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ZEN AND THE ART OF TAROT READING

Although there are countless recipes and explanatory systems of the Tarot, I sense more and more how the art of reading the tarot is independent of them. These systems may be of two kinds - they may be either extrinsical to the cards, as is the Qabalah, numerology, nineteenth century western occultism, the follies of Crowley and his Thelema (which is a shameless copy of the work of a true initiate, François Rabelais, 16th century, especially the last chapters of La vie très horrificque du grand Gargantua), or they may be systems of an intrinsical nature, exemplified by the contemporary French trend of analysing the pictorial details of a specific deck held as initiatory (the Conver deck, 18th century, Marseille). These French authors find that all the details of this deck are extremely meaningful. If we were psyquiatrists, we could easily classify the first group as paranoids, and the second as obsessives.

The first group was sufficiently dealt with by authors such as Michael Dummett, Cynthia Giles and also by Brazilian author Nei Naiff; it remains for us to do the critical analysis, although brief, of the second. To elect a specific deck as the initiatory deck is at least naive, and to suppose that therefore all its pictorial details are terribly important would only be justified if the first hypothesis was confirmed, that is, that the printer Conver (and not Dodal or Noblet, who manufactured decks of the same genre some time earlier) was a great initiate. All things considered, it's the old myth à la Papus/Lévi that the Tarot cryptically contained the sum total of some initiatory wisdom. This is yet another romantic hypothesis that has not been proved by historical research.

What is not perceived is that what structures divination, divinatory art, is something much simpler, something almost mathematical. We only need base-elements (stones, seashells, cards, coffee grains, astrological units), a combinatory procedure between them (yielding geomantic figures, spreads, horary astrology charts), and more or less consensual rules of how to make the interpretation of both the base-elements and the licit combinations (or combination families). The question that naturally springs to mind at this point is: but how does it work? If it is only a combinatory system, how can it give existentially meaningful answers to our queries? Jung and Pauling came close to the answer with their sinchronicity principle, but the problem is that this principle is for these authors more of a postulate, a raw evidence. In my opinion this principle is grounded upon something else, something wider.

This someting is the Tao. The Tarot, indeed all divination, "works" for it taps the cosmic moment, the amorphous flux of the world, flux in itself devoid of any definible structure. At the heart of the Tarot lies Magic, this capacity that we have to consciously commune (as in the Holy Mass) with the flux of the world. Consciously, for we are in communion all the time, even if we are unaware of it usually. This flux, and the Tarot that partially translates it, dissolves both individualities and a rigid sense of temporality. There's only this flux, and it is not rational or especially understandable by our mind. The only part of us that is capable of understanding it is the "heart" (in Zen Buddhism named Heart-Mind), for this "heart" (it is not common affectivity that is aluded here) is the Whole, is Buddha-Mind itself. In this sense, the practice of Tarot reading is Zen practice, is a mystical and contemplative endeavor.

Master Tokusan (742-865) is seated in zazen at the riverside. A disciple arrives and, drawing closer, asks:

"Good afternoon, Master! How do you do?"

Tokusan stops his zazen and with his fan makes a sign to the disciple: "Come... Come!" And gets up, and starts walking by the riverside, slowly, silently, following the course of the waters...

The disciple, at this moment, obtains satori, supreme enlightenment.

Note: One of the implications of what I wrote is the concept of divinatory machines. These machines work even with an unexperienced operator that has casually learned the rudimentary meaning of its base-elements. We can even think of divinatory machines working without an operator. Such is the case of Astrology in my opinion, as its base-elements are being continually 'spread' in the sky without any human operator. As the great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa wrote, "All is symbol".

