While SinceWorld Tarot Day, created by the iconic Den Elder, a prolific writer, Tarot Grandmaster, and founder of The Church of Tarot, got the idea for World Tarot Day back in 2003. Every May 25th, the rest is history in the making as celebrations are growing more prevalent and elaborate every year.
In celebration of World Tarot Day, Shuffled Ink is debunking 3 common myths about tarot cards.
Word Tarot Day – Myth #1- There are strict rules to tarot (Trionfi) reading
There is no right or wrong way of reading tarot cards. Actually, there are numerous methods, strategies, approaches and traditions used. There is no secret tarot rulebook or club, it’s all about what you make of it. Like any hobby, learning how to read tarot takes time and practice!
World Tarot Day – Myth # 2 – Your first tarot (Tarocchi) deck has to be a gift
The origins of this commonly accepted myth are unknown. Tarot cards make an excellent gift. And, there is actually nothing wrong with purchasing a tarot deck for yourself! Tarot experts say that making sure you like the look of your tarot deck is important! Beauty is subjective, it’s important that you like the style and artwork of your deck to ensure proper practice!
Shuffled Ink actually knows how important creating a beautiful deck is. This is why we offer vivid colors and dozens of finish and cardstock options to ensure your custom deck lives up to its full potential and is the most grabbed on the shelf.
World Tarot Day – Myth #3: Tarot (tarock) is used only for predicting the future
Tarot cards alone do not be able to predict your future. Many people utilize tarot cards to determine divination. Some believe tarot cards have divinatory power, actually, many do not necessarily agree on the source of that power.
The cards are simply a tool to use to try to interpret and understand a future or present situations. Tarot decks are used in different ways and for many reasons. Tarot is seen as a tool to guide one spiritually, or provide clarity on your current situation. They are not just to attempt to predict your future.
There are many reasons people use tarot cards. Some people incorporate it into a religion they already practice, some users are completely non-spiritual. Non-religious use their decks for inspiration
Tarot users who believe tarot can tell the future, collectively believe that it tells one possible future, and that future is not absolute. “Negative” readings should not be of such great concern. Actually, every tarot card communicates positive and negative messages.
World Tarot Day, May 25 – every year, your tarot future says be there!
This article is the next installment of a two-part series about how playing cards were used in different ways in previous centuries. Before our modern deck obtained its traditional look, playing card decks were often highly customized, and used for a variety of different purposes. The previous article covered how playing cards were used in more typical ways: for playing card games, for art, and for education. But the past has also witnessed playing cards being commonly used for other purposes, like the ones described here.
For Fortune Telling
Fortune telling, or cartomancy, has a long history and association with playing cards. While a traditional deck is rarely used for fortune telling today, the connection between playing cards and cartomancy continues, even though playing cards were used for playing games long before they were ever used for fortune telling. Especially in some cultures, there continues to be a close relationship between cards and fortune telling, which is why in the popular mind gypsies are associated with fortune telling cards.
Despite what some people think, the origin of our modern deck does not lie in the fortune telling Tarot deck. Tarot cards appear to have been a separate and later development from a standard deck of playing cards, and rather than pre-date the traditional deck, the 78 card Tarot deck actually came a century or two later. In fact, historical evidence suggests that the additional 22 cards common to a Tarot deck originated as trump cards for more advanced games, and at some point the addition of these cards to a standard deck led to a larger Tarot deck. This was first used for more complex trick-taking games, but later began to develop a life of its own in the hands of cartomancers and occultists.
The rise of divination eventually did see the use of playing cards for fortune telling and cartomancy, and the earliest known fortune-telling deck is by John Lenthall and dates from around the late 1600s. While the legitimacy of fortune telling will be dismissed by most modern secularists today, it cannot denied that it has made an important contribution to the history of playing cards and also had an impact on its artwork. This is particularly the case with the larger Tarot deck, which soon became a tool of choice for cartomancers, and is still commonly used as such today. Many Tarot decks were created with all the cards having colourful images that depicted all manner of disasters or good fortune. Many different Tarot decks exist, and these often feature wonderful artwork, and continue to be popular with collectors worldwide.
For Magic
As we’ve seen already, playing cards were first used only by the aristocracy that could afford them, and it was only with the arrival of mass production that playing cards found themselves in the hands of the general public. Along with this welcome development came a less welcome one: gambling. Gambling soon became a real problem, especially because this is what the lower class chiefly engaged in when playing card games. It’s for this reason that the church frequently and strongly denounced card playing. And along with gambling came another dark activity: cheating.
But what about if cheating techniques are used to create illusions which are designed purely to amuse and entertain? That’s effectively what magic is all about, and so playing cards became an obvious tool for magicians to use, using similar techniques used by crooked gamblers. Magic as a performing art has a much longer history, of course, and sleight of hand existed long before playing cards, whether it was intended to cheat or to entertain. But playing cards did lend themselves very naturally to magicians looking for ways to create illusions, especially because they were a familiar item for the masses who used them for playing card games.
