Why can't you play cards?
Playing cards is a sin for Orthodox Christians, because these cards not only steal time, but are also filled with satanic meaning.
Card game is gambling, which in turn gives rise to sin
There are several reasons why Orthodox Christians are prohibited from spending time playing cards:
- they steal time with God and family;
- cause unhealthy excitement;
- originally invented for fortune telling and magic;
- the signs on the cards are blasphemy of Christian symbolism.
The values of a Christian's life in communication with God through knowledge of His truths when reading the Bible, prayer rules, admiring God's creations and bringing love and kindness to the world.
Important! Playing cards have the magic of captivating a person, distracting him from the world around him, filling him with excitement, leading not only to spiritual death, but also to the loss of money, property, family, and earthly life.
Why do Orthodox people, when they gather, instead of watching and discussing a Christian film, taking an interest in each other’s lives and praying, in their free evenings they “cut themselves” into what, from their point of view, is a harmless “fool”?
The very name “fool” goes against the words of Jesus. (Matthew 5:21-22). Anyone who calls a brother (sister) a fool is subject to judgment. You can justify yourself a hundred times that this is just a game, the word of God has been spoken, and It has power. You called your neighbor a harmful word and you will answer for it on the Day of Judgment.
Fortune tellers are barred from entering the Kingdom of the Lord, and it doesn’t matter whether you lay out these demonic things seriously or jokingly, the result is the same.
Read about superstitions:
- Everyday superstitions
- Church superstitions
- Why do they cover mirrors when someone has died?
Orthodoxy and gamblers: sin, repentance, hope for salvation.
The gamblers themselves, without even suspecting it, offend the feelings of believers by mocking the shrines of the Christian world in the game.
Cards corrupt a person’s soul, tempt him with a thirst for easy victory and profit; for a believer, they pose a special danger, since they deprive him of eternal life.
“Wealth is exhausted by vanity, but he who gathers with labor increases it.”
(Prov. 13:11.)
Christians know the well-known biblical story, where an unrepentant thief crucified with Christ blasphemed the suffering of the Son of God on the cross and, without repenting, went forever to hell.
And the prudent thief, setting an example for everyone, repented on the cross and thereby inherited eternal life with God.
Each “player” makes his own choice:
“No one can serve two masters:
for either one will hate,
and to love the other; or he will be zealous for one and neglectful of the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.”
(Matt. 6:24).
From the above, we can conclude: if a person has been tempted and played a game of cards, then he must immediately go to confession, repent before God, first of all give his word to himself, keep it and never touch the cards again.
The salvation of the human soul is in repentance, in the awareness of sin.
If a person has been tempted and played a game of cards, then he must immediately go to confession and repent before God. The salvation of the human soul is in repentance, in the awareness of sin
History of the cards
From French Wikipedia you can find out that maps first came to Europe from eastern countries; the Koreans and Chinese used them in the 12th century.
In the 6th-7th centuries, before the advent of paper decks, pieces of bamboo or shells were used as cards, on which scenes of everyday life were drawn. The Mamluks used cards reminiscent of the Tarot, but there was no violation of the Koran, because they did not make human images on the plates, but only geometric patterns.
The first playing cards appeared in East Asia
Cards were invented as fortune telling items. According to historical data? in 1367, the first bans on card entertainment, which had a detrimental effect on people, were already introduced.
If in 1649 Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered that playing cards be considered a crime for which one could be sent to hard labor with his nostrils torn out, then under Peter the Great card trading was introduced into the ranks of a profit-generating industry.
According to the Egyptian calendar, there are thirteen months in a year, which is 52 weeks. The same number of cards in the deck.
Each month has 4 weeks, like the suits in playing cards, they associate with the four elements, in the form of water, earth, air and fire, black spades and crosses, red worms and spades, nights and days.
Symbolism of playing cards
Photo: Flickr.com
Delving deeper into the meaning of card terms and images reveals their true nature. When translating from German, dictionaries cite the word “devil” as one of the meanings of the concept Daus, from which “ace” originated.