Note's Note: My use of the term 'machine' is a metaphor for the functioning of the Universe, it is not intended to designate machines properly. The Universe is 'something' that possesses the attribute of symbolic auto-reference, that is, a given object of the Universe, besides being itself, symbolizes another issue or object within the Cosmos. Example: the planet Mars is... the planet Mars, itself, is 'the sign of itself'... Besides that, astrologically this planet will symbolize a number of other things in the charts of different persons, it may indicate events or specific individuals. Hence Fernando Pessoa, 'All is Symbol'. By the way, it is likely that the poet took this phrase from a French Masonic ritual. The Universe is therefore a great mirror house, made up of Monads if we would use Leibniz's terminology (the latter was profoundly versed in esoteric and alchemical literature, as was Newton... no wonder René Guénon wrote Les Principes du Calcul Infinitésimal, showing the metaphysical and esoteric basis of this mathematical discipline); or we can use the old and Gnostic alchemical adage from the Emerald Table: "What is Above is as what is Below, to accomplish the Perfection of the One". Each age has its own language, and it is for this reason that I used the term 'machine', which is in my context a neologism.

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"No one knows who created Tarot, or where, or when.

No one knows what that word means or what language it comes from.

Nor is it known whether playing cards come from it or whether it is the end result of a slow evolution which would have begun with the creation of a deck called naïbbe (cards) to which the MAJOR ARCANA and the COURT CARDS would have later been added.

Unquestionably the earliest reference mark is the interdiction of the deck of cards in Berne in 1376. In 1392, it is mentioned in the books of Charles Peupart, treasurer of Charles VI, that Jacquemin Gringonneur of Paris was paid 56 pence to paint three gilded decks of cards. But that does not mean that Gringonneur invented Tarot.

In 1377, a German monk named Johannes mentions a deck of cards which he saw in Switzerland. In Spain, the deck of cards is first mentioned in 1378.

In 1457, Saint Anthony refers to Tarot in his "Treatise on theology". And in 1500, a Latin manuscript - Sermones de ludo cum aliis - comprises a list of the MAJOR ARCANA.

Until the 18th century, Tarot is thought of as a game of chance and its deeper meaning goes unnoticed. Its features are copied, modified, mutilated, embellished, adorned with portraits of the nobility, they serve the court's ostentation. But in 1781, French author Court de Gébelin rediscovers the Tarot (of Marseilles) and presents it in the ninth volume of his "Primitive World". Adding a zero to Le Mat (the Fool), misnumbering the Hermit and Temperance, adding a leg to the Magician's table, modifying the Pope's scepter, drawing the Hanged Man standing up, etc., he thus claims to correct the "mistake" of the original and, ignoring his own inaccuracies, attributes to Tarot a purely invented origin: the 22 MAJOR ARCANA would be hieroglyphs from the "Book of Thoth" saved from the ruins of Egyptian temples over a thousand years ago...

Ten years later, a soothsayer in vogue, the barber Eteilla "restores" the "meaning" of the Tarot of Marseilles and sets between his whimsical Arcana no less whimsical links with Astrology and Kabbala. Since then, thousands of books have been written to the effect that Tarot comes from the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, the Hebrews, the Arabs, the Hindus, the Greeks, the Chinese, the Mayas, Extraterrestrials, Superhumans, when one does not evoke Atlantis or Adam himself, suspected of having designed the first sketches! The word TAROT would be Egyptian (TAR path; RO, ROS, ROB: royal), Indo-Tartar (TAN-TARA: zodiac) Hebrew (TORA: law), Latin (ROTA: wheel; ORAT: he speaks), Sanskrit ( TAT: the whole; TAR-O: fixed star), Chinese (TAO), etc.

Various ethnic and religious groups, various secret societies have claimed authorship: Gypsies, Jews, Freemasons, Rosicrucians, Sufis... Influences from the Gospel and Revelation can be seen (in cards such as the WORLD, the HANGED MAN, the EMPRESS, JUSTICE, TEMPERANCE, STRENGTH, The DEVIL, The POPE, JUDGMENT), as well as Tantric teachings, the "I Ching" and the Aztec Solar Calendar. Some see Tarot as being alchemical, cabalistic, astrological, arithmomancean. Every society, every esoteric group, every branch of magic, every Initiate, every nationality, every artist then feels the need to finally paint the real Tarot...

