⚫⚪🔴
SERAPH’S LEARNING ACADEMY
This lesson is part of the foundational curriculum
“The Tarot’s journey from courtly pastime to sacred mirror of the soul reflects humanity’s enduring desire to find meaning through image, story, and symbol.”
🏰 Origins in Renaissance Italy
Tarot has a rich and layered history. It first appeared in Northern Italy during the Renaissance, around the year 1440—not as a tool of mysticism, but as a card game called tarocchi, played primarily by the nobility. These early decks were luxury objects, often hand-painted and adorned with allegorical figures reflecting the philosophical and spiritual ideals of the era.
One of the most notable decks from this period is the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, commissioned for the powerful Visconti family. These cards—exquisitely illustrated—remain a primary visual link to Tarot’s origins.
🔮 The Rise of Esoteric Interpretation
It was not until the 18th century that Tarot began its transformation from game to divinatory tool. French Protestant pastor and occultist Antoine Court de Gébelin theorized that Tarot contained the hidden wisdom of ancient Egypt, brought into Europe by Romani travelers. While no historical records verify this claim, the theory sparked widespread esoteric interest.
In 1783, Jean-Baptiste Alliette, writing under the name Etteilla, published the first formal system of Tarot cartomancy. He associated the cards with Egyptian cosmology, astrology, and mysticism—laying the foundation for future symbolic interpretations.
🜂 The Qabalah, the Occult, and the Golden Dawn
In the mid-19th century, Eliphas Levi (Alphonse Louis Constant) reinterpreted the Tarot through the lens of Hermetic Qabalah, further deepening its occult foundations. His fusion of the Tarot with the Hebrew alphabet and Tree of Life inspired later esoteric systems.
By 1888, the secret society known as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn absorbed Tarot into its ceremonial framework. Members began developing intricate correspondences between the Tarot, astrology, Qabalah, alchemy, and mythology.
Although many Tarot enthusiasts believe the cards are rooted in the Kabbalistic tradition, I take a different view. In my research and experience, Tarot stands apart from the structure and theology of Kabbalah.
👉 🔗 Read more: Tarot Is Not Kabbalah: There Is No Historical Link
✨ The Rider-Waite-Smith Revolution
In 1909, the most influential modern Tarot deck was published: the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot, designed by Arthur Edward Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith (nicknamed Pixie). Rooted in the Golden Dawn’s teachings, the deck concealed esoteric doctrines in symbolic imagery.
“Much of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot is drawn from Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, and the mythic lexicon of Alexandria.”
Waite is believed to have encoded the secrets of the Golden Dawn in plain sight, allowing the general public access to mysteries once reserved for initiates. The symbolism draws from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythologies, Western astrology, and both Jewish Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah.
👉 🔗 Read more: Why the Rider–Waite–Smith Deck is Recommended.
🪞 Tarot as a Mirror of the Soul
From these esoteric roots, Tarot evolved into a modern tool of self-reflection, psychological insight, and spiritual guidance—a sacred mirror that reveals the unconscious architecture of the inner world.
In recent decades, Tarot has made its way into therapeutic spaces. Counselors, psychologists, life coaches, and wellness practitioners now apply Tarot in contexts such as psychotherapy, narrative therapy, and emotional coaching.
“Even within secular circles, Tarot is now explored as a language of the psyche—rich in archetypes and symbolism.”
Though many still regard Tarot as a form of divination, a growing community recognizes its power as a rational and symbolic tool—one that bridges the ancient and the modern, the intuitive and the intellectual.
👉 🔗 Read more: Tarot: A Mirror to the Self
📚 Tarot Today: An Academic Pursuit in Personal Development
Tarot is no longer confined to the shadowed margins of the occult. It is increasingly embraced as both an academic and artistic discipline—one that demands literacy in symbolism, mythology, psychology, and philosophy.
I believe Tarot is a mirror to the Soul; it reflects the hidden and visible aspects of our daily lives. I do not use Tarot to predict fate, but to foster introspection and personal development.
Tarot offers a lens through which we may examine the tides of emotion, the workings of the mind, the shaping of behavior, and the quiet pull of spirit. Its story is still being written.
⚫⚪🔴 This concludes a lesson from Seraph’s Learning Academy.
🔗 Return to the Learn Tarot Index