The Complete Illustrated Guide to Tarot [Complete Numbers Starting with 1, 1st Ed] 0760714576, 9780760714577

How to unlock the secrets of the Tarot. Written by one of the leading experts in the field, this compelling book will pr

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The Complete Illustrated Guide to Tarot [Complete Numbers Starting with 1, 1st Ed]
 0760714576, 9780760714577

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THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO

TAROT THE FOOl.^- THE MOON THE EMPEROR

THE HIEROPHANT JUDCMENT

Bi

How to Unlock the Secrets of the Tarot

' ' L-« Si

^

t 1

lJsin- a (l('(•|< !.TL/. \ XA-WI

ABOVE The

Even more significant to Gertrude

HiiflHitanhusfwstgn

Moakley’s theory, the word “trump”

for the lowest. Conditions of Man, A for the

for

highest.

the

22

Major Arcana

cards

Firmaments

of

the

Universe

probably comes from the Italian word

(compare the Tarot Major Arcana, which

trionf or “triumph.” In the popular

begin with the simple Fool and end with the

card game tarocchi, the trumps, or

World). Within each group the cards are

trionfii, literally triumph over the

ranked by number so that the entire deck

lesser suit cards of the Minor Arcana.

can work as a game. If so, the game instructs

Two

variations

on

Tarot

images

on a very deep level.

demonstrate the symbolic quality of the

The second variation on Tarot images

cards in their early days. The Tarocchi dei

actually comes much later than the first

raises its moral and

Mantegna (Tarot of Mantegna), a set of 50

known decks. However, its roots go back as

spiritual lessons to

“cards” (actually prints) from around 1470,

much as 2,000 years. This is the tradition of

just 20 years after the Visconti-Sforza Tarot,

alchemy, which came to its full flower

is both a game and a set of lessons in moral,

throughout Europe in the 17th century.

Mantegna Tarot's graceful Renaissance art

high sophistication.

ABOVE RIGHT

In the Middle Ages the King of Fools gave life to the symbols of anarchy, releasing social tensions in carnivals.

artistic, spiritual, mythological, and even

Alchemy describes physical processes

cosmic ideas. The name comes from the

intended to transform “base metals,” such as

painter Andrea Mantegna, long thought

lead, into gold. A close reading of these

(mistakenly) to be the creator of the deck.

processes and their texts makes it clear that

The 50 cards divide into five series that

the alchemists also sought to transform

depict the “Conditions of Man,” “Apollo

themselves, to

and the Muses,

Liberal Arts,” “Cosmic

flawed humanity and unite with the divine,

Principles,” and “the Firmaments of the

and even to become immortal. As one way

Universe.” The cards are lettered by group, E

to

26

express

burn off” their ordinary,

their

symbolic

truths

the

HISTORICAL

Papess by

followed

the

Empress

KNOWLEDGE

LEFT Alchemical

Tarots have been created using 17th-

and Emperor, two

century images.

pairs of male and female. It is true that in

many

cultural

traditions, including alchemy,

male

and

female symbolize such basic qualities as light and dark, action and stillness,

reason

and

alchemists produced a large number of

intuition, spirit and matter. Unlike the

beautiful and mysterious works of art. Many

ordinary person, who accepts that such

of these alchemical prints greatly resemble

things will always remain far apart and are

the standard imagery of Ikrot cards, so much

not capable of unification, the occultist seeks

so that at least four or five modern artists

to unite them within the self and so

have produced “Alchemical Tarots,” either

overcome

through

17th-century

existence. Many alchemical prints of the

pictures, or by painting their own works

17th century portrayed the perfect being as a

based on alchemical designs.

“crowmed hermaphrodite.” We find this

reproduction

of

source

for

of ordinary

as the dancer on the World card.

pictures in the popular game of Tarot a

limitations

same image represented in some Tarot decks,

Did the 17th century alchemists use the

as

the

their

symbolism? Or did they both draw on a common underground source for their

symbolism?