In the past two hundred years, over seven thousand new decks have appeared! Hundreds of ancient cards saved from libraries in order to retrieve the original cards! Out of this entanglement of limited, naive, fanciful, mercantile, pseudo-historic, romantic, schizophrenic, conceited or mitigated interpretations, out of this superposition of dogmatisms and Systems, finally springs the TAROT OF MARSEILLES, an authentic monument, anonymous as is all sacred art..."

Alejandro JODOROWSKY

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THE TAROTL
TAROT HISTORY INFORMATION SHEET
by members of the TarotL discussion group (http://www.egroups.com/group/TarotL/)
(Mary K. Greer, Tom Tadfor Little, Nina Lee Braden, Linda Dunn, Mark Filipas,
Robert V. O'Neill, Christine Payne-Towler, Robert Place, James Revak, and others)
Compiled and edited by Tom Tadfor Little

Introduction

Many things (true, false, and speculative) have been written about the history of the tarot. This sheet addresses some oft-repeated statements about the tarot that may seem like historical fact, but are actually without basis in the evidence presently available. This is not to say that there is no room for speculative or non-factual stories about the tarot. Myths and lore express the human soul and creativity. These myths tell us much about the significance tarot has on an inspirational growth level. They speak an inner truth that is, at times, more personally true than external facts. However, both history and myth may suffer when the two become confused.

The information given here consists mostly of conclusions that recent tarot historians have drawn from studying the evidence of written documents and cards that have come down to us. Other interpretations might be drawn from the same body of evidence. Readers interested in examining the evidence for themselves and drawing their own conclusions are directed to the references listed at the end of this sheet for useful starting places. Readers should also be aware of the limitations of relying on documentary evidence alone. Although written records are our most reliable contact with centuries past, they do not preserve everything that people thought or did, especially pertaining to an aspect of popular culture, such as the tarot.

The information on this sheet may be freely used, although direct quotations must be credited and an acknowledgement would be appreciated if you found this sheet especially useful. Permission is granted to photocopy for educational, nonprofit uses.

Topic: The time and place of the origin of the tarot

Inaccurate: The tarot comes from Egypt; India; China; Fez, Morocco; the Sufis; the Cathars; Jewish Kabbalists or Moses; or the origin of the tarot is unknown.

Current Historical Understanding: The tarot originated in northern Italy early in the 15th century (1420-1440). There is no evidence for it originating in any other time or place. The earliest extant cards are lavish hand-painted decks from the courts of the nobility.

Topic: The origin of the word "tarot"

Inaccurate: The word is Egyptian, Hebrew, or Latin; it is an anagram; it holds the key to the mystery of the cards.

Current Historical Understanding: The earliest names for the tarot are all Italian. Originally the cards were called carte da trionfi (cards of the triumphs). Around 1530 (about 100 years after the origin of the cards), the word tarocchi (singular tarocco) begins to be used to distinguish them from a new game of triumphs or trumps then being played with ordinary playing cards. The etymology of this new word is not known. The German form is tarock, the French form is tarot. Even if the etymology were known, it would probably not tell us much about the idea behind the cards, since it only came into use 100 years after they first appeared.

Topic: The cultural source of the tarot symbols

Inaccurate: The symbolism of the trumps comes from Egypt (or India, or other exotic locale).

Current Historical Understanding: The symbolism of the trumps is drawn from the culture of Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Most tarot subjects are distinctive to European Christendom. Illustrations virtually identical to each of the tarot subjects can be found in European art, and such precise analogs are not found in other cultures.

Topic: The gypsies and tarot

Inaccurate: The gypsies brought the tarot to Europe and spread its use.

Current Historical Understanding: This idea was popularized in the 19th century by several writers, notably Vaillant and Papus, without any basis in historical fact. There is no evidence that the Rom (gypsies) used tarot cards until the 20th century. Most of their fortune-telling was through palmistry and later through the use of ordinary playing cards.

