History of Tarot

Medieval Origins

The earliest reliable historical references to Tarot cards date back to fourteenth-century Europe. This was the century of the fall of the Knights Templar, the Hundred Years' War, and Joan of Arc. The century of Dante and his Divine Comedy. Thus, modern Tarot cards have medieval roots — which, incidentally, makes them a particularly fascinating subject for those with an interest in medieval studies.

However, there is reason to believe that the cards themselves are far older, and numerous historians, writers, and occultists have eagerly proposed their own theories about the origins. What is striking is not the multitude of theories, but how remarkably confused and contradictory the information presented in Tarot literature tends to be on this subject. Even highly reputable sources sometimes prove shockingly superficial when it comes to the history of Tarot, riddled with factual errors.

The Visconti-Sforza Deck — The Oldest Complete Tarot

All early Tarot decks that have survived to our time were works of art, created by skilled artists on commission for prominent patrons (and even today, acquiring a quality Tarot deck is not exactly inexpensive). The oldest known complete deck containing all 78 cards is the Visconti-Sforza deck, created in the first half of the fifteenth century in Italy.

Around 1432, the betrothal took place of Francesco Sforza, future fourth Duke of Milan, and Bianca Maria Visconti. It is believed that the deck — a true masterpiece painted by the court artist Bonifacio Bembo — was one of the betrothal gifts. This does not mean that Tarot cards did not exist before this deck. Earlier versions simply have not survived intact.

There are many hypotheses about what preceded their appearance, but none are supported by solid evidence, making them equally difficult to prove or refute. Yet the authors of all these theories agree on one point: it is highly unlikely that such a well-structured and profound system of images — one endowed with phenomenal stability (the composition of the Tarot deck has remained virtually unchanged over many centuries) — was simply invented one fine day for the occasion of a ducal wedding.

Cards Without Labels — A Self-Evident System

Perhaps the most intriguing detail is that neither the 22 Major Arcana nor the 56 Minor Arcana bore any inscriptions whatsoever. It appears that medieval Tarot enthusiasts knew the sequence and meaning of the Arcana perfectly well. Today, publishers in the vast majority of cases consider it their duty to label each card, helping users identify who is who — where the Magician is, where the Emperor, where the Hierophant.

But in those times, the images were identified without any textual clues. In other words, in the fifteenth century people needed no cheat sheet to navigate the structure of the deck, as though it were something entirely self-evident, admitting no confusion or misinterpretation. This is all the more remarkable given that the deck was used both for divination and for the card game tarocchi — and games as a rule demand quick, error-free thinking (you can hardly pause mid-play to ask your opponents which card you're holding).

The explanation sometimes found in books — that medieval royal courts frequently staged grand processions (a tradition rooted in Roman Saturnalia and triumphs), and therefore the sequence of the Major Arcana (the trump-triumphs, or trionfi) was universally known — does not hold up to scrutiny.

The Egyptian Theory — Court de Gébelin and the Book of Thoth

In the eighteenth century, the French writer, theologian, and occultist Antoine Court de Gébelin put forward a theory in his work Du Jeu des Tarots that remains popular to this day — the idea of Egyptian roots of Tarot. According to this theory, Tarot is a sacred book created by one of the most ancient secret Egyptian mystical orders, which united followers of the cult of Asar-Hapi (better known by the Greek name Serapis, which literally translates as "tomb of the bull").

Supposedly, this book was a collection of hieroglyphic tablets (or a set of individual papyri) containing the immortal teaching of Thoth — Scribe of the Gods, Master of all Sciences and Arts, Keeper of the Book of Life, and author of the legendary Emerald Tablet (also known as Hermes Trismegistus, the "Thrice-Greatest"). To this day, there is a view that the Arcana of Tarot are a simplified and encoded version of the immortal Book of Thoth.