18th century Italian magician Giovanni Giuseppe Pinetti is often credited as being a pioneer that paved the way for playing card magic. His charismatic popularity made him a popular entertainer, and he was one of the very first to include card tricks in his official theater performances, and he even entertained royalty. Prior to this, the only place you could expect to see card magic was on the streets or in private rooms, and it didn’t have any real respect or credibility. Many famous magicians followed in Pinetti’s footsteps, such as the 19th century icons Robert-Houdin and Hofzinser, the latter being considered by some to be a father of card magic. From this time onwards, magicians began to include card tricks in their repertoire more and more, and card magic became a growing art form. Names like Dai Vernon, Charles Bertram, and Erdnase, are well known to magicians today, but these magicians played an important role in popularizing and shaping card magic as we know it.
Today we are building on the work of these pioneers, and magic with playing cards is often one of the places that beginners now start their journey in magic. Almost everyone has a deck of cards and is familiar with them, so they are an ideal starting point, requiring no real investment. Magicians tend to use cards extensively for practicing and performing, and the production of playing cards for working magicians represents one of the biggest shares of the playing card market in our modern era.
For Souvenirs
Playing cards have long served as an ideal souvenir, particularly when each individual card is used for a different picture. This turns a deck of cards into a mini photo album of 50+ individual works, making it perfect for depicting places or events. Souvenir decks started emerging in the 1890s, coinciding with the growing popularity of photography, which was at that time a very expensive undertaking. In contrast, a deck of souvenir playing cards allowed you to own a mini photo album of an exotic place or country you visited at a relatively low cost.
Special events have long provided a rich source of material for playing card artwork as well. Notable events such as various wars led to the production of commemorative decks of playing cards, to serve as memorials of the Napoleonic Wars, American Civil War, and many others. Royal occasions and other special state events have been commemorated in a similar fashion. Royal coronations and weddings have often featured on playing cards; so too anniversary celebrations of important discoveries or conquests.
Current events have also been a catalyst for new decks of playing cards, the First World War being a prime example. Some of these decks were used for the purposes of propaganda, with decks in Germany printing court cards that gave places of honour to the Kaiser and other leaders, while war scenes were depicted on other cards. Meanwhile playing cards reflecting Allied sentiments were produced in the United States, some featuring court cards depicting generals, officers, and other ranks. During the Second World War, a pro Allied deck produced by Van Mierle Proost included Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and de Gaulle as Kings, while the Aces had outlines of Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and the Kremlin.
But souvenir decks aren’t limited to events, with many decks created that depict colourful images of towns, countries, and cultures, geared to serve the tourist industry in particular. This, too, doesn’t exhaust the potential, since playing cards can depict almost any hobby or interest under the sun, and so we have seen the production of playing cards with images of anything from house-cats to antique furniture. Decks have been created to commemorate all kinds of unique interests, from ancient mythology to modern bull-fighting. A good example of this is a deck that was produced to honour the medical profession, featuring doctors, nurses, chemists, and research workers in hospital gowns, along with the expected equipment of stethoscopes and medicines.
The scope of souvenir and hobby decks is limited only by the imagination of the creators. Today’s custom playing card industry continues to benefit from this, and decks that celebrate popular films, celebrities, or sports, have a ready market. And virtually anywhere you travel, you’re bound to find a deck of cards with pictures that you can take home as a souvenir of the place you’ve visited.
Other Uses
This list by no means exhausts the many ways that playing cards have been used. For example, an important secondary usage of playing cards in previous centuries was as a source of writing paper. Early playing cards didn’t have artwork on the card backs, and were simply blank on the reverse side. Given that paper was often expensive to produce, this made a deck of playing cards a valuable source of paper. Individual cards became a very handy resource, and could be used for writing notes or lists, and were even used more formally as invitations, calling cards, coupons, or as a record of financial transactions, debts, or currency.
Playing cards no longer have blank card backs, so that particular secondary use has all but vanished. But today we are seeing new uses for playing cards emerge, the most notable one being for card flourishing. Cardistry is a thriving industry, and since cardists tend to wear out their decks even faster than magicians, and because of the importance of visual aesthetics, there’s a growing demand for colourful and creative designs.
The Standard Deck Today
Our historical overview demonstrates that playing cards have been used for a variety of uses across the ages besides playing cards, and so it comes as no surprise that in the past there has never really been a “standard” deck as we often imagine it today. Customized decks have existed for centuries, and there are many fine examples of playing cards created especially for the purpose or art or education. This means that the typical Bicycle style card deck as we usually think of it is in reality by no means “standard”.
Even today there’s actually a great variety of different types of decks used around the world, not just in terms of style, but also in size. Most of these are localized in their usage, but you will find places where 32 card decks are very common, or 48 card decks, and even 100+ card decks. In many cases, the size of the deck is closely connected with games that are popular in a specific region, and these games can’t even be played with a deck of a different size.
And not only is the size of a deck non-standard, but so is the artwork. Given the multiple uses for playing cards across the centuries, it was inevitable that there would be a diversity of artwork and styles. In that respect the modern custom playing card industry is hardly new, and customized playing cards have existed for centuries.
Yet despite all this rich variation throughout the history of playing cards, there does remain a commonly accepted “standard” for playing cards today. This standard is primarily based on the French suits that swept Europe and spread across the globe in previous centuries. Today’s court cards largely go back to printer Thomas de la Rue of London. Mr de la Rue was granted a patent for printing playing cards by letterpress and lithography in 1832, and subsequently took control of the playing card market due to his enormous success. With prices and taxes dropping, his production and sales increased significantly. Smaller designers that produced custom decks simply could not compete with him, and slowly disappeared, leaving de la Rue with a monopoly.
