History of Tarot

Attempt to write a history of Tarot cards

This text started out as a “History of Tarot cards”. Now I knew this would be a tough one, but man, this IS tough!!!

The origin of Tarot is a mystery. Many authors speak of ancient Egypt and connection with Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom and magic. Others speak of Hebrew Kabbalah or ancient China. There are speculations about the arrival of Tarot in Europe; the most common belief is that the cards came with the Gypsies. Anyways, looks like no one really knows what was going on before 14^th century.

So let’s begin in the 14^th century when Tarot cards started spreading over Italy. Most of the early decks contained 22 cards; each with a Latin number from I to XXI, the 22^nd card being “il matto”, The Fool. Those were the Trumps, which remained more or less the same until the present day. The cards were used as playing cards; there are only a few indications on their usage for divination.

Major centers in the 15^th century where cards were made were Florence, Venice, Bologna (Bologna Tarot), Milan (Visconti-Sforza Tarot) and Florence (Sola Busca Tarot). Those earliest decks were showing Greek, Roman and Babylon symbolism and contained a different number of cards, varying from 52 up to 97. The first indication to a 78 cards deck is Sola Busca Tarot.

In the early 16^th century Tarot spread to France and Germany and throughout the entire Europe later on.  A deck from 17^th century, Jacques Vieville Tarot (Paris), had a few Trumps reordered and a few Trumps exemplified with a different symbolism.

Several manuscripts from the 18^th century describe the meanings of Tarot cards and their usage for divination. One of the most popular Tarot decks from that time is Le Tarot de Marseilles from 1751.

More writings about the topic appeared in the 19^th century. Eliphas Levi wrote about symbolism of Tarot cards and the connection of Tarot and Kabbalah. Various other authors wrote about history and symbolism of Tarot, and its connection with Kabbalah, numerology and astrology.

In 1909 the Rider-Waite deck by Arthur Waite and Pamela Colman Smith was published. Deutsches Original Tarot with Egyptian symbolism, astrological correspondences, Hebrew letters and upright and reversed meanings was published in 1920.  Aliester Crowley’s Book of Thoth with images of Thoth Tarot was published in 1944. The actual Tarot deck was published in 1960.

Hopefully this modest attempt to write something about History of Tarot did not discourage the reader. Consider these “facts” as keywords for your own research.

Bottom line is: Tarot is here and it is a cewt system, and diving into its world is a very interesting journey….  It will teach you all you need to know about it. Just try not to drown in all those Tarot decks.

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