Concerning the Symbolism of the Tarot Trumps: A New Interpretation?

By Ioannis Marathakis, September 2006

The historic publication of Stuart Kaplan’s Encyclopedia of Tarot in 1978 presented to the public many scholarly theories about the Tarot, formerly restricted to a limited audience. There is little doubt now regarding the origin of this peculiar deck of cards. Tarot originates in the common 52-card deck, which comes from Islamic Egypt. The oldest almost full surviving 52-card deck, the Mamluk Cards, was created at c. 1400 AD, and it can be found at the Topkapi Sarayi Museum in Istanbul. It contains four suits, Polo sticks, Scimitars, Cups and Coins, while each suit consists of ten pip cards and three court cards: King, Viceroy and Second Viceroy. Islam forbids imagery though, so the court cards contain but the written titles. Fragments of older decks do exist, so we may accept that the usage of the playing cards in the Islamic world dates from the 12^th century (Kaplan S., p.53, 56).

Playing cards came to Europe at the end of the 14^th century. Europeans replaced inscriptions with images, and they experimented with different versions of the common deck. In some cases the Queen replaced the Viceroy, yet in other cases she was added to the other three court cards, thus making a 56-card deck. The earliest references we now have to the 56-card decks were made in 1423. One of the mid-fifteenth century variations is also the “carte da trionfi”, that is to say the standard 78-card Tarot deck (Kaplan S., p. 26, 56). The oldest almost full surviving deck is usually named Pierpont Morgan-Bergamo Visconti-Sforza tarocchi (from now on Visconti-Sforza), generally believed to have been constructed c. 1450, as a present of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, to his wife Bianca Maria Visconti. Variations with more Trumps are known to have existed since 1428, but until the mid-fifteenth century the 78-card deck had already predominated (Kaplan S., p. 106-107).

 

Tarot was intended to be a game, and indeed it became an extremely popular game in Italy. From the beginning of the 16^th century it became popular in France as well. Printed decks soon replaced the former hand-painted ones. Of these printed decks, the most recognizable nowadays are the various Tarot of Marseilles packs of the 18^th century, which inspired Court de Gebelin to give the first “esoteric” explanation on the Tarot.

During 1781, Antoine Court de Gebelin, a Swiss ex-pastor, freemason and researcher of Mesmerism, published the eighth volume of his massive work, The Primitive World (Le Monde Primitif). The series had started on 1773, and their aim was to reconstruct the primitive human culture, which, according to de Gebelin, was the Golden Age of humanity. The aforementioned eighth volume included an essay on the Tarot. De Gebelin claimed that the ancient Egyptian priests were the first to construct the Tarot deck. They codified their secrets in images, thus offering to humanity an epitome of wisdom. So, this deck was named The Book of Thoth. Then the priests brought the Tarot deck to Rome, where the Christian Popes learned its secrets. The latter brought the deck with them to Avignon in the 14^th century, and then it was spread throughout France.

However, Court de Gebelin does not provide any historical proof of his claims, and the contemporary research proved his thesis to be merely imaginary. De Gebelin also claimed that the name “Tarot” derives from the supposedly Egyptian words TAR, meaning “royal”, and RO, meaning “path”, thus being the royal path to wisdom. When Francois Champollion deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs about twenty-three years later, it was obvious that the etymological claims of de Gebelin did not have even the least trace of truth. For more than two centuries though, this theory had an enormous influence on the esoteric circles.

Tarot had become fashionable, and within nine years after de Gebelin’s publication, the cartomancer Jean Batist Aliette (Etteilla) designed the first of the so called “esoteric decks” and published the first book on the Tarot oracle ever written, On the Theory and Practice of the Book of Thoth (Cour thèorique et pratique du Livre du Thot, 1790). The use of Tarot as a divinatory device became very popular after this book was published. Aliette was also the first who proposed an attribution of the Tarot Trumps to the planets and the signs of the zodiac. Three Trumps remained without attributions (Kaplan S., p. 1, 4).

