The True History of Tarot: From Card Game to Divination

Introduction

Before Tarot cards could reveal the future, they were used to win a game. This simple fact stands in stark contrast to the mystique that surrounds the deck today, challenging the popular narrative of ancient, esoteric origins. The true story is not one of Egyptian priests or medieval sorcerers, but of Italian nobles and a parlor game that took on a life of its own.

Understanding the history and origin of Tarot strips away centuries of myth to reveal something far more compelling: a human story of art, symbolism, and our enduring quest for meaning. Tracing the cards' journey from a simple pastime in 15th-century Italy to a powerful tool for divination enriches your connection to them, whether you're a seasoned reader or a curious newcomer.

Let’s deal a new hand and explore the factual, fascinating evolution of the Tarot, separating historical evidence from romantic fiction and discovering how these iconic cards truly came to be.

The Birth of Tarot: A Noble Game in 15th-Century Italy

Contrary to popular belief, the story of Tarot does not begin in a mystic’s tent or an ancient Egyptian temple. The history and origin of Tarot are firmly rooted in the aristocratic courts of 15th-century Italy. The first decks, known as carte da trionfi (cards of triumph), emerged around the 1440s in cities like Milan and Ferrara. These were not tools for divination but beautifully hand-painted playing cards used for a complex trick-taking game called Tarocchi.

These early decks were luxury items, commissioned by wealthy families like the Visconti and Sforza as displays of status and artistic patronage. The Visconti-Sforza deck, one of the oldest and most complete surviving sets, serves as a stunning example, with its cards depicting family members and allegorical scenes reflecting the art and humanistic culture of the Italian Renaissance. The primary purpose was entertainment and social gameplay among the nobility, a far cry from the esoteric practices associated with Tarot today. The answer to the question "where did the tarot originate?" is unequivocally Northern Italy, where it was born as a sophisticated card game.

This original context is crucial, as the deck’s structure—initially designed for play, not prophecy—would ultimately provide the framework for its later symbolic evolution.

The Evolution of the Tarot Deck

The journey from a 15th-century playing card deck to a modern divination tool involved significant changes in both structure and interpretation. The origin of tarot cards as a game heavily influenced the deck's initial composition, which later provided a rich foundation for esoteric symbolism.

From Tarocchi to Tarot: How the Deck Changed

The structure of the earliest Tarocchi decks laid the groundwork for the 78-card system we know today. They consisted of two main parts:

• The Four Suits: Like modern playing cards, these decks had four suits. In Italy, these were typically Batons (Wands), Coins (Pentacles), Swords, and Cups. Each suit contained ten numbered cards (pip cards) and four court cards: a King, Queen, Knight, and Page. A key difference from modern decks like the Rider-Waite-Smith is that these early pip cards were not illustrated with narrative scenes; a Three of Swords simply showed three swords.
• The Trumps (Trionfi): This is what set Tarot apart. There was a fifth suit of 22 trump cards, which were unnumbered and depicted allegorical figures. In the game of Tarocchi, these cards held a higher value and could "trump" any card from the four suits. This set of trumps would later become known as the Major Arcana.

The name itself evolved from the Italian Tarocchi to the French Tarot as the game spread across Europe, particularly into France and Switzerland, where it remained a popular pastime for centuries. This geographical spread was a critical step in its eventual transformation, as it exposed the cards to new cultural and philosophical currents.

Symbolism in Early Decks: Art and Allegory

The symbolism in the earliest Tarot decks was not mystical but allegorical, reflecting the worldview of medieval and Renaissance Europe. The trump cards depicted a procession of well-understood cultural concepts, often representing the triumphs of various virtues, social orders, or cosmic forces. For instance, the deck would include figures like the Pope and the Emperor, virtues like Temperance and Justice, and celestial bodies like the Sun and the Moon.

