SELECT DIVINATORY METHODS &HISTORIES
AHRC/IRC Project OG(H)AM: Harnessing digital technologies to transform understanding of ogham writing, from the 4th century to the 21st (historical info, not based in divinatory practice, resource)
Alaric Albertsson, A Handbook of Saxon Sorcery & Magic: Wyrdworking, Rune Craft, Divination, & Wortcunning, Woodbury MN, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2017
Benebell Wen, Holistic Tarot, North Atlantic Books 2015
Damien McManus, A Guide to Ogham, C. Kildare, An Sagart/Maynooth Manuscripts, 1991
Erynn Rowan Laurie, Ogham: Weaving Word Wisdom, Stafford UK, Megalitha Books Immanion Press 2007
Dr. Jackson Crawford, The Names of the Runes (Elder Futhark) & The Names of the Runes (Younger Futhark) & Runes: 5 Misconceptions YouTube, 2017, 2019
Helen Farley, A Cultural History of Tarot, I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd, 2009
John-Paul Patton, The Poet's Ogham, A Living Magical Tradition, Belfast, 2010
Lora O’Brien, Listed posts on Ogham, Lora O’Brien website
Lora O’Brien, Listed videos on Ogham, Lora O’Brien YouTube channel
Mat Auryn, Psychic Witch: A Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick & Manifestation, Llewellyn Publications, 2020
Mary K. Greer, Origins of Cartomancy (Playing Card Division), Mary K. Greer’s Tarot Blog, 2008
Ogam script in the RIA Library collections, Royal Irish Academy (historical info, not based in divinatory practice)
Ogham 3D Pilot Project (historical info, not based in divinatory practice)
Paul Rhys Mountefort, Ogham, The Celtic Oracle of the Trees, Rochester, Destiny Books, 2001
Paul Rhys Mountefort, Nordic Runes, Rochester, Destiny Books, 2003
Paul Huson, The Mystical Origins of the Tarot, Rochester Vermont, Destiny Books, 2004
Simon Wintle, The World of Playing Cards, Moorish Playing Cards UK, website 2001
Simon Wintle, The Playing Card, Journal of the International Playing-Card Society, London, Volume XV No. 4 May 1987
The Differences Between Tarot Cards and Lenormand Cards, Labyrinthos 2017
The World of Playing Cards, Mamluk Playing Cards UK, website 2001
Yoav Ben-Dov, Tarot - The Open Reading Create Space, CBD Tarot de Marseille, 2011
Zo Jacobi, The Jewish History of the Tarot, Jewitches, 2021
To note: most histories of the tarot, having been written by white Europeans and white European-descended people, rarely if ever mention the travel of playing cards to Europe across their varied historical routes, from East Asia down through Southern, Central, and West Asia; and its most aesthetically familiar roots in the cards of the Mamluk Empire that came up from North Africa. From here it is where, and when, we see the original Italian decks appear, and later, their evolution into the Trump cards that become our beloved and familiar Major Arcana. While it's true that tarot began as a game, it's important to note that many divinatory traditions have served original or dual purposes as games, for many reasons including the safeguarding of magical practices and technologies; and as human language and thinking is rooted in image and pattern-recognition ie, symbolism, we can easily speculate that spiritual practitioners quickly and easily incorporated tarot into their divinatory tool chest.
What's important here though is, even fewer of us acknowledge the history of tarot as integrated into Roma culture, and Roma-authored histories of tarot are not academically documented but passed down through family practices and traditions. Not all Roma want to be associated with the harmful stereotypes westerners have conceived around Roma fortune-telling and tarot; and many Roma seek acknowledgement for the cultural contribution to tarot as a divinatory tradition. We should also note the appropriation of Jewish mysticism in the occult, as introduced to the practice of tarot through the grimoire tradition and later, through the Order of the Golden Dawn. While it's up to each of us to decide whether or not we will engage a tarot practice, I believe it's always important to read between the lines of these histories and acknowledge them and those who have influenced them without credit, up front; carefully, and thoughtfully.