For better or for worse, it was the fact that de la Rue effectively cornered the market that led to cards becoming more or less standardized. In his book Playing Cards, Roger Tilley gives this very unflattering assessment of this development: “To add insult to injury, the very expressions of the cardboard court have been crystallized in commercialism. The kings’ looks have become those of company directors, strained and indicative of ulcers, while the queens and knaves have taken on the air of the attendant secretaries: the personal are pawky, and the company ones circumspect … Thomas de la Rue was without doubt a very great printer; yet that very genius proved calamitous to this small branch of the graphic arts … it might be said of Thomas de la Rue that he found a small quantity of marble and left a great quantity of brick.“
Certainly there have been attempts from time to time to create new designs that break with tradition, by designing and producing playing cards that are more easily recognized or with fresh or more contemporary patterns. But these have always failed to receive any serious degree of general acceptance. Of interest is the fact that the De La Rue Company itself promoted a competition in 1957 for new playing card imagery for the court cards to help celebrate the company’s 125th anniversary. But while the prize winning efforts of Jean Picart le Doux were beautiful, they were a commercial failure.
So it could be argued that the history of playing cards has become somewhat stale in the last era, since there have been no significant alterations to the “standard deck” of playing cards for a long time. The dominance of the USPCC has also led to the Bicycle rider-back design becoming somewhat iconic, and its success has also stifled other designs somewhat. Perhaps that is changing given the enormous success of the custom playing card industry, and the gradual acceptance of custom playing cards in the world of professional magic. But for now, at any rate, it seems that custom playing cards will continue to remain somewhat of a novelty rather than becoming a new standard. Even cardistry demands and encourages constant novelties, rather than the adoption of a new accepted standard.
A Lesson from the Past about the Present
We are fortunate to live in a new era of history, which has witnessed the explosion of custom playing cards, and also a growing acceptance of these by the general public. It remains to be seen what future generations will consider to be our contribution to the ongoing history of playing cards. I believe that the increasingly high standards of modern printing techniques, and the ability of the internet to connect creators and consumers, means that we are living in a time that is unprecedented. Highly imaginative and attractive playing cards are being produced, the likes of which have never been seen before. Perhaps today’s biggest contribution to the history of playing cards lies in new abilities to produce high quality decks, and to connect creators with backers and buyers, while ensuring that the entire enterprise remains affordable. The result is a marketplace flooded with new and exciting designs. Not only are we witnessing some very imaginative designs, but we are seeing incredible innovation in the area of tuck box designs, with the use of unprecedented techniques that allow boxes to be created with embossing, metallic foil and inks. The final product of the custom decks we can buy today is often a real work of art, and no wonder collectors love them.
Perhaps for now the lesson of history is this: to consider ourselves privileged for the luxuries we enjoy today. The future will undoubtedly look kindly on what our era has been producing. May we have a real eye of appreciation for the rich heritage that has produced this wealth, and respectfully tip our hat to those who have gone before us, and to the designers, printers, and middle men that help get these works of art into our hands and onto our game tables today.
About the writer: EndersGame is a well-known reviewer of board games and playing cards. He loves card games, card magic, and collecting playing cards.
Small talk sucks! The unCURATED card game conquers chitchat once and for all!
unCURATED is a memento to late nights on the porch, where an exchange of meaningful stories forged better conversations, deep-rooted relationships, and stronger connections.
Its founder and creator, Dr. Cherini Ghobrial, hopes that each card pulled moves you closer to a solidified emotional foundation and further away from surface-level interactions.
About Dr. Cherini Ghobrial, Creator & Founder of unCURATED
After graduating from pharmacy school, where she earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, Dr. Ghobrial wanted to pursue health beyond physical wellness. Her current journey tackles the small-talk crisis.
The unCURATED card game is three rounds of creative questions designed to spark meaningful conversations, cultivate connection, and tend to all things essential to our emotional wellness.
My hope for unCURATED is that by creating spaces to ask better questions, together, we can create spaces where we can be seen, where we can see others, and where we can see ourselves more deeply. Where we can realize our shared belonging to each other, and remind each other that we’re not alone.–Dr. Cherini Ghobrial
At the beginning of the creative process, Dr. Ghobrial was unsure how impactful or far-reaching unCURATED would be. But her vision became crystal clear once she realized how much humans resent small talk. Conquering unpleasant pleasantries with more thought-provoking questions, unCURATED allows a genuine interconnection to enter the chat.
There’s no better feeling than seeing a client’s card game being played and enjoyed.–Shuffled Ink Staff
By chance, hundreds of miles away from Shuffled Ink‘s Orlando manufacturing facility, one of our employees spotted Dr. Ghobrial’s unCURATED decks at Valor Coffee in Downtown Alpharetta, Georgia.
The wonderful humans at this brick-and-mortar shop think the world of unCURATED’s mission and have happily offered the game for several years now.
“I remember packing and shipping those cards,” our team member said. “So, it was really cool to see her game out in the real world.”
Since launching in 2019 and winning the Plywood Presents: Idea Competition in Atlanta, the unCURATED card game has shipped across the globe to countless individuals and businesses.
So, whether you spot the deck by coincidence or pop into one of its East Coast vendors, be sure to grab a deck, join a group, and start connecting!
