Four Scholarly Books On Tarot History

Introduction

Since De Gebelin mistakenly mentioned tarot as coming from the Ancient Egyptians, speculation has abounded over the mysterious history of the cards. But the truth is far more simple. Tarot was a trick-taking game created for Italian elites in the early-mid 1300s. Nothing more, nothing less. The Renaissance symbolism on the original cards was simply a result of the artists drawing upon the popular culture of the time. In short, the mystery of tarot’s origins is no mystery at all.

In this article, I present four scholarly books on the tarot which delve into this history. All four of the books can be quite dry and I would not recommend them to you if you are beginning your study journey unless you are very much interested in historical details. These books are a welcome departure from the rank speculation and pseudo-scholarly works which claim to unveil the “mystical” or other origins of the practise of tarot divination as somehow coming from the Roma people (formerly known as the slur of ‘gypsies’) or Ancient Egypt or wherever the hell else. Enjoy.

The Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination by Robert M. Place

This book gives a lot of great contextual information on the history of the tarot, including a description of the various esoteric influences on the cards. It then goes through the Rider Waite Smith cards with some interesting scholarly notes. One stark example is Place’s note on the 7 of pentacles. Place says that the farmer is holding a hoe and that the card means profit and harvest. This is a meaning which may be foreign to a lot of Rider Waite Smith readers who consider the card to mean not the reaping of profit but the investment and patience required to eventually accumulate it. Place alludes to this popular idea of the card when he says that A.E Waite (the deck co-creator) mistook the hoe for a staff and thus associated the “staff” with desire.

I found the final section of the book on tarot divination unremarkable.

Untold Tarot: The Lost Art of Reading Ancient Tarots by Caitlin Matthews

This book looks at the old French and Italian decks which preceded the Rider Waite Smith tradition. Matthews gives a good scholarly history of tarot cards before turning to techniques of tarot divination as used since around 1730 (approximately half a century before Etteilla). These techniques include not just spreads but lines and tableaus. These techniques make heavy use of abstract keywords, card imagery and intuition, amounting to something quite foreign from what many Rider Waite Smith readers will be used to.

The book does have a couple of errors and a few clunky phrases but these are by the way and I still highly recommend the book for those interested in tarot history.

Essential Tarot Writings: A Collection of Essential Source Texts in Western Occultism by Donald Tyson

This book is exactly what it sounds like; a collection of texts written by esotericists and occultists on the topic of tarot reading . Perhaps the most notable section is Tyson’s corrected version of the famous Opening of the Key method of divination which was invented and used by MacGregor Mathers, Chief Adept of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The process is long, convoluted and antithetical to the principle of prioritizing intuition to avoid probabilistic outcomes. So whilst not worth practising for serious divinatory purposes, it is still worth learning and analyzing for learning purposes.

A History of the Occult Tarot by Decker and Dummett

This book is sadly controversial among tarot readers because, favouring objectivity, the authors expertly dismantle certain frauds with occured in relation to tarot, eventually forming their conclusions on evidence rather than wishful thinking.

The book is extremely dry. But it is still worth reading for a serious scholarly look at exactly what the title says; a history of the occult tarot. If you are not yet a Journeyman (professionally competent) tarot reader then I would suggest reserving your purchase until this time.