The Origins and Evolution of the Tarot
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Spring 2017 The Origins and Evolution of the Tarot John F. Nash Summary British English, a “pack.” The Tarot is used for esoteric study, meditation, divination, and oc- his article explores the origins and com- casionally ceremonial magic. The images sug- Tplex history of the Tarot, setting aside is- gest an underlying system of symbolism, sues of symbolism, which are already covered though opinions differ as to how the symbols extensively in the literature. Reproductions of should be expressed and interpreted. Some selected cards illustrate the Tarot’s develop- esotericists hold the Tarot in the highest re- ment over the last six centuries. The Tarot can gard; others, along with much of the general be traced back to card games from the East as public, view it as unwholesome. For a long well as to the mysteries and magic of the West. time the Tarot bore the epithet: “The Devil’s The oldest extant Tarot decks, in which the Picture Book.” Major and Minor Arcana are combined, come Notwithstanding the diversity of attitudes, from fifteenth-century Italy. The Minor Arcana broad consensus exists that the Tarot is an im- resemble medieval playing cards, bearing in portant element in the western esoteric tradi- mind that games of chance had broader mean- tion. Arthur Edward Waite, who designed the ing than they do today. The “pip” cards origi- most familiar Tarot deck currently in use, de- nated in China, and court cards were added as clared: “The true Tarot is symbolism . On games migrated westward. The origins of the the highest planes it offers a key to the Myster- Major Arcana are less clear. The claim that ies.”1 To Harriette and Homer Curtis: “The they were invented to enhance card-game Tarot is the most ancient of books, a collection complexity is unconvincing. Rather they seem of cards embodying the Secret Doctrine of the to have evolved from the talismans of Hermet- ages.”2 To Paul Foster Case, writing in 1947: ic, Neoplatonic and medieval magic. Plausible “The Tarot is a pictorial text-book of Ageless theories link the Major Arcana with the mys- Wisdom. From its pages has been drawn inspi- tery schools of ancient Egypt. The Tarot may ration for some of the most important works on bear traces of Sensa, the language of high initi- occult science published during the last seven- ates, and seems to have emerged with the ty-five years.”3 Eden Gray commented that blessing of the Planetary Hierarchy. “[t]he very word Tarot seems to strike a hidden The aesthetic quality of Tarot cards has de- chord—the love of mystery—in the hearts of pended on card creation and reproduction many when they first look upon the strange 4 technologies as well as on users’ needs and and beautiful cards of the Tarot pack.” Carl resources. Inexpensive woodcut images suf- Jung viewed the images as archetypes “which ficed for gaming and fortune telling, but the _____________________________________ nobility of the Italian Renaissance insisted on decks hand-painted by leading artists. Symbol- About the A uthor ism and aesthetics may be of comparable im- John F. Nash, Ph.D., is a long-time esoteric stu- portance in our own choice of Tarot decks for dent, author, and teacher. Two of his books, Quest study, meditation, divination or magic. for the Soul and The Soul and Its Destiny, were reviewed in the Winter 2005 issue of the Esoteric Introduction Quarterly. Christianity: The One, the Many, was he Tarot, as we know it today, consists of reviewed in the Fall 2008 issue. His latest book: The Sacramental Church was published in 2011. seventy-eight images, customarily printed T For further information see the advertisements in on cards resembling conventional playing this issue and the website http://www.uriel.com. cards. We speak of a “deck” of cards, or in Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly. 67 The Esoteric Quarterly mingle with the ordinary constituents of the French influence on the Tarot in the eighteenth flow of the unconscious, and therefore it [the and nineteenth centuries. Each suit contains ten Tarot] is applicable for an intuitive method that “pip cards,” numbered ace (or one) through has the purpose of understanding the flow of ten, and four court cards, usually denoted life, possibly even predicting future events.”5 Page, Knight, Queen and King.11 Note that the Many people view the Tarot as a guidebook to Tarot has an extra court card, versus the three the spiritual path. To quote one source, the Ta- in playing cards. rot is “a finely tuned communication system, The images on the twenty-two Major Arcana employing symbolism, mythology, and univer- are archetypal in quality. Their