Playing Cards and Religion

by Simon Wintle

Playing cards and the Church have not always been amicable bedfellows, but have frequently invoked the invective of fundamentalism. The history of playing cards is scattered with references to ecclesiastical scorn and condemnation, ostensibly because they were seen to draw men away from pious devotions and duty, towards the 'sins' of gambling and frivolity. But there was also, perhaps, a deeper crisis in that they challenged the entrenched authority and traditional control of the Church over men's minds.

Consider the following parallel stories:

The 'Holy Word' of God

hristianity is a religion based upon the book, the codified word of God, written out in latin, a rather inaccessible language reserved for literati.

Literacy implied the formal deductive procedures, textual grammar and linguistic skill which was commensurate with Divine Authority and the ratification of 'Tradition', whether or not that authority was guided by it.

However, the mediæval world also believed in magic, demons, witchcraft and a stone that would turn base metals into gold... at the same time it was dangerous to challenge the authority of the Church and inquisition or excommunication were dreaded fates.

The Devil's Picturebook

pack of playing cards provides an alternative and accessible means of presenting a subject to that provided by a book's leaves.

An artefact which felt comfortable to manipulate and handle, and illustrating the ethos and everyday associations of folk-ways, customs and traditions, they were extremely appealing to the layman.

Early suit systems represented everyday objects... acorns, birds, flowers, leaves, rabbits, etc. and cards also provided opportunities for irreverent caricatures, satire, political burlesque or indecency, even when they purported to be 'educational'.

The Vatican has not produced many souvenir decks!

There have always been individuals at variance with established Church dogmas, to whose authority they offer the challenge of personal revelations, new visions, alternative philosophies. It may be the case that divination, the tarot and fortune telling cards began in this way... like the muses of ancient times. And lest we forget (which we often do), always have a pure heart, act for the good of others, not for selfish gain!

Below are illustrated some examples of playing cards having a religious or spiritual theme.

The Spiritual Deck of Cards, Germany, 16th century

Above: Unter of Acorns, Unter of Leaves and the Deuce of Acorns from The Spiritual Deck of Cards published in Germany as a book, c.1545. The suit suits and values are related to spiritual interpretations: "Abimelech / son of Gidion / crowned to be King under an oak tree", and on the Unter of Leaves, which suit is also called 'Green' in German: "The prophet Jonas below a green tree of pumpkins", or in the third example, the Deuce of Acorns: "The lost son who came into extreme poverty because he left his father, so that he desired to eat the swill from the sows' trough together with the pigs... as a warning for all bad children to behave properly for their parents". The pictures are not always sensitive, and the sermon book also contains bad anti-semitism, as the Deuces, with a sow on all cards, give reason to make comparisons with the "Jewish People in the New Testament". On the Deuce of Bells, a sow, the 'Jewish Sow', is butchered, and the comment is "Hasn't deserved anything else".

Acknowledgements: Thanks are hereby acknowledged to Peter Endebrock and Nat B. Read for sending articles and other materials which were useful in preparing this webpage.

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