History of Tarot Reading

Certain historians have reached the conclusion that in the past tarot cards were simply a gaming deck. Their sole use was to play a game known as 'tarocchi.' In course of time, occultists initiated the use of tarot cards for divination.

The history of tarot reading is incomplete without the mention of Court de Gebelen. He belonged to a clandestine society of occultists in the 1700s. He became the writer of 'Le Monde Primitif.' This is a treatise that has 9 volumes. In this, Gebelen has thrown light on the meanings of the tarot.

In 1783, Etteilla wrote a book that consisted of interpretations of tarot cards. Later, all through Europe, professional mystics observed the use of tarot. However, there was no consensus amongst all these mystics regarding the meaning of these cards.

The next phase in the history of tarot reading is the 19th century. It was during this era that Eliphas Levi Zahed (a.k.a. Alphonse Louis Constant), who was a famed mystic, developed a connection between the tarot and the Kabbalah i.e Hebrew mysticism. Zahed reached the following conclusions.

• Tarot is a key to life

• Tarot is a tool that if used by man/woman to grow as a human being can lead him/her to heaven

• There are 22 connections to the tarot major arcana. This is a tool on the route to enlightenment

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn used certain tarot cards during the later 1800s. These cards made a major influence on the modern tarot deck. Three men in England established this Hermetic Order. It is believed that these men detected an ancient clandestine manuscript that had some code. They decoded it and concluded that it contained the by-laws of a secret society in Germany. Further, they took permission from Germany to initiate their own group in England.

In course of time, the group known as Golden Dawn developed as an influential group. The founders of this group in England had a protégé named Crowley. He wrote the 'Book of Thoth' related to this topic. The Golden Dawn had two active members named as Arthur Edward Waite and Aleister Crowley (mentioned above). The efforts of Waite resulted in the development of a tarot deck that is not much different from that used by currently.

The Golden Dawn had a member named as Paul Foster Case in the 1920s. He established a group named as BOTA (Builders of the Adytum) in Los Angeles. The tarot deck of the BOTA was in black and white. The aim was that the owner should be able to color the drawings.

In the 21st century, one can view innumerable adaptations of the Crowley/Waite Tarot. Out of these some might be less impressive, but quite a few have splendid artwork.

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