Is Tarot Pagan?

In 1579 John Northbrooke published a treatise called Spiritus est Vicarius in Terre
It was a tract against dicing/Dancing/Plays/cards/various Sunday Pastimes.
Some plays of that time were Taming of the Shrew, Timon of Athens, The comedy of Errors and various plays called the Apocryphal Plays.
Some of the dancing at that time were Elizabethan Allemandes, Country or Folk,
Italian and French Court dances etc.
Of cards I guess there were Playing cards and as we have not any examples of TdM, but know they were around and decks like the Sola Busca.

If Richard Cavendish in his 1975 book The Tarot is correct about Northbrooke's tract I would like to discuss what he says.

For a long time it was quite widely believed that cards had been invented by the Devil. St Bernardino of Siena, a celebrated Franciscan preacher, denounced them as a creation of the Devil in 1423 and the puritanically- minded all over Europe followed suit. In an attack on Gambling and theatre going published in England in the 1570's, John Northbrooke anticipated the modern theory that cards contain the pagan wisdom of the ancient world: The play of cards is an invention of the Devil, which he found out that he might the easier bring Idolatry amongst men. For the Kings and Court cards we use now were in the old times images of idols and false Gods: which since they would seem Christian have changed into Charlemagne, Lancelot, Hector and such like names...

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I take this is about playing cards as other figures are not mentioned, though I note that Paul Huson has included Hector in his yet to be published deck- a TdM. Hector was a Trojan Prince- a Pagan. I would have more understanding if Northbrooke had said "Kings and his Court" not separate as Tarot has Kings in the 22.
What I am curious about, is although Cavendish is most likely meaning 'Modern theory' as the occult use after 1700- Northbrooke was not meaning that in 1579.
So I am asking for a discussion on 'Pagan Wisdom' at the time of the tracts writing; before the occult Tarot so called re discovery after 1700.

There is a very interesting paper on Gambling and Religion here...
http://www.camh.net/egambling/issue20/pdfs/03binde.pdf

~Rosanne

From my own learnings I would say no. A lot of pagans use tarot and other divinatory methods, but tarot itself is not pagan. The church condemned tarot because the cards were used in gambling games, and therefore anyone who used them was considered heathen, or pagan. Paganism itself is a form of earth worship, or living off or with the land, so Tarot would not have been considered earthy and at that time would have only been used to play games such as tarochi etc. It really came into its own as a divinatory tool much later than "pagan times", But it is I would say, a natural progression for modern pagans and witches to delve into, stemming from such occult teachings in modern times as alester crowley, Rosaleen Norton, and the gardnerian traditions etc.

Edit to add~ I will definately be looking into this much more thoroughly as its certainly an interesting topic. Oh and Hi from down here in Wellington

Hi Ambrosia and a wet and windy Hello from the North!
If John Northbrooke felt that cards was Non- pagan (that would mean Christian at that time)why would he think it would bring Idolatry as a tool of the Devil?
Or do you think that like the article linked that idea was just a 'smokescreen' for the fact of the anti Christian idea of Fate not God directing our lives? Or even the idea that money was going to gambling and not the Church?
I have always seen the Christian element of Tarot- but increasingly I am seeing it as ancient pagan wisdom- as like the early Greek myths and Roman Legends- not Christian at all. A product of the rediscovery of ancient texts in the Early Renaissance if you will.
I was amazed at a recent visit to Italy how the country was clothed in Christianity, but really underneath it was still very Pagan. It reminded me of Tarot - Renaissance dressed but Pagan (as in non Christian) underwear.
~Rosanne

Rosanne said:

Hi Ambrosia and a wet and windy Hello from the North!
If John Northbrooke felt that Tarot was Non- pagan (that would mean Christian at that time)why would he think it would bring Idolatry as a tool of the Devil?

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I think that anything that wasnt seen as "good christian behaviour" such as gambling games or frivoulous activities like that, in the puritanical eyes of the church, anything that wasnt ultimately showing your love or fear of God would have been seen as heathen. Noone should be idolised other than God and in that case anything that brought comfort or answers or just anything that seemed mysterious would have looked suspicious.

Rosanne said:

Or do you think that like the article linked that idea was just a 'smokescreen' for the fact of the anti Christian idea of Fate not God directing our lives? Or even the idea that money was going to gambling and not the Church?

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I definately believe the "smokescreen" idea. In those times God was ALL. There was nothing you needed other than God. God will provide, therefore seeking answers from a deck of cards was heretical in the extreme, not to mention purely frivoulous. I suppose the church could have been scared of divination much in the same way everyone was scared of "witchcraft". The witch hunts promoted fear which escalated into something that was nothing other than simple midwifery, herbalism and suchforth.

Rosanne said:

I have always seen the Christian element of Tarot- but increasingly I am seeing it as ancient pagan wisdom- as like the early Greek myths and Roman Legends- not Christian at all. A product of the rediscovery of ancient texts in the Early Renaissance if you will.
I was amazed at a recent visit to Italy how the country was clothed in Christianity, but really underneath it was still very Pagan. It reminded me of Tarot - Renaissance dressed but Pagan (as in non Christian) underwear.
~Rosanne

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I agree there is definately pagan symbolism as well as christian in the cards which is only to be expected considering the age of the oldest decks, and documentation showing the initial stages of using the cards for divination, and also considering paganism has never died out (much to the church's chagrin) it is still going strong. However I do believe The very first decks created were simply beautiful works of art to be admired or commisioned by rich aristocracy or suchforth, which then were used to play simple card games, which then were used for divination and how we use them continues to evolve, because man has to find meaning in everything. sorry for the ramble.

