Play your cards fright!
QUESTION What is the origin of Tarot cards?
TaroT cards were used in 15th-century Italy as illustrated playing cards for gaming. They did not become associated with the occult and fortune telling until the 18th century.
Trick-taking card games, where one of the four suits is designated as a trump or triumph suit, were popular throughout Europe by the late 14th century.
In the early 15th century, a fifth suit of illustrated cards, the
trionfi, was added to serve as a permanent trump suit. These were illustrated with animals, flowers, hunting scenes or moral allegories.
The first known deck with an extra trump suit was commissioned by Duke Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan in 1425. The deck was devised by court astrologer Maurizio da Tortona and painted by artist Michelino da Besozzo.
The cards no longer exist, but Da Tortona’s book describing their allegorical significance is in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.
The oldest surviving decks are known as the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, a term used to refer to the incomplete sets of 15 decks from mid-15th century in museums, libraries and private collections around the world.
These were commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, and his successor and son-in-law, Francesco Sforza. They contain much of the imagery we associate with occult Tarot: figures such as The Emperor, the Empress, The Knight of Cups, The Damsel of Swords, Hope, Charity and, of course, Death.
Ever more elaborate cards were used by the nobility to play a Bridge-like game known as tarocchi. It spread to France, where it was renamed Tarot.
The cards were not regarded as mystical until the late 18th century when the occult came into vogue.
French mystic antoine Court de Gebelin wrote The Primeval World, analysed and Compared To The Modern World, in which he argued that the Tarot held the magical secrets of Egyptian god Thoth.
In 1785, Jean-Baptiste alliette, writing as Etteilla, published a treatise on using Tarot cards in divination and formed the esoteric Society For The Interpretation of The Book of Thoth in 1788.
Alison Moorhead, Arundel, W. Sussex.
QUESTION What is the strangest Death Row meal request?
No MaTTEr how bad a life they have led, every prisoner on Death row famously gets to choose their last meal before execution. Because we are dealing with pretty unhinged individuals, it is perhaps not surprising that there are strange choices.
In 1984, Velma Barfield, 52, a grandmother and serial arsenic poisoner from North Carolina, was the first woman to die by lethal injection. She chose Cheez Doodles, which are similar to cheesy Wotsits, and a Coke for her last meal.
In 1963, Victor Feguer, a drifter convicted of murdering a young doctor in Dubuque, Iowa, asked for a single olive.
Timothy McVeigh, the oklahoma Bomber, consumed two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream before his execution by lethal injection in 2001.
Thomas J. Grasso, a thief executed in 1995 for strangling a woman of 87 with Christmas tree lights, chose a bowl of Spaghettios (tinned pasta), served at room temperature.
robert alton Harris, executed at San Quentin in 1992 after a string of crimes in California, including theft, burglary, kidnap and the murder of two teenage boys, had 21 pieces of KFC chicken, two large pizzas, jellybeans, ice cream and six bottles of Pepsi.
Strangest of all was James Edward Smith, who murdered a man while committing a robbery in the International Trade Centre in Houston, Texas. In 1990, he asked for some dirt in order to perform a Voodoo ritual. This was refused; he was given a cup of yoghurt instead. Ian Foulds, Ludlow, Shropshire. THE full details of the last meal requests made by nearly 400 men and women executed by the state of Texas between 1982 and 2007 are listed in Texas Death row (Last Words. Last Meals. Last rites), edited by Bill Crawford. on average, an inmate on Texas Death row has 10.43 years to ponder what their last meal will be. a number of inmates forgo a last meal, but most order food that reminds them of home and better times. There are few requests for fine dining — it is the sheer volume of food requested by many that appears to be strange. In 2005, Douglas roberts ordered three Southern fried chicken breasts, tomato, lettuce, cheese, picante sauce, jalapeno peppers, two BLTs on wheat lightly grilled with garlic butter, three beef and cheese enchiladas, 12 green olives, Italian ketchup, butter beans and cabbage seasoned with ham bone, seasoned ground beef, six corn tortillas, onions, fried onion rings, French fries, four devilled eggs, broccoli with cheese sauce and two grilled barbecue pork chops. No record is kept as to whether or not inmates finish their meals. requests for alcohol and cigarettes are refused. Richard Osborne, Wimborne, Dorset.
QUESTION Were the sports brands Adidas and Puma established by rival brothers?
FurTHEr to the earlier answer about the feud between German brothers adolf (adidas) and rudolf (Puma) Dassler, the animosity between the two companies was brought to an end in 2009, decades after the deaths of the siblings.
Puma’s CEo Jochen Zeitz made the first move. He called adidas CEo Herbert Hainer to arrange a friendly football match to coincide with World Peace Day. There were mixed teams of employees plus their CEos. Hainer played in attack while Zeitz was goalkeeper.
Will Hague, Solihull, W. Mids.
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