These images were a visual language familiar to the 15th-century Italian nobility, representing a spiritual and earthly hierarchy from the humblest station (The Juggler/Magician) to the divine (The World). This allegorical framework, originally intended for a card game, created a powerful symbolic system that would later be reinterpreted through an esoteric lens. The rich tapestry of imagery, though not initially intended for divination, provided fertile ground for future occultists to project profound mystical meanings onto the cards.

While the cards retained their gaming purpose for centuries, a significant cultural shift in the Enlightenment era would unlock their hidden potential and set them on a new path entirely.

The Turning Point: Tarot's Transformation into a Divinatory Tool

For over 300 years, the tarot card history was primarily that of a game. The dramatic shift occurred in the late 18th century, fueled by the intellectual currents of the Enlightenment and a burgeoning public interest in ancient wisdom and esotericism. This period marked the birth of Tarot cartomancy.

The French Occult Revival and the Rise of Cartomancy

The critical moment came in 1781 when French author and Freemason Antoine Court de Gébelin published a chapter on Tarot in his sprawling work, Le Monde Primitif. He made a bold, albeit entirely incorrect, claim: that the Tarot was the last surviving remnant of the legendary Book of Thoth, a repository of ancient Egyptian magical wisdom. He argued that the card's symbols were a hieroglyphic language containing universal truths.

Though his theories lacked any historical evidence—Jean-François Champollion would not decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs until the 1820s—they captured the public's imagination. In an era fascinated with uncovering ancient secrets, the idea that Tarot was a key to lost Egyptian magic was intoxicating. This single, influential act of misinterpretation permanently altered the course of Tarot's history, transforming it from a simple game into a profound tool for divination.

Etteilla: The First Professional Tarot Diviner

Building directly on Court de Gébelin’s ideas was a Parisian fortune-teller named Jean-Baptiste Alliette, who went by the pseudonym Etteilla (his surname reversed). Etteilla is arguably the most important figure in the history of tarot cards as a divinatory system. He fully embraced the Egyptian origin theory and, in 1785, published a book detailing a specific method for using Tarot for fortune-telling.

More importantly, Etteilla created the first-ever Tarot deck designed exclusively for occult and divinatory purposes. He assigned specific astrological and elemental correspondences to each card and provided distinct upright and reversed meanings. For example, he connected the cards to the creation myth from the Book of Genesis and his interpretation of Egyptian lore. By creating a systematic methodology and a specialized deck, Etteilla professionalized Tarot reading and made cartomancy accessible to a wider audience, cementing the cards' new role as a tool for peering into the future. It was with Etteilla that the answer to "when were tarot cards used for divination?" truly begins.

The popularization of these new theories also gave rise to several persistent myths that continue to obscure the true history of Tarot.

Debunking Common Myths About Tarot's Origins

The romantic and mystical narratives introduced in the 18th century have led to several enduring myths about tarot card origins. While compelling, these stories are not supported by historical evidence. Understanding the facts helps clarify the authentic origin of tarot cards.

The Myth of Ancient Egyptian Origins

The most persistent myth, popularized by Court de Gébelin and Etteilla, is that Tarot originated in ancient Egypt. The theory suggests that Egyptian priests encoded their sacred wisdom into the cards' imagery to preserve it from destruction. However, there is zero historical or archaeological evidence to support this claim.

• Historical Timeline: The earliest Tarot cards appeared in Italy in the 1440s, thousands of years after the decline of ancient Egyptian civilization.
• Art and Symbolism: The imagery on the earliest decks is clearly of Italian Renaissance and medieval European origin, depicting figures like the Pope, the Empress, and Christian virtues—none of which align with ancient Egyptian iconography.
• Lack of Precedent: No artifacts resembling Tarot cards have ever been discovered in Egyptian archaeological sites.

This myth was born from an 18th-century European fascination with Egypt, not from historical fact.

The Myth of Roma Origins

Another common misconception is that the Romani people introduced Tarot to Europe and were its original practitioners of divination. While the Roma have a rich tradition of fortune-telling, historical records show this is also incorrect.

