Jesse L. Weston's From Ritual to Romance was originally published in 1920. In it she discusses the origins of the Grail legend evolving from ancient rituals to medieval romance literature. T.S. Eliot used this book as one of the sources for The Waste Land and credits Weston by writing:
"Not only the title, but the plan and a good deal of the incidental symbolism of the poem were suggested by Miss Jessie L. Weston's book on the Grail legend: From Ritual to Romance (Cambridge). Indeed, so deeply am I indebted, Miss Weston's book will elucidate the difficulties of the poem much better than my notes can do; and I recommend it (apart from the great interest of the book itself) to any who think such elucidation of the poem worth the trouble."
In The Waste Land there is a section about a clairvoyante who reads Tarot cards. Eliot pleaded ignorance about the Tarot deck but he would have been familiar with the following section in From Ritual to Romance where Weston discusses the origin of Tarot.
To give you a feel for the context - the book From Ritual to Romance contains 14 chapters and there are 47 paragraphs in Chapter 6. The section presented below dealing with the Tarot deck of cards contains only the last 13 paragraphs of Chapter 6.
Also included here to provide context is a synopsis of the chapter which discusses some of the symbols in the Grail legend, the grail (a cup or dish), lance, stone and sword. In the beginning of From Ritual to Romance Weston provides her own synopsis of each chapter in her book.
Summary of the previous enquiry. The Medieval Stage. Grail romances probably contain record of secret ritual of a fertility cult. The Symbols of the cult--Cup, Lance, Sword, Stone, or Dish. Plea for treating Symbols as a related group not as isolated units. Failure to do so probably cause of unsatisfactory result of long research. Essential to recognize Grail story as an original whole and to treat it in its ensemble aspect. We must differentiate between origin and accretion. Instances. The Legend of Longinus. Lance and Cup not associated in Christian Art. Evidence. The Spearof Eastern Liturgies only a Knife. The Bleeding Lance. Treasures of the Tuatha de Danann. Correspond as a group with Grail Symbols. Difficulty of equating Cauldron-Grail. Probably belong to a different line of tradition. Instances given. Real significance of of Lance and Cup. Well known as Life Symbols. The Samurai. Four Symbols also preserved as Suits of the Tarot. Origin of Tarot discussed. Probably reached Europe from the East. Use of the Symbols in Magic. Probable explanation of these various appearances to be found in fact that associated group were at one time symbols of a Fertility cult. Further evidence to be examined.
[... The first 34 paragraphs of the chapter are omitted ...]
But we have further evidence that these four objects do, in fact, form a special group entirely independent of any appearance in Folk-lore or Romance. They exist to-day as the four suits of the Tarot.
Students of the Grail texts, whose attention is mainly occupied with the Medieval literature, may not be familiar with the word Tarot, or aware of its meaning. It is the name given to a pack of cards, seventy-eight in number, of which twenty-two are designated as the 'Keys.'
These cards are divided into four suits, which correspond with those of ordinary cards ; they are :
To-day the Tarot has fallen somewhat into disrepute, being principally used for purposes of divination, buts its origin, and precise relation to our present playing-cards, are questions, are questions of considerable antiquarian interest. Were these cards the direct parents of our modern pack, or are they entirely distinct therefrom?
Some writers are disposed to assign a very high antiquity to the Tarot. Traditionally, it is said to have been brought from Egypt ; there is no doubt that parallel designs and combinations are to be found in the surviving decorations of Egyptian temples, notably in the astronomic designs on the ceiling of one of the halls of the palace of Medinet Abou, which is supported on twenty-two columns (a number corresponding to the 'keys' of the Tarot), and also repeated in a calendar sculptured on the southern facade of the same building, under a sovereign of the XXIII dynasty. This calendar is supposed to have been connected with the periodic rise and fall of the waters of the Nile.
The Tarot has also been connected with an Chinese monument, traditionally erected in the commemoration of the drying up of the waters of the Deluge by Yao. The face of this monument is divided up into small sections corresponding in size and number with the cards of the Tarot, and bearing characters which have, so far, not been deciphered.
What is certain is that these cards are used to-day by the Gipsies for purposes of divination, and opinion of those who have studied the subject is that there is some real ground for the popular tradition that they were introduced into Europe by this mysterious people.
In a very interesting article on the subject in The Journal of the Gipsy-Lore Society, Mr De la Hoste Ranking examines closely into the figures depicted on the various cards, and the names attached to the suits by the Gipsies. he comes to the conclusion that many of the words are of Sanskrit, or Hindustani, origin, and sums up the result of the internal evidence as follows :
"The Tarot was introduced by a race speaking an Indian dialect. The figure known as 'The Pope' shows the influence of the Orthodox Eastern Faith ; he is bearded, and carries the Triple Cross. The card called 'The King' represents a figure with the head-dress of a Russian Grand-Duke, and a shield bearing the Polish eagle. Thus the people who used the Tarot must have been familiar with a country where the Orthodox faith prevailed, and which was ruled by princes of the status of Grand-Dukes. The general result seems to point to a genuine basis for the belief that the Tarot was introduced into Europe from the East."
As regards the group of symbols in general, Mr W. B. Yeats, whose practical acquaintance with Medieval and Modern Magic is well known, writes :
"(1) Cup, Lance, Dish, Sword, in slightly varying forms, have never lost their mystic significance and are to-day a part of magical operations. (2) The memory kept by the four suits of the Tarot, Cup, Lance, Sword, Pentangle (Dish), is an esoterical notation for fortune-telling purposes."
But if the connection with the Egyptian and Chinese monuments, referred to above, is genuine, the original use of the 'Tarot' would seem to have been, not to foretell the Future in general, but to predict the rise and fall of the waters which brought fertility to the land.
Such use would bring the 'Suits' into line with the analogous symbols of the Grail castle and the treasures of the Tuatha de Danann, both of which we have seen to be connected with the embodiment of the reproductive forces of Nature.
If it is difficult to establish a direct connection between these two latter, it is practically impossible to argue any connection between either group and the 'Tarot' ; no one has as yet ventured to suggest the popularity of the works of Chrétien de Troyes among the Gipsies! Yet the correspondence can hardly be fortuitous. I would suggest that, while Lance and Cup, in their associated form, are primarily symbols of Human Life energy, in conjunction with others they formed a group of 'Fertility' symbols, connected with a very ancient ritual, of which fragmentary survivals alone have been preserved to us.
This view will, I believe, receive support from the evidence of the ceremonial Dances which formed so important a part of 'Fertility' ritual, and which survive in so many places to this day. If we find these symbols reappearing as a part of these dances, their real significance can hardly be disputed.
In the last paragraph above Weston leads us into Chapter 7 of From Ritual to Romance (entitled The Sword Dance) where she writes about the significance to the Grail legend of the Sword Dance and the related Morris Dances and Mumming plays.
Project Gutenberg has available Four Arthurian Romances by Chrétien DeTroyes.
Exploring The Waste Land
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File date: Sunday, September 29, 2002