Yes or No Tarot Reading

A short history of the Tarot

Tarot is probably one of the most widely used divination tools in the world. Although it is not as simple as other methods such as the pendulum, the Tarot has been immersing people in its magic for centuries.

Even if you're not familiar with tarot readings, you've probably seen one of the most common decks, the famous Rider-Waite that has been in print since 1909. It was named after the publisher William Rider and the popular mystic AE Waite. There is also the Tarot de Marseille which probably originated in the 17th century and is very common.

The origin of the Tarot is not very clear. Some say it originated with the Cathars, others with the Sufis or even the gypsies or the Jewish Kabbalists, not to mention the Egyptians. But all the evidence indicates that it appeared in the early 1400s in northern Italy.

It became extraordinarily popular, especially among the upper classes. Then the game gradually spread to northern Italy and eastern France. Modifications were often made to the images and the ranking of the trumps. With time, the game could be found as far away as Sicily and even in Austria, Germany, etc...

The first names given to the card game are all Italian. It was initially known as "carte da trionfi". Then the word "tarocchi" started to be used in Italy, while the Germans used the word "tarock" and the French said "Tarot".

The earliest treatise on the use of Tarot for divination seems to have appeared in Italy around 1540, but the first unambiguous evidence of its use for divinatory purposes can be seen in Bologna in the early 1700s. However, we also know that ordinary playing cards were used for divination as early as 1487, so it is reasonable to assume that Tarot was also used for divination.

In 1781, a French Freemason, Antoine Court de Gebelin, published a complex analysis of the Tarot. In it, he reveals that the symbolism of the deck is actually derived from the esoteric secrets of the Egyptian priests. In his essay, the chapter on the meaning of the Tarot explains the symbolism of the Tarot and connects it to Isis, Osiris and other Egyptian gods. The problem with Gebelin's work is that there is no real historical evidence to support it. But in the early 19th century, decks such as the Tarot de Marseille were produced that took Gebelin's analysis into account.

Over the centuries, the Tarot evolved into the Tarot we know today in its various forms.