User:Dr.Sosteric/Divinatory Tarot

This page is about the use of tarot cards for divinatory and esoteric/occult purposes. For other uses, see Tarot (disambiguation).

Introduction

Although many individuals, particularly those involved in occult and divinatory practices, go to great pains to trace the lineage of the Western tarot to ancient Egyptian antiquity and divine hermetic wisdom, the first intimations of Tarot only appear with reference to Pope John XXII (1248-1334), Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374) and Simone Martin. The Tarot deck first appeared in a complete form (trumps, suits, etc.) in the courtly circles of Northern Italy in the 15th century primarily for the purpose of gambling and card games.

There is some indication that a modified version of Tarot, the Tarocchino Bolognese, was used in cartomancy, but the oral tradition of the region has made it difficult to investigate. One of the earliest reference to Tarot triumphs, and probably the first reference to Tarot as the devil's picture book, is given by a Dominican preacher in a fiery sermon against the evils of the devil's instrument. References to the tarot as a social plague continue throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, with no indication that the cards were used for anything but games anywhere other than in Blogna. Tarot remained a simple card game for several centuries and only became widely associated with cartomancy after general cartomancy with normal playing cards became common in France. As Dummett (1980: 96) notes, "...it was only in the 1780s, when the practice of fortune-telling with regular playing cards had been well established for at least two decades, that anyone began to use the Tarot pack for cartomancy."

That the original Tarot deck was intended as nothing other than a game of cards, or a game of chance, did not prevent individuals from making it into something more than originally intended. From its humble uptake as an instrument of prophecy in France it went on to become a thing of hermeneutic, magical, mystical, semiotic, and even psychological importance. It became a tool for gypsies to tell fortunes, an "unsurpassed" means of communicating with supernatural entities,a Jungian psychological apparatus capable of tapping into “absolute knowledge in the unconscious,” an instrument capable of facilitating deep archetypal exegesis, and even a tool of therapeutic praxis capable of facilitating the Jungian process of Individuation. The career of the Italian tarot is remarkable in this regard, strains credulity, and raises key questions about the nature of the cards and their transformation into the bible of bibles that is has come to be.

The Occult Tarot

Founders

Four individuals stand out as the founding fathers of the widespread esoteric tarot (and tarot cartomancy). These individuals are Antoine Court de Gébelin, M[onsieur] le C[omte] de M.***, Etteilla, and Mlle Marie-Anne Adelaide Lenormand (1776-1843) (whose real name was Jean-Baptiste Alliette). Understanding the profound magical, mystical, semiotic, psychological, and archetypal significance of the Tarot requires us to understand the intersection of Tarot with 18th and 19th century occult as imprinted on the tarot. The modern occult tarot emerged at exactly the same time as the cartomantic tarot did and can be traced precisely to the publication of Le Monde Primitif, by Antoine Court de Gébelin, a Protestant pastor. Court de Gebelin's seminal book was published by private subscription several years after he became an active Freemason and member of the Lodge of the Neuf Soeurs. It is a massive opus, incomplete at nine volumes!. Most of the book is taken up promulgating a wholly speculative (and suspiciously Feudal and Christian) view of history that suggested there had once been a "golden age" (the age of the garden of Eden perhaps) in which "all men had shared a common language, common customs, a common culture and a common religion." According to Court this golden age was a reflection of "an eternal and immutable order, which unites heaven and earth, the body and the soul, the physical and the moral...."

The actual source of the occult tarot can be found in two articles in volume eight, published in 1781, of his magnum opus, one written by himself, and one written by M. le C. de M.***. In a section in that volume Court De Gébelin asserts that after seeing a group of women playing cards he was struck by the intuitive knowledge that the Tarot was not merely a game of cards but was in fact:

• of ancient Egyptian origin
• of mystical cabbalistic import
• of deep divine significance

In his essay Court de Gebelin notes that "Tar" means way and "Ro" means royal, that each of the twenty two major arcana are linked with the twenty two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and that the tarot is in fact a "book" of seventy-eight pages of mystical Egyptian revelation that only escaped the fires of Alexandria because Egyptian high priests had the fore site to hide its significance" (although why flames would ignore a normal deck of cards, and burn significant scholarship, remains an unexplained mystery).