According to legend, this book contained the "key to immortality" — the secret of the process through which complete human rebirth takes place. In more contemporary terms, Tarot describes the developmental path of the human Self toward its highest, transcendental essence.

The Sacred Book in the Mysteries

The Major Arcana describe the stages of spiritual transformation, while the Minor Arcana depict the life lessons through which this transformation unfolds. This book was used in the Mysteries, during occult practices and initiations. Interestingly, there is a theory that in Ancient Egypt itself, this teaching was kept strictly secret because the Book of Thoth foretold the inevitable fall of the royal dynasty and the destruction of the Egyptian kingdom.

According to legend, the book was among the few that were miraculously saved during the fire at the Library of Alexandria in 47 BC. From there it made its way to Ancient Rome, where it survived into the Christian era.

Papus and the Cipher of Sacred Knowledge

Papus, in his Key to the Occult Sciences, proposed a version that when Egypt faced the threat of destruction, the priests of the mystical order considered many options for preserving sacred knowledge for future generations of initiates. Oral tradition could be broken at any moment — and indeed, everything on earth is subject to change and decay: not just the storage of information itself, but religions, ideologies, entire societies.

The priests reasoned that the one thing least subject to change is imperfect human nature itself, full of excitement and frivolity. Building upon one of the most ancient and widespread human passions — the love of gambling — they created a vessel of information: a deck of cards, encoding within it the symbols of age-old wisdom. For the initiated, it was a sacred text; for the uninitiated, it remained a mere amusement or a set of quaint pictures. Whether or not this is true, the cards do indeed appear to be eternal.

The idea that the allegories of the Major Arcana are rooted in the teachings of Egypt's secret schools, describing the stages of the neophyte's development on the path to becoming a true master, remains remarkably persistent.

Éliphas Lévi and the Kabbalah Connection

The renowned French philosopher, occultist, and Kabbalist Alphonse-Louis Constant, known as Éliphas Lévi, wrote about the Book of Thoth encoded in the 78 Arcana of Tarot: "This monumental and unique work is simple and strong as the structure of the pyramids, and therefore equally enduring. It is a book that contains the quintessence of all knowledge, and whose infinite combinations can resolve any problem. Speaking to us, it compels us to think; it generates all possible concepts and governs them... By arranging the Tarot cards in a specific order, one can reveal everything that may be known about God, the Universe, and humanity."

Lévi believed that using Tarot merely for fortune-telling was the most superficial application (after gaming), and that in reality, it demanded a far more refined intellectual and spiritual approach, being a repository of immense knowledge. And this is quite noticeable when one surveys the literature devoted to Tarot: some books focus on divination and interpretation of the Arcana, while others (far more challenging to absorb) explore their deeper essence — one can mention the works of Oswald Wirth and Valentin Tomberg as examples.

Among the sources linked to Tarot, one can count the teachings of the secret schools of Ancient Egypt (partially inherited by the inquisitive ancient Greeks), as well as the Kabbalah — the mystical Jewish tradition. The sequence of the Major Arcana is associated with the Hebrew alphabet and numbering system. The number of Major Arcana indeed matches the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the number of numbered Minor Arcana corresponds to the number of Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. The 22 paths (tsinnaroth) connect the 10 Sephiroth, forming the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

It is worth noting that between the key figures of ancient Judaism and Egypt there is a connection that readily allows for a transfer of knowledge. One need only recall Joseph, who ruled Egypt in ancient times, and Moses, who was one of Egypt's high priests. The "Kabbalistic" theory of Tarot's origin corresponds with the "Book of Thoth" precisely through sacred writing and numerology. According to tradition, Thoth invented speech and the alphabet, in which all letters are divine ideas, all ideas are numbers, and all numbers are signs containing vast stores of information.

India, Gypsies, and the Crusaders

A certain place in debates about Tarot's origins belongs to India. The ancient Indian game "Four Kings" shows significant similarities with the four card suits. Although, the idea of four suits reflecting the four elements of the world could have arisen independently in very different cultures. It is quite possible that the Major and Minor Arcana originated separately — the former as a symbolic repository of spiritual ideas, the latter as a game — and were later combined by some inventive mind into a single deck.

