The Tarot is a tool of spiritual insight, personal transformation, and divination. Yet, its origins tell a much more mundane story.

Far from being an ancient tool of fortune telling, the Tarot we know emerged in the vibrant world of 14th-century Renaissance Europe—not as a mystical device, but as a simple playing card game enjoyed by nobles and common folk alike.

So how did these humble cards, once shuffled and dealt for entertainment, become a cornerstone of the occult? Let’s dive into the fascinating history of the tarot and trace its evolution from a game of chance to a tool for deep spiritual exploration.

The Renaissance Origins of the Tarot

The Popess, Death, The Fool among others from the Visconti-Forza Tarot

The history of the Tarot begins with the introduction of playing cards to Spain and Italy in the early 1300s. Playing cards originated in 12th-century China but came to Europe via the Mamluk deck, an invention of Persia and Egypt.

The Mamluk deck consisted of four suits of ten cards each and three court cards. These suits share strong resemblances to what would become the Minor Arcana of the Tarot: Cups, Swords, Coins, and Polo Sticks. By the late 14th century, playing cards were circulating throughout Europe, where they were primarily used for recreation.

As these cards spread, their suits were adapted to fit the cultural context of each region, with the French variant becoming the deck we all know today, featuring Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, and Hearts. In Renaissance Italy, a new card game began to take shape—Tarocchi, or Triumphs—which expanded on the traditional deck to add what we now know as the Major Arcana.

These images were heavily influenced by the religious, philosophical, and societal values of Renaissance Europe, reflecting moral and spiritual ideas. Cards like Justice and Temperance were visual representations of virtues central to Renaissance humanist philosophy. The cards symbolized an allegorical journey toward spiritual wholeness as seen through the eyes of 14th-century European society.

The exact number and order of Triumphs in a given deck depended on the region, with some using cardinal virtues, Roman deities, or themes inspired by the liberal arts and humanities.

The order and number of the Major Arcana familiar today came from the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, dating to the mid-15th century. It is one of the oldest and most complete tarot decks, commissioned by the Visconti family of Milan.

Tarot continued to spread throughout the years, moving from Italy to France, where the Tarot de Marseille emerged, formalizing the order and structure of the Tarot as we recognize it today.

How Did the Tarot Become a Potent Divinatory Tool?

The sequence of the Major Arcana depicts an allegorical journey toward spiritual wholeness, a reflection of Renaissance culture. This made it a natural fit for esoteric and occult systems, which also sought paths to spiritual enlightenment.

However, despite its mystical imagery, tarot was invented for card games, not divination.

Fragmentary evidence suggests that tarot and playing cards were occasionally used for witchcraft and fortune-telling as early as the late 14th century. However, these practices were informal, only passed down orally, and unfortunately, recorded.

These Early forms of cartomancy were simple and intuitive, relying on basic meanings assigned to suits and numbers.

Generally, Hearts/Cups announced happiness, Diamonds/Coins: Prosperity and fortune, Spades/Swords: Misfortune, and Clubs/Wands referred to manners of the countryside and of labor.

Number symbolism was heavily ingrained in religious metaphor, so it is reasonable to think that these folk practitioners had some understanding of a numerological system from which they based their interpretations. It was only much later that the complex systems of correspondences we now associate with tarot were developed.

The idea of tarot as a divination tool didn’t emerge until the 18th century. This shift was largely due to key figures in the Enlightenment and the occult revival. The first major step in this direction came with Antoine Court de Gébelin, who, in his multi-volume work Le Monde Primitif, asserted that tarot was a remnant of ancient Egyptian wisdom, connecting it to the legendary Book of Thoth.

Jean-Baptiste Alliette, known by his pseudonym Etteilla, further expanded these ideas, developing the first comprehensive system of tarot divination. He linked the tarot suits to the four elements—fire, water, air, and earth—and introduced astrological correspondences, solidifying tarot’s role as a tool for mystical insight and introducing the Tarot as a fortune telling device to the public at-large.

Despite their influence, neither Gébelin’s nor Etteilla’s claims about tarot’s Egyptian origins are supported by historical evidence. These theories were fueled by European fascination with Egyptology in the 18th and 19th centuries. Nonetheless, their ideas had a lasting impact, establishing tarot’s role as a divinatory tool.

Tarot & The Occult: The Golden Dawn and How They Shaped the Modern Tarot

The Magician & The Aces from the Rider-Waite Smith Tarot

The tarot meanings we know today were shaped by a powerful synthesis of esoteric traditions, particularly through the work of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn blended Hermeticism, Kabbalah, astrology, and alchemy into a unified system, crafting modern tarot interpretations.

Before the Golden Dawn, Eliphas Lévi made crucial contributions by linking tarot to the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, assigning the 22 Major Arcana to the 22 paths on the Tree. He connected the Minor Arcana to the ten sefirot, embedding tarot within Kabbalistic mysticism.