The second essay in volume eight of Court de Gebelin's book, written by M le C de M.*** is noted to have been even more influential than Gebelin's. In that essay De M.***'s takes De Gebelin's speculations even further. Agreeing with him about the mystical origins of the Tarot in ancient Egypt De M.***'s makes several extremely influential statements that continue to influence the occult tarot. He:

• makes the first statement that the Tarot is in fact The Book of Thoth
• makes the first statement that the Tarot is associated with Gypsies (and that Gypsies where in fact roaming Egyptians!)
• makes the first association of Tarot with cartomancy

Finally, it was the proselytizing work of Etteilla that solidified the cartomantic and occult nature of the esoteric tarot. It was Etteille who:

• invented a method of tarot divination in 1783,
• published a cartomanic treatise of tarot as the Book of Thoth,
• created the first society for Tarot cartomancy, the Société littéraire des associés libres des interprètes du liver de Thot.
• created the first "corrected" Tarot (supposedly fixing errors that resulted from misinterpretation and corruption through the mists of antiquity), The Grand Ettielle deck
• created the first "Egyptian" tarot to be used exclusively for Tarot cartomancy
• published, under the imprint of his society, the Dictionnaire synonimique du Livere de Thot, a book that "systematically tabulated all the possible meanings which each card could bear, when upright and reversed." (Dummett, 1980: pp. 110).

Etteille made several rather outlandish claims about the Italian Tarot, further reinforcing its mystical import. Etteille:

• suggested that Tarot was repository of the wisdom of Hermes Trismegistus
• was a book of eternal medicine
• was an account of the creation of the world
• argued that the first copy of the tarot was imprinted on leaves of gold

Michel Dummett (1980) suggests that Etteilla was attempting to scoop Court De Gebelin as the "discoverer" of the occult tarot. Etteilla in fact claims to have been involved with Tarot longer than Court De Gebelin. It is likely that the exaggerated detail of the Tarot provided by Alliette was an attempt to assert his occult and historical importance.

The final founding figure is Mlle Marie-Anne Adelaide Lenormand. Lenormand outshone even Ettielle and was the first cartomancer to the "stars" (being the personal confidant of Empress_Josephine, Napolean and other important people). Lenormand used both regular playing cards, in particular the Piquet pack, as well as cards derived from Etteilla's egyptian root. She was so famous that a deck was published in her name, the Grand Jeu de Mlle Lenormand, two years after her death in 1843.

Forward into the Mysteries

The idea of the cards as a mystical key was further developed by Eliphas Lévi (1810-1875). Lévi (whose real name was Alphonse-Louise Constance) was educated in the seminary of Saint-Sulipice, was ordained as a deacon, but never became a priest. Lévi published several occult books including:

• 1855 Dogme de le haute magie
• 1856 Rituel de le haute magie (companion to Dogme de le haute magie)
• 1856 Dogme et rituel del Haute Magie (the 1855 and 1856 books in one volume)
• 1860 Historie de le Magie
• 1861 La Clé des grands mysteres
• 1865 La Science des esprites

Dummett (1980, pp. 114) notes that it is from Dogme et rituel that the "whole of the modern occultist movement stems." Lévi claims to have discovered a great secret, formerly hidden in ancient parables and esoteric obfuscation, and that secret is a Lux (light, or Astral light) that moves behind and is contained within all of reality. On the tarot, Lévi claimed to have "been the first to 'have discovered intact and still unknown this key of all doctrines and all philosophies of the old world'; 'without the Tarot', he tells us, 'the Magic of the ancients is a closed book....'" Dummett (1980, pp. 118). Lévi rejected Court de Gébelin's claims about an Egyptian origin of the deck symbols (going instead back to Tarot de Marseille, called it The Book of Hermes, suggested it had immense antiquity, that it existed long before Moses, and that is was in fact a universal key of erudition, philosophy, and magic that could (and would) unlock Hermetic and Cabbalistic mysteries. According to Lévi, "An imprisoned person with no other book than the Tarot, if he knew how to use it, could in a few years acquire universal knowledge, and would be able to speak on all subjects with unequalled learning and inexhaustible eloquence.