• Arrival in Europe: The Romani people began arriving in Western Europe in the early 15th century, around the same time Tarot was emerging in Italy. However, there is no evidence connecting them to the creation or dissemination of Tarocchi decks.
• Card Preferences: Historical accounts indicate that Romani fortune-tellers predominantly used standard playing cards for cartomancy, not the more complex and expensive Tarot decks.
• Timeline of Divination: The association between Tarot and divination did not become widespread until the late 18th century in France, long after both Tarot and the Romani people were established in Europe.

The association likely arose from the romanticized stereotype of the "Gypsy fortune-teller" and was later retroactively applied to Tarot. Having stripped away these layers of myth, we can appreciate the Tarot's true modern evolution, which shifted its focus from predicting the future to exploring the inner self.

The Modern Era: Tarot for Self-Discovery

The 20th century marked the final and most profound transformation in tarot card history. Influenced by new psychological theories and revived esoteric traditions, the Tarot evolved from a fortune-telling device into a sophisticated tool for introspection, personal growth, and self-discovery.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Rider-Waite-Smith Deck

The catalyst for this modern shift was the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a highly influential British occult society founded in 1888. The Golden Dawn integrated Tarot into its complex system of ceremonial magic, blending it with Kabbalah, astrology, and other esoteric traditions. Two of its members, Arthur Edward Waite and Pamela Colman Smith, would go on to create the most famous Tarot deck in the world.

Published in 1909, the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck was revolutionary for one key reason: it was the first deck to feature fully illustrated narrative scenes on all 78 cards, including the numbered "pip" cards of the Minor Arcana. Before the RWS deck, the Five of Cups would simply show five cups. Smith’s innovative art depicted a cloaked figure mourning three spilled cups while two full cups remain behind them—instantly conveying themes of loss, grief, and overlooked potential. This artistic choice made the entire deck accessible and intuitive, allowing readers to interpret the cards through their rich symbolism rather than memorizing abstract meanings.

A clear example of this innovation's impact is the Ten of Swords. In older decks, it was just an image of ten swords. Smith depicted a figure lying face down with ten swords in his back, a powerful and unambiguous illustration of betrayal, rock bottom, or finality. This visual storytelling unlocked the psychological potential of the cards for a mass audience.

From Fortune-Telling to Psychological Tool

Pamela Colman Smith's evocative imagery transformed Tarot reading. The detailed scenes on the Minor Arcana invited personal interpretation and resonated with the universal human experience. This shift coincided with the rise of psychoanalysis, particularly the work of Carl Jung, who developed theories of archetypes and the collective unconscious.

Many modern Tarot practitioners began to view the cards not as predictors of a fixed future but as mirrors of the psyche. The Major Arcana were seen as representing universal archetypes on the journey of life—such as The Hero (The Fool), The Mentor (The Hierophant), or The Shadow (The Devil)—while the Minor Arcana reflected everyday situations and emotional states. In this framework, a Tarot reading becomes a dialogue with the subconscious mind, helping individuals uncover hidden patterns, explore complex feelings, and empower themselves to make conscious choices. The RWS deck's enduring popularity is a testament to its success in bridging the gap between esoteric mystery and personal, psychological insight.

Conclusion

The journey of Tarot from a 15th-century Italian parlor game to a modern psychological tool is a testament to its remarkable symbolic resilience. Originally conceived as carte da trionfi for aristocratic entertainment, its rich allegorical imagery provided a fertile ground for centuries of cultural reinterpretation—first as a fortune-telling device and later as a mirror for the subconscious. Understanding this authentic history dispels the romantic myths of ancient origins and reveals a far more compelling story of human creativity and adaptation.

Looking ahead, the Tarot's evolution is far from over. In an age of digital information and algorithmic prediction, its enduring appeal lies in its capacity to foster personal narrative and introspection. The cards do not offer a fixed destiny but a dynamic language for self-reflection, empowering individuals to navigate their own complexities. The next chapter of Tarot's history will be written by those who use its timeless archetypes not just to ask what the future holds, but to consciously create it. Its true power is not in predicting a pre-written story, but in helping us write our own.