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."[20]

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.

CHAPTER VII

The Sword Dance

The subject we are now about to consider is one which of late years has attracted considerable attention, and much acute criticism has been expended on the question of its origin and significance.  Valuable material has been collected, but the studies, so far, have been individual, and independent, the much needed travail d’ensemble has not yet appeared.