Don’t let the plain ol’ look of the numbers and suits fool you…the 52 standard deck of playing card was (and still is) a powerful and profound deck! It is the believed by many to be the first tarot, dating as far back as Egyptian times. They were said to be the gift of the original sacred scribe, Tehuti. Since then, they have been popular tools in European fortune telling and Haitian Vodou.
Its courts and suits are symbolic in connection to the world around us. The 52 cards represent the 52 weeks of the year, and the four suits represent the four stages of the day, the four elements, the four seasons, the four directions, and the four winds. The representations of each suit vary, as people develop their own connections to the cards, and more about this will be revealed in future scribings.
- Spades: North, Winter, Earth, Night.
- Clubs: East, Spring, Air, Dawn
- Diamonds: South, Summer, Fire, Noon
- Hearts: West, Autumn, Water, Sunset
Each of the fours suits carry thirteen cards, perhaps to represent the thirteen lunar months of the year, and the thirteen weeks in each season. The twelve court cards represent the twelve houses of the zodiac, and the royal energies of each suit. I’d like to think the court cards were also the artistic inspiration for the thousands of tarot decks with elaborate artwork on every card! Just remember that the first tarot deck is playing gold fish, spades, and poker!
