In the English-speaking world, the word ‘tarot’ is most commonly associated with the occult and divination. What is perhaps less well-known is that tarot cards were only used for such purposes relatively recently. Prior to the 18th century AD, there is no record of tarot cards being used either for the occult or divination. In fact, tarot cards were originally used as playing cards. Thus, when speaking of the ‘origins of tarot’, one may consider the topic from two angles – tarot cards as playing cards, and tarot cards as a means of divination. It is on the former that this article will be focusing primarily.
The Origins of Tarot
Tarot is known by various other similar names, including Tarock, Tarokk, Taroky, Taroc, Tarok, Tarocchi. The origins of this word are unknown, though one speculation is that it derives from the Arabic word taraha, which means “he rejected, put aside”.
This Arabic connection is seen in the opinion that tarot cards were used originally as playing cards by the Mamluks (who are most notable as a dynasty of Muslim rulers in Egypt during the Middle Ages), which then spread to Western Europe. Some have even claimed that the tarot was invented even further afield, that is to say, in China, and that the Mamluks adopted these cards from them.
According to another common account, the tarot deck was created in northern Italy during the 15th century AD. For example, it has been reported that a request for several decks of ‘triumph’ cards (said to be different from regular ‘playing’ cards due to their trumps) can be found in a letter sent in 1440 by the Duke of Milan.
From Italy, tarot spread to various other European countries, including Denmark, Hungary, France, Germany and Austria, where games involving these cards are still being played even today. As tarot spread across Europe, many regional variations emerged. Some decks, for instance, had 62 cards, whilst others had 78 cards. There were also decks which had as many as 97 or 98 cards. Additionally, the artwork of these tarot decks differed from region to region.
Nevertheless, there are several common elements that can be found in the majority of tarot decks. Firstly, like the standard 52-card deck which most people today are familiar with, each tarot deck would have four regular suits. Two of the most common suits are the French suit and the Italian suit. The former contains diamonds, hearts, spades and clubs, whilst the latter contains coins, cups, swords and batons.
The next common element is a suit of 21 special cards known as trumps. Tarot is one of the earliest card games into which the concept of trumps had been introduced. In the French suit, the images on its trump cards are often depicted as “arbitrary scenes of people at work and at play, animals both actual and mythological, and landscapes of regional locales.”
Symbols on the Cards
As for the Italian suit, the images on its trump cards are said to differ from deck to deck. Nevertheless, they include such familiar figures as the Pope, the Magician, the Emperor, the Lovers, and Death. For those who use tarot cards for divination, these are usually regarded as having symbolic meaning.
It has also been suggested that rather than being designed with mysticism in mind, the figures on these trump cards were meant to reflect “important aspects of the real world that the players lived in”. Moreover, as this was the Christian world of the Middle Ages, the cards are said to contain “prominent Christian symbolism”.
The third common element is another special card called the ‘fool’ or ‘excuse’. In the French suit, this figure is often depicted as some kind of entertainer, for instance, a harlequin or a musician. Whilst the image resembles the ‘joker’ in the standard 52-card deck, they are not historically connected.
The beginnings of the use of Tarot as a means of divination is said to have begun in 1781, and is attributed to a Frenchman by the name of Antoine Court de Gébelin. One of the beliefs that Court de Gébelin had was that the images on tarot cards (specifically the ones on the Italian suit) have their origins in ancient Egypt, and that mystical knowledge was encoded in them. Since then, the idea that tarot could be used for divination continued to be developed through the centuries.
Not content with the notion that tarot cards were used originally as playing cards, endless speculations regarding their alleged mystical origins have been made. Amongst others, tarot cards are said by some to have originally been a “creation of 13th century alchemists” which contained “hidden alchemical imagery”, “Indian holy texts”, “Hebrew lore”, “allegories of Sufi masters”, and the “surviving lore of the Order of Knights Templar”.
References
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