Tarot Decks

The History of Tarot decks intersects with symbology, or the study of symbols as well as their history, mass production of text and images, and popular culture, all of which are fields of study in the history of graphic design, and yet this subject has not been included in mainstream histories of design. Is this a reflection of the mystical, romanticized history of the cards, and one that implies a connection to divination or fortune telling? It is also a history that connects with the history of alchemy, and science, as well as with religious studies, esoterism, and occult, and yet the cards themselves emerged from secular roots. Tarot cards are not quite viewed as art and yet not celebrated as graphic design. The cards began as a simple game in Renaissance Italy, only gaining their association with esoterism in the 1700s when they were falsely connected with Hermeticism, and instilled with a completely fabricated Egyptian heritage. This history grew to include a connection to secret societies. Some of the most well-known decks of the 20th century and beyond were illustrated by women, including Moina Mathers, Lady Freida Harris, and Pamela Colman Smith and yet they are more associated with the men who dictated their design. Tarot cards have continued to evolve, transitioning away from being viewed as a tool for fortune telling and toward a new age tool for self-reflection, introspection, and self-help.

TIMELINE

1430s – Tarochi card game invented in Itlay
1450 – Visconti-Sforza deck made by Bonifacio Bembo
1491 – Sola-Busca deck made by Nicola di maestro Antonio
1770 – Jean Baptiste Alliette publishes A Way to Entertain Oneself With Cards
1776 – Antoine Court de Gebelin associates Tarot with esoterism and the occult
1781 – Antoine Court de Gebelin publishes Le Monde Primitif or the Primeval World
1855 – Éliphas Lévi piublishes Transcendental Magic
1888 – Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn founded
1906 – Jugendstil Tarot Deck designed by Ditha Moser
1907 – Images of the Sola Busca deck donated to the British Museum
1910 – Waite & Pamela Coleman Smith collaborate on the Waite Colman Smith Deck historically known as the Rider Waite deck
1944 – Aleister Crowley writes The Book of Toth, cards and illustrations by Lady Frieda Harris
1973 – The Tarot of Witches deck is created by Scottish artist and illustrator Fergus Hall for the film Live and Let Die
1977 – The Waite Colman Smith Deck goes into mass production
1978 – The Fantod Pack, a Parody deck designed by Edward Gorey is published
1984 – Mary K. Greer writes Tarot for yourself
1984 – Salvador Dali produces his Tarot deck
1992 – HIV Tarot produced by artist Kim Abeles

REFERENCES

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Auger, E. E. (2004). Tarot and Other Meditation Decks: History, Theory, Aesthetics, Typology. McFarland.

Boley, M. (2023, April 10). Oracle Decks: What They Are and How To Use Them - Mental Musings - Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/musings-with-meg/oracle-decks-what-they-are-and-how-to-use-them-c037251a7a84

Dummett, M. (2007). Six XV-Century Tarot Cards: Who Painted Them? Artibus et Historiae, 28(56), 15–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20067158

Farley, H. (2009). A cultural history of tarot : From entertainment to esotericism. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Farley. (2006). The evolution of the 'mother' in Tarot. Hecate, 32(2), 68–87.

Gerstler, A. (1994). Kim Abeles. www.artforum.com. https://www.artforum.com/print/reviews/199401/kim-abeles-54441

Grimoire. (2007). In U. McGovern (Ed.), Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. Chambers Harrap. Credo Reference: https://libproxy.uco.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/chambun/grimoire/0?institutionId=1845

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. (2007). In U. McGovern (Ed.), Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. Chambers Harrap. Credo Reference: