Michael, Michael, Michael.
You know, I love your posts. Even your post questioning my posts(!), I took as a well meaning "call" for me to be more "sensible", and I appreciate the time you take to give such thoughtful responses.
I expect, and appreciate, that I can count on you to cut through the BS and help me refocus on actual details. You're my lead boots when I've swallowed too much helium. I love you for that, and you know I am a fan and supporter of your work and contributions.
... but... ;)
I'm just not at a point where I feel as sure as you seem to be about this. I don't think I'm one to suffer silly ideas too warmly, but I do think it is important to keep an open mind, especially when one considers themselves (as I do) still in the "fact gathering" portion of an evaluation.
When I read your thoughts on these topics, it reminds me of being in a mystery story. You strike me as the detective who has gathered all the facts and has come up with a very compelling theory on how the murder took place. I can't really argue with you about the evidence, I see it as you do; but yet, there is something about the evidence that makes me think that there might be more to it than we currently realize; and that even though you have put it all together in a sensible manner, it doesn't entirely convince me. My "gut" still thinks there is something missing.
I really "got into" tarot history about 5 years ago, it was because I noticed similarities between the Giotto Vices and Virtues and the cards in the Tarot. I came into this with a "Christian" expectation before I had read one word of your ideas on the subject. After that, it was really jmd's posts about the similarities of cathedral iconography and the tarot that further convinced me that there was a strong connection between the two. I think I have found your ideas so rational and appealing, in part, because the expectation of a relationship already made sense to me.
I appreciate your point that to really consider the iconography of the cards, we must take them in context. It's really that that makes me
question the tarot as a standard Christian morality game. Out of the thousands of pieces of Christian art of the time, I see little if any signs of a Hanged Man, for example. Why is the tarot, in fact, so
different than the other 15th Century Christian representations?
Like Rosanne, it may be my personal upbringing in the Catholic Church that brings me to look at some of this iconography as "not right", but while I find myself in agreement with most of your ideas, and certainly in the impressive amount of data you have contributed to this research, I still find myself questioning if we really have gathered "all the facts", and are really ready to "call out the murderer".
With great respect,
robert