h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Some things became clearer on my second and third readings... Maybe I wasn't quite awake yet. But here are a few notes that remain.



Under "First Appearences":

"The origin of the theme on the trump cards is something that we cannot know from evidence but there is some speculation worthy of note, that fits their name (triumphs), images, and function."
It would be nice to have a bit of elaboration on the etymology of the words trump and triumph.

"The figures that made up these processions bear some similarity in theme and content to the cards and even today, our May Day processions are still led by a fool or wildman. It is speculation but it does sit well with the facts."
Who's May Day processions... not everyone is familiar with these (including myself). The last sentence begs the question "which facts?".

The last paragraph just confuses me. Two paragraphs earlier the point is made that the French introduced a simple stenciled design to playing cards that was widely accepted. The last paragraph has the Marseilles pattern arriving (also in the 17th century) featuring not simple stencils but rural scenes and animals, becoming accepted throughout central Europe and at the same time becoming neglected in France and seen as strange and exotic. Which French deck are we talking about?

"Occultists' Interpretations"

"As there is nothing much about the profiteers that is worthy of note, they will receive no mention here."
Now that they are noted I want to know more... if they're not worthy of note, do not note them.

"Card Tricks"

"The most widely played of these games is the French game - people from across the world play it, from Spain to the Ukraine."
Across the world- but just in Europe?



This article seemed to want to make a point of the Tarot's origin being in games. It had me looking forward to more than the cursory discussion of these games in the final section.

Thanks Count Zero - I think you're right; these are good points and happily the author of the article has returned and offered to back up some points in the article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/F3603802?thread=2251365&skip=20 I've dropped a note in the thread and hopefully they'll be able to join this discussion in order that we can fill some of the gaps. I've changed 'across the world' and the sentence about the profiteers. However, altering the rest will need a bit more research. Regarding info about the triumph cards, there's a bit of an explanation here: http://www.tarothermit.com/birth.htm Hopefully we'll get some more info and I'll come back and incorporate it later.

personaly I think that somewhere (pref near the Arthur Waite bit) there should be a link to A6755934

Hi, I'm sorry to say that I'm going to be away for a couple of weeks but shall attend the comments made there when I get back. Truth be told, I wasn't sure just how long an article to make this and being cautious led to gaps. As there is a demand for more elaboration, I'll have a go at drafting something.

As for the card games themselves, I would love to make more of them - they are by far the best card games I've ever played. However, I wonder if perhaps this should be done in two or three other articles as the games are still quite diverse with three distinct families. Let me know your thoughts on this. I'm putting together a pdf of rules for my young neice in the States and this could be adapted for these pages if there is a demand for it. Many, though not all Tarot games, are available at www.pagat.com for those who are keenly interested. I have every intention of filling the gaps there when I've time.

My thanks again for your comments and do keep them comming. Now that I'm on-line again I will take note of them.

Neill

While I'm here, I must agree, a link to the Pamela Colman Smith would be useful - an excellent article.

Hello Philebus,

Thanks for getting back to us. There's no need to worry about the length of the article - if was to get too long we could split it into separate Entries. So - if you could help us fill those gaps (as outline above), that would be great. (If the card games info proves too long to include in the Entry, then it could be a good subject for future Entries).

Thanks very much,

Natalie

Ooh, yea... the games would be interesting. I'll have to check that link when I get a chance.

I think an EG entry on the games would be good - something you can link to from the body of this entry. Before reading this entry, I didn't know of the link between standard playing cards & tarot and didn't know that tarot cards had use outside the occult circles.