View Full Version : the origin of tarot
since it looks like we will probably never agree on the origins of tarot, and many posts and threads discuss this, it might be interesting to see what the tarot itself says about its origins, as it was there at that time.
so i asked the tarot, and the grimaud marseille gave these cards as answer:
8 swords, page cups, 9 cups.
8 says there are no limits, and the roots are to be found somewhere between the top and the bottom circle of the 8, or rather between heaven and earth? the origin of tarot can be found in it being god(dess)'s way of communicating with us.
the page of cups is a student with dreams that wishes to know all there is about tarot history. he is focused and concentrated to the max on what is in the cup, but if he only looks in the cup he will loose himself in its depths, and thus miss out on the broader concept.
the 9 of cups answers the question perfectly: the key to the origins of tarot is in understanding it.
comments and opinions are welcome :-)
~kaz
edited to add: diana/jmd, i just realise this post might belong in "your readings", not sure though, just move it if it doesnt belong here.
firemaiden
17-08-2003, 13:16
Okie Dokie, Kaz, let me see what I can do with this :D. You were asking the Grimaud Marseille, of couse, so you know the deck will have a french origin in mind!
We have the page of cups between the eight of swords and the nine of cups. You see right away, don't you? It is a young free spirit torn between the duties of warfare, and the delights of poetry. Or, is it an artistic and sensitive soul, traveling between a life of violence and adventure, and a splendid cultural flowering!
Ah! The vision is becoming clearer... I see... a dreamy musician.. I see... a troubadour!! Yes!! and who might this troubadour be?? Why, heavens look at this! Of course, the nine -- Why, our troubadour is none other than William the IX, Duc of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou!
Ah, yes, of course, I see it now!..and the Eight of Swords refers to his participation in the disastrous first Crusade to the Holy Land! Right, and furthermore, the eight is what came before nine, of course, so it also refers to his lineage -- the great Aquitanian tradition of music and literature, that some say served as a kind of oasis for the grand secular culture of the roman empire, which had every where else died out.
There you have it, historians be danged! Proof positive that the first tarot cards were brought to France from the Islamic world, via the crusades, by a troubadour named William IX. :D :D :D
I tend to very much agree with the interpretation :)
However, let us go further with William the Hermit (IX). Maybe he was very much a Valdensian traveller, so that his visit to northern Italy caused the furore of Tarot history once the seeds he carried from more western districts fell upon those fertile lands.
The eight of swords may also further indicate this, for the quadruple vesica piscis also shows the birthing of Tarot within the four elements, ie, the Earth plane.
Here the Page of cups not only reveals his dreaminess, but also his deeper connection to the Graal saga and the true dating and origins of the Tarot: the year 1196 in the Albigensian district :)
Wow, I am flabbergasted by the job you did!
8 of Swords. Searching for the invisible world, the world "beyond". Initiation. Spiritual evolution. 8 represents Eternity. The number of Cosmic Balance. It is also the number of Resurrection. 8 is the number of Jesus, according to my books - resurrected, or rather.... ressucitated, as Umbrae often reminds us.
Page of Cups. A troubador indeed.
9 of Cups. 9 is also a number of INITIATION.
The Tarot is an initiatory journey. No doubt about it.
I am thinking here also of the Alchemists......... (9 is 3x3. The three stages of Alchemy - black, white and blue - have to master the physical, the emotional and the spiritual world, in order to reach one's goal.)
8 of Swords: A past buried in confusion. Trials and tests. Stuck in it’s own past, a memory lost.
Page of Cups: A present comprised that is akin to finding a flower in a world of entropy.
9 of Cups: And it brings us what we want, and most do not realize what it brings – taking only a portion, taking only what we think is there…cheating ourselves in the process. In our ‘moment’ we confuse the physical with the spiritual, and walk away, wanting.
firemaiden
20-08-2003, 13:25
Jean-Michel, what happened else happened in 1196?
"8 swords, page cups, 9 cups."
i have a slightly different reaction to that reading.
eights are the number of the second crossroads;
choices to be made and decisions with consequences. In eight the journey of the hero
culminates in a sort of big fat "where do we go from here?" and there is a stop in sense of direction and an understanding of purpose.
Swords symbolize thoughts and ideas. Tarot thus
came into being because we needed a sort of bridge
for thinking and communicating. Hieroglyphics of
the most primitive sort, pre-verbal, pre-phonetic,
tarot allows us to create language. The son of cups symbolizes the yang center suspended in the yin pool of consciousness; a very specific and active part of the psyche; which i have otherwhere
refered to as the mammalian metacomplex; the subliminal self aware thinking self.
