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"India was the
motherland of our race and Sanskrit the mother
of Europe's languages. India was the mother
of our philosophy, of much of our mathematics,
of the ideals embodied in Christianity...
of self-government and democracy. In many
ways, Mother India is the mother of us all."
- Will Durant, American Historian 1885-1981
"We owe a lot to the
Indians, who taught us how to count, without
which no worthwhile scientific discovery could
have been made." - Albert Einstein.
Tracing the links between
Indian mysticism and Tarot
Tracing the history of anything can never
be an easy task. Amalgamating all the bits
and pieces of articles and information, we
only arrive at theories and evidence that
only point out to one fact - human life has
evolved and grown, not in isolated pockets
of earth, but through a generous interchange
and intermixing of cultures through several
thousands of years. When it comes to something
as mystical as Tarot is believed to be, is
the history only limited to the earliest evidence
of the printed trump cards, or to the invention
of playing cards, or the invention of paper,
or the invention of games or pictorial art
with similar concepts, or to the related occult
and mystical arts or the history of spiritual
knowledge?
Whether we speak of the
serpent energy or kundalini, or the dragon,
sepithrots of the tree of life, the wheel
of life, or chakras from the root to the crown,
the snake near the tree of knowledge in the
Garden of Eden, or the Caduceus, the elements
or the tattwas and panchamahabhutas, the Egyptian cross of Horus,
the Swastika, the holy cross, the Shiva lingam,
the yin and yang, prakriti and purusha, Ardhnarishvara,
the Star of David or the yantras, the trinity
of goddess or the trinity of gods or the holy
trinity, Pashupati, the horned god or the
devil, there are too many overlaps
and parallelisms between the east and the
west. It often leads to the debate of what
came first - the chicken or the egg? Ancient
Indian culture, philosophy including but not
necessarily limited to the vedas, contain
esoteric and spiritual messages, concepts
and symbols that have influenced all over
the world, religions, traditions, art,
beliefs and knowledge throughout the ages.
Yet India is not
credited enough for its several scientific and
spiritual discoveries.
Aryabhatt the first to proclaim the earth
was round, rotating on an axis, orbiting the
sun and suspended in space (around 1,000 years
before Copernicus.) He also calculated pi
to four decimal places, developed the trigonomic
sine table and the area of a triangle
Sage Nagarjuna was an ancient
chemist who used alchemical metals developed
for medicinal usage. Sage Parashara (100 BCE)
is called the "father of botany"
because he classified flowering plants into
various families, nearly 2,000 years before
Lannaeus (the modern father of taxonomy).
Brahmagupta, in the 7th century had said about
gravity that "Bodies fall towards the
earth as it is in the nature of the earth
to attract bodies, just as it is in the nature
of water to flow".
About a hundred years before Brahmagupta,
another astronomer, Varahamihira had claimed
for the first time perhaps that there should
be a force which might be keeping bodies stuck
to the earth, and also keeping heavenly bodies
in their determined places.
Bhaskaracharya in his book Surya Siddhanta
discusses the force of gravity, 500 years
before Sir Isaac Newton
Einstein's concept that one can travel faster
than the speed of light was written about
centuries before in the ancient Vedic literature
Ancient Indian Civilization
The Indus Valley civilisation (also referred
to
as Harappan civilization) is said to rivals
Mesopotamia and Egypt as the earliest
civilization
(origins theorized to be dated to 6000 BCE
and estimated to have flourished at its peak
between 2600-1800 B.C after which it is said
to have vanished mysteriously before the supposed
Aryan invasion). Translation of the Harappan
script is in progress and their directional
town planning and tablet inscriptions and
pictures indicate their knowledge of astronomy.
According to a discovery made in the Gulf
of Cambay, western India, another civilization
said to be over 9,500 years old (ruins found
40 to 120 feet under sea level) indicate what
could be the mother of Harappan culture and
the most ancient of all civilizations.
