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The Tarot

Well here is an interesting tidbit of information.  I was reading recently that some people believe that the word Tarot might be derived from the word Torah.  The Torah is the Hebrew Holy book and is the name given to the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The word Torah basically means “Instructions” or “Law”.

However, when looking at the Tarot you can clearly see that the images depicted in many of the early decks had a Catholic influence and cultural background and in according to scholars there is no evidence presented to date that shows any form of Jewish practice or influence on the creation of the deck.  The actual origins of the French word “Tarot” or “Tarocchi” or “Tarock” remain unknown to date.

Thinking about the origins of the word Tarot has also made me to consider the correct pronunciation of the word.

Is it Ta-rot like carrot or Ta-row?

The correct way to pronounce the word is Ta-row.  However many people unfamiliar with the correct pronunciation refer to it as the Ta-rot.

I’ve been guilty of using the incorrect pronunciation myself a lot of the times especially if I am trying to explain to someone what it is that I do. I have found that many people do not recognize the correct pronunciation of the word.

Now although I mispronounce the word I do believe in educating so I will often follow with “actually the correct pronunciation is…” this way who ever I encounter will at least leave knowing what the correct word is.

That being said how many of you who read cards use the correct pronunciation?

And how many of you find that people aren’t sure what you are talking about when you pronounce it correctly?