A Brief History of Tarot
When I covered History of Tarot in a recent class, it came as a bit of a surprise to students who were expecting to get stuck straight in to readings, but I do believe that an element understanding of the History of Tarot helps any reader worth their salt.
The Ancient Egyptians
There is a widespread belief, although entirely unproven, that the earliest tarot stems from the Ancient Egyptians, passed down though the Angel Metatron, together with the Hebrew letters. There is also a widespread belief that the 22 cards of the Major Arcana are related to the 22 Hebrew letters, and an internet search of Tarot and the Kabbalah will yield hundreds of hours of studies on the matter.
But none of this is proven, although Glorian Publishing have tried to recreate an Egyptian Tarot, The Eternal Tarot. And browsing the images they have adopted, I can personally see how the messages passed down in the form of hieroglyphs can certainly relate to the messages we see repeated in the Bible, and subsequently in Tarot.
Visconte Sforza Tarot
Anyway, as the legend would have it, these snippets of Ancient Wisdom were carried to Europe with tradesmen, where they found a niche in Italy as playing cards.
The first record of tarot decks we know of originated from Italy in the mid 13th Century, in the form of the Carte de Trionfi; the earliest surviving decks of which are the Visconti Sforza Tarot, dating from the 14th Century. These were beautiful cards, decorated with gilt, commissioned by a wealthy Milan Viscount, and his family were used as models by the artist. Copied over the years, because each deck was hand crafted, no two are identical.
These are decks of 78 cards. There were four suits we are familiar with, which were Swords, Wands, Cups and Pentacles; but we now know of them as Spades, Clubs, Hearts and Diamonds. These collectively make up the Minor Arcana. In these early Trionfi decks, though (where Trionfi translates as Trumps) there were also 22 Trump cards, and these make up the Major Arcana. The many trump cards, which were the focus of the game of Triomphi, each had its ranking, unlike the few jokers (originally known as The Fool) we have now, which each hold equal value.
In essence, the Major Arcana, with cards such as The Hermit, Death, Justice, The Star and The World, are now considered to represent life lessons, or the part of our existence which is ruled by Fate. The Minor Arcana advise us on daily issues, those aspects of life over which we have influence. But that is now. Back then, these were simply playing cards, used for gambling!
Tarot de Marseilles
Tarot cards then started moving West, probably concurring with the time the French conquered Milan in 1499, in the company of gypsies, where they came into popularity with the French. With the development of the crude printing (woodcut) press, tarot decks became more widely available. They were still coloured by hand, and of course the variations in print quality resulted in a wide range of decks, but all stayed faithful to the original Italian designs.
It later was popularised by the cartomancer Eliphas Levi in the 19th Century, who was widely known for his occultism; into which he incorporated tarot; which has since become a standard tool of white witches. He was also a respected member of the Golden Dawn, and as such would have influenced Arthur Edward Waite and most certainly had a profound effect on Aleister Crowley.
Rider Waite Smith Tarot
In 1910, Golden Dawn member revolutionised tarot by producing a deck which contained illustrated Minor Arcana cards. Until that time these had been represented solely by a number of pips for the relevant suit – much as playing cards are today. Tarotists were required to have a sound grasp of numerology and combine that knowledge with the elements represented by the suit. Waite, however, developed a system of images which could illustrate each card to make them easier to interpret. Nowadays, beginners are often advised to purchase this particular deck, or a clone, in order to standardise teaching; at the expense of the student having to use their own initiative to learn tarot.
The artist he chose was Pamela (Pixie) Coleman Smith, who was herself a member of The Golden Dawn. Since Waite himself assumed the copyright of the deck (Pixie died a pauper as a result) and he died in 1942, the cards came into the public domain in 2012, and as a result can be reproduced without constraint. As a result, clones have leapt up in abundance.
Thoth Tarot
Aleister Crowley had a ditty: “My name is Crowley, to rhyme with holy; when you call me Croully you treat me most foully”. He is an absolute legend in the world of occult… and although I hold absolutely no stock in what he was doing, it is worth spending a few hours on YouTube looking into his achievements. He was a very sinister person who did very sinister things, and his tarot deck was amongst his most sinister. Don’t get me wrong, the artwork is beautiful. it’s the most beautiful I have ever seen on a tarot deck. For it, He commissioned Lady Freda Harris, who again was also a member of the Golden Dawn.
Now, this deck has an undercurrent. I have written about it in a few posts, as I went through quite an obsessive period myself. It is a deck which draws you in with its beauty, and then slams you down. It cuts right to the very heart of the issue, and gets the dirty laundry out for airing. My mentor breathed a sigh of relief and gave me a round of applause when I finally relegated it to the back of my cabinet. I have brought it out for a few breaths of fresh air since, but each time it has proven itself to be a piece of work. Last time I had to rise it from the fingers of a student who had fallen in love with it – much like an innocent teenager in the hands of a groomer.
Novelty Decks
Any decks which vaguely resemble RWS were until recently subject to hefty licence fees but this has now passed, and the resulting plethora of novelty tarot decks is astonishing. Some are beautiful clones, some are ridiculous… there is even a Gummy Bear Tarot which I am quite fond of, which is an almost perfect copy of the RWS – although with much bolder and brighter colours, and of course, less detail!
I am very slowly working my way through them myself by doing deck interviews and reviews, but meantime, it is worth sending a few hours on Aeclectic Tarot browsing through the many different decks in existence – for there is something to fit you whether you are a cat lover or a dog lover, a housewife, a mechanic, a mermaid, a monster, a ghost, a witch, a fairy… whether you love Byzantine art or Impressionists… whether you’re a romantic or an eroticist (there are even a few Karma Sutra decks out there) there is something out there for you! In fact, the only tarot niche which hasn’t been filled as far as I can tell is a Tarot for Sailors deck…. If only I were an artist, I would create one now!
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