Astrology and astronomy:
Earliest references to astronomy are believed
to be in the Rig Veda, which are dated 2000
BC. During next 2500 years, by 500 AD, ancient
Indian astronomy emerged as an important part
of Indian studies and astronomical principles
were used in casting of horoscopes. In ancient
Indian astronomers had recognized that stars
are same as the sun (sanskrit shloka "Sarva
Dishanaam, Suryaha, Suryaha, Suryaha."
- in all directions there are Suns), that
the sun is center of our universe (solar system)
and that the circumference of the earth is
5000 Yojanas (One Yojana being 7.2 kms., the
ancient Indian estimates came close to the
actual figure). The ancient Indian term for
gravity is gurutvakarshan (attraction to the
guru) which may have referred to the attraction
of earth, known as the female mother principle
to the sun which was revered as the male god
principle. Tarot incorporates astrological
concepts.
Numbers and Mathematics:
Indian mathematicians introduced the concept
of zero, the techniques of algebra and algorithm,
decimal system, square root and cube root
and Geometry, called Rekha-Ganita in ancient
India, (during the age of the Islamic Renaissance
and the Arabs these techniques were generally
improved upon eg. Arabs coined the name 'Al-Jabr'
meaning 'the reunion of broken parts' with
'Al' meaning 'The' & 'Jabr' mean 'reunion',
indicating that they took it from an external
source and amalgamated it with their concepts
about mathematics.) The so called Arab numerals
are in fact of Indian origin. The technique
of algebr as well as many others could have
then been passed on to the west at the time
of crusades that resulted in a massive exchange
of ideas and concepts. Tarot is much based
on numerology.
Zero:
Zero represents a fundamental concept in the
Tarot trumps, which are twined in the Fool's
journey. The inclusion of zero in mathematics
opened a plethora of computational possibilities
and the concept of negative numerals. Zero
was called Pujyam (to be worshipped) that
takes one through the journey into the void
of eternity (Nirvana) that may be the essence
of the World card. Zero was called Shunya,
while the Arabs refer to it as Sifr or Siphra,
from which the English term Cipher, sphere
and sephiroths derive. The decimal system
is based on the incorporation of zero.
Chess:
Chess is believed to have originated in Sindh
in ancient India (the oldest pieces dating
3000 BC were excavated from the site of Mohenjodaro
in Sind). It was called Chaturanga, (mentioned
in the ancient epic Mahabharata dated around
500 BC). The name chatarang could be an amalgamation
of the Indian words 'Chatur' meaning four
and 'anga' meaning parts. This corresponds
with the concept of four suits in card games.
The Persians created a modern version and
named in Shatranj and the game continued in
Spanish as ajedrez and in Greek as zatrikion.
The entrance of chess into Europe, notably,
is marked by a massive improvement in the
powers of the queen. Tarot's history has
been linked with chess.
Playing cards:
It is usually thought that Tarot is distinguished
from ordinary playing cards with respect to
occult symbolism. On the contrary, the deck
of regular playing cards may indeed hold metaphysical
significance with the four suits that may
be representing the four elements or the seasons,
the 13 cards per suit corresponding with the
13 phases of the lunar cycle, contrast of
black and red for the masculine and feminine
principles and the 52 cards of the deck standing
for the number of weeks in a year. The Joker
itself has been compared with The Fool card
of the Major Arcana of Tarot. The total
value obtained when the value of each card
plus one for joker is added, corresponds with
365 days of the year. Ancient, round
and intricate Indian cards were used for the game
of Ganjifa (sometimes said to be dated as
far back as 7th century AD), and also similar and much earlier
(pre-Mughal) cards called Kridapatram, whose
meaning is more or less "painted rags
for playing". The composition of such decks was apparently based upon the numeral
twelve (the original number of suits, each
of which was made of this same number of subjects,
and used signs such as horses, elephants,
men, and the like). In Dasavatara Ganjifa,
there are ten suits of twelve cards with an
upper court card, Raja, a lower court card,
Pradhan or Mantri, and ten numerals in each
suit. The specialty of these cards is the
depiction of the ten incarnations of Vishnu.