The essence of a standard deck of cards resembles the classic hierarchical distribution of roles in society, led by a king. However, in the cards at the very top it is not the monarch, but Daus. Thus, the cards become not ordinary fun, but a model of superiority over the world of the Devil, leading his subjects, even if some of them are involuntary, because he is even higher than the king. This is the true essence of the cards, which are simply dangerous to joke with.
In Orthodoxy, there is a strict church ban on even touching cards that are directly called satanic.
Primary meaning of pictures
Ancient Egyptian mythology depicted fire spirits as tambourines, worms as lords of the air, spirits of the water element as clubs, and black spades symbolized the underworld of the gnomes.
In medieval times, fortune telling cards began to represent human feelings; hearts meant love, clubs meant knowledge, diamonds symbolized money, and spades meant death.
Card games were filled with mystical meaning; amazing luck and sudden failures gave rise to unhealthy excitement, which temporarily affected the human psyche. Neither chess, checkers or dominoes had such a fascinating power to attract more and more new players.
In the 13th-14th centuries, human images appeared on cardboard sheets; as a gift to Charles the Fourth, the artist Gregonner took famous historical figures to depict the kings.
- King David became the king of the pike, a harp is drawn next to him, and Athena, the patroness of wisdom, is depicted as his lady.
- Club - Great Alexander the Great, Argina, the queen, appeared nearby.
- At the head of the tambourine, a symbol of wealth, was the famous Caesar with a lady - a heroine from the Bible, the beautiful Rachel.
- Charlemagne and Helen of Troy led the worms.
Playing cards 1658, France
Over time, various people, war heroes and public favorites have been depicted as prototypes of jacks, as lower ranks. Among the jacks there are pictures depicting Robin Hood, Lancelot, King Arthur and many others.
Important! Holding family portraits in his hands and manipulating them, the player is immersed in excitement and passion, which cannot be called Christian values.
Card symbols are used in the encryption of all computer games, which is perhaps why computer addiction arises, born of the same passion and excitement. History repeats itself on a more intellectual level, giving birth to new addictions that lead Christians away from worshiping the Lord.
What do the holy fathers say about fortune telling?
St. Ephraim the Syrian: “Beware of making potions, casting spells, telling fortunes, making storages (talismans) or wearing those made by others: these are not storages, but bonds.”
St. John Chrysostom: “Just as slave traders, offering small children pies, sweet fruits and the like, often catch them with such bait and deprive them of freedom and even life itself, so in the same way sorcerers, promising to cure a disease, deprive a person of the salvation of his soul.”
Saint Basil the Great: “Do not be curious about the future, but make good use of the present. For what benefit is there for you to anticipate the command? If the future brings you something good, it will come, although you did not know it in advance. And if it is sorrowful, why languish in sorrow until the end? Do you want to make sure of the future? Fulfill what is prescribed by the Gospel Law and expect to enjoy blessings.”
Cards - blasphemy against Christ
Orthodox theologians conducted a series of studies and found a coincidence of each suit with the image of the Savior.
- Crosses are identified with weapons of murder and torture; this is the cross to which Jesus was nailed. In Hebrew, “club” is an animal that has been torn almost to death and has no chance of survival.
- The tambourines resemble the tetrahedral heads of stakes that were driven into the holy body of the Savior, the Son of God.
- Peaks are an object of cruelty and soullessness. The rib of the newly deceased Jesus was pierced with a pike. This is how the executioners verified the fact of death.
- Worms - the sponge on which vinegar was served to Jesus thirsty for water was made in the shape of a heart.
In Orthodoxy there are certain prohibitions on card games
Demons rejoice when Christians, followers of Jesus, who have trusted the Savior of their lives, spend their time idly, have fun with the help of satanic rituals, and trample on Christian symbols.
Church opinion
The Church considers such an activity sinful. Why can't Orthodox Christians play cards? These entertainments carry satanic overtones. Even if a person plays solitaire or tells fortunes.
The priests believe that such entertainment was aimed at blasphemy. And it was invented by Indian cabalists who practice black magic. Therefore, a person who picks up cards unknowingly betrays his Creator.