Topic: Relationship between tarot and ordinary playing cards

Inaccurate: The 52-card deck evolved from the tarot, leaving the Joker as the only remnant of the major arcana.

Current Historical Understanding: Playing cards came to Europe from Islam, probably via Muslim Spain, about 50 years before the development of tarot. They appeared quite suddenly in many different European cities between 1375 and 1378. European playing cards were an adaptation of the Islamic Mamluk cards. These early cards had suits of cups, swords, coins, and polo sticks (seen by Europeans as staves), and courts consisting of a king and two male underlings. The tarot adds the Fool, the trumps, and a set of queens to this system. Some time before 1480, the French introduced cards with the now-familiar suits of hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds. The earlier suits are still preserved in the tarot and in Italian and Spanish playing cards.

The Joker originated in the United States around 1857, used as a wild card in poker and as the highest trump in Euchre. It appears to have no direct relationship to the Fool of the tarot.

Topic: The "Charles VI" or "Gringonneur" tarot cards

Inaccurate: The tarot was invented to amuse Charles VI of France in 1392, as evidenced by a deck by Gringonneur in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

Current Historical Understanding: A record exists from 1392 in which Jacquemin Gringonneur was paid to paint a deck of cards for Charles VI. This was probably a set of playing cards, not tarot. The deck in the Bibliothèque Nationale is a late-15th century hand-painted deck of the Northern Italian type (probably from Venice or Ferrara).

Topic: Tarot and the Hebrew Alphabet

Inaccurate: Eliphas Lévi (c. 1850) was the first to ascribe Hebrew letters to the tarot.

Current Historical Understanding: The Comte de Mellet, whose short article on the tarot was published in Court de Gébelin's Le Monde Primitif (1781), was the first to write of a connection between the Hebrew letters and the cards. Court de Gébelin also mentioned the idea in passing in his own essay.

Topic: Tarot censored by the church

Inaccurate: The Catholic and Protestant churches outlawed tarot and all who used it in an effort to stamp out either heretical teachings or a work of the Devil.

Current Historical Understanding: The Inquisition documented in considerable detail what the church regarded as evidence of heresy and the tarot is never mentioned.
Many printers made their living printing both religious cards and playing cards.

Playing cards were sometimes restricted or outlawed because of their use in gambling. Tarot cards were, in fact, sometimes explicitly exempted from bans on playing cards, perhaps because of their association with the upper classes. In 1423, playing cards (tarot cards were not mentioned) were among many things thrown on the fires in Bologna by followers of Bernadino of Sienna during an attack against all studies and pastimes not focused on religion.

After the Reformation, the church did object to the cards depicting the Pope and Papess, and cardmakers substituted less controversial images.

Topic: Original use of tarot cards

Inaccurate: The tarot was originally used for divination/magic/teaching secret doctrines/etc.

Current Historical Understanding: Written records tell that the tarot was regularly used to play a card game similar to Bridge. The game was popular throughout much of Europe for centuries and is still played today, particularly in France. Early poets also used the titles of the trump cards to create flattering verses, called tarocchi appropriati, describing ladies of the court or famous personages. Although it is possible that tarot cards might also have been sometimes used for other purposes, there is no clear evidence of such use until long after the cards were invented.

Records from a trial in Venice in 1589 suggest that tarot may have been associated with witchcraft (at least in the minds of the accusers) at this date, about 150 years after the appearance of the tarot. After this, there are no references connecting tarot with magic or divination until the 18th century. (See also next three questions.)

Topic: Tarot and divination

Inaccurate: Tarot was not used for divination before Etteilla and Court de Gébelin around 1781.

Current Historical Understanding: There is evidence of such use, but it is fragmentary and suggestive rather than conclusive. Tarot was used as early as the 16th century to compose poems describing personality characteristics (tarocchi appropriati). In one case (1527), the verses are presented as relating to the person's fate. There are records of divinatory meanings assigned to tarot cards in Bologna early in the 1700s. This is the first unambiguous evidence of tarot divination as it is commonly understood. However, it is known that ordinary playing cards were connected with divination as early as 1487, so it is reasonable to conjecture that tarot was also. From the 1790s with Etteilla's deck we find tarot design being modified specifically to reflect divinatory and esoteric meanings.