 

The astrological attributions of Tarot Trumps according to Aliette (Etteila)

No	Tarot Trump	Astrological Attribution
Ι.	The Magician	-
ΙΙ	The High Priestess (Popess)	Moon
ΙΙΙ	The Empress	Venus
IV	The Emperor	Jupiter
V	The Hierophant (Pope)	Aries
VI	The Lovers	Taurus
VII	The Chariot	Gemini
VIII	Justice	Cancer
IX	The Hermit	Leo
X	The Wheel of Fortune	Virgo
XI	Strength	Mars
XII	The Hanged Man	Libra
XIII	Death	-
XIV	Temperance	Scorpio
XV	The Devil	Sagittarius
XVI	The Tower	Capricorn
XVII	The Star	Mercury
XVIII	The Moon	Aquarius
XIX	The Sun	Pisces
XX	Judgement	Saturn
XXI	The World	-
0	The Fool	Sun

 

The works of the French occultist Alphonse Louis Constant (Eliphas Levi, 1810-1875) caused the rebirth of interest in the hidden wisdom of Tarot. His classic book, Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic, published in 1855 (and translated as Transcendental Magic by A. E. Waite), is divided in two volumes, each containing twenty-two chapters. The astrological attributions of the Tarot were none of Levi’s concerns. Instead, he proposed that the twenty-two Tarot Trumps correspond to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, thus connecting the Tarot with the Qabalah for the first time. Curiously enough, he places the card zero (The Fool) between the Judgement and the World.

 

Attributions of the Tarot Trumps to the Hebrew Letters according to Levi

 

No	Tarot Trump	Hebrew Letter	Hebrew Name
Ι.	The Magician	א	Aleph
ΙΙ	The High Priestess (Popess)	ב	Beth
ΙΙΙ	The Empress	ג	Gimel
IV	The Emperor	ד	Daleth
V	The Hierophant (Pope)	ה	Heh
VI	The Lovers	ו	Vau
VII	The Chariot	ז	Zain
VIII	Justice	ח	Cheth
IX	The Hermit	ט	Teth
X	The Wheel of Fortune	י	Yod
XI	Strength	כ	Caph
XII	The Hanged Man	ל	Lamed
XIII	Death	מ	Mem
XIV	Temperance	נ	Nun
XV	The Devil	ס	Samech
XVI	The Tower	ע	Ayin
XVII	The Star	פ	Peh
XVIII	The Moon	צ	Tzaddi
XIX	The Sun	ק	Qoph
XX	Judgement	ר	Resh
0	The Fool	ש	Shin
XXI	The World	ת	Tau

 

 

Levi’s ideas were so influential to the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn that they tried to incorporate the Tarot to their own magical system. They also seem to have been influenced by Etteila as well, since their system included astrological attributions. But it seems they felt that they needed further justification of the system. This justification occurred in a medieval qabalistic text, named Sepher Yetzirah, The Book of Formation. This book referred to a division of the Hebrew letters into three categories, namely the three Mother Letters (corresponding to the Prime Elements), the seven Double Letters (corresponding to the planets) and the twelve Simple Letters (corresponding to the signs of the Zodiac). Apart from the full attributions for the Mother Letters, Aleph-Air, Mem-Water and Shin-Fire, no other specific attribution was given, and various commentators offer different views on the subject.

It seems that the founders of the Order spent much time trying to conciliate all these systems. At the end they came up with a system of correspondences totally different from all the previous ones. They placed the Fool before the Magician, and then they attributed the Hebrew letters to the Tarot Trumps following the natural succession of both. When not restricted by Sepher Yetzirah, they followed Etteilla’s astrological attributions (The High Priestess to the Moon and the Empress to Venus). Otherwise, they apparently employed their logic and insight. Yet, they were obliged to interchange the numbering of the Trumps XI (previously being Strength) and VIII (previously being Justice) in order to place the signs of the Zodiac in their natural order, although they did not seem to care at all about the natural order of the planets.