Golden Dawn figures like Samuel Liddell Mathers and Arthur Edward Waite expanded upon Lévi’s work. Mathers, drew heavily from both Lévi’s work and earlier traditions, including the tarot associations put forth by Etteilla who was likely inspired by folk traditions of cartomancy. Mathers expanded upon these ideas, integrating Etteilla’s keywords and adding additional layers of Kabbalistic, astrological, and alchemical symbolism.

Waite’s collaboration with artist Pamela Colman Smith produced the famous Rider-Waite-Smith deck, which popularized tarot for a broad audience.

Waite’s deck gave each of the 78 cards a full image, preserving much of the Golden Dawn’s esoteric teachings while making tarot more accessible. These scenes reflect the Golden Dawn’s system of meanings, but they also make the cards more accessible to those unfamiliar with the deeper layers of Kabbalistic or astrological symbolism. Waite’s deck became immensely popular, and its system of meanings—rooted in the Golden Dawn’s synthesis of occult traditions—became the foundation for modern tarot interpretation.

Aleister Crowley further synthesized tarot’s symbolism in his Thoth Tarot, blending Kabbalah, astrology, and ceremonial magic. Crowley saw tarot as a tool for accessing deeper spiritual truths, and like Waite, he viewed each card as representing stages in the soul’s journey toward enlightenment.

The members of the Golden Dawn, including Mathers, Waite, and Crowley, transformed tarot into the system we recognize today. Their collective work established a universal framework that continues to influence modern tarot interpretation to this day.

How Does Tarot Perfectly Align with Multiple Esoteric Systems?

Personification of Astrology, Guercino (1650-1655)

Put simply, The Major Arcana of the Tarot depicts a system of spiritual development and self understanding, which, because of its archetypal nature, is naturally suited to be projected upon with all other systems of spiritual development and understanding.

Shared Symbolism and Archetypes

Many of the symbols found in the tarot are universal in nature, which makes them a perfect fit for a wide range of esoteric interpretations.

Esoteric systems like astrology, alchemy, and Kabbalah all aim to explore universal truths about the cosmos and human existence. Because tarot also deals with these same existential themes, it was easy for later esoteric thinkers to map these systems onto the tarot. The archetypal nature of tarot allowed it to become a powerful tool for spiritual exploration across multiple traditions.

This alignment wasn’t intentional in its original creation but emerged naturally due to the tarot’s rich, universal symbolism. Tarot’s Major Arcana, in particular, contains archetypal images that reflect fundamental aspects of human experience, transformation, and spiritual growth—concepts central to many esoteric systems and spiritual philosophies.

Renaissance Humanism & Syncretism

The development of tarot during the Renaissance, a time of intellectual revival and spiritual exploration, also played a crucial role in its ability to align with mystical traditions. Renaissance thinkers were particularly interested in syncretism, the blending of different religious, philosophical, and spiritual systems. Renaissance humanism brought a renewed interest in classical philosophy, Christian theology, Neoplatonism, and Hermeticism, and these ideas were freely circulating during the time when tarot decks were being created.

It’s no coincidence that tarot’s imagery reflects the cultural and intellectual atmosphere of Renaissance Italy. The Renaissance was a time of diverse thought, philosophy, and historical reclamation. Thus the artists and thinkers of the time blended these concepts into the allegorical figures of the tarot.

While the original creators of the Tarot did not design the cards with occult tradition in mind, the intellectual environment of the time made it easy for later occultists to apply these ideas to the tarot’s imagery.

How Were Tarot Card Meanings Created?

The Fortune Teller (1828), Adèle Kindt (Belgian, 1804 – 1893)

The creation of the tarot cards and their divinatory meanings is the result of centuries of symbolic layering, cultural synthesis, and spiritual reinterpretation.

Although tarot was not initially designed for mystical purposes, its rich, archetypal imagery made it an ideal candidate for esoteric adaptation. Over time, as it evolved through the hands of influential figures like Etteilla, Lévi, and the Golden Dawn, tarot became a profound tool for spiritual exploration and a reflection of universal truths.

Today, we can distill these many layers of esoteric systems into what we might call a modern system of Tarot Fundamentals, simplifying the vast array of influences into a cohesive interpretive framework.

The Minor Arcana can be broken down into three key elements: the suit's element (such as fire for wands or water for cups), the number on the card, and the imagery depicted.

Similarly, the Major Arcana can be understood based on their name/archetype, the stage they represent in the Fool’s Journey—a metaphor for personal growth and spiritual evolution—and their imagery and symbolism.

By embracing this modern understanding of tarot fundamentals and appreciating the occult traditions that have been layered onto it throughout its history, readers should feel encouraged to navigate their own interpretations and correspondences. Correspondences and card meanings are a are a matter of personal choice, and personal connection to the archetypes within the cards.

The Real History of the Tarot Cards and Their Meanings