塔罗牌神话:世界上最被人误解的卡片的神奇起源(多图)

The Empress. The Hanged Man. The Chariot. Judgment. With their centuries-old iconography blending a mix of ancient symbols, religious allegories, and historic events, tarot cards can seem purposefully opaque. To outsiders and skeptics, occult practices like card reading have little relevance in our modern world. But a closer look at these miniature masterpieces reveals that the power of these cards isnt endowed from some mystical source—it comes from the ability of their small, static images to illuminate our most complex dilemmas and desires.

女皇、倒吊人、战车、法官，这些有几世纪历史的肖像和古老的符号，宗教预言，以及历史事件相杂糅，使得塔罗牌显得那样的神秘。对于外行和怀疑论者来说，阅读卡片上的征兆这种神秘主义的行为和现代社会显得格格不入。但是最近的研究表明，卡片上精美的微缩图画所具有的力量并不神秘——那小小的画片本身正具有反映我们内心困惑和欲望的能力。

Contrary to what the uninitiated might think, the meaning of divination cards changes over time, shaped by each eras culture and the needs of individual users. This is partly why these decks can be so puzzling to outsiders, as most of them reference allegories or events familiar to people many centuries ago. Caitlín Matthews, who teaches courses on cartomancy, or divination with cards, says that before the 18th century, the imagery on these cards was accessible to a much broader population. But in contrast to these historic decks, Matthews finds most modern decks harder to engage with.

和外界所想的不一样，卡片上预言的意思随着时代变迁不断改变，在不同的文化或者不同的人手中也不尽相同，显示出不同的寓意和对现实事件的反映，这也是塔罗牌对于普通人来说不易理解的一个原因。Caitlín Matthews，一个教授纸牌占卜的老师，或者说算命师告诉我们，在十八世纪以前相信塔罗牌占卜的人数比现在多得多，而且和那些古老的塔罗占卜相比，现在的塔罗牌更加不容易理解。