15th-century

The

Vhsconti-

LEFT The

Hermaphroditic

Sforza card of the Hermit

World dancer like

in fact depicts an alchemist

the Alchemical

at work in his laboratory.

perfect being celebrates the

The occult tradition of

many wonders

Tarot interpretation points out

the

duality

importance in

the

of existence.

of

Major

Arcana. The deck begins

THE WORLD LE MONDE

with the Magician and the

27

ORIGINS

AND

HISTORY

Heresies

OME

RIGHT Eliphas

OF

THE

TAROT

The

images suggest a possible

suggest

connection to underground

origin for the Tarot was

heresies.

very

none other than Arthur

beginnings, the orthodox

Edward Waite, who was the

Church battled a heresy

designer of the Rider Tarot.

known as Gnosticism. The

Curiously, Waite suggested

word ‘''gnosis”

this idea as a satire on the

From

its

means,

in

first an

person

to

Albigensian

fact, “knowledge,” and the

many

fearsome image

Gnostic Christians believed

origin theories. He said, in

of Baphomet, a

that the world we know is

effect, “We’ve got so many

an illusion, or a prison,

wild ideas, why not the

designed to keep us from

Albigensians?” As Robert

our divine reality. When we

O’Neill, author of Tarot

acquire the knowledge of

Symbolism, points out, we

our true selves we will cast

can

Levi drew this

outlandish

Tarot

demon supposedly vv'orshiped by the Knights Templar

BELOW RIGHT

Baphomet, and

off the illusion and liberate

r

never be sure with

Waite whether a joke is just

the pure spirit within us.

a joke. The occultists of

of the Greek goat-

These very concepts have

that time often concealed

god Pan, inspired

become incorporated into

their true meaning behind

often seen in the

the esoteric tradition of the

disguises. And he might

Tarot Devil.

Tarot itself

have put the idea flippantly

the earlier figure

the demon so

Possibly, just possibly,

only because he knew he

the Gnostic traditions

had not properly researched

influenced the Tarot

it. Waite cites a scholar

images from their very

named

beginnings.

biblical

times

but it continued all

Bayley,

whose article A New Light

Gnosticism began in

Harold

Cast on

THE DEVIL

the Renaissance

argued that the Renaissance actually began in France,

the way into the Middle Ages and

with the Albigensians. Waite wrote that if

the Renaissance.

Bayley had known the Tarot he might have

In southern France and Italy, in

identified Gnostic elements in the cards.

the centuries that preceded the Renaissance

Bayley himself went on to write that in the

Templar suggests

period, the Church ordered the extermination

13th century and later, the Cathars and

their secretiveness

of entire communities in order to stamp out a

Albigensians infiltrated the papermakers and

of religious service

Gnostic sect known as the Cathars in Italy

printing guilds, the very people who would

and military force.

and the Albigensians in France.

make the Tarot decks.

ABOVE This artist’s

view of the Knights

as well as their mix

28

HERESIES

Related to the Gnostic theory, another theory

suggests

that

it

was

not

from King Philip IV of France (who feared

just

the Templars’ money and power) dissolved

anonymous knights who brought cards to j the order in 1311, long before the first Europe, but in fact the Knights Templar, a

known Tarot decks.

strange and secret order of warrior monks. Originally formed

in

1118

to

Still, they may have brought dualist or

protect

occult ideas to Europe. The popular image

Christian pilgrims in Palestine, the Templars

of the Devil in the Tarot, a goat-headed —

became wealthy, powerful, and — possibly -

and hermaphroditic — demon, derives partly

involved in occultism, magic, and Gnostic

from

dualism. Pope Clement V, under pressure

worshiped by the Knights Templar.

“Baphomet,”

an

idol

supposedly

THE FEMALE POPE One particular trump card suggests a more

attendant priests and became pregnant by

specific heresy.This is the Papess, or female

him.Though she disguised the pregnancy

pope (in modern decks the High Priestess).

itself, she went into labor and gave birth

source, the picture

Throughout the late Middle Ages and into

during an Easter procession. Enraged at such

of a female pope

modern times (including at least two recent

a sacrilege, the crowds supposedly tore Pope

challenges the all-

novels), a legend persisted that a woman

Joan to pieces. This elaborate story probably never

once became pope, Known as Pope Joan,

happened. However; the idea of a female pope

she disguised herself as a man when young

LEFT Whatever its

maie authority of the Catholic Church.

and became a priest. Overtime, she rose to

returns us to the Gnostics, for; among their

bishop, then cardinal, and finally pope,

other differences with the orthodox Church,

"Papess" from the

taking the name of Johannes, or John.Those

the Gnostic groups ordained women as

Visconti-Sforza

who consider this a true story maintain that

priests. And, in the late I 3th century, a

Tarot.

after the pope’s death, when the Church

woman named Guglielma of Bohemia

discovered the truth, it wiped out the

established a sect known as the Guglielmites. Guglielma taught that

historical record,The legend gives

Christ would return in the year I 300

a more colorful end to Joan's reign. According to

and create a new world in which

the story, she fell in love

women would rule as popes.The Guglielmites even chose the first

with one of her

woman pope in preparation. When I 300 came the Church of Rome made clear its authority.They burned the new “pope" at the stake.The woman’s name v/as Maria Visconti. ISO years later; an image of a “Papess” appears in the tarocchi cards commissioned by her descendants.