Notable contributions include:

• Lévi was the first to suggest that the Magus (Bagatto) was to work with the four suits (four elements) of the tarot: pentacles, swords, wands, and cups.
• Following the lead of de Gébelin, Lévi solidified the association of the luminal Hebrew alphabet with the Tarot keys (i.e. trumps)
• Lévi linked the ten numbered cards in each suit to the ten sefiroth or divine emanations.
• Suggested the court cards represented the stages of human life
• Suggested the four suites represented the Tetragrammaton or divine name.

After dismissing Lévi contribution to "magic" as the product of "an advanced state of intellectual deliquescent," he notes that Lévi's major contribution to the history of occult lore. Dummett (1980: 120). Occultists, magicians, and magus's all the way down to the 21st century have cited Lévi as a defining influence. This trend began immediately when Jean-Baptiste Pitois (1811), writing under the name Paul Christian, wrote L'Homme rouge (1863) and later Histoire del le magie, du monde surnaturel et de la fatalité à travers les temps et le peuples (1870). Christian repeats and extends the mythology of the tarot (i.e. egyptian origins, cabbalistic and astrological signifiance), and comes up with different names for the trumps and the suits (see table below for a list of Christian's modifications to the trumps). Batons (wands) become Scepters, Swords become Blades, and Coins become Shekels. Interestingly, Dummett (1980) singles out Christian's writing as one of the worst examples of what he calls "false ascription" to be found in the occult literature. False ascription is the process of invoking authoritative figures from a (real or mythical) past in order to lend authority to a specific text. Following Christian the occult tradition of tarot was carried by Ellic Howe and Marquis Stanislas de Guaita (1861-1897). Ellic Howe, under the name Ély Star published, in 1888, the book Mystères de l'horoscope. A section of the book is devoted to Tarot, however Star mostly repeats Christian's modifications. Star's primary contribution was the introduction of the terms 'major arcana' and 'minor arcana,' although he did number the Crocodile (the Fool) XXII instead of 0. In 1887 the Marquis Stanislas de Guaita met the amateur artist Oswald Wirth (1860-1943) and subsequently sponsored a production of Lévi's intended deck. Guided entirely by de Guaita's he Wirth designed the first neo-occultist cartomantic deck (and first cartomantic deck not derived from Ettielle's Egyptina deck). Known as the Arcanes du Tarot kabbalistique]] it consisted of only the twenty-two major arcana.

Through the Temple Door

Shortly before Oswald Wirth published his first deck, the Marquis Stanislas de Guaita formed the Cabalistic Order of the Rosy Cross (1988) along with Dr. Papus, François-Charles Barlet, and Joséphin Sar Péladan (1858-1918). Prior to this there had been a general decline and degeneration of occult secret brotherhoods but de Guaita's foundaion of the Rosy Cross Order rejuvenated the occult movement. This is a significant moment in the development of the occult tarot since it is at this point that the Tarot enters into the temple as an important aspect of ritual, in particular initiation. The association of Tarot with initiation was formalized by François-Charles Barlet whose 1889 essay Le Tarot initiatique give a interpretation of the trumps as an initiatory sequence chronicalling spiritual develoment from neophyte to adept.

Order of the Trumps

The following is a comparison of the order of the trumps up to and including the A.E. Waite deck. This table is under construction. Feel free to fill it in.

