Almost as fascinating and mysterious as the Tarot cards themselves is the mystery surrounding their historical origins and purpose.

The origin of the Tarot is uncertain.  Evidence shows that the first mention of it occurred in 1392.  The court records of King Charles IV of France (his reign was from 1322 to his death in 1328), say Jacquemin Gringoneur was paid money to produce three decks.  No one suspects though that Gringoneur was the sole creator of Tarot cards.  They were probably well known by the time the court requested their own copies.

How do we know that, you may ask?  First, it seems unlikely that one person could have created such an elaborate card system on a King’s whim.  It is so involved that there must have been a predecessor.  Second, the Marseilles deck, another famous set of Tarot cards that didn’t appear until the 17th century, is generally believed: by examining colours, design and costumes, to depict characters from the early 14th century.  These images predate Gringoneur’s cards.  So historians theorize that the Marseilles deck was copied from a much earlier one that has since disappeared.

So, the question remains; where did these tarot cards, and their design originate?

One of the most popular theories is that the Gypsies brought them to Western Europe.  This nomadic group is thought to have journeyed from ancient Egypt (thus the name “Gypsy” as it is considered to be a corrupt form of the word “Egyptian”) carrying the cards containing the wisdom of Egyptian mystics.  The trouble with this idea is that the Gypsies actually came from India and didn’t arrive in Western Europe until the 15th Century.  In other words, the cards got there first.

Some historians believe that the Tarot was a way for a persecuted people to record their beliefs without fear of discovery. It would  have been much easier to transport a deck of cards than a book.  It contained no words, only picutres, and was, therefore, able to pass on information in a society where few people could read.

“Ars memorativa” (the art of memory) is a philosophy stating that pictures arranged in a specific order can be used as memory devices (known as the study of mnemonics).  Break a story into sections; stanzas, verses, beads, or cards; with every fifth or tenth one containing a special image or marking, and it opens up entire avenues of hidden thought and memory.  The images would speak for themselves, so members of the persecuted group could maintain their cover.  The threat of punishment, imprisonment, or death was very real, and in the years before the cards first appeared, several groups; the Gnostics, Cathars and others, were considered heretics and executed for their beliefs, which ran contrary to the church’s doctrines.

Other students of the Tarot claim that a strong connection exists between the Tarot deck and the mystical Jewish book, the Kabbalah.  There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet (like the 22 cards of the Major Arcana in the Tarot), and each letter has its own special significance and position on the Tree of Life.   This Tree does not contain words but graphics; ten points that lead from new beginnings to the final Kingdom (much like the ten cards in each suit in the Minor Arcana).  The Kabbalah is undoubtedly an attempt to preserve knowledge, so many believe that the Tarot might have originated in the same way.

Could any of these groups have been responsible for creating the Tarot cards?  Whoever was, they did a fine job of hiding their tracks and throwing pursuers off their trail.

The earliest known “book” of Tarot cards still in existence dates back to the early 1840’s; seventeen of these antique cards still remain.  The first entire deck still in existence was painted by the Italian artist Bonifacio Bembo for the Duke of Milan.

The three decks that Gringoneur painted for the King of France, as well as the Visconti deck created thirty years later by Bonifacio Bembo, were used for entertainment purposes.  It is said that they were called the Tarot because there was a card game popular in Italy in the early 15th century (the time of Bembo’s design) called the Tarocchi.

Playing cards – roots in the Tarot

Take a look at the playing cards of today.  Do you see any similarities to the Tarot deck?  The 22 cards of the Major Arcana have disappeared, but the four suits of the Minor Arcana are still in use; Wands became clubs, Pentacles became diamonds, Swords became spades, and Cups became hearts.  The fool has been transformed into the Joker and the Page and Knight have combined to form the Jack.  If you’ve ever seen Italian playing cards you will have noticed an even stronger resemblance.  The deck is much smaller, but the original suit of Wands, Cups, Swords and Discks (Pentacles) remain.

As early as 1420, card games, gambling, and fortune-telling started to be denounced as “tools of Satan” by the Church. It was about this time that the Tarot came to be associated with Gypsies, and fortune-telling.  Fear of persecuton had people begin to distance themselves from this unrespectable pastime, and thus during the Middle Ages the Tarot went underground.   Yet despite this, the knowledge contained in the Tarot continued to be passed down in secret, until interest in the cards surfaced again during the Renaissance.

It wasn’t until the 18th century, when mystical groups such as the Masons and the Rosicrucians began to study the Tarot in earnest, that there was little public mention of the cards except in connection with Gypsies.  However, even though it was considered immoral or indecent, people still sought out fortune-tellers, sometimes calling them to their homes for readings.  It was as irresistible then, as it is now.

The study of Tarot reached a new level in the 19th century when a French Rosicrucian named Eliphas Levi discovered the connection between the Tarot and the Kabbalah.  Interest in the Tarot continued to grow and reached a new peak in 1888 when The Order of the Golden Dawn was founded in England.  This group formed to study occult (“occult” simply means hidden) and mystical arts. Its existence was short; only fifteen years, but its impact was impressive.  A.E. Waite (who devised the Waite deck drawn by Pamela Colman-Smith, which is still one of the most popular decks around today), was a member, as were many important Tarot scholars that we know today, such as:  Paul Foster Case and Aleister Crowley to name a couple.  The Order claimed to have access to secret oral traditions and the keys to understanding the Tarot.  New decks using ancient symbols and designs were created and made accessible to the public.  It was largely through the effort and education of these men and women that the Tarot moved into public consciousness.

As the years passed, more people picked up the Tarot for divination, self-illumination and exploration.  Although the language may have been altered somewhat, and numerous designs and specialized decks have appeared, the message has remained the same, and the mysterious appeal has not been lost.