history of tarot?

inanna_tarot

hey folks! I need your bookworm wisdom!
From the few tarot books i've got, theres nearly always a brief history of tarot - but is there a more definative book on the history of tarot? Or is there not enough knowledge for anyone to give it a go? Im a history dude so i'm trying to connect my favourite things!

Blessings,
Sezo
x
 

jmd

In terms of history, any of the books written or co-authored by Michael Dummett...

There are others of course, but as a beginning, these are a solid foundation.
 

fyreflye

The short answer is that nobody knows but everyone has a theory. Beware of books by anyone who claims to know. Especially if he's French.
Dummett's books are particularly useful for squelching any wild notion you might have that the cards actually *mean* anything ;-)
A reasonably level-headed approach can be found in Cynthia Giles' "The Tarot: History, Mystery and Lore."
 

maria42airam

Tarot History

"Tarot and the Journey of the Hero" by Hajo Banzhaf has a lot of history and relates the Tarot images to many other branches of metaphysical study, to art and to Jungian psychology.

I am also a history "buff", I've not finished the book yet, but I am enjoying it.

Maria
 

Scion

I'll second jmd's suggestion. The 1st third of Cynthia Giles' Tarot: History, Mystery and Lore is an excellent intro to the basic history of both the cards and their interpretation. That said, any of Dummet's work is rigorous and accessible, although he's not super-friendly to the idea of divinatory usage.

In a more theoretical vein, I also just picked up Huson's Mystical Origins of the Tarot and very much looking forward to the reprint of O'Neill's Tarot Symbolism. Just do searches for either title and you'll pull up the relevant threads...
 

ribbitcat

Hiya :)

Also , in addition to Cynthia Giles , don't forget to check out James Revak's website ....

ribbitcat
 
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