 

Attributions of the Tarot Trumps according to the Golden Dawn

No	Tarot Trump	Astrological Attribution	Hebrew Letter	Hebrew Name	Path of the Tree of Life
0	The Fool	Air	א	Aleph	11th Path
Ι.	The Magician	Mercury	ב	Beth	12th Path
ΙΙ	The High Priestess	Moon	ג	Gimel	13th Path
ΙΙΙ	The Empress	Venus	ד	Daleth	14th Path
IV	The Emperor	Aries	ה	Heh	15th Path
V	The Hierophant	Taurus	ו	Vau	16th Path
VI	The Lovers	Gemini	ז	Zain	17th Path
VII	The Chariot	Cancer	ח	Cheth	18th Path
VIII	Strength	Leo	ט	Teth	19th Path
IX	The Hermit	Virgo	י	Yod	20th Path
X	The Wheel of Fortune	Jupiter	כ	Caph	21st Path
XI	Justice	Libra	ל	Lamed	22nd Path
XII	The Hanged Man	Water	מ	Mem	23rd Path
XIII	Death	Scorpio	נ	Nun	24th Path
XIV	Temperance	Sagittarius	ס	Samech	25th Path
XV	The Devil	Capricorn	ע	Ayin	26th Path
XVI	The Tower	Mars	פ	Peh	27th Path
XVII	The Star	Aquarius	צ	Tzaddi	28th Path
XVIII	The Moon	Pisces	ק	Qoph	29th Path
XIX	The Sun	Sun	ר	Resh	30th Path
XX	Judgement	Fire	ש	Shin	31st Path
XXI	The World	Saturn	ת	Tau	32nd Path

 

No doubt, the founders of the Golden Dawn truly believed that they found and brought together all the missing links to the “One True System”. William Wynn Westcott claimed in his book An Introduction to the Study of the Kabalah that Gerard Encausse (Papus) “gives a Kabalistic attribution of the Trump cards which Rosicrucians consider to be erroneous”. Papus, in his book The Tarot of the Bohemians followed Levi’s system, however, and since the founders of the Golden Dawn were admirers of Eliphas Levi, they claimed that Levi could not reveal the “true” attributions, as he was restrained by his vows of secrecy given to the Rosicrucian Order he belonged to. Aleister Crowley, in The Book of Thoth, follows generally the same line of thought, but he interchanges positions between the cards IV, The Emperor, and XVII, The Star.

With all these interpretations, one of the most frequently asked questions is “which are the true correspondences?” The answer might be that “there is not such a thing as ‘true’ correspondences”. As far as I know, some esoteric schools follow Crowley’s attributions, whereas others follow the pure Golden Dawn system. I have no reasons to believe that the meditative realizations of one group are of lesser value as compared with those of the other.

The question could be rephrased however: What did the first designer of the Tarot have in mind? These are some facts:

1)      We certainly know that the Tarot cards have been in circulation at least since 1450.

2)      We also know that the Christian West learned about the Qabalah only after 1486 (from the writings of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola).

3)      It is very unlikely that the pious Jewish Rabbis would make any “graven image or any likeness” thus breaking the second commandment.

4)      The Trumps ‘Justice’, ‘Fortitude’ and ‘Temperance’ represent three of the four virtues (the fourth being ‘Prudence’) first mentioned by Plato in Republic, and then incorporated in the Christian Theology by St Ambrose (340-397 AD), Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) and Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in his work Summa Theologica. By the late Middle Ages, representations of these virtues were common in Christianity.

These facts probably lead us to the conclusion that there was no connection between the original Tarot and the Hebrew letters or the Paths of the Tree of Life (something quite bitter for me to accept, since I also have been trained in the qabalistic system). Unfortunately, the aforementioned facts do not solve the problem of the original symbolism.

Apart from the standard Tarot decks, Stuart Kaplan also presents in his Encyclopedia two early Tarocchi packs, in fact two sets of fifty symbolic prints, generally known as the Tarocchi of Mantegna, attributed to the famous Renaissance painter Andreas Mantegna, and dated to c. 1470 (Kaplan S., p. 35-47). These fifty prints are divided into five decades, namely:

1) The ten stations of human society:

Beggar, Servant, Artisan, Merchant, Gentleman, Knight, Duke, King, Emperor, Pope.

