RLG said:
Seriously? The ONLY sensible explanation is that it was all hidden? I beg to differ; the much more sensible explanation is that there was no such qabalistic content in the tarot, since there is no mention of it by writers who felt free to write on many other topics of esoterica. It's easy to say that there is no evidence because it was all kept secret, since there is no way to disprove that. It's much more difficult to come up with positive evidence for such an assertion of qabalah being wedded to the tarot from the outset.
No, you get the point all wrong. In fact most of the Tarot world does. The argument is not that Tarot was made by Qabalists or that Tarot Readers lean on Qabala for interpretation. The argument is that Qabalists, since at least the 16th century have used Tarot and it was a replacement for things they used before it, and precursor to things used afterwards.
As for the debate it is Christian in origin, ever since the writings of Pico della Mirandola, who first combined Magick with Qabala and reconciled Neoplatonic thought and Christian Faith, it is clear Qabala has been openly employed in Christian thought, in total or part. This means since the 1400's Qabala has been employed directly in relation to the EXACT notions of Christianity that inspired Tarot. And Christian Qabalists were applying it to everything they could. So among the world of Italy of its time, you have Mirandola promoting Christian Qabala, especially to artists, and you have cards displaying those same virtues. Along with these come all the parts of the Natural Philosopher movement and thus Astrology and other guidances of Magick.
The connection is easy to make that artists might have interest in Tarot and Christian Values might also know or be Magicians, and these correspond to Qabala that they are learning about through the works of Mirandola. This dates them to around the same time as the creation of Tarot. If you think some of the Magicians of their days were not already using Tarot - you simply do them little credit. We have been working with any tools we can find for as long as we can, and the first thing we do is dissect them to learn their nature.
Most would probably not use cards though, because of the need for metals and the power of wax imprints from woodcuts.
This is why Crowley created the Thoth Deck, to make a Tarot deck for magicians by magicians, and not simply a borrowing of a earlier tool from people who may have had no capacity for magick or clinging to inefficient or obsolete correspondences or conventions.
All the evidence we have so far points to tarot being a card game appropriated by occultists for their own purposes. there's certainly nothing wrong with that, and yes, the proof is in the use of the cards. one can train themselves to use any system of associations; that doesn't mean that they were intended by the creators of Tarot. So call a spade a spade and just admit that we're taking archetypal forms and using them in a flexible system to our best ability and trying to make it meaningful in our praxis.
I further admit it was likely done back as far as the origins of Tarot and sure, and was done with many things before Tarot, so there is no way to presume it would not be done with this. In fact, it is more likely Magicians were substituting Tarot decks well before the works of Levi, and at least for some - it was probably a tool to consider, as Qabala was already married to the very same Christian virtues as the Tarot.
I do not think we are taking archetypal forms and playing with psycholgical play-doh. I think when we are tapping into actual magic, it is NOT simply inside some jungian context. That is the outer order self-help model, not the inner order real contact with objective spirits. I do not know if everyone gets to that level or not, but to me, there is more than Self and Other dynamics that most lean on. This is not para-psychology or auto-hypnosis unless you are tapping into nothing but wishful thinking.
As for the Qabala, only the lesser part is written.