Gébelin believed that the esoteric symbols of Tarot penetrated Europe through wandering Romani people, known for their passion for card divination. However, there are complications with this "Romani theory" — including disagreements about the origins of the Romani themselves, and the fact that cards were already circulating in Europe before their documented arrival in Paris in 1427.

According to another theory, numbered card decks from the Middle East were brought to Europe by Crusaders, with a special role attributed to the Knights Templar. The Templars systematically established contacts with Muslims during their nearly two-hundred-year presence in the Holy Land, where a fantastic blending of Arab, Jewish, and Byzantine cultural phenomena existed — a true alchemical cauldron. Crusaders seem to have left the stage too early, and the Romani arrived too late, to reliably explain the appearance of cards in Europe.

First Written Records in Europe

Today it is believed that the first written mention of a card game in Europe dates to 1337 and belongs to a Dominican monk. And surviving historical evidence does not exclude the existence of earlier decks that have not come down to us. For example, in the collection of the British Museum, there is a manuscript by a certain monk Johann Brefeld, reporting that a card game (ludus cartarum), invented by someone unknown where, when, or by whom, appeared in their lands (modern-day Switzerland) in 1377. He writes that it is comparable to chess, that it has four kings, people paint the cards according to their own judgment, and use the most diverse methods of play.

It is known that even then prohibitions on such games began appearing in Europe. This did not prevent the French King Charles VI from commissioning three gilded decks from Jacquemin Gringonneur in 1392. There is no reason to think Gringonneur invented them — he was a gifted artist who reproduced on parchment already known images, easily identifiable with the modern symbols of the Major Arcana. A strange detail — all historians uniformly assert that the king wished to dispel his melancholy with something amusing... yet what Gringonneur presented to his monarch was not a playing deck! These were merely the 22 cards of the Major Arcana. No more, no less.

The Mysteries of the Deck's Evolution

It generally creates the impression that the Major and Minor Arcana of Tarot have two different histories. Perhaps they indeed came to Europe by different paths? Why are the Minor Arcana known to virtually everyone in the form of four card suits, while the Major Arcana at some point "disappeared" from the deck? Why did only one of them remain — the Fool, better known as the Joker (and indeed he has preserved his seniority, the position of the "trump of all trumps" that beats any card in the deck)? Why did the Knights vanish from the deck? Pages, Queens, Kings are known to all, but the Knights somehow became persona non grata... And why was it necessary to rename the suits of the Minor Arcana? All these spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds... Why these euphemisms, why couldn't swords be called swords, and cups — cups?

Marseilles Tarot and the South of France

Most decks were created in Marseilles in the south of France, and to those in the know, this speaks volumes. The south of France in Europe is the historical center of heretical mystical knowledge, alternative to the teachings of the Church. It is no coincidence that French occultists held the lead in the study of Tarot for centuries — Gébelin, Etteilla, Éliphas Lévi, Papus... The Marseilles Tarot, which has survived to our days, has exactly the same structure as the Milanese Visconti-Sforza Tarot, with illustrated Major and Court Arcana, and by the end of the fifteenth century had become widely distributed. And in 1594, Parisian card makers in the charter of their guild already called themselves "tarotiers."

Gébelin, Etteilla, and the Age of Enlightenment

Interestingly, the flourishing of both the game and divinatory practices coincided with the Age of Enlightenment — so rational, so reasonable... It was in the eighteenth century that Gébelin first explored the archetypal meaning of the Major Arcana. In 1773–1784, he began publishing a unique work entitled Le Monde primitif. The volume published in 1781 contained a treatise "Du Jeu des Tarot," in which Gébelin proposed that Tarot should be understood as a book and analyzed through the sacred Egyptian number 7 (each suit contains twice seven cards, and the Major Arcana — thrice seven, plus the Fool embodying the "mystery of the number zero").

