What Are Playing Cards?
The wonderful information provided in this article about playing cards was provided to us by Daliah Boretski, a link to her website with more information can be found at the bottom of this article… After more than 800 years of recorded history, the origins of playing cards still remain a complete mystery to the scholars of antiquity. Centuries have passed and playing cards are still being bought, sold and collected by the millions all over the world. Always 52 Cards, always the 4 suits, 2 colors, 12 court cards, and that odd and seemingly useless Joker. To this day, the playing cards remain wholly intact!
In spite of their indeterminable beginnings and unvarying, centuries old design, the 52-Card deck will forever elude our concept of mystery or wonder, because no matter what language is spoken, or what part of the world in which you live, playing cards are as familiar as the moon is to the sky. We take them for granted! And we question them not. Just like a card trick, its ability to cross social, language and barriers is incredible.
What if there is more to the cards than just mere games of chance? What if their true purpose was to leave nothing to chance? What if their simple and well-preserved design was a language of symbols, passed down through the centuries, preserved and concealed as the worlds greatest past time?
For those fortunate enough to know how to read the devil’s picturebook, the mystery is revealed as a map of the stars and a calendar of earth. The world’s most popular tool for playing games of chance, becomes the world’s most powerful tool for playing the game of life!
What do they mean…?
Red & Black = Day & Night
4 Suits = 4 seasons
12 Months = 12 Court Cards
13 New Moons per year = 13 Cards per Suit
52 Weeks = 52 Cards
If you add up ALL the NUMBERS (Ace = 1) in a deck of cards, giving the Jack a value of 11, the Queen a value of 12, the King a value of 13 and that lone fool Joker a value of 1.25 you get 365.25 days of the year. That’s the leap year included!
Daliah’s website is