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here are as many theories about the origins of playing cards and their introduction into Europe as there are about the origins of the Easter bunny. A plausible thesis maintains that the Arabs brought cards from the Middle East in the fourteenth century and introduced them to Europe via Spain and Italy. Egypt is often cited as the country of their origin, and Egyptian playing cards do bear a remarkable resemblance to the earliest Spanish and Italian decks. The oft-heard claim that gypsies were responsible for their introduction is not supported by the fact that cards were present in Europe before the gypsies were. The first known mention of playing cards, according to Luis Monreal, in his article “Iconographia de la Baraja Espanola” (Journal of the International Playing Card Society, February 1989) occurred in Spain in 1371. The absence of playing cards is telling in the works of both Petrarch and Boccaccio. In Italy, a Florentine city ordinance forbidding a newly introduced card game called naibbe is dated May 23, 1376. Cards are not mentioned in England until the fifteenth century, but seem to have first appeared in central and southern Europe at the end of the fourteenth century, lending support to the theory that they were imported, though their exact geographical origins remain obscure. The expertise of artisans and the ingenuity of the human spirit are wedded in the mysterious deck of cards, making it not merely a mathematical labyrinth and chaos of symbols, but—in the skillful hands of a card magician—a proper stage on which fifty-two actors can be brought to life to represent the entire human condition. There are, in fact, incredible parallels between the world of man and the microcosm of the deck. The duality principle of life—day and night, good and evil, etc.—is symbolized by the colors red and black. The court and spot cards represent the hierarchy underlying the organization of primitive and civilized societies. The four suits symbolize the four seasons, the thirteen cards in each suit represent the thirteen lunar cycles each year, the twelve court cards correspond to the twelve months of the Gregorian calendar (1582), the fifty-two cards are the fifty-two weeks in the year, the sum of all the pips equals 365 (364 plus one for the Joker!), the number of days in the year. It is particularly curious that, if you spell out the names of all thirteen values, from Ace to King, dealing one card for each letter, the final card of the deck will be dealt on the “g” of King. More astonishing still, this works even if you are spelling the words in French, Swedish, Dutch or German (in German the letters “ch” in Sechs and Acht must be treated as a single letter for this to work.) There is no evidence that the inventors of cards intended these characteristics, though the Alsatian master Ingold explained in his Das guldien spiel that the fifty-two cards represented the fifty-two weeks of the year and the four suits corresponded to the four sins of humanity. Thus began a compelling myth, which should not be construed as an accurate analysis of the original allegorical meaning of cards. In fourteenth century Spain, the four suits represented the four dominant principles of the prevailing society. Diamonds (oro = gold, money) stood for capital, Hearts (copas = cups, goblets) for the church, Spades (spadas = swords) for nobility, and Clubs (baston = clubs) for political power. The French followed this pattern closely, renaming the suits carreau (Diamonds), coeur (Hearts), pique (Spades) and trèfle (Clubs). According to a treatise by Johannes von Rheinfelden, a German Dominican priest, the fourteenth century deck already consisted of fifty-two cards, divided into four suits of thirteen cards, just as we have today. Shortly after, a new game, tarocchi, was introduced in Italy, using an expanded deck. One card was added to each suit, along with twenty-two additional cards, the trionfi. These cards were used for gambling and still serve that purpose today in certain parts of the world. It is not hard to see that this is the famous Tarot deck, which French occultists first used for fortunetelling at the end of the eighteenth century. Only later were the Tarot cards—previously used only for play—introduced without gambling associations into other countries. This likely created the myth that Tarot cards were devised for fortunetelling. Decks with less than fifty-two cards are convenient for some games (piquet, skat, jass, etc.) but are basically incomplete. Numerous edicts prohibited playing with cards, on both economic and religious grounds. From the beginning they have been the objects of play, which in one form or another involved money as the winner’s reward. Those gamblers who wanted to increase their chances of winning, likely developed the first trick techniques with cards. The earliest known reference is dated 1408 in