History and Origins of Tarot

Tarot is one of the best-documented symbolic systems in Western history — and one of the most misunderstood when it comes to its origins. The legend of its ancient Egyptian origins is romantic but false. The reality is more interesting: an aristocratic card game that became, over a few centuries, a globally used tool for self-knowledge.

Italian Origins (1440-1530)

The First Tarocchi

The earliest known tarot cards date from northern Italy in the 1440s. These games were then called tarocchi (or carte da trionfi — triumph cards). They were not esoteric tools but court card games, reserved for the nobility.

The base game included the Minor Arcana inherited from Arabic playing cards (which arrived in Europe via Moorish Spain in the 14th century), to which triumph cards were added, depicting allegorical and symbolic figures: The Emperor, The Papess, The Hanged Man, Death.

The Visconti-Sforza

The best-preserved decks from this era are the Visconti-Sforza Tarots, commissioned by the ducal families of Milan. Some cards are today housed at the Morgan Library in New York. These cards are beautifully illuminated with gold, clearly produced for aristocratic use.

The Initial Function: The Triumph Game

People played tarocchi much as one plays belote or bridge today — the triumph cards "beating" the pip cards in a trick-taking game. There was no esoteric dimension whatsoever.

European Spread (15th - 17th Century)

From Northern Italy to Europe

Gradually, tarocchi spread throughout Europe. Production workshops were established in France (Lyon, Marseille), Germany, and Switzerland. Production industrialized through woodblock printing (xylography), and the game became accessible to the middle classes.

It is in this context that the Tarot de Marseille developed — standardizing the iconography between the 17th and 18th centuries and becoming the reference deck in France and much of Catholic Europe.

Popular Cartomancy

Before any esoteric theorization, popular divinatory uses gradually developed among the lower classes. Women who read ordinary playing cards (52-card decks) began incorporating tarocchi into their practice. This shift from game to divination happened without theory — simply through use.

The Esoteric Turn (18th Century)

Antoine Court de Gebelin (1781)

The pivotal moment of esoteric theorization of tarot is often dated to 1781, with the publication of the eighth volume of Antoine Court de Gebelin's (1719-1784) "Le Monde Primitif," by a Protestant pastor and Freemason.

Court de Gebelin claimed (without any evidence) that the Tarot de Marseille was an ancient sacred Egyptian book — the "Book of Thoth" — brought to Europe by the Gypsies (themselves supposedly of Egyptian origin, hence their name). This theory was entirely invented, but it would structure the esoteric imagination of tarot for centuries.

Its impact was enormous: from 1781 onward, tarot was no longer a game — it was a remnant of ancient wisdom.

Etteilla (Jean-Baptiste Alliette)

Following Court de Gebelin, Etteilla (1738-1791) — whose pen name is his surname spelled backward — published the first tarot cartomancy manual and created the first deck specifically designed for divination (1791). He reorganized the cards according to his own astrological symbolism and introduced the concept of reversed meanings (upside-down card = opposite meaning).

Etteilla is the father of modern divinatory tarot, even though his theories were largely dismissed by later esotericists.

The 19th Century: Scholarly Occultism

Eliphas Levi (1810-1875)

French magician and writer Eliphas Levi (born Alphonse Louis Constant) is the central figure of 19th-century occultism. In his "Dogma and Ritual of High Magic" (1855), he proposed a systematic correspondence between the 22 Major Arcana and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet — establishing for the first time a formal link between tarot and Kabbalah.

This correspondence became the theoretical foundation for the entire English-speaking esoteric tarot tradition. Levi did not himself produce a deck — but his theories directly informed those who did.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (Founded 1888)

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was the most influential esoteric secret society of the 19th century. Founded in London in 1888, it synthesized Kabbalah, astrology, alchemy, Rosicrucianism, and ceremonial magic into a coherent system.

Tarot occupied a central place in Golden Dawn teaching: each arcanum received precise correspondences with planets, zodiac signs, Hebrew letters, and paths on the Tree of Life. These correspondences were not public — they were part of the secret initiatory teachings.

Notable members: Arthur Edward Waite, Aleister Crowley, W.B. Yeats, Mathers, Regardie.

The 20th Century: Publication and Popularization

Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith (1909)

In 1909, Arthur Edward Waite commissioned Pamela Colman Smith to illustrate the deck that would revolutionize tarot. Published by Rider, the Rider-Waite-Smith became the global reference deck — notably because it was the first to illustrate all Minor Arcana cards with narrative scenes.

Waite simultaneously published "The Pictorial Key to the Tarot," his interpretation book.

Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris (1938-1943)

During World War II, Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) worked with artist Lady Frieda Harris to produce the Thoth Tarot — a monumental synthesis of Thelemic magic, Kabbalah, astrology, and projective geometry. The deck was published posthumously in 1969.

The Democratization of the 1970s

The publication of the Rider-Waite-Smith in pocket format (US Games Systems, 1970s) and the psychedelic and feminist counterculture contributed to massive democratization. Tarot became the preferred tool of the emerging New Age movement.

The Egyptian Myth Debunked

Court de Gebelin's theory — that tarot is an ancient sacred Egyptian book — has been entirely refuted by historical research since the mid-20th century.

Established facts:

• The earliest known cards date from the 1440s, in Italy.
• There are no ancient Egyptian sources featuring tarot cards or similar representations.
• The Roma (Gypsies) did not come from Egypt — they are from northwestern India.
• The name "tarot" is Italian in origin, probably derived from the name of a river (the Taro).

What remains true: tarot has integrated symbols from many traditions (alchemy, numerology, astrology, Kabbalah, medieval Christian iconography), giving it exceptional symbolic richness.

Tarot in Popular Culture

Progressive Destigmatization

Since the 2000s, and especially since 2015, tarot has moved from marginal esoteric tool to mainstream cultural phenomenon:

• "Aesthetic tarot cards" flood Instagram and Pinterest.
• Tarot apps are downloaded by millions of users.
• Commercial brands create themed decks (Harry Potter, Studio Ghibli, Star Wars).
• Celebrities and influencers speak openly about their tarot practice.

Feminist and Queer Tarot

The feminist movement has strongly contributed to the reclaiming of tarot — long associated with marginalized "women's" practices. Decks like the Numinous Tarot (Cedar McCloud) or the Slutist Tarot (Deviant Moon) offer inclusive imagery and a feminist re-reading of the archetypes.

Current State: From Esoteric Niche to Mainstream Self-Help

Today, tarot sits at the intersection of several currents:

• Self-help and coaching (self-knowledge tool)
• Jungian psychology (archetypes, collective unconscious)
• Secular spirituality (practice without religious affiliation)
• Visual art (decks as collectible objects)
• Mental health (journaling, meditation, daily reflection)

The global tarot market (decks, books, readings, training) represents several billion dollars. More than 1,000 new decks are published every year.

Shinkofa Connection

Shinkofa places tarot within this long and complex history — not as a mysterious legacy rooted in the ancient past, but as a living symbolic system that continues to transform.

The Shinkofa library acknowledges the different traditions of tarot and their historical context. Each article specifies the origin of the symbol it discusses, in which tradition, at what period. This historical rigor serves the same ultimate goal: giving you the keys to understand yourself, with clarity and without dogma.