THE HISTORY OF THE TAROT

The modern history of the Tarot begins in northern Italy in the early 15th century. Although playing cards were already in use in Europe by that time, the addition of the Major Arcana with their allegorical illustrations seems to have been created as a game for Italian nobles.

Evidence of using playing cards for divination can be traced back to 1540, but the use of the Tarot deck for divination is first recorded in the 18th century. The earliest tarot cards were hand painted, so the number of the decks produced is thought to have been rather small. Decks survive from this era from various cities in France (the best known being a deck from the city of Marseilles now known as the Tarot de Marseilles). At around the same time, the name tarocchi appeared.



A French occultist named Alliette, who worked as a seer and card diviner shortly before the French Revolution, was the first to widely publicise the use of the Tarot deck for divination. Using the name 'Etteilla' he designed the first esoteric Tarot deck, adding astrological attributions and 'Egyptian' motifs to various cards, altering many of them from the Marseilles designs, and adding divinatory meanings in text on the cards.

Tarot was adopted by mystics and occultists as theories evolved about their links to ancient Egypt and their relationship to the mystery traditions of Isis and Thoth. The famous magician Eliphas Lévi introduced the Tarot to the English speaking world, further developing the idea of the cards as a mystical key and relating them to the Hermetic Qabalah and alchemical mysteries.

One of the most popular decks in use today, the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot, was designed in 1910 by two members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, who added many symbolic elements to the Minor Arcana cards.

THE TAROT TRAINING PROGRAMME

Now you don’t have to drag yourself through rain-drenched streets in mid-winter in order to master the mysteries of the ancient Tarot. What you do need is the sincerity of heart and purpose in order to follow this program through to its fulfilment, which will give you a powerful and working knowledge of how to draw out the wisdom and magic of the Tarot into your own life.

Twice a month, at previously arranged times mutually agreed upon, you can phone through using SKYPE, or, if you prefer, using MSN on webcam, and link with me - your own personal tutor. Each such tutorial comes with its own specific exercises and training steps. Work so designated is expected to be done in student’s own time in between each session.

This step has been taken, after much consideration on my part, as a way of making the training program accessible to the much wider audience throughout the world. The course lasts for six months, therefore 12 sessions, each session lasts for two hours.

Cost of the course is £500 payable in advance. If you have difficulty paying this all at once, please contact us about our Easy Payment method.

A montage of the Rider-Waite tarot deck. The Rider-Waite tarot deck is the most popular tarot deck in use today in the English-speaking world. It has been extremely influential in the development of later divinatory tarot decks.

A montage of the Thoth tarot deck. The Thoth Tarot is a divinatory tarot deck painted according to instructions from Aleister Crowley. It incorporates symbols from many disparate disciplines, including science and philosophy, as well as drawing on Crowley's extensive knowledge of various occult systems.