Tarot de Marseille	De Geblein	Etteilla's Egyptian Tarot	Paul Christian (divinatory meaning in bold)	Oswald Wirth	Golden Dawn	Book of Thoth (Crowley)
1 the Bateleur (Mountebank)	Example	Example	the Magus / Will	Magician	Example	Example	Example
2- the Popess	Example	Example	Gate of the (occult) Sanctuary / Knowledge	Priestess	Example	Example	Example
3- the Empress	Example	Example	Isis - Urania / Action	Empress	Example	Example	Example
4 - the Emperor	Example	Example	Cubic Stone / Realisation	Emperor	Example	Example	Example
5 - the Pope	Example	Example	Master of the Mysteries/Arcana / Occult Inspiration	Hierophant	Example	Example	Example
6 - Love or the Lovers	Example	Example	Two Roads / Ordeal	Lovers	Example	Example	Example
7 - the Chariot	Example	Example	Chariot of Osiris / Victory	Chariot	Example	Example
8 - Justice	Example	Example	Themis (Scales and Blade) / Equilibrium	Justice	Example	Example	Example
9 - the Hermit	Example	Example	the Veiled Lamp / Wisdom	Hermit	Example	Example
10 - Wheel of Fortune	Example	Example	the Sphinx / Fortune	Fortune	Example	Example	Example
11 - Fortitude	Example	Example	the Muzzled(tamed) Lion / Strength	Strength	Example	Example	Example
12 - the Hanged Man	Example	Example	The Sacrifice / Sacrifice	Hanged Man	Example	Example	Example
13 - Death	Example	Example	The Skeleton Reaper / Transformation	Death	Example	Example	Example
14 - Temperance	Example	Example	the Two Urns (the genius of the sun) / Initiative	Temperance	Example	Example	Example
15 - the Devil	Example	Example	Typhon / Fate	Devil	Example	Example
16 - the Tower	Example	Example	the Beheaded Tower (Lightning Struck) / Ruin	Tower	Example	Example	Example
17 - the Star	Example	Example	Star of the Magi / Hope	Star	Example	Example	Example
18 - the Moon	Example	Example	the Twilight / Deception	Moon	Example	Example	Example
19 - the Sun	Example	Example	the Blazing Light / (earthly) Happiness	Sun	Example	Example	Example
20 - Judgment	Example	Example	the Awakening of the Dead / Renewal	Judgement	Example	Example	Example
21 - the World	Example	Example	the Crown of the Magi / Reward	world	Example	Example	Example
Le Mat (Fool)	Example	Example	0 the Crocodile (between 20 and 21) / Expiation	Fool	Example	Example	Example

Rider Waite Smith Tarot

See also: Rider-Waite tarot deck

Many of the images of the Rider-Waite-Colman Smith (RWS or WCS) deck are derived from the Tarot de Marseille. However, the influence of other decks is also apparent in the RWCS deck, e.g., the 17th century Jacques Viéville deck for the Sun card and the 16th century Sola Busca deck for certain pip cards, notably the Three of Swords and Seven of Swords. The 19th century deck of Swiss-French occultist Oswald Wirth was also influential for certain of the iconographic features of the Atouts or major arcana cards of the RWCS deck. The Rider-Waite tarot deck has been extremely influential in the development of later divinatory tarot decks to the extent that many are called "Rider-Waite clones" to indicate that they are easily read by those familiar with Rider-Waite.

As a mnemonic device

Some schools of occult thought or symbolic study, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, regard the tarot as a textbook and mnemonic device for their teachings. This may be one cause of the word arcana being used to describe the two sections of the tarot deck: arcana is the plural form of the Latin word arcanum, meaning "closed" or "secret." Tarot is often used in conjunction with the study of the Hermetic Qabalah. In these decks all the cards are illustrated in accordance with Qabalistic principles, most being influenced by the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and bearing illustrated scenes on all the suit cards. The images on the Rider-Waite deck were drawn by artist Pamela Colman Smith, to the instructions of Christian mystic and occultist Arthur Edward Waite, and were originally published by the Rider Company in December 1909. This deck is considered a simple, user friendly one but nevertheless its imagery, especially in the Major Arcana, is complex and replete with esoteric symbolism. The subjects of the Major Arcana are based on those of the earliest decks, but have been significantly modified to reflect Waite and Smith's view of the Tarot. An important difference from Marseilles style decks is that Smith drew scenes with esoteric meanings on the suit cards. However the Rider-Waite was not the first deck to include completely illustrated suit cards. The first to do so was the 15th century Sola-Busca deck.

