The Tarot...
An Introduction

The Amazons

The Gateway to inner enlightenment?
The window to the worlds of the past, present and future?
The Devils Picture Book?

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There have been many questions asked about the Tarot cards and their origins over the years. However, to this day this continues to be shrouded in mystery. No one really knows when or where the Tarot originated from; whether it was in medieval Europe or hailing from rather more ancient cultures.

To some, mystery surrounds the how or why Tarot Cards do their work, but to others, they are simply a tool (like a pen or pencil) to clarify what is already there... However, no matter how we may view the Tarot, it is safe to say that the mystery and controversy that has surrounded these cards and their compelling imagery throughout the ages is as intriguing today as it was in their shadowy beginnings...

So where and when exactly was that?

One Idea is that they initially came from Ancient Egypt…. Others however, theorise that the Gypsies introduced them into Europe in the Middle Ages during their migrations westward from, believe it or not, Egypt! For where else could the name ‘Gypsy’ originally be derived from? Nevertheless popular belief is that they were indeed spawned in Medieval Europe as the playthings of the Naughty Italian Nobility….

It is supposed that the first ‘recorded’ use of a Tarot type deck was around the mid 15th Century in the form of the ‘Visconti Trumps’ in the Duchy of Milan, Italy. The Visconti Family ruled in Milan at the time and it has been said that they themselves commissioned the painting of a deck of unnumbered picture cards to reflect society’s various quirks, foibles and beliefs of the day- whilst at the same time introducing certain religious allegories to further illustrate life in both the physical and spiritual planes. To further back up the ‘Italian Connection’, the word ‘Tarot’ may have derived from the ‘Taro River’ in Northern Italy, or that the game these cards were originally designed for was called ‘Tarrocchi’ (the French translation perhaps being ‘Tarot’?). However, as with any mystery, that explanation would be far too simple! Is it that we seek something far more mysterious to justify the image of the present day Tarot cards? There are numerous words from many exotic cultures dating as far back as Ancient India and even China that have meanings which could also lead to the origins of the Tarot or a similar method of reading, for where ever there are readers in the world, they will find something to read… and vice versa!

Over the centuries however, the Tarot as we have come to know it these days has evolved, swelling its ranks with what we now know as the ‘Minor Arcana’ (as opposed to the ‘Major Arcana’ or Trumps). These have been referred to as the ‘numbered suits’ of which there are four: the wands; the cups; the swords and the pentacles, and they reflect the more day to day aspects of our journey through life whereas the Major Arcana direct us towards the key turning points in our lives, so giving rise to the 78 card deck that we now have. Between them they give an accurate view of what’s going on, on all levels.

Evolution didn’t stop there however as the present day playing card deck with it’s four numbered suits were actually derived form the Tarot suits themselves, with the wands translating in to the clubs, the cups becoming the hearts, the swords being the spades and the pentacles, the diamonds. In the realm of divination when using playing cards, it’s interesting to note that the meaning and references that these suits have correspond to those of the Tarot suits themselves… With this the cups/hearts reveal emotion; the wands/clubs; movement and journeys; the swords/spades reflect officialdom, medical matters and doctors or surgeons, and all things intellectual and the pentacles/diamonds home in on material wealth.

There are only 52 cards in the playing card deck as opposed to 56 in the numbered suits of the Tarot, and this is due to the Knight and Page being united to form the ‘Jack’.

One thing is for certain though, whenever or wherever the Tarot did actually evolve from, they have demonstrated mans insatiable need to know all things past, present and future, matched equally by the importance of reaching out and transcending the barriers of the mind and body and so freeing the Spirit.

And so to the Amazons
  
And so to the Amazons... 
 

An Amazon is often described as a strong and powerful woman. 

But…
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In ancient times, in the distant dreamlike past, The Amazons were a legendary race of women warriors living in a matriarchal society. They were believed by one account, to be daughters of the peace-loving nymph Harmonia and Ares, the God of War, and as such combined both beauty and might in the form of the Warrior Woman.     And this nation of warrior women dominated the ancient world, so their mystical beliefs dominated them, as this deck will illustrate… 

In ancient times, from as early as 1,000BC, even before such biblical greats as Solomon and Queen Bilquis of Sheba, the Amazons existed and were said to have conquered and inhabited lands in the Middle and Near East, Northern Africa as well as in Greece and its more immediate neighbours. Later in their history, they were said to have held sway over the part of Asia Minor along the shores of the Black Sea, and the many Amazon tribes settled in such places as Scythia, Thermodon, Themiskyra, Anatolia, Thrace and Samothrace, though it is believed that the Libyan Amazons were the oldest Amazonian society of all. 

The Ancient Greeks believed in the Amazon Nation, and that it existed on their very borders, though never really in Greece itself (now there’s a surprise!), and so made the Amazons out to be 'barbarians' (which is Greek for 'stranger') or 'savages' in their 'civilised' eyes.

This was because the Amazons were a race of women warriors living in a matriarchal society and so stood outside convention; where men were very much the subordinates or even the slaves of women, being kept, more or less, for breeding purposes and the various domestic duties that necessitated their presence.

 As it has been said, the original Amazons were believed to be daughters of Aries, the God of War, and the peace-loving nymph Harmonia. However, some say that the Amazon, Otrera, was the original great Mother of the Amazon Nation and perhaps was indeed indistinguishable from the Great Mother Goddess herself. 

This contrasting personification of beauty and might is reflected in that two queens ruled each Amazon tribe.   With one queen for defence and the other for internal affairs, they shared between them sovereignty over their world. Under their military queen, the Amazons were a formidable army of mounted warriors bearing shields and double-bladed battle-axes with other weaponry  and they were experts particularly in the art of single combat. It has been said that the Amazons were perhaps even the first to ever army use a 'cavalry'. Thus, charging ever forward they carved a savage path through ancient realms and ancient chronicle and on into the misty lands of legend. By contrast, on the domestic front, the Amazons lived peacefully, seeing to all their own domestic needs.

This duality of being is also seen a mirror to that of the Goddess Artemis, their patron, who in her many incarnations was by very nature Herself an embodiment combining both good and evil, war and nurture.

 Popular legend has it that the Amazons removed one breast in order to shoot and throw spears with greater effect. This alleged practice gave rise to the name Amazon, which apparently comes from the Greek word for breast-less (a mazos). Other accounts however, translate this word to mean 'Moon Women' (due to their crescent shaped shields?), which would be highly appropriate given their Patron Goddess was Artemis, Deity of the Moon…  

In art, on the other hand, in which the Amazons and their battles are so frequently portrayed, they were shown either as beautiful women with one breast exposed, or as warlike but stunning women with no apparent disfigurement.

It is in this spirit therefore, that we have chosen to illustrate our Tarot Deck, which is devoted to all women -

In The Spirit Of The Amazons…

And the Amazon Nation? 

Although the Amazons, as the Ancient world knew and feared them, have long departed, the Amazon Spirit has endured... and has been present throughout the ages and throughout the world- both ancient and modern- living on in the hearts of women. It is to these women that this deck is also dedicated. 

So the Amazon Nation has, in fact, survived... enduring from the ancient times throughout history, to the modern day.

 It is called 'WOMAN'.

Ancient and Beautiful,

the Goddess of the Moon waits...
Ever watchful in Her endless journey through the night...


Moon Photos by Babz Bell
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