29

BELOW The

ORIGINS

AND

HISTORY

Kabbalah

O HISTORICAL EVIDENCE exists to back up the claim that Tarot cards derive from the tradition of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah

(the

word

means

“received

doctrine” and implies an oral, or secret, RIGHT Jewish

tradition). And yet, the links appear so

culture flourished in Spain during the

compelling that the connection between the

15th century.

two has become the main line of symbolic interpretation, as well as the basis for many

After the biblical period, with its visions

of the meanings used by Tarot readers in

and prophecies, Jewish mysticism took shape

divination. Many Tarot readers do not

out of a remarkable short work called the

actually know this. They learn the meanings

Sefer Yetzirah, or '‘'Book of Creation Y Written

from a book about Tarot without much

sometime between the 3rd and 6th centuries

Life contains

thought

those

C.E., the anonymous author produced a

the traditional

meanings originated. Nevertheless, Kabbalah

vivid concise series of meditations on the

them In vibrant

(or Qabala, the non-Jewish occult version)

Hebrew alphabet. The Hebrew alphabet

living form.

is where they come from.

contains 22 letters. As we have already seen,

BELOW This

flowering version of the Tree of

or

concern

for

where

sephiroth, but shows

there are 22 trumps in the Major Arcana. We move now hundreds of years forward in history, first to Provence, France at the end of the 12th century (the same place and time as the Albigensians), and then to the great flowering of Jewish culture in Spain in the years before 1492, when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled the Jews and Muslims from Spain and Portugal. The concepts of Kabbalah began to crystallize in this period, especially with the publication in Spain of a great work called the Zohar, or “Book of Splendor.” In their meditations on creation, the Kabbalists added another idea, that God created the universe in stages. There is not one world but four, the “highest” being a world of pure light closest to God, the lowest the world we know in our ordinary lives. The Tarot contains four suits, each with its own character. In each world, creation

KABBALAH

moved through a series of “emanations,”

which

(in Tarot terms the Minor and

LEFT This

geometric diagram

are

Major Arcanas). Kabbalists in

known as sephiroth (the plural

generations after the Zohar

loses the sense of

speculated on 22 “pathways”

a growing tree but

of sephirah). Each world contains 10 of

7

8

these sephiroth, each with its

allows us to see

^

between the sephiroth, one for

the 22 pathways

each letter. There are many

that connect the 10 sephiroth.

own unique quality. The names

versions

and qualities of the sephiroth remain

of these

connections.

However, the one illustrated on this

the same in each of the four worlds -

page is the structure best known to

IQ

that is, Kether, or “Crown” exists as the

modern occultists and students of the

highest sephirah in each world - only

Qabahstic Tarot.

BELOW The basis

with a different energy determined by which

Despite the fact that there are many

world it is. The four suits of the Tarot deck

variations of the Tree of Life itself. Tarot

each

occultists have argued at

contain

the

same

numbers,

Ace

great

through Ten.

length

as

to

proper order of placing the

alphabet as a whole, Jewish mysticism has

cards on the 22 pathways.

always focused on the four-letter name of

The

God in the Bible. Known in English as the

pathways are clear, but which

Tetragrammaton, these four letters {Yod-

card goes on which number?

Heh-Vav-Heh) appear in the Bible without

We m ight think of this as very

vowels so that no one can know their actual

simple - after all, the trumps

pronunciation. Ordinary Jews as well as

are

Kabbalists consider this name as one of

beginning with the Magician,

God’s ultimate mysteries. We have already

card One, and ending with

mentioned the four suits contained in the

the World, card Twenty-two.

Tarot. As well as cards Ace—Ten, each suit

But

contains four court cards, the Page, Knight,

number Zero? Do we place

Queen, and King.

the Fool at the beginning?

its

meditations

on

numbers

of

numbered

of much Jewish m.ysticism is to be found in the Torah.

the

the

Along with

for the Tree of Life

the

as

well,

BELOW The

Kabbalists considered the Hebrew letters living beings, older than the

what

of the

Fool,

The Zohar and other early works focused

If we do place him in this position, then all

primarily on the sephiroth. As an aid to their

the following numbers become misplaced.