As stated, my views are purely musings of my own, from my own learnings over the years. I will have to study your question more thoroughly in order to come to my own conclusions, but I do believe that because of the varied opinions and theories, and the mystery (and I must admit I actually quite enjoy the mystery) surrounding the Tarot's beginnings, it is very difficult to establish what may have really happened, as you are probably all too aware. Very interesting though I must say. I quite like not knowing, as I always say to my daughter "some things just are." LOL.

Rosanne said:

If John Northbrooke felt that Tarot was Non- pagan (that would mean Christian at that time)why would he think it would bring Idolatry as a tool of the Devil?

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I think in the late Roman period, a renunciation of Christianity meant a return to pagan times and therefore idolatry (Julian the Apostate comes to mind). I know this is pre-Tarot, but since we are talking of the Renaissance period and its reorientation towards antiquity, the thought might not be so far-fetched. That's why I think this is perfectly plausible:

Rosanne said:

I have always seen the Christian element of Tarot- but increasingly I am seeing it as ancient pagan wisdom- as like the early Greek myths and Roman Legends- not Christian at all. A product of the rediscovery of ancient texts in the Early Renaissance if you will.

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ETA: Much of Christian thought is based on pagan traditions, like neo-Platonism, but you know that anyway. Was it Robert Place who said there might be a link between Tarot and neo-Platonism? (I hope I'm not as lousy in my scholarship elsewhere as I am here!)

I quite like not knowing, as I always say to my daughter "some things just are." LOL.

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Fair enough Ambrosia- I enjoyed your thoughts- but I like to know lol.

I think in the late Roman period, a renunciation of Christianity meant a return to pagan times and therefore idolatry (Julian the Apostate comes to mind). I know this is pre-Tarot, but since we are talking of the Renaissance period and its reorientation towards antiquity, the thought might not be so far-fetched

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Hi BrightEye- it is the term of 'Idolatry' and the 'reorientation to antiquity' in Tarot that interests me. Did he see cards as idle pastimes like dancing, as he was a non-conformist minister from Gloucestershire, A Puritan; or did he recognise cards as depictions of idols as in non-christian models?

"Playing at tables is far more tolerable (although in all respects not allowable) than Dice and Cards are, for that it leaneth partlie to chance, and partlie to industrie of the mind". (Northbrooke)
Northbrooke also looked favorably on Chess as skillful.
He also recognised that tables was a game of skill, and perhaps his attitude was more liberal than it looks, since in 1526 Cardinal Wolsey had decreed that all tables, dice, cards, and bowls were illegal and should be burnt.

As one fourteenth-century French writer wrote.........

...in many districts of the kingdom of France there has grown up an irreligious custom, may rather an abominable abuse, namely that on Sundays and the other important festivals of the year, dedicated to the Majesty of the Most High, when Christian people should cease from servile work, come to church, spend their time in divine service, and receive the food of the Word of God, which they sorely need, from prelates and other authorized preachers--at such times they hold markets and fairs, pleas and assizes.... Whence it comes to pass that on those holy days on which God ought to be worshiped above all, the devil is worshiped.

This writer seems to think that if you are not worshiping God then you are worshiping the Devil- which is different emphasis to thinking that cards are models of idolatry or created by the Devil as in my first post regarding Cavendish on Tarot.

Was what Northbrooke saw in cards idle pastime- puritanical thought or did he see Pagan Myth? I cannot find other early comment on this 'ancient wisdom' reflected in tirades or tracts regarding re discovered texts of classical antiquity. I know about the Bonfires of the Vanities in Siena Italy 1497-burning of cosmetics, lewd books- immoral books, manuscripts of secular songs, and pictures. Was Plato and Ovid and suchlike burned or condemned?
~Rosanne

Interesting about card playing and Sunday (the 'holy' day).
Over here (England) we still had a Law against playing at cards on a Sunday in the early part of the 1900s (last century). I don't know if or when it was actually used, nor if it's still loitering and 'invokable' in some dusty Law book!

Bee

'John Northbrooke anticipated the modern theory that cards contain the pagan wisdom of the ancient world'

To me it would make sense, yes. I have a (modern) deck in which the Papess is Persephone, the Empress Demeter and Justice Themis. This must have survived from somewhere. I doubt it's a Golden Dawn invention. However, take it with a pinch of salt as I don't know much about Tarot history.

Which deck would Northbrooke have had in mind? Playing cards without Trumps?

As for Plato's texts being burned, I doubt it. The Mantegna deck from 14-- (the eact date escapes me now) depicts a neo-Platonic world, no?

Hi Bee
I have some Exclusive Brethren neighbours who still follow the do nothing but pray on their Holy Days (I think is Saturday??).
I was always taught that Sunday was a day of rest- but I never figured out what you rested from exactly as we worked like Trojans on a Sunday.
My folks were not exactly Puritanical though.
~Rosanne