Tarot: The Arcanum

Arcanum is from the 15th century Latin meaning mysterious knowledge, language, or information accessible only by the initiate.


History on the Tarot:

The word Tarot may have been derived from:

• The Taro River in Northern Italy.
• Orat (Latin), "it speaks, argues."
• Rota (Latin), "a wheel."
• Taru (Hindu), "cards."
• Tarosh (Egyptian), "the royal way."
• Torah (Hebrew), "the Law."
• Thoth, an Egyptian god.
• Ator, from the Egyptian Goddess Hathor.
• Troa (Hebrew), "gate."
• Tares, meaning the dot border on old cards.
• Tarotee, meaning a pattern on the backs of cards.

The origins of Tarot are somewhat obscure. The most common theories are Egyptian with Thoth and the connection to the ancient mystery school teachings. The most common myth was that they were brought to Europe by the Gypsies. Tarot as we know them today are a collection of images and symbology from a wide variety of cultures, from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the prehistoric Norse peoples, from the ancient religions of India and Egypt to the medieval courts of Italy and France and so on.

The first "REAL" reference that we have to Tarot cards is from a sermon that was collected with many others about 1500 in Italy found in the Steele Manuscript. The sermon is thought to date from about 1450 to 1470 and is a diatribe against games of chance. It gives a detailed description of the Tarot trumps, not only numbering them but naming them as well.

Antoine Court de Gebelin, (1725-84), a French linguist, cleric, occultist, Mason, member of the Lodge of the Philalethes, and author of the nine-volume work, Le Monde Primitif - was convinced of the mystical significance of the Tarot and fond of Egyptian lore, this pre-Rosetta Stone. He believed the cards' birthplace was ancient Egypt, where they served as tools of initiation into the priesthood. For him, the Tarot's Major Arcana was the Book of Thoth, a synthesis of all knowledge once held in hieroglyphic form in burned Egyptian temples and libraries. He claimed that it had escaped the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. At the time he was writing this, the skill of reading hieroglyphics had been lost for almost 1200 years and there existed the widely held belief that they were magical symbols concealing the lost knowledge of antiquity. He saw the Tarot as a contemporarily available pictorial embodiment of this occult wisdom, a tangible link with the past.

A French man, (erroneously believed by some to have been barber, he mearly had lodgings above a barbers shop) named Alliette, writing under the pseudonym Etteilla (his name spelled backwards), followed de Gebelin's lead and revised the Tarot to comply with his own idiosyncratic idea of Egyptian mysticism. It has to be said, his Tarot has had less influence upon subsequent designs than his ideas had.

In the mid 1850s a third Frenchman, Alphonse Louis Constant (originally a deacon of the Catholic Church), began to publish occult works. For the purposes of authorship he translated his name into Hebrew and wrote under the name Eliphas Levi (he dropped the final Zahed). His books contained Tarot references and symbolism and it was he who first established the link between the Tarot and Qabalah. He felt that the god Thoth-Hermes made the original deck. His theory contains mathematical ideas similar to those of Pythagoras, whom he admired. Eliphas Levi (real name: Alphonse Louis Constant, author of 'History of MagicÏ'), 1810-1875, was a French priest and Rosicrucian who thought the Tarot was the key to the Bible, the Jewish Qabalah, and all other ancient spiritual writings. He attempted to link the 22 cards of the Major Arcana to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. He drew parallels between Tarot suits and the four letters of the Tetragrammaton, YHVH ('Yahweh').

MacGregor (Samuel Liddell) Mathers lead the English Order of the Golden Dawn, which was founded in 1886. He studied Jewish, Egyptian, Christian, and Alchemical mysticism. He wrote a great deal about the Tarot.

A. E. Waite (1857-1942), the English Christian occult philosopher, broke from the Order of the Golden Dawn and founded his own school of mystical thought. Working with the artist Pamela Coleman Smith - who was also a member of The Order of the Golden Dawn - Waite created a "rectified" deck featuring images and scenery on all the cards, Minor as well as Major Arcana. They produced the 78 card deck that we use today. The Waite Deck.

The tarot has been studied by many adepts and has been shown to be directly relating to the Qabalah. The Order of the Golden Dawn in 1890 made a deck for its members, utilizing the knowledge of the Qabalah in its symbolism. This was not the first deck, but the research done by the golden dawn and its members helped shape the views of the Tarot and the western philosophies of the mysteries. Together, they produced the 78 card deck that we use today. The tarot has been studied by many adepts and has been shown to be directly relating to the Qabalah.

