Friday, February 22, 2019

A Brief History Of Tarot Card Readings

By Christopher Hill


Tarot cards originated as far back as 1440 in Italy with the original 22 cards of the Major Arcana when the first deck appeared. In most cases, the Italian decks were called "Visconti Trumps" and are often considered the forefathers of the decks which are now available. Whereas, readers often now use a number of different decks to gain as much insight out of tarot card readings as possible.

It is believed that the Italian Trumps were originally developed and designed for royalty. Whereas, it was not until centuries later when the cards became popular once again. During that time, divination and psychic readings became popular uses for the cards. Prior to that time, the cards were most often used in different games by the Nobles.

Later, the Trump cards became standardized in the second half of the fifteenth century in France. Before this standardization, those whom played with the Trumps could decide to include, exclude or substitute cards as needed. Whereas, the Devil, Death and Tower cards were often discarded as these were often offensive to Nobles.

It was not so much the meanings which have been tied to the cards imagery rather the titles which were offensive. In fact, there were times when religious leaders attempted to have these cards banished. It was a sermon by an Italian Franciscan Friar which caused the belief that the cards were inventions whom the devil named the Death, Tower and Devil, the latter being a self-titled namesake.

Even when just using the cards for simple game play, the Friar suggested those whom did so were worshiping Satan and turning away from the light. As such, the sermon condemned the cards as being part and parcel to the act of Satanism. As it turned out, the cards were never banned, while psychic and tarot readings became more popular over the centuries.

The rebirth of Tarot and the use of decks in divination is attributed to Antoine Court de Gebelin in the late 1700s. For, Antoine believed the cards to be of Egyptian origin which contained knowledge of a mystical nature. De Gabelin also believed the symbols were purposefully included in the Major Arcana, also known as the Trumps. Unlike the Friar, Antoine saw no association between the Devil and the art of tarot.

In theory, de Gebelin believed that the cards were keys to the lost magical wisdom of the Egyptians, originally written by Thoth, the Egyptian God associated with written knowledge. It was from this point that the Major Arcana began to evolve into cards which would later be changed by secret societies which produced a number of decks. Whereas, there are now a number of artists, mediums, psychics and spiritualists whom have designed custom decks which are now being read around the globe.

In the beginning, regular playing cards were also used for divination, tarot readings and separating different suits of cards. Whereas, there were numerous decks published later which only featured the Major Arcana. Now, most decks feature the 22 cards of the Major Arcana along with all the minor suits.




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