Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient Roots to Modern Usage »

Paul Huson has been a student of the tarot for over 40 years. He received initial esoteric training from the Society of the Inner Light in London and he later studied the methods of the Order of the Golden Dawn. He is the author of a number of books, including Mastering Witchcraft, in print for more than 30 years, The Devil’s Picturebook: The Compleat Guide to Tarot Cards, and Mystical Origins of the Tarot. He lives in Los Angeles.

A profusely illustrated history of the occult nature of the tarot from its origins in ancient Persia

• Thoroughly examines the original historical source for each tarot card and how the cards’ divinatory meanings evolved from these symbols

• Provides authentic 18th- and 19th-century spreads and divination techniques

• Reveals the divinatory meanings of the cards as understood by diviners in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

The origins of the tarot have been lost in the mists of time. Most scholars have guessed that its origins were in China, Egypt, or India. In Mystical Origins of the Tarot, Paul Huson has expertly tracked each symbol of the Minor Arcana to roots in ancient Persia and the Major Arcana Trump card images to the medieval world of mystery, miracle, and morality plays. A number of tarot historians have questioned the use of the tarot as a divination tool prior to the 18th century. But the author demonstrates that the symbolic meanings of the Major Arcana were evident from the time they were first employed in the mid-15th century in the popular divination practice of sortilege. He also reveals how the identities of the court cards in the Minor Arcana were derived from a blend of pagan and medieval sources that strongly influenced their interpretation in tarot divination.

Mystical Origins of the Tarot provides a thorough examination of the original historical source for each card and how the cards’ divinatory meanings evolved from these symbols. Huson also provides concise and practical card-reading methods designed by the cartomancers of the 18th and 19th centuries and reveals the origins of the card interpretations promoted by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and A. E. Waite.

Acknowledgments Preface

Introduction: Of Playing Cards and Tarot Decks

The Mamlûk Cards The Creation of the Court Cards The Naming of the Court Cards The Creation of the Tarot Trumps Tarot in the Sixteenth Century Further Developments

1 The Origin of the Suit Signs

Sufis and the Suit Signs The Four Cardinal Virtues The Four Castes of Ancient Persia

2 The Origin of the Trumps

Petrarch’s I Trionfi
Medieval Drama The Four Last Things The Tale the Trumps Tell

3 Of Cartomancy and the Tarot

The Ancient Art of Sortilege Egyptian Magic and the Book of Thoth Etteilla’s System The Kabbala and Éliphas Lévi The Golden Dawn Attributions Papus and His “Bohemian” Tarot

4 The Meanings of the Trump Cards

The Major Arcana
0 The Fool I The Juggler IIThe Female Pope IIIThe Empress IV The Emperor V The Pope VI The Lovers VII The Chariot VIII Justice IX The Hermit X The Wheel of Fortune XI Fortitude XII The Hanged Man XIII Death XIV Temperance XV The Devil XVI The Tower XVII The Star XVIII The Moon XIX The Sun XX The Judgment XXI The World

5 The Meanings of the Suit Cards

The Minor Arcana
The Suit of Coins or Pentacles The Suit of Cups or Chalices The Suit of Swords The Suit of Batons or Wands

6 Reading the Tarot

Selecting a Tarot Deck Getting in Touch with Your Cards Preparing for Divination General Rules of Cartomancy Simple Tarot Spreads Advanced Cartomancy--Linking the Cards Complex System Last Words of Advice

Appendix 1. Historical Tarot Decks Appendix 2. Where to Buy Your Cards Appendix 3. Where to See the Originals

About the Illustrations Bibliography Index