If we manufactured your card project and you would like us to share your Card Story on our blog, feel free to connect with our Marketing Team here.
SHUFFLEDINK Guests on THIS DREAM HOUSEOhio Radio Show
We do everything to help (our clients) create what they see in their minds.Charles Levin, Shuffled Ink Founder & President
Get To Know Us Better!
Shuffled Ink is a multigenerational family business with an unwavering, decades-old mission: to provide an unparalleled experience in customer service and product quality to ensure that all clients’ card visions meet reality.
See what our clients are saying about the services, product quality and pricing we offer: Shuffled Ink Google Reviews.
(top row, left to right) Charles, Matthew, Jonathan; (bottom row, left to right) Lori, Lisa, Melissa
In December 1999, Charles Levin, Founder & President of Shuffled Ink (formerly known as QPC Games), was raising three girls and two boys, ranging in age from one to 12. As a marketer living in the top U.S. travel destination (Orlando, Florida), he wanted to create an alternative to brochures and discount books.
He believed that custom-printed playing cards could deliver impactful marketing and branding applications, educational usefulness, and of course, fun-filled family game nights.
This thought, matched with an eager, entrepreneurial mindset, kickstarted Charles’ very first custom card project: advertisement playing cards, or Super Deck.
Charles’ Card Story: From Concept to Reality
The purpose of Super Deck was to promote and elevate tourist hotspots and establishments in the Orlando area. The original pack consisted of a map and cards with discounts and coupons for local attractions, dinner shows, restaurants, shopping, golf, and recreation. Soon after pitching the concept to prospective vendors, Charles had secured the marketing deck in 90 percent of Orlando hotel rooms.
Throughout the early 2000s, Shuffled Ink’s first employees were his 5 children: Melissa, Lori, Matthew, Lisa and Jonathan. The Levin family would regularly clear off the dining room table and use the space to create playing card prototypes and other related personalized products.
As sales blossomed and new opportunities arose, Charles moved the business into his three-car garage. For several years, this is where all marketing, sales, administration, and shipping took place.
For the past 9 years, Charles and his team of production facilitators, project managers and graphic designers have operated in an 8,000 square-foot office and production facility in Orlando, Florida. By Summer 2022, we are expanding into a 35,800 square-foot manufacturing and office space in Winter Garden, Florida.
Charles’ business model has changed quite a bit since Super Deck. Today, Shuffled Ink specializes in printing custom playing cards, tarot and flash cards, packaging, and more for businesses and individuals worldwide.
Three of Charles’ kids are still involved at Shuffled Ink today.
Matthew, his oldest son, moved back to Orlando from New York City in 2016 to help him run the business as Chief Executive Officer. His daughter Lisa worked at the company part-time for many years but now oversees all customer services as Vice President of Sales. And youngest son, Jonathan, assists behind-the-scenes in the manufacturing facility.
“Throughout the past 22+ years, my kids’ incredible contributions and influence have added to the existence, growth, and success of Shuffled Ink.” –Charles Levin, Shuffled Ink Founder & President
The Levin Family (left to right): Charles, Lisa, Matthew and Jonathan Levin
Get To Know Us Better!
Shuffled Ink is a multigenerational family business with an unwavering, decades-old mission: to provide an unparalleled experience in customer service and product quality to ensure that all clients’ card visions meet reality.
See what our clients are saying about the services, product quality and pricing we offer: Shuffled Ink Google Reviews.
To receive complimentary samples of our card products, include your delivery address and phone number on your custom quote request form.
If we manufactured your card project and you would like us to share your Card Story on our blog, feel free to connect with our Marketing Team here.
After the sudden loss of her grandmother, grief fueled 37-year-old Latoya Marquez’s tarot passion project.
In this exclusive Shuffled Ink Card Story, Latoya Marquez, Government Mortgage Specialist by day and tarot designer by night, shares how writing self-affirmations to cope with grief sparked a fresh approach to tarot design and healing.
Complete with a blend of modern-day imagery and traditional Rider-Waite tarot elements, this personalized deck belongs to the beholder.
During the first week of August 2021, Latoya launched her brand Shuffled World Tarot and first tarot deck, Shuffle Up!. The idea for this project stemmed from the passing of her grandmother, Petra Torres Marquez in November 2020.
This traumatic and unexpected experience filled the artist with grief and heartache, which eventually led to sleepless nights. As a Communications Graduate from the University of South Florida, Latoya has always loved to write and often used it as a therapeutic release. But what was originally a curative method, soon resulted in an incredible and inspiring year-long passion project.
Latoya Marquez, Shuffle Up! creator, posing at a studio shoot.
Creativity is the Wanderlust of Satisfaction
Latoya’s design journey began when she requested a complimentary sample pack in order to see and feel the quality of our cards, various card stocks and size options.
“(Shuffled Ink is) all of what I wanted to experience in dealing with a local USA company,” she said. “I’ve already recommended Shuffled Ink to other creators wanting to do the same type of project.”
The Design Process:
Step 1
Latoya spent several weeks writing down ideas to illustrate on each card.
Step 2
It took a total of 60 days to sketch more than 80 cards by hand. In the early stages of the drawing process, she saw her Taurean grandmother alive and vibrant in the Hierophant card.
“She loved the color purple, lit candles, blessing her altars. A very spiritual Widow,” Latoya said.
