When? What? Why? Tarot

This article is the first of many. Each When? What? Why? feature will give a brief factual overview of a certain object or tradition, explain its origins, what it is for and why people still embrace these rituals and traditions.

Over the past year my close friend has become more and more involved with Tarot reading. At first it was simply for novelty but she was pulled in deep and the more she practised the art of cartomancy the more accurate her readings have become. You could say its smoke and mirrors, confidence trickery or just a social exercise, a link between two people perhaps, if you are more cynical and of course that is okay. I don't judge, believe what you will. However her ability to predict pitfalls, promotions and hurdles within a multitude of peoples lives got me interested.

image via Pxfuel

I enrolled in a course led by Tunisia Ali, Spiritual Healer, Author, Educator, Hypnotist & Life Coach, in an effort to gain an understanding of what the cards themselves represented, how they are approached and what people gain from the practise of tarot reading.[1] Like any historian, I also have done my research and read upon the history, origins and its many variations. It has been a fulfilling and enjoyable journey. 

At first like many, I thought that Tarot cards were ancient tools used by mystics for generations, across Egypt and Greece. I guess I was pretty ignorant as the first tarot card deck was actually invented somewhere in Europe around the mid 15th Century. It was used purely as a form of entertainment, much like the modern set of playing cards. Across all the variations that have been found across Europe, the deck is always split into four suits. The suits vary from region to region but the cards roughly stay the same. 

image via Pxfuel

Fast forward a couple of hundred years to 1785. A man known by the pseudonym Etteilla (Jean-Baptiste Alliette) was the first to popularise Tarot to a wide audience and the first professional Tarot reader. It wasn't until six years later that Etteilla revised the tarot deck designed purely for divination. He combined his knowledge of astrology, the four humours and the four elements in his approach.[2]

1791 to 2021 is only a slight 230 years. In terms of human history that is but a drop in the huge sea of time. Prior to Tarot card readings tasseography (the reading of tea leaves) was all the rage in the Victorian era before the invention of teabags, while before that people read the offal of animals, bones and threw runes. 

But to those that use divination as a tool and those that embrace it, it is not the method that dictates what the user sees but the power within themselves. Therefore the age of the practice is not what matters but what the clairvoyant, oracle etc is comfortable in using. 

image via FreeImages.com

But why do people still use these methods in a day where most things can be explained by science? Atheism is at an all time high and people have the all the answers they seek at a touch of a keyboard, literally the world at their finger tips. 

The answer is simple. In life we never know everything. No matter how far science can take us, we can't be certain about the world around us and we do not know what the future holds. Life is hard, confusing and complex. The use of divination allows people to perhaps gain the reassurance and guidance that they seek in a world that refuses to show them a direct path. 

Whether you believe in the intangible methodology of tarot or not, remember like all faith it brings people hope and happiness. Let people use what they need to find the answers and reassurance they seek as our journey is full of enough suffering.

1. Tunisia Ali

2. Decker, Ronald, Thierry Depaulis and Michael Dummett. A Wicked Pack of Cards. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-2713-9