Nines represent the final steps needed to finish a journey. The last considerations, the missing element, final preperations.
In my mind the meaning is clear. Tarot is the
bridge for the the mammalian metacomplex to link
its feelings and experiences and emotions to its
mind and ideas, and thus finish the task of becoming a communicating species.
Tarot is the true origin of language.
Eberhard
23-10-2003, 20:26
Ok, channelling might not be a valid source for anyone, but there are some rare ones like those of Cayce or the Ra group here which I find trustworthy for myself:
In the early 80s there was a group effort of 3 people to channel a soul group involved in early Egypt. Recently also the tarot related material was put on the web as:
The Law of One, Vol.IV http://www.llresearch.org/library/law_book_4.htm
It might be interesting that they state that the tarot was seen as the archetypes of the mind which only consisted of the major arcana, the minor arcana coming from Sumerian sources which were more astrologically oriented.
Even the major arcana only slowly evolved from a core set of 9 (I,II,V - VIII,VIIII,XII - XV,XVI,XVIIII) to the 21, the Batelêur XXII came later on. If you only want to scan the Ra site, you also can use Google with the usual keywords and the additional statement in the search string:
site:llresearch.org
which only returns results from their site.
Eberhard
Eberhard
23-10-2003, 23:18
After looking at my entry again I thought it might be useful to add a bit of the terminology used in the Ra readings:
The Archetypes of the Mind
The Evolution of the Mind
1 The Magician Matrix of the Mind
2 The High Priestess Potentiator of the Mind
3 The Empress Catalyst of the Mind
4 The Emperor Experience of the Mind
5 The Hierophant Significator of the Mind
6 The Lovers or The Two Paths Transformation of the Mind
7 The Chariot Great Way of the Mind
The Evolution of the Body
8 Justice or Balance Matrix of the Body
9 Wisdom or Sage Potentiator of the Body
10 Wheel of Fortune Catalyst of the Body
11 The Enchantress Experience of the Body
12 The Hanged Man or The Martyr Significator of the Body
13 Death Transformation of the Body
14 The Alchemist Great Way of the Body
The Evolution of the Spirit
15 The Devil Matrix of the Spirit
16 Lightening Struck Tower Potentiator of the Spirit
17 The Star or Hope Catalyst of the Spirit
18 The Moon Experience of the Spirit
19 The Sun Significator of the Spirit
20 Judgement Transformation of the Spirit
21 The World Great Way of the Spirit
22 The Fool The Choice
That's a very very interesting table you posted, Eberhard.
Two potentiators in the Evolution of the Spirit..... that one makes me frown a little. (My Virgo mind. :D ).
This is a keeper. Thank you so much.
thank you thats very fascinating.
Aha! I see that you have edited the table - there is now only one Potentiator! I suppose it was a typo.
Thank you! (Virgo mind gives a sigh of relief! :laugh: ).
Eberhard
24-10-2003, 08:31
Sorry, 17--following the same scheme--is a Catalyst, of course. I've corrected it.
Interestingly, on the mind level, the "pure mind" (1), the consciousness only becomes productive when it actively reaches out and comes into contact with its potentiator (2), the wisdom aspect of the unconscious, waiting patiently.
On the body level there is a gender switch: the body per se (8) runs smoothly, but it needs some kind of informed wisdom (9) to aim at something.
On the sprit level (15) the main figure is androgynous, and awakening often is seen as a negative, unbalanced, demonic or sociopathic "personality change", it is activated by a lightening (16) out of a sudden ...
(By the way, Nathan Cate in his tarot novel Sanctuary of the Gods (http://nathancate.tripod.com/) emphasizes the mongoloid face of the devil: holy madness.)
Catalysts are the frictions or problem zones which lead to experiences.
The Significator here is the main characteristic of its level, it is not seen as polar. The last two images of each level, Transformation and the Great Way, point to the "way beyond".
According to the Ra Material in the beginning the tarot was not represented by images but by an oral tradition, "story-telling" ...
The tarot was used as a training instrument. The learning sequence was:
1. Take the topical triples beginning with The Matrix 1/8/15 and discover their common characteristics and differences.
2. Take the polar pairs: Matrix/Potentiator, Catalyst/Experience, then the Significator always together with the Choice, then Transformation/Great Way:
1/2, 3/4, 5/0, 6/7
8/9, 10/11, 12/0, 13/14
15/16, 17/18, 19/0, 20/21
3. Meditate on each image on its own.