experts also pointed out that there is no evidence that tarot cards originated in China, but what other theories about the origin of tarot cards are not lack of conclusive evidence?

▼ Ancient Indian Theory

Tarot cards originated in ancient India, mainly based on small Akana cards. The sword, star coin, scepter and holy grail in the card are very similar to those held by Indian gods. Some symbolic things in tarot cards are very similar to the meanings of instruments in Indian religion. This statement lacks theoretical basis, which means "the blind touch the elephant", but many supporters have become a member of the dispute over the origin of tarot cards.