How to instill a love of sports and knowledge?
Can themed games, such as sports or history, instill in children a love of sports or history, respectively?
They definitely can. Usually, at school age, children already know what football or hockey is, but if they have not been able to play on a real field, then with a gamepad in their hands they will be able to see and feel the emotions of the game, learn the rules, and win championships. Such projects allow parents and the child himself to understand what he is interested in.
It is worth paying special attention to those sports games that can develop into a real hobby. For example, there are children's football clubs almost everywhere. Parents just need to give their child FIFA and see how interested he is. Or maybe a basketball section has opened at school - then it’s worth introducing your child to the NBA so that he can feel the full power of professional sports. In addition, the first classes in sports clubs are not particularly intense and emotional, and sometimes they are simply boring. If you warm up a child’s interest with play, it will not disappear immediately.
Historical games can develop a young scientist in a child; the main thing is to choose interesting and believable projects. Take Assassin's Creed Origins: in this game, the history of Ancient Egypt is presented both in text and in a detailed environment of that time. Of course, an interesting plot required the author's imagination, but without this the game would have turned into a dull lesson.
Therefore, it is important to choose exciting and reliable historical and sports games that are created by famous game studios and have received high ratings from players and critics. Only in this case will the child develop interest in the relevant disciplines.
Is it true that by playing strategy games you can increase your IQ?
This is actually a very difficult question. From a scientific point of view, the level of intelligence is inherent in every person from birth and has a certain threshold, above which it cannot be developed. But the IQ level is just the numbers that a person shows in various methods for determining it. Accordingly, there are different scales and different numbers - and you shouldn’t get hung up on them.
More importantly, games help develop skills that will be very useful in real life. For example, by playing strategy, you can improve your tactical thinking, learn to plan actions several steps ahead, calculate the enemy’s behavior options, and simultaneously monitor many parameters on which the successful completion of the game depends. And if you take shooters, they will help develop quick reactions, attention, coordination of movements, and the ability to navigate the terrain.
Other games in Orthodoxy
There are several more common games, permission to play which is of interest to many believers. For example, a certain part of Christians do not know whether Orthodox Christians can play the lottery. There are cases when lottery winnings very often go not to the player for his own profit, but to charity. Despite this, many clergy are convinced that the lottery is also a game of chance. And therefore, playing it is also a sin.
As one priest said: “You shouldn’t gamble even if you really need money - as God wants, this is how it will happen in life.”
Let's sum it up
Card games are an activity that is prohibited by the Christian Church. Therefore, he should have no place in an Orthodox family. Having studied the history of the appearance of the first decks, you can see that they were created for gambling. And unhealthy passion can lead a person to big losses. Because of this, they can even take a life when a player has a large gambling debt. This is widely practiced in the criminal world.
The priests claim that the mission of the cards is to deliberately humiliate the image of Christ. Analysis of the card suits suggests that they were created in the image of those means that were used to torture the Son of the Lord. There were times when card games were banned by kings.
You can spend your time much more excitingly if you indulge in prayers and discussion of divine truths. It is not forbidden to draw and sing. Helping those in need is also very welcome: the elderly, the sick, orphans.
It is important to devote as much time as possible to your family and loved ones. And enjoy every new day. Among the divine gifts there is no place for unholy activities. It is believed that a deck of cards does not even need to be kept in the house. And people who engage in fortune telling commit a great sin. They will be deprived of the joy of eternal life.
Christians must take care of their souls. Therefore, when choosing activities, you should be careful and analyze your actions. And always give preference to godly activities.
Prefrontal cortex vs. limbic system
Every person's brain has a prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for actions with long-term benefits, as well as a limbic system, which is responsible for short-term pleasures. Biologically, the limbic system is much more developed than the prefrontal cortex. This is why people by default tend to live for today and enjoy it, rather than think about what will happen in 10-15 years. In the old days, we could easily have been eaten by a saber-toothed tiger 800 times over the years, so evolution decided that we didn't need the prefrontal cortex that much.