The incarnation suits are: Matsya (symbol of
fish), Kurma (symbol of turtle), Varaha
(symbol of boar), Narasimha (symbol of
lion), Vamana (symbol of water pot),
Parashurama (symbol of axe), Rama (symbols
of bow & arrow, or monkey), Krishna (symbol
of quoit or cow), Buddha (symbol of conch)
and Kalki (symbol of sword or horse).
The ancient Indian native
board game Chaturanga, which later developed
into its Persian form Shatranj or Chess, has
been claimed as a possible source of inspiration
for the Indian round cards. The Chaturanja
represented four corps of the Indian army:
elephant-riders, cavalry, foot-soldiers and
charioteers (later on turned into "ships");
and with the exception of the latter, the
remaining three were also among the suits
of the Kridapatram cards the aim of the game
of which seems also is to mimic a war but
may be also depicting another esoteric concept.
One theory suggests that the Indian cards
may have influenced the standard four suited
playing card the origin of which is believed
to be in China after the invention of paper.
Trionfi was the Italian name for playing cards
with trumps which is said to have developed
into the Tarot cards. A card game popular in
India is called by the name Turup meaning
trump.
Vedas and Upanishads:
The term Veda is derived from 'Vid' (knowledge),
and relates with the word 'wit' in English
and vision in Latin. Regarded as the oldest
surviving texts of humanity (newest parts
of the Vedas are estimated to date back to
around 500 BCE to 1500 BCE not accounting
for the unascertained origins of the oral
tradition), the Vedas comprise a collection
of scriptures on powerful subjects from the
material to the religious and spiritual. The
Vedic understanding is based on the concept
of reincarnation, which declares that the
steps of the symbolical staircase of human
ascension can also be understood as lifetimes.
The four Vedas, generally labeled as the original
Vedic scriptures are known as Rig, Yajur,
Sama and Atharva. Rig means ritual, and it
contains mainly hymns and prayers (Mantras)
in the worship of the universal forces called
the demigods. Yajur means ceremony, and it
mainly describes how to perform the rituals.
Sama means singing; the scriptures of these
categories contain many other mantras as well
as strict rules how to chant these mantras
according to mystic vibrations. Atharva means
a priest who knows the secret lore;
Vedanta-sutra refers to 560 condensed aphorisms
which define the Vedic truths in most general
terms.
The Upanishads are spiritual texts that are
woven into the four Vedas and lead to the
Vedanta (the final knowledge of the Vedas).
The word Upanishad relates to "sitting
beneath," i.e. knowledge obtained from
a spiritual teacher. These texts indicate
that all material forms are transient; they
are temporary manifestations of an eternal
energy, which in itself is beyond material
duality. They indicate the oneness behind
the variety and inspire people engaged in
the rituals of the Vedas to go beyond their
short-term goals.
To highlight the parallelisms
between Indian mysticism and Tarot, one may
go as far as to suggest that the four suits
of the tarot minors can be compared with the
four Vedas (the total 56 cards relating with
the 560 vedanta sutras) that relate to the
more short-term ritualistic knowledge. The
teaching of the Upanishads (the exact numbers
of which are undetermined but said to be more
than 200) are more akin to the tarot trumps
that stand for the more powerful, spiritual
and non-dualistic self-realizations.
(This commentary is however
in no way designed to prove anything.)
A
Collaborative Tarot Deck by 22 Indian
Artists, Submitted to Museo Dei Taroccchi,
Bologna, Italy
A Collaborative deck from Asia
created by 22 artists has been submitted to the Museum of Tarots
in Italy (Museo Dei Tarocchi, Bologna) (http://www.museodeitarocchi.net).
This museum identified teams from all over the
world to create unique tarot decks from each
of the continents.
Do visit the museum's website and learn more
about this spectacular, one of its kind -
Museum of Tarots.
CLICK HERE FOR A PREVIEW
OF
THE ENTIRE DECK
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