EGIPCIOS KIER TAROT

Egyptian Symbolism and the Tarot In 1781, writing in Monde Primitif, Antoine Court de Gebelin asserted that the tarot, a deck of seventy-eight cards used for amusement and fortune-telling-and for probing the unknown-was actually the Book of Thoth. His theory was that the Egyptians, in the face of the destruction of their temples, disguised their knowledge with the simple device of playing cards. Thus, the Book of Thoth, the tarot, contains all the arcane knowledge of the ancients.

Other theories on the origin of the tarot link it to the kabbalah and the Hebrew alphabet, classical Greece, Hinduism and various other sources of knowledge. There is no proof to substantiate one theory over another as to the origin of tarot. However, the earliest extant tarot deck is Italian and dates from the mid-fifteenth century. It would seem that the tarot probably originated as a game played by the nobility during the Renaissance.

Whatever the origins of tarot are, many writers have dwelt on the fact that the universal knowledge contained in the tarot coincides in many ways with the sacred beliefs of the ancient Egyptians. The nature of symbolism is such that it can be used in all times and places. The images on the cards of the tarot speak in spite of cultural differences.

The Egipcios Kier Tarot deck incorporates Egyptian symbolism and mythology. By matching the archetypes of the tarot with Egyptian figures, the deck is authentic both as a record of Egyptian mythology and as a tarot pack. In drawing on the two traditions simultaneously, the publisher believes that the reader of the Egipcios Kier Tarot will be challenged and enriched when using the cards.