When I planned to write this essay, my intention for it was to be quite different than it will be. I wanted to write it in order to explain that as Tarot developed from a game to the Tarot as we understand it today, Freemasons were involved, and indeed, Freemasons brought about that change.
One quick glance through the cards easily illustrates their correspondence with Freemasonry, but we need not rely upon that, for the history of Tarot as we know it is very well documented. We can simply look it up in books and read all about it.
In the time that passed since I planned to write this essay and now, I encountered a number of writings online claiming that those of us who are not of Romani ancestry are guilty of a moral crime of cultural appropriation if we Read Tarot cards. That as the occult Tarot was born in Romani culture, its use should be closed to all except those who are a product of that culture.
This is of course factually incorrect, ignorant of history, and wrong.
So, the point and purpose of this essay has changed.
I hope to make it clear to anyone who might worry that they are somehow committing an offense against other people by Reading the Tarot, that in fact they have absolutely nothing to worry about. I also hope to make it clear to anyone who may have been accused of cultural appropriation because they chose to work with the Tarot that the accusation is false and that they are guilty of nothing whatsoever.
The fact of the matter is that Tarot cards were created as a game. A card game, just like poker and bridge are card games. They were not created for divinatory purposes anymore than the standard poker cards we all use were created for divinatory purposes. But people use those poker cards for cartomancy as well.
The first person who ever discussed, in writing, the idea that Tarot cards could be used for esoteric purposes was Court de Gebelin in his book The Primitive World. Court de Gebelin was a Freemason in France, and in addition to his own writings about the Tarot in The Primitive World, Court de Gebelin included another essay by a Freemason that provided correspondences between the Tarot trumps and the letters of the hebrew alphabet.
Etteilla, the pen name of Jean-Baptiste Alliette, popularized the idea of using Tarot cards for divination, and created his own deck specifically for that purpose. It is unknown if Etteilla was a Regular Freemason, his membership is of controversy between Masonic historians, but it is known that even if he wasn’t a member of a Regular Lodge, he was a member of at least one fringe Masonic order.
Eliphas Levi further expanded upon the esoteric uses of Tarot in his book Dogma And Ritual In High Magic, a work consisting of 22 chapters, each associated with a specific Tarot trump. Later much of this work would be included by Albert Pike in Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Levi was an Entered Apprentice Freemason.
In addition to the work of Levi included in Morals and Dogma, Pike, arguably the most famous of American Freemasons, wrote in that same volume about Tarot, and that one needed to follow the path laid out by the Tarot.
Papus, the pen name of Gerard Encausse, expanded these ideas further in his book Tarot Of The Bohemians, a book still popular today despite a publication date of 1889. Papus was not a member of a Regular Lodge, but was a member of the fringe Masonic order the Rite of Memphis And Misraim.
Oswald Wirth, a Masonic author also wrote about Tarot in his book The Tarot Of The Magicians, and created a deck with his own version of the Tarot trumps. In this deck he further incorporated occult symbolism into the images.
Kenneth Mackenzie, creator of the Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia possessed the Cypher Manuscript that led to the formation of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, containing the proper Tarot attributions and correspondences as we accept them today. These did differ prior to the utilization of the Cypher MS.
William Wynn Westcott and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, both Freemasons came into possession of the Cypher MS following the death of fellow Freemason Kenneth Mackenzie and used the information contained within that document to co-found the Golden Dawn.
Arthur Edward Waite, a very prolific Masonic author along with artist Pamela Coleman Smith, both members of the Golden Dawn, together created the most popular Tarot card deck of all time, the Rider Waite Tarot. Waite also wrote a companion book, The Pictorial Key To The Tarot. In recognition of his contributions to Freemasonry the Grand Lodge of Iowa named him Honorary Past Senior Grand Warden.
Aleister Crowley, a member of various fringe Masonic orders, including the Golden Dawn and later the OTO went on to create his own Tarot deck with the assistance of the artist Lady Frieda Harris, and authored an accompanying handbook. This is the very popular Thoth Tarot deck used by many today.
Paul Foster Case is most widely known for his creation of a Mystery School focused on teaching the Tarot. A school that still exists today, and for his own version of the Tarot cards created for students of that school. He was also a Freemason who wrote about the symbols of Masonry.
Manly Palmer Hall was a Freemason who wrote, produced videos, and taught extensively about esoteric subjects, including the Tarot. He also created his own version of the Tarot deck.
The point of this brief, dry, and probably dull (sorry about that) recounting of characters is to show that Tarot is a part of the Western Esoteric Tradition, and has been since its evolution from a game of cards. The system of Tarot, as we know it today, was created by Freemasons, and people associated with Freemasons.
To be clear though, the Tarot is not Freemasonry, nor is it a part of Freemasonry. It is intimately connected with Freemasonry through the individual Freemasons who helped to develop it, but it remains separate and distinct.
These men’s interests in symbolism, the creation of sacred spaces, and the Western Esoteric Tradition is what drew them to the Tarot, and what drew them to Freemasonry, for both are expressions of the same tradition.
Based on all of the above, it is exceedingly plain to see that Tarot, as we understand and utilize it today was not created within the Romani culture. It therefore can not be cultural appropriation if it is used by those who did not grow up within that culture or do not hold that ancestry. For anyone to claim otherwise is for them to simply prove their ignorance of Tarot’s history.
Tarot belongs to all. Anyone with an interest can use it without feeling the slightest pang of guilt because no group of people can morally lay a claim to it, or factually argue that their unique and distinct culture developed it.
Enjoy the Tarot. Don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t.
It is rather sad to me that an essay like this actually needs to be written. I think that it does because we have far too many influential teachers of Tarot at this time who have a ‘throw out the books’ mentality. But of course if we ‘throw out the books’ we can’t learn where Tarot came from. If we don’t know its history, then we are all too likely to fall for this cultural appropriation nonsense. Alas, that is an essay for another day.