Isabella Alston - Tarot Cards

T he first-known documented playing cards in Europe are believed to have originated in the 14th century, most likely in Egypt. It remains a mystery whether tarot cards came before or after the invention of playing cards although it is generally presumed that the tarot was developed second. The earliest Middle Eastern playing cards consisted of four suits: Swords, Staves, Cups, and Coins. This organization shows a clear connection between the two types of cardsplaying cards and tarot cards. Tarot decks generally refer, however, to the Staves suit as Wands or Clubs and the Coins suit as Pentacles.

Many historians believe the tarot is directly connected to both the Ancient Mysteries and the Egyptian Initiations, the latter likely being connected to the ancient Hermetic (magical) use of symbolism. In the 14th and 15th centuries, a great amount of cultural exchange was occurring between the Middle East and Europe, particularly in Spain with the Moorish invasion. In more modern times, the tarot has often been associated with gypsies, and the earliest gypsies, those who lived in Europe during the medieval years, were associated with peoples of mixed ancestry who lived in Spain. Thus, the gypsy connection appears to have some historical justification. The French 19th-century magician and occultist Eliphas Levi incorporated tarot cards into his magical system, which cemented the connection between the tarot and magic.

The very first official tarot deck was created in Milan, Italy, between 1428 and 1447. The set depicted both the Visconti and Sforza families, at the time the ruling families of this region of Italy. Historians are certain of this decks existence due to a court record from Ferrara, Italy, in 1442 that references the deck. Some cards belonging to the original Visconti-Sforza deck remain today. The very popular deck has been replicated in numerous additions over the years. The original Visconti-Sforza deck was not only beautiful in design, it was produced using precious metals such as gold, which only adds to the value of the remains of the original deck.

The Visconti-Sforza deck differed from playing card decks because, in addition to the four card suits, what we now call the major arcana was added to the deck. The four suits of cards became the minor arcana. The major arcana is the primary feature that sets the tarot apart from decks of playing cards. Each card in the major arcana represents a specific allegorical story, each one in turn meant to represent a specific part of lifes journey. In the 15th century in northern Italy, the tarot deck was referred to as carte de trionfi, which translates as triumph cards. A derivative or bastardization of triumph gave us todays English word trump card as referred to in modern card games and the major arcana cards.

A young woman having her cards read. The reader is using a regular playing card deck, however, not a brightly illustrated deck of the tarot.

As the tarot gained popularity, numerous variations were created, often using the local noble families as subjects, as did the Visconti-Sforza deck. Until the origin of the printing press, tarot decks were almost always hand-painted, making them very expensive, accessible only to the upper classes. Once the printing press allowed for mass production, however, the popularity and use of the tarot spread widely throughout all walks of society.

The earliest tarot was still only used as a game. The tarots use in fortune telling did not come about until the late 1700s. Nevertheless, whether due to a reputed gambling connection as pure playing cards or a mystical use as in divining the future, the tarot has a long history of being viewed by the Christian church as representing evil.

From a modern perspective, the tarot has numerous uses, most of which have the purpose of encouraging self-knowledge and reflection. The beauty and lyricism of hundreds, and even thousands, of tarot decks illustrated throughout the last 600 years, as well as those currently in circulation and those yet to be designed and published, make them a unique art form. This book celebrates that art form.

The minor arcana consists of 56 cards. The major arcana consists of 22. In total, 78 cards make the deck. Both arcanas have significance in the divinatory art of numerology. The number of cards, 56, in the minor arcana equates to the master number 11 (5 + 6). Likewise, the master number 22 is the total number of cards in the major arcana. Numerology plays a key role in the meaning and interpretation of the tarot. Delving further into the numerological meaning of the tarot, the deck can be divided into three categories: the first is 21 numbered cards; the second is the single Fool card, which is ascribed the number 0; and the last is the 56 cards that make up the four suits of the minor arcana. The Fool links the two parts of the deck together by representing both the beginning and the end.

Lending even greater meaning to the trinity of the tarot, it can be viewed as representing the relationship between and among God, Man, and the Universe, or in other words, the relationship between and among the world of intangible consciousness, the world of tangible ideas, and the literalness of the physical and material world. This triad can be further interpreted as a metaphorical representation of the human soul as every individual encompasses each of the three elements, regardless of the individuals awareness of this reality. The complexity of the tarot therefore suggests its use is not as trivial as many have made it out to be; instead, the tarot offers a means of communicating between the physical and the spiritual worlds, both of which humans incorporate yet may not always understand.

The tarot is ultimately an amalgamation of myriads of esoteric beliefs built upon over the centuries. The Hermetic sciences include Kabbalah (Judaic mysticism), Alchemy, Astrology, and Magic. These sciences all seek to investigate the true nature of man and his relationship to the noumenal (spiritual) world as well as to the phenomenal world (i.e., what we can physically and visibly experience) through the analysis and divination of different mediums.

Astrology, for example, uses the galaxy and constellations, whereas Alchemy relies on the metals and elements. Each of these sciences, arts, or practices (however characterized) shares the belief that the sources of insight and enlightenment to which it uniquely subscribes hold the ultimate truth for mankind. This truth is hidden to the uninitiated. Each aims to initiate the uninitiated by shedding light on the ultimate truth about life and death and the implications for the soul of Man, both individually and as a single whole, in relationship to God and the universe.