Tarot reading

Tarot reading revolves around the belief that the cards can be used to gain insight into the current and possible future situations of the subject (or querent), i.e. cartomancy. Some believe they are guided by a spiritual force, such as Gaia, while others believe the cards help them tap into a collective unconscious or their own creative, brainstorming subconscious. Though certain core themes persist seemingly unchanged, the divinatory meanings of the cards are derived from many sources and can vary significantly based on the time period and culture which produced the deck. It is generally accepted that the Reader is required to develop their own personal understanding of the meanings of the cards, using the commonly recognized meanings as a rough guide.

Common card interpretations

Though core themes and general meanings have remained unchanged for some cards, the tone and specific depiction of each card can vary wildly depending on the time period, culture, and personal interpretations of the Author/Artist. As a result and similar to most other systems of symbolism, the common meanings are intended to be a general guide to assist the individual in working out their own understanding.Each card has several meanings, and the reader determines which meaning to apply based on the card's location in the spread and which cards are turned up around it. Common sense is also used to discard meanings which have no relevance to the question asked.

Spreads

A Tarot reading typically starts with the reader (self or other) shuffling the deck, and is laid out in one of a variety of patterns called "spreads". This is then interpreted by the interpreter or "reader". The spreads generally cover the subject's thoughts and desires (known or unknown) or past, present, and future events. Each position in the spread is assigned a number, and the cards are turned over in that sequence, with each card being contemplated/interpreted before moving to the next, and in connection with neighbouring cards. Each position has an interpretation indicating what aspect of the question the card in that position is referring to.

Sometimes, before being dealt, the initial card in a spread is chosen to represent the querent or the question being asked, often from the major arcana. This card is called the significator and is removed from any further role in the spread. Some common spreads include:

Name	Description
Celtic Cross	This is probably the most common spread. Ten cards are used, with six arranged in a "cross" (with two in the middle), and four placed vertically beside it. The first and central card of the cross is frequently the significator and the second card crossing it, represents the context or conditions surrounding the question; or an obstacle they must face. A third card placed above the first two represents "hope" in relation to the question. The fourth card, placed below the first, is what the subject has already experienced. The fifth card, showing the past, is placed to the left of the first. The sixth card, to the right of the first, shows the influence that will come in the future. Then on the right of these cards is a "staff" of four cards, stacked from bottom to top: seven to ten. The seventh is the attitude of the question. The eighth card is how family or friends will influence the matter. The ninth shows hopes and fears in relation to the query and the final card is the "culmination card" which shows the outcome.
Horse-shoe	Another very common question spread. Seven cards are arranged in a semicircle or "V" shape. The cards, from left to right, represent the past, present, influences, obstacles, expectations (or hopes and fears), best course of action and likely outcomes. Some variations of this spread swap the expectations and inspiration cards around.
Three-card spread	Three cards are set left to right, with the first representing the past, the second the present, the third the future. Also known as "the norns".
Astrological spread	Twelve cards are spread in a circle to represent the 12 signs of the Zodiac. A 13th card is placed in the middle; often the significator.
One-card spread	A single card can constitute a spread – sometimes as insight to a matter; or a yes or no answer.
Tetractys	Ten cards arranged in a four-rowed pyramid. Each row represents earth, air, fire or water and each card within the row has a specific meaning. The single card in the top row is the significator.
Star spread	Starts in the lower left and follows the star pattern. The first place is what you see, the second, what is unseen, the third what you can change, the fourth what you cannot change and the fifth, what you can expect.
Mirror Spread	Works primarily on existing relationships, but can assess anything from a budding love affair to an established partnership. It often reveals inconsistencies between viewpoints — for example, if the cards at 2 and 3 contradict one another, there is need to reassess and readjust points of view, or take into account the input of the other person. Obstacles will sometimes produce very positive cards. The "probable result" card is drawn with circumstances as they currently are — but if changes recommended by the reading are effected, then this final card can change.
Love spread	A five-card reading: past, present, future, surveying the other person and obstacles or positives. It is a thorough reading to look at the influences of the past, the current situation, and how it may affect the future in relation to love; then comes future possibilities, and how to achieve them. The other person's traits and feelings are examined, and the positive or negative influences. It can elaborate on the people or person currently in your life, a person of the past, someone in the future, or possibilities surrounding these three.