names, and sal motifs, unrestricted by time, culture, and even the order of the cards, vary from one deck semantics.”6 Another writer commented: “As to another, but a representative list is shown in anybody who has embarked upon a journey Table 2.12 French names are included as be- with the Tarot knows, the journey never actu- fore. Twenty-one of the cards are assigned the ally ends, and the Tarot cards hold within their Roman numerals I through XXI, while the symbolism the mysteries of Creation in their Fool is either left unnumbered or is assigned telling of the tale of the soul’s return to its the Hindu-Arabic zero (0). original home.”7 A third declared: “When you The symbolism of Tarot cards is already ad- discover the true nature of the Tarot, you will dressed by an extensive literature, and the in- be taking your first step on the path of the ini- terested reader is referred thereto.13 The pur- tiate; this path takes you step by step toward 8 pose of this article is to trace the history of the the highest levels of spiritual awakening.” We Tarot and examine theories of its origins. The shall suggest that the Tarot came into exist- literature touches on these latter topics; but the ence, at the time of the Renaissance, in re- published information is fragmented, much of sponse to a broad initiative by the Planetary it is speculative, and some is patently errone- Hierarchy to raise human consciousness. ous. The most useful treatment is Paul Huson’s The Tarot is divided into two sections, known book Mystical Origins of the Tarot,14 though as the Minor and Major Arcana. Arcana is a his focus is more on the history of Tarot sym- plural Latin noun (singular: arcanum), which bols. Catherine Hargrave’s A History of Play- ordinarily means “mysteries” but can also be ing Cards is a useful companion source.15 interpreted to mean “keys (or even portal) to Readers may also be interested in historian the mysteries.” An anonymous author, be- Mary Greer’s blog,16 though it is not used as a lieved to be the Russian-born Valentin Tom- source in the present work. berg, explained that the arcana The oldest known Tarot decks date from early conceal and reveal their sense at one and fifteenth-century Italy. But the Tarot’s real the same time according to the depth of origins are clouded in mystery, and competing meditation. That which they reveal are not theories attempt to explain how it came into secrets, i.e., things hidden by human will, existence and what its antecedents might have but are arcana, which is something quite been. The academic consensus is that the Tarot different. An arcanum is that which it is evolved from card games that spread from necessary to “know” in order to be fruitful China via the Middle East to Europe. A con- in a given domain of spiritual life. It is that trasting belief, expressed by many esotericists, which must be actively present in our con- is that the Tarot encodes the mystery teachings 9 sciousness. of ancient Egypt; one version asserts that it The fifty-six Minor Arcana closely resemble was preserved by Romani fortune tellers after conventional playing cards. Four suits: Wands, destruction of the Library of Alexandria. The Cups, Swords and Pentacles, correspond, with various theories will be examined and evaluat- some historical justification, to clubs, hearts, ed herein. 10 spades and diamonds, respectively. Alterna- A major thesis of the present article is that the tive names of the suits are listed in Table 1. Major Arcana have roots in the talismans of French names are included because of strong 68 Copyright © Esoteric Quarterly, 2017. Spring 2017 medieval and earlier magic, and approached Tarot Decks: a Brief History their present form in the Hermetic and Neopla- tonic revivals of the Italian Renaissance. Mag- Early Playing Cards ic, in its broadest sense, is the transfer of ener- ard games were played in China as early gy from one level of reality to another, through Cas the ninth century CE. Decks of twenty- the agency of a magician, or magus. Lying at two monochromatic (black and white) cards the heart of occultism, magic is an activity in were in common use by the eleventh century. which all disciples will participate—by means In some cases playing cards served as curren- of the Tarot or otherwise—at some point on cy, or at least “play money,” presumably to the initiatory path. Participation requires a high facilitate gambling. The fifteenth-century Chi- level of responsibility and inner purity because nese scholar Lu Rong described an earlier deck the powers involved are potent, and the magus consisting of thirty-eight cards, divided into determines whether they are to be used for four suits: nine each in “coins,” “strings of good or evil.