2) The nine Muses and Apollo (the nine Muses being representations of the arts):

Calliope (epic poetry), Urania (astrology), Terpsichore (dance), Erato (lyric poetry), Polihymnia (sacred poetry), Thalia (comedy), Melpomene (tragedy), Euterpe (music), Clio (history), Apollo (the giver of inspiration)

3) The seven Liberal Arts (with the addition of Poetry, Philosophy and Theology):

Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, Geometry, Arithmetic, Music, Poetry, Philosophy, Astrology, Theology.

4) The seven Cardinal Virtues (with the addition of the genii of the Sun, Time and the World):

Genius of the Sun, Genius of Time, Genius of the World, Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude, Justice, Charity, Hope, Faith.

5) The seven Planets (with the addition of the Eighth Sphere of the fixed stars, the Prime Mover and the Prime Cause):

Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Eighth Sphere, Prime Mover, Prime Cause.

Similarities between the Tarocchi of Mantegna and the standard Tarot decks are indeed striking. The author suggests that the later artist used ideas from the earlier one, or both artists developed their ideas from a common influence or even an earlier set of prints. Then, he cites a table with possible parallels. An article by Adam McLean, named An Hermetic Origin of the Tarot Cards? A Consideration of the Tarocchi of Mantegna, first published in the Hermetic Journal, 1983, suggests a related series of parallels.

 

Parallels between the standard Tarot and the Tarocchi of Mantegna according to Stuart Kaplan and Adam McLean

 

 

Kaplan’s suggestion concerning the common influence sounded very interesting, and although I was sceptical regarding some of the attributions of both writers, these parallels were certainly a good starting point. First of all, the planetary connections of some Tarot Trumps were now obvious, especially when compared not only with the Marsailles deck, but also with the contemporary Visconti-Sforza deck. I have adopted some of  McLean’s attributions - the first five ones:

1)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Venus shows Venus accompanied by the three Graces and Cupid, thus suggesting a connection with the Marseilles Trump VI, The Lovers, as well as with the Visconti-Sforza Lovers.

2)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Mars depicts Mars as an armed man sitting on a chariot, identical with the Marseilles Trump VII, The Chariot.

3)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Saturn depicts Saturn with a scythe, his children sitting in front of him, suggesting a connection with the Marseilles Trump XIII, Death.

4)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Sun appears in his chariot, but it seems that the designer of the Visconti-Sforza deck preferred to present the Trump XIX, The Sun, in the simple image of a man holding the solar disc, obviously taken from the Mantegna Tarocchi Genius of the Sun.

5)      The designer apparently applied the same idea to the Trump XVIII, The Moon, as the Visconti Moon is depicted as a woman holding the lunar crescent.

6)      It seemed to me that the designer must have placed the remaining two planets in the deck as well. But in my opinion Jupiter did not fit Trump XXI, The World, but Trump X, The Wheel of Fortune. The Mantegna Tarocchi Jupiter appears as a king within an oval, an eagle being above him, a child below him, and people fallen either side.

7)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Mercury appears with a winged cap and a raised wand (caduceus), and I assumed that it fits Trump I, The Magician, although the designer of the Tarot also employed characteristics of the image of the Mantegna Tarocchi Artisan, such as the table and the various tools on it. He probably wanted to present Mercury as the Master of the arts. If my last two assumptions are valid, it seems that the adepts of the Golden Dawn showed a great deal of intuition, since these are also their own attributions.

So, I assumed that the Major Arcana consists of three septenaries plus one card on its own. I tried a spread of seven columns of three while following their natural succession, and I concluded that there must be some sort of pattern in their numbering. I colored the planetary cards red for convenience:

 

 

I	IV	VII	X	XIII	XVI	XIX
II	V	VIII	XI	XIV	XVII	XX
III	VI	IX	XII	XV	XVIII	XXI

 

All this seemed so fascinating, that I immediately started looking for the other two septenaries. One of them was quite easy to find, since it existed as a separate group in the Tarocchi of Mantegna. It was a set of the Seven Cardinal Virtues, a medieval concept that was the result of bringing together the four platonic virtues found in Plato’s Republic (namely Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance and Justice), and the three theological virtues mentioned by St Paul in 1 Corinthians, 13, 13: And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. It should be noted that the Seven Cardinal Virtues are distinguished from the Seven Capital Virtues, since the latter are but the opposites of the Seven Deadly Sins. Searching again among the Tarocchi of Mantegna prints, I managed to come up with some new parallels. The first three had already been noticed by Stuart Caplan:

1)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Temperance is identical with the Marseilles Trump XIV, Temperance, as well as with the Visconti Temperance.

