Mystical Angels

What are the origins of tarot cards?

Specifically I'd like to know some history about each of the cards in the major arcana (I'm not as interested in the minor arcana). I'm just wondering where the ideas for them came from - like mythology, religion etc.

Public Comments

1. Tarot: Origin and History Oldest Tarot Cards The Milanese Duke Filippo Maria Visconti commissioned before 1425 a manuscript and a playing card deck from Marziano da Tortona and Michelino da Besozzo. Jacopo Antonio Marcello got book and deck in 1449 and called it a new kind of Ludus Triumphorum. Cologne Tarot Project - July 2007 We've started a German language edition of the theme "Köln Tarot", a work in progress. Cologne had three surviving decks in 16th century, one of them a socalled Mantegna Tarocchi from the artist Johann Ladenspelder and the two others present a strange parrots-hares-flowers system, so anyway "unusual decks", especially as the deck of Master P.W. has round cards. Nonetheless it's interesting : the Master P.W deck from ca. 1500-1504 is the only surviving deck from 15th/16th century with a 5x14-structure, and for special reasons in our basic theory (5x14-theory) we assume, that the early Trionfi cards (later called Tarot cards) developed from a deck which used a 5x14 structure. A second point of interest is the presence of a cardmaker Giovanni di Colonia (aka "Johannes von Köln") in Bologna in the year 1427. He's after an earlier mentioned Federico of Germany in 1395 (also in Bologna), who sold 'cartas figuratas et pictas ad imagines et figuras sanctorum' the first noted German cardmaker in Italy. you can read more info on the tarot cards @ the link provided i hope this was what you were after
2. Here's one of the major arcana cards in depth THE FOOL Innocence and naivety are associated with The Fool, for the young have no fear of new experiences or change. As you grow older you can lose that childish innocence and enthusiasm, and can become fearful and cynical of change and new experiences. The mind of The Fool is always open, an empty vessel eagerly waiting to be filled with new knowledge. Any experience, pleasant or challenging, is life knowledge that he accepts as part of his learning. The Fool does not sit on the fence waiting for life to come to him; he always takes the first step himself. The Fool does not analyze all the possible risks of a new adventure; he learns as he goes along. The fearlessness and sheer enthusiasm associated with The Fool makes for quite a maverick character, and often this card can signify such a person, male or female, may step into your life. It is your attitude that influences the choices and decisions you make, and often your mind is so full of doubt and fear that you become closed-minded to the possibilities of change. When The Fool appears, ask yourself how open-minded you are being at that moment in time, how enthusiastic are you about life, and do you desire new experiences and excitement but fear taking that first step? Any journey starts with the first step, and motivating yourself to take it is the hardest part. The Fool encourages you to discover your inner child and harness that youthful enthusiasm to help you on your way to a new life and future. A time to exercise caution is when The Fool comes up as the first card in a reading for you. You may want to question your motives or judgment, since as this is the first card, it can indicate folly. Perhaps you are motivated for the wrong reasons, so look before you leap. You will have to deal with many twists and turns, paths and crossroads on your life journey and The Fool can help as a sign post when you need to take a new path. For more sign up at www.lotustarot.com. Not only can you have free 6 card spread readings, among others. But they also email you once a week with the full meanings behind every card as well as history etc... very interesting! This should be what you are looking for. There are no minor arcana cards there. Xxxx I'm sure this helped :)
3. Hello The cards within the Major Arcana are ARCHETYPES, they represent aspects or 'parts' of the individual as well as certain personality types. The origin of archetypal images is older than time. Probably came from a mix of all things. Join our forum if your interested in Tarot http://www.holisticpathstowisdom.co.uk/forum Sadhara
4. Well, let's look at what tarot cards are and where they came from first. Playing cards arrived in Europe via the Islamic world in the mid 14th century. These early cards, known as the Malmuk cards had the same structure as our regular playing cards today, that is, four regular suits, each with 10 pip cards and three court cards. The original suit signs were cups, coins, swords, and polo sticks. Polo was an unknown game in Europe at the time, so these became batons. These suits are now known as the Latin suits and all Europe used them - though they are now only used by Latin countries. The court cards were a King, a Rider, and a Footman. All male court cards are still used in Latin suits, as well as the German and Swiss packs. The Queen makes her first appearance in a Milanese pack that features six courts in each suit, a male and a female of each rank. Two of the extra courts were dropped and for a time the 56 card pack was standard in the region. It was to this pack that an extra suit of picture cards was added in the mid 15th century. They were commissioned by Duke Filipo Visconti as part of the celebrations for his daughter, Bianca Visconti's marraige into the Sforza family. They took as their theme a traditional Christian triumph procession. Hence they were called trionfi, meaning triumphs, and from which we get our word trump - it was the invention of tarot that marked the invention of trumps in card games! The game later took the name Tarocchi, from the old Italian Tarocus, meaning to play the fool. This name became Tarock in other countries with only France dropping the gutteral at the end to make Tarot. The game of tarot quickly spread and diversified and was at one time the most popular form of card game throughout continental Europe! In the early 18th century, German playing card makers began to produce French suited packs with new trumps featuring arbitrary trump designs. The French suits were much cheaper to produce, requiring only stencils rather than carved wood block and the new trumps allowed card makers to show off their skills in a time of great competition. These cards are now used for most of the games, with France being the last to adopt them in the early 20th century. Toward the end of the 18th century, occultist and resident of Paris, Antoine Court de Gabelin wrote an article on tarot cards for his Encyclopaedia, The Primitive World. He declared that the cards were the codified wisdom of ancient Egyptian priests, essentially a series of hieroglyphs that were much in vogue at the time. He offered no evidence for his theory but it became a popular myth. For about a century, the occult tarot and divination with the cards was only known in France, it was not until members of the Golden Dawn, who based much of their occult beliefs on the cards, began to import them, publish translations of the French texts, and redesign them specifically for occult practice, that the myth reached the English speaking world. Today, English speakers continue to know the cards for their occult myths and, of course, the fortune telling. However, Europe continues to play an impressive range of card games with them. France, Austria, and Hungary maintain particularly strong tarot game tradition as does Bologna in Italy, where they play a particular good form of the game called Ottocento. The games are largely what we call point-trick games. That means that like whist, bridge, and spades, players win cards in tricks. Unlike those games, different cards carry different point values, so that it is not the number of tricks you take that wins the game but the number of card points you win in them. Tarot has no occult origin, the church never took offence at the cards because they were recognised as Christian. Looked at with modern eyes some of the old designs look mysterious, even heretical - but examined in context of when they were created we get a different picture. For example, the Female Pope raises a lot of questions and yet in the 15th century she was a common figure in Christian art, symbolising things like the New Covenent and the virtue of Faith. The Hanged Man also has received attention, suspended by one foot! Yet it Italy, this card was called The Traitor - and that's how they killed traitors, hung by one foot and left to die slowly and publically. No mystery at all - just a very good family of card games!