Aleister Crowley founded the Ordo Templi Orientis, which had to do, among other things, sex magic. Working with Freida Harris, he created the colorful Book of Thoth Tarot. He considered identifying with each card more important than trying to guess about origins.
We don't know, and probably will never know, what the first Tarot cards looked like. Nor do we know where they came from or who created them. We don't even know how many were contained in the deck.

Although,it has frustrated Tarot experts and inspired countless theories. So many beautiful things emerge from bland beginnings that not knowing makes room for fantasies in which bold spirits paint those first wonderful images in an ecstasy of creative awakening.
However they came to be, the images of Tarot, like all true symbols, explode from spontaneous self-expressions from the psyche's deepest chasms; and for that reason they hold up magic mirrors to whatever reactions we bring them. Like all authentic artistic creations, Tarot are ultimately a mystery and will remain so forever.

Most of the Tarot decks on the market today were created this century, most of which were created in the past 20 years.
The Tarot was originally a deck of 78 cards, divided into 4 suits of 14 cards (the standard ace-10, then page, knight, queen, and king) and 22 un-numbered 'triumphs' or 'trumps'. Over the years, the trumps got numbered 1 to 21, with one card (the fool) remaining un-numbered or sometimes being 0.

The 4 suits are commonly called the 'Minor Arcana'and the trump cards are called the 'Major Arcana'. More loosely, any deck of cards designed for 'fortune-telling', divination, meditation, contemplation, or other non-game uses are popularly called a Tarot deck. The most commonly found suits for Tarot decks are cups, swords, wands or staffs (probably originally polo-sticks), and pentacles (originally coins).

The names of the Major Arcana cards frequently change from deck to deck, but historically they've been:

• 0. The Fool
• 1. The Magician
• 2. The High Priestess
• 3. The Empress
• 4. The Emperor
• 5. The Heirophant
• 6. The Lovers
• 7. The Chariot
• 8. Strength
• 9. The Hermit
• 10. Wheel of Fortune
• 11. Justice
• 12. The Hanged Man
• 13. Death
• 14. Temperance
• 15. The Devil
• 16. The Tower
• 17. The Star
• 18. The Moon
• 19. The Sun
• 20. Judgement
• 21. The World

The Minor Arcana cards consist of 56 cards broken down into 4 different suits.

The Wands, the Cups, the Swords and the Pentacles.

Each of these suits consist of cards numbered from Ace (number 1) to 10, followed by four court cards. These cards hold lesser vibrations than those of the Major Arcana.

Each of the numbered suit cards follow vibrations similar to its number in relation to numerology. Understanding that these numbers convey the special meaning to these cards, so does the suit of the card portray different aspects of life. To understand them we have to look at the number 4. There are 4 suits to the cards and these represent the 4 esoteric formulas for manifestation on the material plane.

Below are each of the 4 suits - how they correspond to our 'playing cards' - their element - what they symbolize.

The Suit of Wands - Clubs - Fire - Creative
The realm of spirit - represents ideas. They are the primary seed or original idea and the primary element of growth. When we see wands in a reading, they point to ideas, ambition and growth. So when this is understood, we apply the number of the card to this understanding in a reading.

The Suit of Cups - Hearts - Water - Emotions
The realm of mental - this is the next step towards manifesting the idea. It is the link to the next step in the order of things. When we see the Cups in a reading, they point to desires and feelings, that inner experience that only we are aware of and may not show as outward manifestation. Cups are mostly connected with love and relationships in readings.

The Suit of Swords - Spades - Air - Intellect
The realm of astral - represents the action. The focused intent to bring forth manifestation. Often times swords indicate struggles as it is difficult to bring an idea into reality. When we see the suit of swords in a reading, they point to action and struggle or opposition before the final outcome.

The Suit of Pentacles - Diamonds - Earth
The realm of the physical or material and the element of earth. Pentacles represent the actual outcome of the matter. It is true manifestation into the material plane, the product of ones labors. When we see the suit of pentacles in a reading, they point to realization, and manifestation of ones goals.

Now that we have listed the History and Meanings of the Tarot and Major and Minor Arcana, let me give you a short briefing on myself and why this excerpt is actually here… If you will go on over to the Readings page.