This explains why many of us literally don't care about our future - we simply don't think about it. After all, it’s much easier to sit down at the computer and enjoy your favorite MMORPG. Raise the hero's level, improve skills, buy new clothes, and then... Who cares what happens next?..
Advice from priests
Believers can spend time usefully, without betraying Christian truths. You can enjoy communication with the Creator in the process of prayer endlessly.
And this is not difficult to achieve with such godly actions:
- prayers;
- visiting a temple;
- making pilgrimage trips to Holy places;
- attending Sunday Christian school;
- you can sing and draw;
- one should engage in charitable works, helping orphans and the elderly;
- you need to pay more attention to your family members.
There is so much of the Lord's beauty in Orthodox life that one can enjoy it endlessly. Therefore, the tares that Satan sows must be carefully cleansed and removed from the life of a Christian.
Maps and faith
First of all, why should Orthodox Christians not play cards? It is believed that a card game is excitement, which in turn gives rise to an inevitable dependence that acquires the appearance of sinfulness. Orthodox people should under no circumstances be attracted to cards and play various games with them. Since the demon pursues only one goal - to tempt all those who are closer to God.
Having played one game and lost, a person will want to play again and again until he wins. Even if you are already addicted, everyone can say that they can stop at any time. But actually it is not.
In addition to excitement, the ban on spending time in card games has another interpretation, which carries a deeper meaning than excitement. The whole point is in the depiction of the suits themselves, which imply the image of the Cross of Christ along with other revered objects among Christians. These are items such as a spear, a sponge and nails. After all, it was they who became the instrument of execution, which brought incredible suffering to Jesus Christ.
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O. Vladimir Vasilik. About “Yuletide fortune-telling” and cards / Orthodoxy.Ru
Christmastide—the time between Christmas and Epiphany—according to the spirit and meaning of the Church Charter, should be devoted to prayer and liturgy, rejoicing at the birth of Christ and waiting for His Epiphany.
On these days, marriages are not celebrated precisely because a believer must be at divine services every day.
Unfortunately, in pre-revolutionary Russia, in a non-church and unpious environment, Christmastide became a time of revelry, drunkenness, and gluttony. And also fortune telling.
K. Makovsky. Christmas fortune telling. 1890s Remember Zhukovsky in “Svetlana”?
Once on Epiphany evening the girls wondered
…
And also from Pushkin in Onegin:
Christmas time has arrived. What a joy! Windy youth wonders, For which nothing is sorry, Before which the distance of life Lies bright, boundless; Old age guesses through glasses At its gravestone, Having lost everything irrevocably; And all the same: hope for them
He lies with his baby talk
.
Important
Maybe unconsciously, but Alexander Sergeevich caught the main thing - the deceitful childishness of fortune telling. And the image of old age, having lost everything, but still wondering at its grave board, is reminiscent of a lost player at roulette, who bets the last gold on “zero”, and, of course, loses.
Why can't you guess? The question is childish and funny for a believer, but, alas, relevant for a half-believer or even a non-believer. Here's why. Many probably remember the story of M.A.
Bulgakov’s “Heart of a Dog” and the wonderful phrase of Professor Preobrazhensky: “Here, doctor, is what happens when a researcher, instead of going parallel and groping with nature, forces the question and lifts the veil: here, get Sharikov and eat him with porridge.”
It’s the same in the life of every person, when instead of going parallel and groping with God’s Providence (or for those who don’t understand this language, with his destiny), he lifts the veil over the future: then he receives his man-dog, his Anubis in the form of their distorted, mutilated fate - fulfilled fears and realized phantoms, or, on the contrary, the fragments of their unfulfilled hopes.
N.Ge. Saul at the Witch of Endor. 1857But for a believer everything is clear. Fortune tellers and questioners are worthy of the eighth circle of Dante’s Hell - the department of “violators of the Divine” (although, of course, the Divinity is not subject to any violence or pressure). These are people who want to snatch His secrets from God, to steal some secret knowledge from Him.
They again repeat the sin of Adam and Eve and heed the insidious whisper of the serpent: “And you will be like gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). But, naturally, God does not reveal anything to them, despite all their efforts. After all, “the wicked will not see the glory of God.” And Divine knowledge - even more so.