Step 3
Thirty days to color in each sketch with a thick watercolor sketch pad, drawing utensils and quality markers.
Designing your own tarot deck means applying creative liberties as you see fit. Most tarot decks follow a standard formula: 78 cards with 22 Major and 56 Minor Arcana.
Shuffle Up! holds 78 hand-drawn, unlabeled cards as well as one dedication, which reads:
For every day we blink and breathe, the sun will always set. And when the sun rises, we have a new day to reset and be better than we were yesterday.
“One of the biggest obstacles in choosing a tarot deck is finding a great set of cards to identify with,” she said. “My format for the reader of any skill level is to identify the image and develop their own perceptions. This way, each Intuitive Reader can bond with my deck card after card.”
A Glimpse into Latoya’s 3 Favorite Cards in the Deck
Devil
She waits for the next contract to arrive. In the background, a shadowed arm lingers, eager to let new souls inside.
Exhaustion from a hard day’s work is symbolized by the removed horns which now rest on the bar beside the Devil. But the day is not over; there is still ink left in her pen.
Queen of Swords
Also known as the Hardcore Nun, she takes down names for the next man to behead as blood drips from her sword.
High Priestess
Drawn to the card’s beauty, particularly the 7-day color candle in the right-hand corner and the blended scroll of parchment at the foreground.
Connect with Latoya Marquez
The first 30 decks sold on Etsy come with a soft release bridge-sized 2″ x 2″ deck called, Shadow Affirmations. This Mini Deck is an all-in-one combined oracle, affirmation & angel number divination in a 30 count card set.
Shuffled Ink is a multigenerational family business that specializes in printing custom playing cards, tarot & flash cards, packaging and more for businesses and individuals worldwide.
To receive complimentary samples of our card products, include your delivery address and phone number on your custom quote request form.
If we manufactured your card project and you would like us to share your Card Story on our blog, feel free to connect with our Marketing Team here.
“We see playing cards as an art and look to share our art with others.” – Portfolio 52
We are extremely excited to announce that Shuffled Ink is a 2020 Deck of the Year Awards sponsor! Hosted by Portfolio 52, this project celebrates all of the amazing decks released throughout the year. Our sponsorship will provide each category winner with complimentary production prizes.
Shuffled Ink is producing 100 FREE playing card decks for the “Best Overall Deck” 1st-place winner and 5 FREE playing card decks for the 13 other 1st-place category winners!
Every day we work alongside creative and talented designers whose playing card art finds its way on collectors’ shelves. Our purpose aligns perfectly with Portfolio 52’s: fostering the art of playing card collecting. We look forward to helping P52 build, support and guide those who share our passion for card innovation.
Learn more about the DOTY Awards and our sponsorship here.
Shuffled Ink is a multigenerational family business that specializes in printing custom playing cards, tarot & flash cards, packaging and more for businesses and individuals worldwide.
● Official Shuffled Ink website: ShuffledInk
● Make Your Own Custom Playing Cards at: ShuffledInk
Those of us who love customized playing cards can at times succumb to the temptation to be dismissive and cool towards an uncustomized, namely a standard, deck of playing cards. You know what I mean: your typical Bicycle rider-back deck, a set of “plain” courts and face cards. The kind of deck we’ve all seen a gazillion times, so that we consider it entirely traditional and perhaps even bland.
With that perspective, it came as somewhat of a surprise for me to discover that playing cards in the 1800s looked nothing like this. Let me place an imaginary deck of playing cards from that era in your hand, and tell you what you’d see. First of all, you’ll immediately notice that the card-backs are all white. Yes really: a plain white, with no back design at all. Then you look at the court cards and notice that they are all full-sized one way designs. And as you fan the cards in your hand, you notice that there are no indices on the corners of the cards. When you finally discover the Ace of Spades, you notice that it looks rather plain and ordinary, with the ornate and over-sized design typical of modern decks being altogether absent.
So how did we get from this to the “standard” deck that we know today? Let’s visit some of the historical curiosities that have played a role in shaping our modern playing cards as we know them today.
Red and Black Suits
Today were expect a deck of playing cards to have red and black suits, but that’s certainly not how playing cards first looked. In fact the original suits used in Italian playing cards in the 1400s were Swords, Clubs, Cups, and Coins, and each of these had unique artwork, which wasn’t in any way strictly red and black. These suits were changed to Acorns, Leaves, Hearts, and Bells when playing cards were imported to Germany, which became a dominant producer of playing cards on the European market.
But all that changed when French manufacturers developed new techniques for printing playing cards. Already in the early 15th century, France had developed its own suits as we know them today: Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, and Clubs. But the real genius came when the French producers of playing cards divided these four suits into two red and two black, and simplified the shape of pips so that they could be cheaply produced by stencil while remaining easy for card players to recognize them. Suddenly it became possible to use stencils to manufacture large amounts of cards quickly and easily by using a single image of a king, a queen, and a knave, in combination with stencils for the suit icons.
Within a short time, the French had taken over the playing card industry, simply by sheer volume of production, since this method was far more efficient and simple than using wood cuts or engraving. As a result of this important commercial advantage, the French suits in red and black became familiar throughout Europe, with only pockets continuing with the German suits. And that’s how we got the red and black suits that we still use today!