Paris, and describes a card cheat who took advantage of his contemporaries with a game baring a psychological resemblance to three-card monte. The first card tricks were likely created by people who enjoyed performing. The earliest known description of a card trick also dates back to the fifteenth century. Luca Pacioli (the father of modern accounting) described a performance in which Giovanni de Jasone de Ferara divined a chosen card. This historic tidbit, recently discovered by Vanni Bossi, appears in an unpublished manuscript co-authored by Leonardo da Vinci. The first card effect to be described and explained in print appeared in 1550 in Girolomo Cardano’s De subtilitate. This effect was the location and identification of a selected card. Three methods are mentioned: the break (see “CARD COLLEGE”, Vol. 1), the key-card principle (see Chapter 10) and a reference, bereft of detail, to mathematical methods. In a later, expanded edition of this work, Cardano added an anecdote describing the wonderful card effects of Francesco Soma, a Neapolitan lute player. Although the sixteenth century saw numerous descriptions and explanations of card tricks, the first detailed exposition was in Reginald Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft in 1584. In 1593 Horatio Galasso published Giochi di carte bellissimi di regola, e di memoria in Venice. Rather than describe tricks dependent on sleight-of-hand, as Scot had, Galasso described tricks having as their basis intelligent applications of mathematical principles, including a stacked deck, possibly the first description of this idea. Scot and Galasso thus laid the foundations on which card conjuring would build during the following two centuries. Any brief sketch of the history of card conjuring would have to make mention of the following individuals, who profoundly influenced all who followed them: Pinetti of Italy, Robert-Houdin of France, Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser of Austria, Charles Bertram of England and S.W. Erdnase of the United States. The latter wrote the first detailed and precise descriptions of card-cheating methods. His book, The Expert at the Card Table (1902) was at first only understood by a few, chief among them Dai Vernon, who must be cited as the last truly outstanding influence on the art. In the first half of the twentieth century many important contributions were made by performers and authors such as Carlo Rossetti, Padre Wenceslao Ciur_, Theodore Annemann, Frederick Braue, Jean Hugard, John N. Hilliard, Professor Hoffmann (Angelo Lewis), August Roterberg, Ottokar Fischer, Conradi-Horster (Conrad A. Horster), Camille Gaultier and Jules Dhotel. More recently the art and literature of card conjuring have been enriched by Arturo de Ascanio, Derek Dingle, Alex Elmsley, Lewis Ganson, Frank Garcia, Phil Goldstein, Bro. John Hamman, Richard Kaufman, Harry Lorayne, Edward Marlo, Stephen Minch, Juan Tamariz and Richard Vollmer, to name just a few. Without a doubt, playing cards are the most fascinating object employed in the art of magic. No less a performer than Hofzinser designated card conjuring the “poetry” of magic. Cards have produced a palette of sciences, from their symbolism of humanity to their numerical properties and all the mathematical possibilities embodied therein. They serve at play and strategy, for fortunetelling and occult practices, and as a vehicle for social communications. They permit an expression of skill and intelligence. Everything is brought together in card conjuring, for there is no effect, no emotion, that can’t be expressed with a deck of cards. They are a microcosm reflecting the “human condition”, to use Rousseau’s expression, mirroring the fate and reality of mankind. Card tricks unite the principles of nature (natural material), of art (creativity, interpretations, self expression, talent), of science (psychological and mathematical principles) and of spirituality (symbolism, personal growth and therapy). Thousands of human beings have influenced the history of card magic in small and large ways, and hundreds of thousands of magazines and books testify persuasively to this. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, at least one book on card magic is published each week. Reprinted with permission Brian Ochab would like to thank Roberto Giobbi for his kind permission to reproduce this work. Mr. Giobbi would like to thank his learned friends William Kalush, Richard Vollmer and Vanni Bossi for contributing information that has substantially influenced this essay. Mr. Ochab recommends anyone interested in card magic, to obtain the CARD COLLEGE book series. It is one of the best study courses on card magic in the world today. It is published though Hermetic Press (hermeticpress.com) in Seattle, Washington (United States). and can be obtained through your local magic dealer.  |
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