Then the question is - from whom do fortunetellers get their knowledge, if not from God? The answer is clear: from the monkey of God, that is, from the devil. Fortune tellers listen to the seducing spirits, the spirits of evil in heaven, and ultimately to their master, the Father of Lies, or, more simply, to the Chief Scammer, whose entire pleasure is to deceive, destroy, and kill.
It is no coincidence that many Church Fathers interpreted the well-known passage in the Bible (Gen. 6:1) about the union of the “sons of God” with the “daughters of men” in the context of the spiritual connection between female fortune tellers and demons who taught them fortune telling and witchcraft. And the harsh but justified Old Testament norm becomes clear: “Thou shalt not leave a sorcerer alive” (Ex. 22:18).
Advice
Because their profession is lying and communicating with demons. And the fate of the one who risks turning to them is clear - to become a demonic toy, an obedient ball in the hands of the Chief Thimblemaker and die.
The fate of the Israeli king Saul, who turned to the Endor fortune teller, is indicative: under the guise of Samuel, she summoned a demon who, apparently, correctly predicted the fate of Saul and his troops, but thereby demoralized them, morally disarmed them and did everything to ensure that his ominous dream came true and a destructive prophecy.
And not only in essence, but also in form, fortune telling carries anti-Christian meanings. Take, for example, cards as a tool for fortune telling. They are not so harmless in appearance.
Of all three hypotheses of the origin of cards (Chinese, Egyptian and European), the most convincing is the European-occult one, according to which cards appeared in Europe in the second half of the 14th century and are associated with the Jewish Kabbalistic environment[1]. In this case, everything falls into place.
It is no coincidence that the suit “cross” is also called the word “club”, while in the Jewish tradition, unclean food is called club food. Accordingly, the suit of “crosses,” blasphemously symbolizing the Cross of the Lord, is designated by a word testifying to the Jewish abomination of the Cross. The peaks symbolize the Spear of Longinus, which pierced the side of Christ (Jn.
19:34), which is hinted at by the very name of the “peak,” that is, a spear. “Worms” refers to the Gospel sponge on a reed: “one of the soldiers took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on the reed, gave Him to drink” (Matthew 27:48)[2]. Another interpretation is also connected with the Passion - this is the pierced heart of Christ. Finally, the “tambourines” symbolize the nails with which Christ was crucified[3].
It would seem, what do diamond-shaped “diamonds” have in common with nails? The answer is clear to those who have seen the heads of old pre-revolutionary nails: they are square, not round, like modern ones. Medieval nails were like that.
There is also a Jewish trace in the name “trump”, which is a corruption of the word “kosher”, which denotes “pure” food, ritually acceptable for Jews.
Let's look at the names of the cards. The most significant card is the joker (literally “jester”). But in the Italian version he is called “the devil” and originally on his staff he carried... a human head. The word "ace" is of Polish origin, from the Low German "devil". It is significant that on the ace card in the 16th century. They often drew... a pig - an animal, to put it mildly, not kosher from a Jewish point of view[4]. It is possible that the “lady” is a blasphemous image of the Madonna; the fact remains that biblical heroines - Rachel, Judith, and so on - were often depicted as ladies. Finally, David and Solomon were often depicted among the “kings.” In contrast, among the “jacks” (the word “jack” literally means “servant, serf”) was depicted the knight La Hire, nicknamed “Satan.”
It is no coincidence that cards soon began to be subject to bans and persecution due to their obvious connection with blasphemy and evil spirits. The occultists themselves recognize the occult nature of the so-called. tarot cards, or Egyptian cards, and the connection with them of ordinary cards. Here are just some eloquent quotes from occult sites:
“The history of the origin of playing cards is often considered together with the history of the Tarot (or Tarot) deck.
note
Tarot is a deck of 78 cards with various designs on them. The deck is divided into 2 parts, b o
The largest of which consists of 56 cards, called minor cards, and the other part - of 22 cards, called main (or major) cards, as well as Arcana.