meditations they created various visual

The place of the Fool has remained a

structures of the 10 emanations to show

problem for all those who seek a kind of

their relationship to each other. The most

Tarot orthodoxy. And yet, this is exactly the Fool’s special

popular was a vertical structure known as the

quality; his role is to upset applecarts, to

Tree of Life.

make the Tarot impossible to pin down. The

The Tree of Life became the means to

Fool brings the Tarot to life.

unite the 10 sephiroth and the 22 letters

31

Universe itself

ORIGINS

AND

HISTORY

The Occult Tradition

H

OW DID THE meditations of medieval Jewish mystics become linked to a game of 78 brightly painted cards sometimes used for telling fortunes? Some occultists will insist that the Kabbalist masters themselves secretly created the Tarot as a pictorial code for their abstract ideas. At the other extreme, some card

historians

strictly

maintain

that

any

connection between Tarot and Kabbalah is a RIGHT Antoine

Court de Gebelin

modern fantasy. Possibly Kabbalistic ideas

first suggested the

contributed to the cultural images that gave

link between the Tarot and the Jewish alphabet.

rise to the cards’ allegorical pictures. And yet, it is difficult just to dismiss all those correspondences, in particular the 22 trumps and the 22 letters.

At one point in his essay. Court de

The first suggestion of a link between the

Gebelin comments that the 22 trumps

Hebrew alphabet and Tarot comes from

correspond to the 22 “letters of the Egyptian

Gebelin’s Le Monde

Antoine Court de Gebelin, the same man

alphabet common to the Hebrews and the

Primitif. The image

who suggested that the Tarot originated in

Orientals.” Neither the Egyptians nor the

Tarot card

Ancient Egypt. Court de Gebelin was a

“Orientals”

Temperance.

Protestant pastor and a Freemason. In the

however, the Jewish people do. Comte de

1770s he published a multivolume

Mellet, author of a further essay in Le Monde

work entitled Le Monde Primitif,

Primitif introduced the method of linking

“The Primitive World.” Today,

the order of the trumps with the order of the

BELOW A facsimile

from Court de

is the same as the

such a book title would suggest

have

any

such

alphabet,

Hebrew letters.

a content based around the

Almost all of Court de Gebelin’s massive

early stages of humanity. For

work has disappeared from our cultural

Court de Gebelin, however,

history. Only his assertions about the Tarot

it called forth an ancient

cards have taken hold, gaining a life of their

time Volume

of

wisdom.

published

own. In their time they sparked a surge of

in

Tarot fortune-telling in France. However

1781, contains his famous essay

divination through cards did not originate

on the Tarot, with its claim that

with the assertions made in Le Monde

the cards form a disguised version

Primitif There was already a flowering of

of the Egyptian book of all

interest in France. But the idea of the game

knowledge, the famous

of “Les Tarots” as a secret Egyptian book of

^

VIII,

great

Book ofThoth.

mysteries and magic fascinated the public.

32

THE

OCCULT TRADITION

and soon people began to apply the Tarot

arrival of a relative from the country who has

extensively to divination.

it in his power to do a lot of good” (from the

A grain salesman and print dealer (and

booklet for the Grand Etteila deck, for card

some say wigmaker) named Jean-Baptiste

22, “the King of France”).

Aliette reversed his last name to the more

Etteilas deck, and his success as a

mysterious Etteila and created the “Grand

professional fortune-teller, sparked a whole

Etteila Tarots Egyptiens.” There is very little

series of fortune-telling decks. Some of them

of Egypt in Etteila’s pictures, but they do

had very simple designs, and labels like “a

evoke mystery and even wonder, with a level

letter” or “Discovery.” Others were more

of art superior to many later occult Tarot

elegant, with scenes set in drawing rooms, or

decks. The deck was a great success. More

even mythological allegories, such as those

than one version of it still exists today.

in the “Grand Lenormand” cards, named for

Unlike later decks, with their focus on

a famous cartomancer from the Napoleonic

symbolic systems, Etteila designed his cards

period. A certain Mile. Lenormand, who

for divination. They include images for male

claimed to be the confidante of Napoleons

and female questioners, “Le Questionnant”

wife Josephine, supposedly predicted the rise

cards from the

and “La Questionnante” (both also bear the

and fall of the emperor himself. Many of

Grand EtteilaTarot

title “Etteila”). Each card contains a specific

these decks (or modern reproductions) are

meaning, such as “This card announces the

still in print today.

BELOW

These

depict the precise

painterly style.

8

if.

48.

meanings in grand

Tenacite Tenacity

Opinion Opinion

Amour Love

7 7

Repos Rest

n O z C/1 C r H > Z H m

H

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