Tarot Card History
Posted in the History and Lore category
The history of Tarot cards is a long and colorful tale that spans many centuries and many lands. While the precise origin of Tarot cards has been lost through the years, much is known about how this powerful divination tool has arrived in modern times.
Medieval Origin
While no physical evidence remains, scholars feel that the earliest variations of playing cards came from Islamic lands before 1000A.D. Cards didn’t enter Europe, where more is known of them through records, until the fourteenth century. These, however, were not Tarot cards. The first evidence of what would grow to become Tarot cards is found in Milan in 1440. These were called ‘triumph’ cards at the time, and were not used in any occult way, or as any kind of divination tool. The original game was probably closer to bridge than anything else.
The Occult Influence
It wasn’t until the eighteenth century in England and France that Tarot cards became a tool of the occult and used to reveal details about people’s lives. At this point using divination tools was first popularized in France through Marie-Anne Le Normand, who would provide readings for Empress Josephine, wife of Napolean. She did not use Tarot cards herself, but her work spread the idea of using mysticism and the occult.
The Tarot de Marseille
A huge step on the road to the modern conception of Tarot cards was taken by Eliphas Levi who created the Tarot de Marseille. This deck was used for divination and has all of the elements of modern Tarot decks. Levi was able to relate the Tarot cards to the Qabalah and elements of alchemy, which increased their perceived legitimacy.
Tarot Cards in the New World
The introduction of the Rider-Waite Tarot card deck in the twentieth century brought Tarot cards into the main stream of popular culture. Waite obscured the Christian references in older Tarot decks and introduced the concept of painting elaborate illustrations on each card. This helped establish the symbolism of each card pictorally. Decades later Aleister Crowley would introduce his Thoth Tarot card deck which would introduce elements of other symoblic traditions to Tarot cards, as well as change some of the names of the cards.
Modern Tarot Cards
In the modern world it is easy to find Tarot cards of every variety practically everywhere. They are commonly referenced in pop culture, and decks based around comic book heroes or other popular icons are becoming more prevalent. The traditions began by the Rider-Waite deck and the Thoth deck are still the most popular incarnations of Tarot cards, but decks based upon other symbolic traditions such as Greek gods and godesses or power animals are increasingly seen. Tarot cards are now an established tradition in divination and the occult.
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