Gébelin's student and successor was the great Tarot interpreter Jean François Alliette, better known by his Masonic mirror-name — Etteilla. Two years after his teacher's famous treatise, he published "A Method of Entertaining Oneself with a Deck of Cards Called Tarot" — and put this method on a commercial footing. Etteilla created his own deck of 78 Arcana saturated with Masonic symbolism and successfully sold it. Moreover, he read fortunes for Parisians left and right, earning good money for his art. He is rightly considered the "godfather" of modern fortune-tellers.

There are debates about who — Etteilla or Gébelin — proposed the curious interpretation of the word Tarot as a combination of "tar" (road) and "ro" (royal). Other researchers believe the name came from Hebrew and is a distorted word "Torah." There is also the view that Tarot is an anagram of the Latin word rota ("wheel"). The well-known twentieth-century occultist Paul Foster Case produced four anagrams, obtaining the phrase "Rota Taro Orat Ator" — roughly translating as "The Wheel of Tarot proclaims the law of wisdom" (Ator being the Egyptian goddess of initiation).

The Golden Dawn and Modern Tarot Masters

One of the most striking events in the history of Tarot was the emergence in 1888 in Victorian Britain of the extraordinarily influential occult society — the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The society was founded by Drs. William Woodman and Wynn Westcott, along with Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. With their light hand, the magic of Ancient Egypt, the Kabbalah, and medieval mysticism wove together into a fairly coherent system of occult views. A radical distinguishing feature of this order was the presence of women.

In 1903, Arthur Edward Waite broke away from the famous order and headed his own esoteric group. Waite was an outstanding mystic, deeply committed to Christian religious traditions. Together with the artist Pamela Colman Smith, he created a unique deck that for the first time contained fully illustrated Minor Arcana — which explains its enduring popularity. In 1909, thanks to the publisher William Rider, this deck saw the light. The deck came to be called the Rider-Waite deck. In 1910, Waite published "A Pictorial Key to the Tarot," where he analyzed existing systems and described the meanings of cards in upright and reversed positions, doing everything to make the guide simple and accessible. He genuinely wanted the cards to "go to the people" — and in this he unquestionably succeeded.

Slightly later, in 1907, borrowing the core ideas of the Order of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley founded his own esoteric group. If Waite was an adherent of Christian traditions, Crowley became notorious for his aversion to Christianity, addiction to heroin, and to sexual occult practices. His scandalous and self-destructive behavior did not diminish his outstanding occult giftedness and vast erudition. In collaboration with the talented artist Lady Frieda Harris, he created his own Tarot deck, using symbols from virtually every great civilization of antiquity. The work was completed in 1944 but published only in 1971.

Tarot Renaissance in Our Time

There is no doubt that Tarot has a history and a future, but it prefers to keep its distant past under a veil of mystery. As Massimiliano Filadoro aptly noted, we will not receive answers to the riddles of Tarot by learning where the cards originated or determining who invented them. Some works create themselves, and the author of Tarot can justly be considered all of humanity. The problems Tarot poses, its archetypal images, the themes it addresses will always arouse people's keen interest. The symbolism of the cards is universal, connected to many cultures and philosophical currents, and they can indeed be viewed as a book of occult knowledge leading to a deeper understanding of the life process and of ourselves.

Our days can rightly be considered a genuine renaissance of Tarot. Having discovered the inexhaustible archetypal possibilities provided by the structure of the Arcana, publishers vie with one another to release thematic decks, essentially adapting the most diverse spheres of human experience to this structure. Tarot is used in the most varied fields of consulting, becoming something far more flexible and universal than a mere tool for divination. It is truly perceived as a book of wisdom that has absorbed the myths and knowledge of different peoples and tells us the most ancient story of the Hero's Journey... which each of us is on our life path.