Suit Pips and Names
It is hard to imagine playing cards with suits other than how we know them today: Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades. But the four suits have actually undergone a significant evolution of artwork and of names. These changes owe much to the history of playing cards, and is closely connected with the different countries that were world leaders in playing card production in different times.
Playing cards likely arrived in Europe via Egypt. The 14th century playing cards from the Mamluk period in Egypt used suits in four colours, using Cups, Coins, Swords, and Polo-sticks. These corresponded to the major pastimes and activities of the upper class, which was known to have a fondness for polo, for example. Italian and Spanish playing cards from that period also used Cups, Coins, Swords and Clubs as their suits, and are apparently indebted to the Mamluk suits that likely made their way across the Mediterranean with the help of traders. Even to the present day, these are the suits found on modern playing cards used in Italy and Spain, and are referred to as the Latin suits.
When Germany became the world’s leading playing card producer, these suits changed to Acorns, Leaves, Hearts, and Bells, reflecting something of German culture and interests. Playing cards from nearby Switzerland are a variation of this, with Shields and Flowers being used in place of Leaves and Hearts.
But eventually France took over Germany’s dominance of the playing card industry, with new methods of production made possible by simplifying the deck into red and black suits, and the help of the printing press. When the capital of playing card production thus returned to Western Europe, these red and black suits then became the standard suits, using the familiar pips as we know them today, although at the time they were called Coeurs, Piques, Carreaux, and Trefles.
Even though the pips that were introduced and popularized in France around 1480 are the ones we recognize today, they had not yet been assigned the names that are in common current usage. While the French word Coeurs indeed means Hearts and Piques (pikes) can be translated Spades, the word Carreaux (tiles) would best have been translated by the word Lozenge, which was the word used at the time to describe a rhombus or diamond shape. And while Trefles can be translated as Clover, the use of the term Clubs actually has a closer connection to the matching Italian suit of Bastoni, and hails back to the polo sticks of the Mamluk era. We simply can’t be sure why some of the French card names were abandoned. But what we do know is that it is the English card names that gained traction, and that’s what we still use today.
Interestingly, the English-French suits and court cards have a distinctly courtly flavour, while the Latin ones are military, and the Germanic ones are rustic. Some historians have suggested the possibility that the four suits are symbolic and represent the four classes of medieval society, which varied according to geographic and cultural origin where the decks were produced. For example, it is speculated that the Latin suits correspond to the church (Cups = chalices), merchants (Coins), peasantry (Batons = clubs), and military (Swords). Similarly it is suggested that the German suits correspond to the church (Hearts), nobility (Hawk Bells), peasantry (Acorns), and middle class (Leaves); while the French suits correspond to the church (Hearts), citizenry (Diamonds = tiled paving stones used in churches), peasantry (Clover = pig food and husbandry), and aristocracy (Spades = pikes or spearheads).
At any rate, the major suits that we use today were firmly established in France by the end of the 15th century, and haven’t undergone any real change since then.
Card Backs
Prior to the the start of the 19th century, playing cards typically all had white backs. These convenient sources of paper could easily be conscripted for other uses, and were often written on and used for letters, notes, or drawing; and even used as credit notes. One extraordinary usage dates back to the 18th century in the Netherlands, where impoverished mothers left their babies at orphanages along with a message on the back of a playing card – the cheapest paper available – which would function as a form of ID, and had a message from the mother along with the baby’s name. Mothers that planned to return some day would leave just half a card, keeping the matching half as future proof of their parental connection.
However the white backs also created practical problems: cards could easily become marked, and this presented an obvious issue when playing card games. Options were limited, especially if money was tight – it was costly to purchase a new deck, and returning the cards to the workshop for cleaning wasn’t an ideal or permanent solution either. Manufacturing techniques did improve in time, but the use of intricate patterns or small pictures on the back initially began as a commercially smart move to hide faults in the paper, thereby enabling producers to use cheaper grades of paper, or to minimize the issue of marked backs. There was a need to hide any signs of wear and tear, and that is what led manufacturers to print designs and pictures on the reverse of playing cards, by printing repeating geometric patterns of stars or dots.
The first card backs with an actual original design were created in 1831, to commemorate the coronation of King William and Queen Adelaide. With the development of full colour lithiography, it became possible to produce card backs that were richly decorated, and these began to be produced from 1844 onwards. It didn’t take long before card backs were used for advertising and marketing, as well as artistic designs that helped make the cards more attractive or highlighted the ability of the artist and designer.
Poker and Bridge Size
Poker-sized cards may seem “large” in comparison to bridge sized cards, but originally playing cards were even larger in size than the ones we use today. The reduction in size from these larger cards to the “poker-sized” ones as we know them today is a later development in playing card history.
Bridge-sized cards were first developed as a result of the growing popularity of card games like Bridge, which required players to hold large numbers of cards in their hand, and yet be able to easily determine their values. Whereas a standard poker-sized card is 2.5 inches wide by 3.5 inches high (64 × 89 mm), the narrow bridge-sized card is 2.25 inches wide by 3.5 inches high (57 × 89 mm), making them about 10% narrower, and more ideal for larger hand sizes.
The designations poker-size and bridge-size simply refer to the size and don’t limit their usage to particular types of card games. Bridge-size cards can equally be used for poker, and poker-size cards can be used for other games like BlackJack, and in fact are typically used as such in many casinos. But these two sizes are now more or less standard, and date as far back as 1880s in playing cards printed by USPCC. Magicians and cardists tend to have a strong preference for poker-sized cards, due to the fact that their increased width makes them more suitable for manipulation, card sleights, and flourishing.
