"The imagery was designed to reflect important aspects of the real world that the players lived in, and the prominent Christian symbolism in the cards is an obvious reflection of the Christian world in which they lived," he adds. As divinatory usage became more popular, illustrations evolved to reflect a specific designer's intention. "The subjects took on more and more esoteric meaning,"says Wolf, "but they generally maintained the traditional tarot structure of four suits of pip cards [similar to the numbered cards in a normal playing-card deck], corresponding court cards, and the additional trump cards, with a Fool."
“画里的寓意表现了当时人们所生活的年代中一些重要的方面,这其中明显的耶教符号正显示出当时社会强烈的宗教倾向。”他补充道。当它越来越流行被用来占卜后,图画中更表现出其设计者的倾向和喜好。“那些象征被赋予了越来越深奥的意义,”Wolf说,“但是大体上保持住了传统的塔罗牌结构,四套副牌(和现在带数字的扑克牌比较类似),相对应的角色牌,和传统的主牌组,加上一张小丑。”
This woodblock version of the classic Tarot de Marseille was published around 1751 by Claude Burdel. Photo courtesy Bill Wolf.
1751年由Claude Burdel印制的木版传统马赛塔罗牌,由Bill Wolf摄影
Even if you aren't familiar with tarot-card reading, you've likely seen one of the common decks, like the famous Rider-Waite, which has been continually printed since 1909. Named for publisher William Rider and popular mystic A.E. Waite, who commissioned Pamela Colman Smith to illustrate the deck, the Rider-Waite helped bring about the rise of 20th-century occult tarot used by mystical readers.
即使你对解读塔罗牌并不熟悉,你也一定见过这些种类的牌,比如著名的伟特塔罗牌,从1909年起开始印制。以出版商Claude Burdel和知名神秘主义者A.E. Waite的名字命名,由著名画师,艺术家,作家Pamela Colman Smith设计图案,伟特牌带动了20世纪中塔罗牌在神秘主义爱好者中间的流行。