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Surely there are quite a few people who like to play cards just for fun, when there is nothing else to do. Moreover, many Christians do this without even thinking about whether Orthodox Christians can play cards? At first glance, this is a harmless game that does not carry any negative consequences. But in reality this is far from the case. And in the Orthodox religion there are certain prohibitions on card games, even if you are not playing for profit. Moreover, this is considered a great sin, which should be taken into account in the list of sins before confession.
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.
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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.
Reasons for this ban
Among the reasons why Orthodox Christians should not play cards are the following:
- loss of time stolen from family and communication with the Creator;
- inducement to unhealthy gambling;
- The original purpose of the deck is to tell fortunes and practice magic. These actions are not welcomed by the church;
- the symbols depicted on the cards blaspheme the history of Christianity.
According to the church, a Christian must lead a life filled with communication with the Creator and knowledge of his truths. This can be achieved if you diligently and thoughtfully read the Bible, know the prayer rules, and enjoy everything that the Lord has created. To love and do good throughout your earthly journey.
An important reason why Orthodox Christians should not play cards is that playing “pictures” have the power to stupefy the human mind. He is distracted from reality, he is overwhelmed with excitement, which is fraught with spiritual death. You can lose a lot this way:
- money;
- property;
- family;
- earthly life.
The result of such a rash act can be very sad. Just look at the cost of gambling debts, for which people can be deprived of their lives. Card games are widely popular among criminals. This fact also proves what category of people engage in such entertainment. Spiritually devastated people find joy in intoxicating excitement. And they often pay too high a price for it.
The meaning of suits in Orthodoxy
As mentioned above, all four card suits carry a certain secret meaning:
- Cross means the cross on which Christ was crucified.
- The pikes are the pikes that were used to pierce his ribs.
- Diamonds mean nails.
- The worms symbolize a sponge with vinegar, which the torturers specifically gave to Christ instead of water.
For example, a player takes a card with the image of the Cross of Christ, which half the world worships, and throws it away, exclaiming “clubs.” Few people think about the fact that translated from Hebrew it means evil spirits, nasty. In the Bible, this word is interpreted as meat torn to pieces in the field, which cannot be eaten. It should be noted that each of the suits is mentioned in the holy scriptures and the Bible.
The unrepentant thief, who was crucified with Christ like a gambler, blasphemes the suffering of the Son of God, and without sincere repentance went to hell forever. The thief set an example for everyone and repented on the cross, thanks to which he inherited eternal life with God. Cards are demonic revelations, so under no circumstances should you keep them in the house and play or tell fortunes with them.
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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.
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.
Is it possible for Orthodox Christians to play computer games?
Despite the fact that today there are quite a large number of different computer games, with different goals and tasks they are considered gambling and do not bring any benefit to a person. Therefore, playing such games according to the Orthodox religion is also a sin. Moreover, such games carry a fairly serious threat of not only psychological illness, but sometimes even death.
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The Lord is always with you!
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.
Playing cards: history, vice, sin
Playing cards have quite a long history, and there are several versions of their origin.
One of the common versions is called “Turkic”: at the turn of the 12th - 13th centuries AD. The military class of medieval Egyptians - the Mamluks - played with a deck of 52 cards with values from 1 to 10, which had four suits (swords, clubs, cups and coins).
The picture below shows an incomplete Mamluk card deck in hierarchy order, each subsequent “beats” the previous one.
Mamluk maps. From left to right: ten of cups, three of cups, first advisor of cups, second advisor of cups
Another version says that playing cards appeared in 1120 in China, and just a decade later they gained great popularity.
Today, we can say for sure that modern Chinese playing cards originate from Chinese paper money (the era of the Tang Dynasty), which have hand-drawn symbols of their denomination.
The drawings on the cards indicate the suits of the Chinese card deck, and subsequently in Europe served as the source of the appearance of the suits of denarii, clubs, swords and cups.
Ancient playing cards of China
And another version says that playing cards appeared in Persia and came to India, but if card games did not gain popularity among the Persians, then in India everything is different.
Indian pictures of playing cards depicted a four-armed Shiva, who held a cup, a sword, a coin and a staff in his hands, and the deck had its own name - ganjifa.
Indian playing cards - Ganjifa
Background
Photo: Flickr.com
Maps have been known to mankind for a long time; their exact origin has not been established. It is believed that the gaming deck was invented by the Chinese or Egyptians. They appeared in Europe in the 14th century. In Russia they arose during the time of Ivan the Terrible.
At first, the authorities did not attach much importance to the hobby of card games, but over time they began to eradicate card games, seeing in them the machinations of evil spirits. In the Code of 1649, the same thing is prescribed for card players as for thieves: whipping, cutting off hands and fingers.
The attitude towards cards became more tolerant after Peter I came to power. Many representatives of the upper class began to show a passion for gambling. No one thought about who the ace was, what the different suits of cards symbolized.