Tarot Cards
Tarot cards appear to have had a separate origin from regular playing cards, and were not a predecessor to the standard 52 card deck, despite claims of some that Tarot cards existed first. In fact the earliest surviving Tarot cards date from a period much later than regular playing cards, and they appear to have had an early use as additional trump cards. They consisted of 22 separate designs with allegorical illustrations, and were added to a standard deck in order to create a larger overall deck which was used first of all for gaming. While this larger deck possibly also functioned as a means of instruction and education, these extra cards were not first of all added as a result of an interest in the occult or for fortune-telling.
As part of a 78 card tarot deck that could be used for more elaborate and complex games, tarot cards were only used for occultic cartomancy for the very first time around 1750. The symbolism and significance of the original illustrations that do date back to Renaissance Italy has been lost over time, and it is most likely that the original artwork of these additional cards simply reflects the 15th century cultural fashions of the day. The Tarot deck may have gained a life of its own in occult circles today, but this usage doesn’t pre-date the standard deck.
About the writer: EndersGame is a well-known reviewer of board games and playing cards. He loves card games, card magic, and collecting playing cards. This article first appeared on PlayingCardDecks.com here.
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Tarot is used to explore your past, present and future. The Major and Minor Arcana, which consist of 78 mystic cards, can tap into nearly any life situation, including love and romance. So, regardless if you’re single, in a relationship, married or somewhere in-between, allow these 3 suggested tarot spreads to provide you with meaningful insight this Valentine’s Day.
1. For Past Love
This spread dives into your previous connections. No matter the relationship’s duration or level of romanticism, it acts as a guide, particularly when unresolved feelings exist.
The Spread: Thoroughly shuffle the deck, then arrange 8 cards into a heart shape. The questions and statements listed are assigned to each numbered card.
Demise: The factor(s) that contributed to the relationship’s end.
Lingering: What are you/or they holding onto from the relationship?
Evolve: How do you overcome #2?
Details: Describe the relationship.
Feelings: How did you feel about your previous partner before/during/after the relationship.
Self: Your feelings toward yourself before/during/after the relationship.
Gains/Losses: Things learned from the relationship.
The Future: How this experience could impact your future relationship(s).
2. For Present Love
For this spread, focus on a current relationship (official, on a break, in the talking stage or longing from afar). While conducting any of these readings, it’s important to be transparent about your thoughts on love as well as where you’re at in the relationship. This will help you to accurately understand both yourself and the other person involved.
The Spread: The Goddess of Love symbolizes the number 6, so place 6 cards side-by-side on the table. The Present Love spread revolves around ideals, sentiments and connections.
Your feelings toward your partner.
Your partner’s feelings toward you.
The type of connection you have (physical, mental, spiritual, etc.).
Any past relationships that directly impact this one? Elaborate.
If yes to #4, how do you overcome them?
Your expectations for the relationship?
3. For Future Love
This spread channels your past and present relationship(s) to prep you for future ones. You will be using the Major Arcana (22 cards). Arrange each one to your liking.
(0) The Fool: The path you wish to venture.
(1) The Magician: Readiness toward the opportunities of love.
(2) The High Priestess: Understanding your instincts.
(3) The Empress: Readiness toward having a family (if you do not have children). Balancing partner and children (if you do have children).
(4) The Emperor: Past relationship pain (mental, physical, etc.).
(5) The Hierophant: Commitment to your future partner.
(6) The Lovers: Most important/least important type of connection.
(7) The Chariot: Balancing work with a future relationship.
(8) Strength: Obstacles in a previous relationship and how it made you stronger for what awaits.
(9) The Hermit: Ensure time alone without completely withdrawing from your partner.
(10) Wheel of Fortune: Respect and kindness toward your partner, their family, friends, co-workers, etc.
(11) Justice: What holds you back?
(12) The Hanged Man: Do not fester or hold onto negativity.
(13) Death: Release toxicity from previous relationships to make room for a clean slate with a new partner.
(14) Temperance: How to overcome future arguments, disagreements, obstacles, etc.
(15) The Devil: Weigh all options about your expectations for a partner and vice versa.
(16) The Tower: Your reaction to an unprecedented event.
(17) The Star: Thoughts about romance.
(18) The Moon: How your dreams showcase love.
(19) The Sun: Taking love for granted.
(20) Judgement: How your partner perceives you.
(21) The World: Openness toward conversing about past relationships with your future partner.
Design the Cards & Tar♡t Spreads
The path is far from narrow when designing tarot spreads and cards. Similar to how tarot can guide any situation, our card products can serve any purpose.
Consider pairing the spread with personalized card art that pertains to your Valentine’s Day theme. As a Shuffled Ink client creator, you determine every single component: the design and style, card size and the number of cards. You can even go above and beyond by implementing custom instructions, booklets and packaging.
Highlighted below are a few tarot and oracle cards created by our talented clients that may be perfect to use for Valentine’s Day reading. Click on each image to visit their website.
Twin Flame & Love Messages Oracle Card Deck by Covetalchemy
This Oracle deck was created with the classical themes of unrequited love, twin flame and soulmate energy. These novels and themes are quite relevant today, as they are loved around the world.
