A Brief History of Tarot

Above are some of the Marseilles Tarot cards circa 1709

Origins of Tarot

Tarot has drawn people into its magic for hundreds of years, and today it is one of the most popular divination tools available. Although methods of reading the Tarot and the styles of the cards have evolved over the years, generally speaking the cards themselves haven’t changed much. Let us take a little journey through history and look at some of the early decks of Tarot cards, and just how these came to be used as more than simply an eccentric parlor game.

There are many speculations about who first introduced and practiced Tarot cards for divination, such as the Cathars, ancient Egyptians, Kabbalists, Gypsies, and others. However, contrary to myths and fantastical stories, there is no historical evidence that Tarot originated with these peoples. In fact, all of the available facts point to northern Italy in the early 1400s.

Ancient Wisdom or Entertaining Games?

Originally, the Italian version of Tarot was created to play a game, similar to modern Bridge. In this game, there were 21 unique cards that served as “trumps.” These trump, or triumph, cards were often painted for wealthy families. Members of the nobility would commission artists to create their own personal set of cards, featuring family members and friends as the triumph cards. A number of famous sets were created for the Visconti family of Milan. Some of these, known as Visconti-Sforza Tarot or Visconti Tarot, are still available today. Having an exclusive set of cards was no doubt lovely for the upper-crust of medieval Italy (although I do wonder who they used as the Devil card!) On the other hand, not everyone could afford to hire a painter to create a set of cards for them; for a few centuries, customized cards were something only the privileged could own. It wasn’t until the printing press came along that playing card decks could be mass-produced for the average Giuseppe or Giovanna (Wigington, n.d.).

Interestingly, during medieval times, ordinary playing cards were indeed used for divination, so it is feasible to think the Italian nobility may have used their custom cards for that purpose. However, it wasn’t until the 1700’s that clear evidence of Tarot decks being used for divination emerged.

Not to be outdone by the Italians, the French got into the game in 1709 with the Marseilles Tarot deck, which are still in use today. However, these were also created specifically for gaming purposes (Cumming, 2015). Then, in 1791 Jean-Baptiste Alliette, a French occultist, released the first Tarot deck designed specifically for divinatory purposes, called the Etteilla Tarot Deck. He also wrote an accompanying book explaining how to use the Tarot for divination. With this book and others that followed suit, the use of Tarot cards for divination became so accepted over time that, “by the end of the Victorian era, occultism and spiritualism had become popular pastimes for bored upper class families. It wasn’t uncommon to attend a house party and find a séance taking place, or someone reading palms or tea leaves in the corner” (Wigington, n.d.).

Today’s Most Popular Deck

This leads us to our current and most popular Tarot deck: The Rider-Waite. In the early 20th century, British occultist Arthur Waite, a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn,* decided to collaborate with artist Pamela Colman Smith, also a Golden Dawn member. Together they created the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, first published in 1909.

Smith was the first artist to use characters as representative images in the Minor Arcana cards. Rather than illustrating only an array of cups, coins, wands or swords, “Smith incorporated human figures into the artwork, and the result is the iconic deck that every reader knows today. Indeed, most people refer to this deck as the Waite-Smith deck, in acknowledgement of Smith’s enduring artwork. The imagery is heavy on Kabbalistic symbolism, and because of this, is typically used as the default deck in nearly all instructional books on Tarot” (Wigington, n.d.).

Today, over a hundred years since the first release of the Rider-Waite deck, Tarot cards are available in hundreds of different designs. There is a deck for just about any Tarot enthusiast no matter what his or her interests are. Whether you love fairies, anime, cats, or ancient Greek gods and goddesses, there’s surely a deck out there for you! Most of these follow the format of the Rider-Waite, adapting them with the chosen motifs to express each Major and Minor Arcana card. Moreover, today there is no need to hire an artist to paint your own deck with your lovely face gracing the trump cards - although that would be extremely cool if you can afford it! Many Tarot decks are procurable on Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, and other online mega-stores, as well as your tiny, hole-in-the-wall psychic bookstores. What was once only for the members of the elite or a secretive order is now a mouse-click away for anyone who desires to pursue esoteric knowledge and divination skills. Which deck is your favorite?

The Order of the Golden Dawn was a “secret society devoted to the study and practice of the occult, metaphysics, and paranormal activities during the late 19th and early 20th centuries” (The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, 2020).

Works Cited:

Cumming, A. (2015, August 13). History of the Tarot de Marseilles. The Quarto Group. https://www.quartoknows.com/blog/quartolives/history-of-the-tarot-de-marseille

Hehe, J. (2020, October 15). The Real History of Tarot Cards. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://joshuashawnmichaelhehe.medium.com/the-real-history-of-tarot-cards- 686a50ea8d51

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc. (2020, November 25). Retrieved February 16, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hermetic_Order_of_the_Golden_Dawn,_Inc.

Wigington, P. (n.d.). Where Did Tarot Cards Come From? Retrieved February 16, 2021, from https://www.learnreligions.com/a-brief-history-of-tarot-2562770