One of the biggest myths about Tarot cards, one that persists to this day, is that Tarot cards harbor the great secrets of the Ancient Egyptians. Tarot cards can only be traced back to about 1480—long after the great rein of the Egyptian pharaohs—and were invented to play a card game called Tarocchi.
Antoine Court de Gébelin
It started with Antoine Court de Gébelin a church curate. He was studying Ancient Egypt and marveling over papyrus printed with mysterious hieroglyphics. The Rosetta stone had not been discovered yet, much less decoded, so no one knew what hieroglyphics said. People were sure they were describing great secrets, although as a friend of mine once said, they are probably actually saying something as mundane as “I owe Habib 10 denarii”
De Gebelin tells the story of visiting his friend the Duchess _. She and friends were playing Tarocchi. She asked him if he had ever seen Tarot cards. When he said no, she said, “They are the most curious and charming of pictures” and showed him the World card. This was probably a Tarot of Marseilles type card, with animal pictures surrounding an angel. De Gebelin immediately recognized this card as similar to hieroglyphics and decided that these cards revealed ancient Egyptian secrets. People handed him other cards out of their hands, “and within 15 minutes,” he writes” I had declared the entire deck as Egyptian.”
The Birth of Tarotmancy
De Gebelin had just published volume 7 of his great opus, the Ancient World compared to the World of Today. Tarocchi cards were featured in volume 8. Others also picked up on the idea of Tarocchi cards having their origins in Egypt. By 1783, a cartomancer who called himself Etteilla (real name: Jean-Baptiste Alliette) created ways to use Tarot as divination. He published a book comparing Tarot cards to well-known ancient Egyptian texts and Tarotmancy—divination by tarot cards–was born.
Present Day
Today, many books on how to read Tarot Cards still repeat the old myth of origins of Tarotmancy as starting in Ancient Egypt. I just sigh when I read this. I think it is time to lay this old chestnut to rest. Tarotmancy is mysterious and fun, but it is not ancient.
Looking for a fun idea for your next party or event? Consider Psychic Entertainment by Barbara G Meyer. If you are looking for a new idea for a ladies’ night out? Consider a Tarot class for you and your friends. Either in person or on Zoom.