Alaric Albertsson, A Handbook of Saxon Sorcery & Magic: Wyrdworking, Rune Craft, Divination, & Wortcunning, Woodbury MN, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2017
Benebell Wen, Holistic Tarot, North Atlantic Books 2015
Damien McManus, A Guide to Ogham, C. Kildare, An Sagart/Maynooth Manuscripts, 1991
Erynn Rowan Laurie, Ogham: Weaving Word Wisdom, Stafford UK, Megalitha Books Immanion Press 2007
Dr. Jackson Crawford, The Names of the Runes (Elder Futhark) & The Names of the Runes (Younger Futhark) & Runes: 5 Misconceptions YouTube, 2017, 2019
Helen Farley, A Cultural History of Tarot, I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd, 2009
John-Paul Patton, The Poet's Ogham, A Living Magical Tradition, Belfast, 2010
Lora O’Brien, Listed posts on Ogham, Lora O’Brien website
Lora O’Brien, Listed videos on Ogham, Lora O’Brien YouTube channel
Mat Auryn, Psychic Witch: A Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick & Manifestation, Llewellyn Publications, 2020
Mary K. Greer, Origins of Cartomancy (Playing Card Division), Mary K. Greer’s Tarot Blog, 2008
Ogam script in the RIA Library collections, Royal Irish Academy (historical info, not based in divinatory practice)
Ogham 3D Pilot Project (historical info, not based in divinatory practice)
Paul Rhys Mountefort, Ogham, The Celtic Oracle of the Trees, Rochester, Destiny Books, 2001
Paul Rhys Mountefort, Nordic Runes, Rochester, Destiny Books, 2003
Paul Huson, The Mystical Origins of the Tarot, Rochester Vermont, Destiny Books, 2004
Simon Wintle, The World of Playing Cards, Moorish Playing Cards UK, website 2001
Simon Wintle, The Playing Card, Journal of the International Playing-Card Society, London, Volume XV No. 4 May 1987
The Differences Between Tarot Cards and Lenormand Cards, Labyrinthos 2017
The World of Playing Cards, Mamluk Playing Cards UK, website 2001
Yoav Ben-Dov, Tarot - The Open Reading Create Space, CBD Tarot de Marseille, 2011
Zo Jacobi, The Jewish History of the Tarot, Jewitches, 2021
To note: most histories of the tarot, having been written by white Europeans and white European-descended people, rarely if ever mention the travel of playing cards to Europe across their varied historical routes, from East Asia down through Southern, Central, and West Asia; and its most aesthetically familiar roots in the cards of the Mamluk Empire that came up from North Africa. From here it is where, and when, we see the original Italian decks appear, and later, their evolution into the Trump cards that become our beloved and familiar Major Arcana. While it's true that tarot began as a game, it's important to note that many divinatory traditions have served original or dual purposes as games, for many reasons including the safeguarding of magical practices and technologies; and as human language and thinking is rooted in image and pattern-recognition ie, symbolism, we can easily speculate that spiritual practitioners quickly and easily incorporated tarot into their divinatory tool chest.
What's important here though is, even fewer of us acknowledge the history of tarot as integrated into Roma culture, and Roma-authored histories of tarot are not academically documented but passed down through family practices and traditions. Not all Roma want to be associated with the harmful stereotypes westerners have conceived around Roma fortune-telling and tarot; and many Roma seek acknowledgement for the cultural contribution to tarot as a divinatory tradition. We should also note the appropriation of Jewish mysticism in the occult, as introduced to the practice of tarot through the grimoire tradition and later, through the Order of the Golden Dawn. While it's up to each of us to decide whether or not we will engage a tarot practice, I believe it's always important to read between the lines of these histories and acknowledge them and those who have influenced them without credit, up front; carefully, and thoughtfully.