Chaucer, who gave us the first treatise upon the Astrolabe in English and was very knowledgeable about the astronomy and astrology of his day, includes many astrological references, including to the mansions of the moon, in his Canterbury Tales.
Some have suggested the astrological references provide the keys to a map of the intended order of the tales; that upon the terrestrial pilgrimage, which starts on April 17th, a date by tradition upon which Noah's Ark was said to have departed, the pilgrims path follows the celestial way mapped against the arc of the articificial day, in 29 degrees within 24 tales (hours) related to astronomical diurnal and annual cycles.
The pun between ark and arc suggests a mnemonic trope for example as related by Mary Carruthers:
"...the arca as a "chest", a pun which associates the Genesis Ark with the Ark of the Covenant, described in Exodus...in which were stored the texts of the Law (on which the righteous man meditates day and night, according to Psalm 1). The mental painting is driven by sound colouring and shape. Puns transform the treasure chest of memory into the salvational ark of Noah, into a treasure chest (the ark of Moses) that contains the matter of salvation (Gods Law) which, stored in the chest of memory and thus available for meditation, will redeem and save, as the citadel (arc-) of "Jerusalem" will save God's people - provided they remember to "measure the pattern... "the material in the 'ark' of memory" forms a "pictura Archae"...picture painted by puns.
Puns being the flos or flowers of language that come to the aid of memory.
The idea that the tarot too is connected with mnemonic tropes has occurred to many of us individually and can be found suggested among several tarot authors from an early period. Of anyone to whom the idea has occured and found expression however I believe Diane O'Donavon has done most to seek to substantiate and demonstrate such with a great deal of original research in this area, some of which hopefully she will be able to share with us while she is here.
Kwaw
References:
Chaucer and the Country of the Stars. Poetic Uses of Astrological Imagery (Oxford University Press 1970) by Chauncey Wood
The Ars Legendi for Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (University of Florida Press, 1991) by Dolores Warwick Frese
The Craft of Thought: Meditation, Rhetoric and the Making of Images, 400-1200 (Cambridge University Press, 1998) by Mary Carruthers.