Each card has a theme followed by a quote from famous Classic Victorian Gothic Novels. The deck is a blending of quotes from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Jane Austen (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion).
The Twin Flames in Separation Oracle Deck by Liv Tarot
Separation Messages Oracle gives you 77 messages from your twin flame or soulmate’s higher self. This deck is for those who find themselves separated from their twin flames, soulmates or partners, withstanding little to no contact.
These messages reveal what may be too difficult for your love to express: their thoughts and feelings toward your connection. The duration of separation, whether it has been a short amount of time or many years, does not matter.
Gratitude Grams get you out of your head and into your heart. These cards are beneficial for when you’re feeling stuck, trapped inside your own head, or feeling alone.
It is a great tool to support where you are now and where you are going. Designed to remind you what a divine, beautiful being you are and how the world is a better place with you in it. These cards will help you build your gratitude practice.
This 54-card, candid romance oracle deck answers questions about love, sex, twin flames, soulmates, past-life connections and more. These cards are designed for any type of relationship.
Take each message as it resonates. The deck can be used alone, as clarifies for tarot or alongside other oracle decks.
Shuffled Ink is a multigenerational family business that specializes in printing custom playing cards, tarot & flash cards, packaging and more for businesses and individuals worldwide.
● Official Shuffled Ink website: ShuffledInk
● Make Your Own Custom Playing Cards at: ShuffledInk
● Make Your Own Custom Tarot Cards at: ShuffledInk
Countless artists in the social media community have submitted their talented holiday/winter-themed designs to our December Card Art competition (closes Dec. 31). Each piece has already made this holiday season feel merry and bright. You can find entry examples at the end of this article.
For now, let’s take a look at some holiday artwork that certainly goes down in history… just like good old Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Holiday Book Art
Christmas
Clement Clarke Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas,” also known as “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” is a Christmas poem classic filled with colorful imagery to describe one Christmas Eve night.
Through both imagery and text, a face is famously put to the icon that is Santa Claus: A jolly old elf with deep rosy cheeks and a round tummy.
Moore also pushes the concept of Santa’s reindeer, which was first mentioned in A New Year’s Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve Number III: The Children’s Friend, an anonymous 16-page booklet published in 1821 by a New York publisher named William Gilley.
Excerpt from The Children’s Friend:
Old Santeclaus with much delight
His reindeer drives this frosty night.
O’er chimneytops, and tracks of snow,
To bring his yearly gifts to you.
Moore’s holiday story and the art that goes along with it, is widely known in households across America. Since its publication in 1823, hundreds of artists have tried their talented hands at illustrating this timeless story. Here are a few examples of artist’s cover art as well as a Coca-Cola advertisement based on the book.
Since the 1920s, Coca-Cola has included Santa Claus in ads
Hanukkah
Publishers often incorporate every major holiday into their children’s books, especially under big brand names like Curious George and Corduroy. This not only allows children from all backgrounds to feel included but also opens a plethora of doorways for artists to showcase their talent in a family-friendly and educational way.
Picture books help children grasp the holiday, and while the text is undeniably important but for young kids, it is the artwork that first draws them into the story.
There’s a lot going on in this 1566 Pieter Bruegel the Elder oil painting. At first glance, you’ll notice a few things that may remind you of the holiday season: snow sticking to the ground; hustling to run errands; walking shoulder-to-shoulder with family and friends. But let’s dig a little deeper.
Bruegel takes words and transforms them into visual art, displaying a visual scene from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, verses 1 to 5:
“In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered in their own towns. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth to the city of David called Bethlehem … with Mary with whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.”
Chaos fills the canvas as children throw snowballs, adults congregate to pay taxes and villagers fulfill daily tasks. Amid such contemporary normalcy, Bruegel weaves in the biblical excerpt above.
To explore this piece further, click here.
Winter Art
Our manufacturing facility is located in Orlando, Florida, so it’s nearly impossible for us to experience a winter wonderland holiday. But for those of you who have to shovel snow while waiting for your car to warm up, here are a few stunning, and probably familiar, holiday pieces that we believe capture the essence of Winter.
This provides a lovely transition into today’s artists who have submitted original holiday art to our competition. The winner, which will be voted on and announced during the first week of January, will receive 10 poker-sized playing card decks with their submitted artwork on the card backs. Here are the winners from our October Art Contest: Marna Blakewell and Brittni Barraco.
Below are some awesome submissions we’ve received so far:
The last chance to submit (max of 3 designs) is Dec. 31 at 11:59 p.m.
Personalize a playing card deck for any holiday! When you create with us, we strive to ensure your vision meets reality. This means that our team of project managers and graphic designers work with you every step of the way. For more information about our products and services, feel free to call us anytime at 407-298-3579.
Shuffled Ink is a multigenerational family business that specializes in printing custom playing cards, tarot & flash cards, packaging and more for businesses and individuals worldwide.To receive complimentary samples of our card products include your delivery address and phone number on your custom request a quote form.
● Official Shuffled Ink website: ShuffledInk
● Make Your Own Custom Playing Cards at: ShuffledInk
(top row, left to right) Charles, Matthew, Jonathan; (bottom row, left to right) Lori, Lisa, Melissa
The Levin Family (left to right): Charles, Lisa, Matthew and Jonathan Levin
