Gambling and Casinos

The current discussion on the pros and cons of gambling has concentrated on what are often the tragic results of poor judgment and lack of self-control. These dangers are real enough, yet by focusing exclusively on them we misunderstand the ritual symbolism that underlies gaming.

Even the citizens of ancient Rome played dice once a year, at the festival of Saturnalia, in honour of the god of plenty (though the wagers were only nuts, not money). Far from being evil, or even simply neutral, gambling is often described in traditional mythology as an embodiment of the workings of the universe itself.

Scandinavian myths tell us that dice and runes, ie numbers and letters, were given to human beings by Odin, king of the gods. The gods are said to play at tables, a game whose moves are partly determined by dice, using golden boards that remain unbroken even after Ragnarok, the gods' downfall. This suggests that the gods themselves are subject to fate: that number and measure rule all things. Indeed, the word "dice" comes from the Latin datus, meaning that which is "given" by fortune.

K.A.