Aniconism and the early Tarot

[Fulgour]

With the introduction of paper manufacturing reaching to
the middle east upon the years following the rise of Islam,
we can envisage the elements of Tarot being represented
in the form we easily recognize today at about that time.

The transformation was part of a natural evolution for
this long established tool of divination from antiquity.

There never was a "ban" on imagery, for personal use,
and in fact there were allowances made for the Tarot.


Aniconism in Islam - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniconism_in_Islam

Be sure to read between the lines...

 

[Fulgour]

The Arabs learned the paper making from the Chinese prisoners
and built the first paper industry in Baghdad in 793 A.D.

Silkroad Foundation © 1997-2000
http://www.silk-road.com/artl/papermaking.shtml

 

[Fulgour]

Aniconism and Figural Representation in Islamic Art
by Terry Allen

The emblems of the princely cycle, then, seem not to refer to abstract entities such as signs of the zodiac, but to a set of activities that are somehow appropriate to either the use of the object on which they appear or to its user. This iconography establishes harmony rather than invoking protection; perhaps one should conclude that the cosmic cycles should be read the same way, as indicating the harmony between the decorated object, its contents, or its user, and the cosmos as represented emblematically...

The same point recurs:
on these Islamic objects representation is broken into emblems.

http://sonic.net/~tallen/palmtree/fe2.htm
© 1988 by Solipsist Press

 

[kwaw]

More links to figurative art in Islamic culture in post here:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=869618&postcount=40

We may note many card emblems can be found in Islamic heraldry, including the four Italian suits swords [straight or curved], discs [rosettes in discs a very common emblem of Islamic heraldry], 'batons' [as a western interpretation of polo sticks] and cups; also the french suited tile or diamond is very common [interpretation of Islamic lozenge shaped 'napkin'].

Other ''decorations' or symbols found on early cards also found in Saracenic heraldry include for example the eagle, both single and double headed were common, the lion, the fleur de lys, etc, etc.

Kwaw

 

[kwaw]

More links to figurative art in Islamic culture in post here:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=869618&postcount=40

Other ''decorations' or symbols found on early cards also found in Saracenic heraldry include for example ... the fleur de lys...

Kwaw

According to medieval legend the fleur-de-lys was the blazon of a Florentine Mamluk who built the fortress of Damascus [and indeed the walls of the Damascus fortress include fleur-de-lys emblems]. According to several legends the Visconti coat of arms [the serpent devouring a child] was also of oriental origin.

Kwaw

 

[Fulgour]

"and baby makes three"

The first recorded zero is attributed to the Babylonians in the 3rd century BC. A long period followed when no one else used a zero place holder. But then the Mayans, halfway around the world in Central America, independently invented zero in the fourth century CE. The final independent invention of zero in India was long debated by scholars, but seems to be set around the middle of the fifth century. It spread to Cambodia around the end of the 7th century. From India it moved into China and then to the Islamic countries. Zero finally reached western Europe in the 12th century.

Kristen McQuillin, July 1997 (revised January 2004)
http://www.mediatinker.com/blog/archives/008821.html