A Little History
One big Myth about Tarot cards is that they originated in ancient Egypt. They did not. Playing cards have been found in India as early as the 10th Century AD. Playing cards have been mentioned in writings in the West as early as 12th century. And that is what they were: playing cards. Tarot decks have been found dating back to about 1450, but they were also playing cards, used to play a game called Tarocchi. It was not until 1790 that tarotmancy, divination by tarot cards, came into being. (And the myth of the great Egyptian Masters as well.)
Origins of Tarotmancy
In 1790, Antoine Court de Gébelin, an English Curate went to visit his friend “the Countess ____________.“ He discovers her playing Tarocchi with others. She tells him that the Tarocchi deck has strange and amusing pictures on them. “See,” she said, “here is the World card.” Now, the World card she handed him was probably from what we would say now is from the Tarot de Marseilles deck. It has animals in a circular pattern on it. The count looked at it and decided that these animal pictures were similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics. Others handed him cards also, “and in 15 minutes,” he later wrote, “I had declared them all Egyptian”
The Count had been writing a book: The Ancient World Compared to the World of Today. It was already in 7 volumes. He included his discovery of Tarot cards in Volume 8. Egyptian hieroglyphics would not be deciphered for another 30 years with the locating of the Rosetta Stone. So, people, including the Count, thought that the mysterious writing must be very mystical and important. (As a friend of mine pointed out, we now know it could be something as mundane as “I owe Habib 50 Dinara”.)
Volume 8 was published a few years later and Tarotmancy—divination by tarot cards–was born. In the early 19th Century a large number of Tarot and Oracle decks were published. They ranged from standard 78 card decks to 97 card Minchiate decks, which were also originally used for a card game.
Modern History
In 1910, Arthur E Waite, a member of the occult society, Order of the Golden Dawn, published his version of Tarot cards drawn by Pamela Smith. This was one of the first decks that had pictures on the Minor Arcana. Now known as the Rider-Waite-Smith deck (after the publisher, designer, and artist) it has become the most well-known tarot deck.
Another member of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley, designed his own deck, The Book of Thoth. It is very different from the Rider-Waite-Smith, but it has its own following. People also like to use variations on the Tarot of Marseilles, which is a deck with pictures only on the Major Arcana. I only use the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and its variations, so I will not be discussing these other varieties.
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.