Reversed cards

Some methods of interpreting the tarot consider cards to have different meanings depending on whether they appear upright or reversed. A reversed card is often interpreted to mean the opposite of its upright meaning. For instance, the Sun card upright may be associated with satisfaction, gratitude, health, happiness, strength, inspiration, and liberation; while in reverse, it may be interpreted to mean a lack of confidence and mild unhappiness. However, not all methods of card reading prescribe an opposite meaning to reversed cards. Some card readers will interpret a reversed card as either a more intense variation of the upright card, an undeveloped trait or an issue that requires greater attention. Other interpreters point out that card reversal is dependent on the order of the cards before shuffling, so is of little bearing in the scope of a reading.

Virtual tarot readings

Many software applications have been developed which generate automated tarot card readings – so-called "virtual tarot" readings. Both desktop and online software applications are available for doing virtual readings. Automated tarot readings typically invite the "reader" to type a question into the software application, and usually, to choose a tarot card spread, sometimes selecting a deck as well. The software application assigns a card to each position in the spread. Many applications offer interpretations for the cards selected during the reading, and sometimes a summary of what a given position in the tarot spread means.

Traditional tarot readings done with a physical deck rely on the idea that the reader is able to gain insight into the past, present or future through a personal connection to the tarot cards and querent. Similarly, virtual tarot software allow various levels of interaction between the human seeking answers and the software program generating the tarot reading. Some applications only allow the seeker to type in a question, and launch the automated reading by clicking a button. Other applications additionally allow the user to click on each card in the spread generated, at which time that card is revealed – mimicking the more traditional process of revealing each card by turning it over.

There are currently hundreds of virtual tarot reading software applications available.

External links

• Trionf.com Tarot Origin and History
• A Timeline of the Occult and Divinatory Tarot
• Sacred Texts website
• Biographies of leading occult tarot figures
• Early divination or "Egyptian" style tarot decks*

Occult Books

• The Tarot of the Bohemians by Papus

Decks

• Photos of many Tarot decks
• Exhaustive historical list of Tarot Decks
• Images from the Grand Etteille Deck
• [https://picasaweb.google.com/115231833407355800116/TarotEtteillaThothOuGrandOracleDesDames Images from the Grand Oracle des Dames, an early progeny of

Ettielle's Egyptian decks]

• Images from Lenormand's deck
• Oswald Wirth deck

Names

• Antoine Court de Gebelin (1719-1784) -active in masonic circles, Lodge of the Neuf Soeurs (1980)
• Eliphes Levi (Alphonse-Louise Constant).
• Etteilla -Alliette
• A.E. Waite,
• S.L Mathers (1854-1918)
• Mlle Marie-Anne Adelaide Lenormand (1772-1843)
• Jean-Baptiste Pitous (Paul Christian)
• Dion Fortune
• Marquis Stanislas de Guaita (1861-1897)
• Dr Papus
• Francois-Charles Barlet.
• Josephon Peladan (1858-1918)
• Oswald Wirth
• Ely Star
• Dr. Gerard Encausee

Category:Occult Category:Divination Category:Cartomancy Category:Hermeticism Category:Mysticism Category:New Age practices