Topic: Occult philosophy and the original design of the tarot

Inaccurate: There are no hermetic, heretical, or kabbalistic characteristics in the original tarot.

Current Historical Understanding: This topic is still open. The early Italian Renaissance, which gave birth to the tarot, was a time of great intellectual diversity and activity. Hermeticism, astrology, Neoplatonism, Pythagorean philosophy with roots in Alexandrian Egypt, and heterodox Christian thought all thrived. Any or all of these may have left their mark on the design of the tarot.

Although it should be remembered that all of the symbolism of the tarot has close analogs in the conventional Christian culture of the time, many scholars today believe that these philosophies, which are foundations of occultism, were important in the design of the tarot.

Topic: Tarot and the western esoteric tradition

Inaccurate: The tarot has always been a pillar of the western esoteric tradition.

Current Historical Understanding: The first occult writers to discuss the tarot were Court de Gébelin and the Comte de Mellet in 1781. For the first 350 years of its history, the tarot was not mentioned in any of the many books on occult or magical philosophy. Following 1781, occult interest in tarot blossomed and the tarot then became an integral part of occult philosophy.

Topic: Astrological, elemental, and kabbalistic correspondences

Inaccurate: The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (or Eliphas Lévi, Papus, Zain, Case, etc.) knew the true astrological, elemental, and Kabbalistic correspondences to the Tarot and corrected previous errors.

Current Historical Understanding: There are many, many systems of correspondences for the tarot. None can be shown to go back to the tarot's origins, although the French tradition exemplified in the works of Eliphas Lévi predates the English tradition now familiar through the works of Waite and Crowley. Most sets of correspondences have a rationale and system that make them meaningful and useful when studied within their own tradition. Correspondences are a matter of individual choice and of intention or adherence to a school of thought rather than right or wrong.

Topic: The Waite-Smith Tarot

Inaccurate: The Waite-Smith (or "Rider Waite") Tarot is the original, standard, or most authentic tarot.

Current Historical Understanding: The Waite-Smith deck was created in 1909, making it a relative newcomer in the almost-600-year history of the tarot. A. E. Waite was a prominent member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The deck owes much of its symbolism to that group and represents a departure from the earlier French tradition. The artist, Pamela Colman Smith, contributed her own vision, especially in the innovative creation of fully illustrated scenes for the minor arcana. For many years, the Waite-Smith deck was the only one readily available in the US, so it became familiar to whole generations of tarot readers. There is actually no "definitive" version of the tarot.

The well-known Celtic Cross spread, publicized by Waite as "an ancient Celtic method of divination" is also relatively recent, although it was not invented by Waite.

Some things to be careful of when writing about tarot history

The terms "major arcana", "minor arcana", "High Priestess", and "Hierophant" are anachronistic when referring to the older tarot decks. The historically appropriate terms are "the trumps and the Fool" (the Fool was not usually regarded as a trump), "the suit cards", "Papess" or "Popess", and "Pope". Likewise "pentacles" and "wands" are relatively recent substitutions for the traditional suit names of "coins" and "staves" or "batons".

The original Italian titles of the cards were in some cases different from the later French titles (and their English translations) that have become familiar to us through the Tarot de Marseille and its descendants. Also, the ordering of the trumps varied considerably in Italy where the cards originated; it is not known which ordering is the earliest one. Even the number of cards in the deck varied a great deal! So care should be used in making statements about the original meaning of the cards based on the familiar titles and ordering.

The intention of the original designer(s) of the tarot in selecting the symbols for the trump cards is unknown, although there are many conjectures, some more plausible than others. Writers should avoid giving the impression that the intention is known or obvious.

Copyright 2000 members of TarotL

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