Project Gutenberg 2013-06-15 Public domain in the USA. 158 Van Rensselaer, John King, Mrs. 1848 1925 Rensselaer, John King van, Mrs. Van Rensselaer, May King Rensselaer, Mrs. John King van 82134802 Prophetical, Educational and Playing Cards Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.) "Prophetical, Educational and Playing Cards" by Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer is a comprehensive study of the history and significance of playing cards, written in the early 20th century. This work delves into the origins and various uses of cards, particularly focusing on how they have evolved from instruments of divination tied to ancient religious practices to their modern roles in gambling and recreation. The text suggests a deep connection between the symbolism found in card decks and the ancient mysticism surrounding figures like Mercury and Thoth. The opening of the book presents a detailed exploration of the three main categories of playing cards: those for divining, those for gambling, and those for educational purposes. It explains the historical context in which these cards developed, alluding to their ancient roots in fortune-telling practices. The author sets the stage for a thorough analysis of how these cards embody the rituals and beliefs of cultures long past, claiming that traditional Tarot decks, with their rich imagery and symbolic elements, serve as a modern extension of these ancient mysteries. (This is an automatically generated summary.) file:///public/vhost/g/gutenberg/html/files/42950/42950-h/images/cover.jpg en Playing cards -- History Fortune-telling by cards -- History GV Text Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: History - General 514553 514562 2024-09-18T06:01:52.069497 2023-09-18T14:19:17.529774 text/html text/html 520262 2013-06-15T09:04:36 text/html; charset=utf-8 4689870 2013-06-15T09:04:42 text/html; charset=utf-8 application/zip 4970434 2024-09-18T06:02:01.433983 application/epub+zip 4969660 2024-09-18T06:01:53.609496 application/epub+zip 252253 2024-09-18T06:01:52.743497 application/epub+zip 5113492 2024-09-18T06:02:07.028968 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 5058329 2024-09-18T06:01:59.781015 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 356591 2022-09-19T15:30:09.431270 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 456988 456824 2024-09-18T06:01:51.107505 2023-09-18T14:19:16.647776 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 456826 2013-06-15T09:04:34 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 168687 2013-06-15T09:04:40 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 456841 2013-06-15T09:04:34 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 168576 2013-06-15T09:04:40 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 20342 2024-09-18T06:02:07.225920 application/rdf+xml 25967 2024-09-18T06:01:52.850501 image/jpeg 3673 2024-09-18T06:01:52.795493 image/jpeg 4769644 2024-09-18T06:01:52.223530 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog