Author's Notes: Here There Be Monsters

The phrase “here there be monsters” is in reference to a variety of phrases used by early European mapmakers to warn of great beasts abiding in unexplored locations on a map. While rarely used, this technique has become glamorized by modern fantasy. Included among the few examples of this technique are the Borgia Map (ca. 1430 C.E.) and the Lenox Globe (ca. 1503-05 C.E.). The Borgia Map (ca. 1430 C.E.) bears a dragon figure across Asia, and the phrase: “Hic etiam homines magna cornua habentes longitudine quatuor pedum, et sunt etiam serpentes tante magnitudinis, ut unum boven comedant interum” or “Here also are men having large horns four feet long, and there are even serpents of such magnitude that they can eat an ox whole.” On the Lenox Globe, the eastern coast of Asia has the Latin phrase “hic sunt dracones” or “here be dragons,” although this may also be in reference to the Dagroians, a ghoulish people which Marco Polo described as feasting upon the dead. Perhaps the earliest use of this technique was the Ptolemy Atlas (2nd Century C.E.), which warns of hippos, elephants and cannibals.

Here, I will discuss the variety of monsters that hide in the unexplored locations of Tarot—those that are mentioned, but not completely examined in the text.

angel

A religious term for a benevolent spirit. The word originates in the 14th century from Old English and Old French sources—“engel” and “angele”—but the term evolved from even earlier sources: Latin’s “angelus” and Greek’s “angelos,” for “messenger.” For this reason, it is used in Scriptural translations for the Hebrew word “mal’akh” or “messenger.”

craqueuhhe

demon

A generic term for an evil spirit. The word originates in 1387 from Latin and Greek sources—“dæmon” or “spirit,” and “daimonos” or “lesser god” sometimes including the souls of the dead. Early Jewish and Christian authors used the Greek form to differentiate their own God from heathen gods and unclean spirits.

jaracacas

Ishtar

Chief goddess of Assyria and Babylon, similar in nature to the Phoenician Astarte and the Greek Aphrodite

Ishtaritu

Priestesses and sacred prostitutes who worship the goddess Ishtar.

Lamia

A Greek expression meaning literally “swallower” or “leacher,” but commonly used as a term representing a female vampire.

stregoni

Stregoni Benefici

Zeitgeist

The spirit of an era. The word is Germanic, originating in 1848—literally “zeit” or “time” and “geist” or “spirit.”