2)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Justice is identical with the Marseilles Trump VIII, Justice, the only difference being that the figure is standing in the first depiction.

3)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Fortitude depicts a woman in armor, covered in lion’s skin and armed with a mace, while supporting a column. Besides her there is a lion, something that suggests connections to the Marseilles Trump XI, Strength (the woman with the lion) as well as to the Visconti Strength, depicting a man with a club and a lion.

4)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Faith appears as a woman holding a cross and a chalice, something that brings to mind the Marseilles Trump II, The High Priestess (The Popess) and the Visconti Popess.

5)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Hope is depicted as a woman praying towards a star (or some other kind of light source), a parallel with the Marseilles Trump XVII, The Star. It should be noted that the Visconti Star simply depicts a woman looking towards a star as well (no water jars, no tree etc.)

6)      Prudence is quite hard to identify, since the Mantegna Tarocchi Prudence appears as a woman looking at herself in a mirror. The strangest element here is that she has a second, almost invisible male head. I assumed that in the later cards this head would have been abolished. The only parallel I could find is the Marseilles Trump III, The Empress, if one could see the curious sceptre she holds as being initially a mirror.

7)      The Mantegna Tarocchi Charity is a woman offering coins from her pouch. I could not find any obvious parallel here.

Then I supposed that the third septenary consists of the Seven Deadly Sins, and tried to find some attributions. Unfortunately, there are no more parallels between the standard Tarot and the Tarocchi of Mantegna, so I had to look elsewhere. I did some research on the depictions of the Seven Sins in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance. To my dissappointment, the Seven Deadly Sins (namely Pride, Avarice, Gluttony, Luxury, Sloth, Wrath and Envy) were usually depicted as monstrous demons or humans riding various animals, images that have no connection with the remaining Tarot Trumps.

However, during this research, I accidentally came across a totally different set of beautiful frescoes in Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua. The artist is Giotto di Bontone (1267-1337), and he presents not only the Seven Cardinal Virtues but also their opposites, the Seven Cardinal Vices (as the Capital Virtues are the opposites of the Deadly Sins). Let us have a closer look at these Vices:

1)      Giotto’s Desperation (the opposite of Hope) appears as a female suicide, a hanged woman, thus connected with Trump XII, The Hanged Man. Of course there is a difference here, since in the Tarot the hanged man is usually hanged upside-down.

2)      Giotto’s Envy (the opposite of Charity) appears as a monstrous woman, with horns and enormous ears. Her tongue is a snake, and there is fire burning at her feet. This is a parallel with Trump XV, the Devil.

3)      Giotto’s Injustice (the opposite of Justice) appears as an emperor sitting on his throne. The Marseilles Trump IV, The Emperor, and the Visconti Emperor have a similar design, but it seems that the designer of the Tarot also employed the image of the Mantegna Tarocchi Emperor.

4)      Giotto’s Foolishness (the opposite of Prudence) appears as a crazy person clothed in torn garments, wearing feathers on the head, and holding a club. It is almost the same depiction with the Visconti Fool. There is also a dog chasing the Marseilles Fool, obviously a loan from the Mantegna Tarocchi Beggar.

5)      Giotto’s Inconstancy (the opposite of Fortitude) appears as a woman falling from a sloping surface, thus bringing to mind the person falling from the Tower in Trump XVI.

6)      Giotto’s Infidelity (the opposite of Faith) depicts a man with a peculiar hat, holding an idol, as the Marseilles Trump IX, The Hermit, holds a lamp, or as the Visconti Hermit holds an hourglass.

7)      Giotto’s Wrath (the opposite of Temperance) appears as a woman in rage, her face being distorted, while she tears her robe. There is no obvious parallel in the standard Tarot decks.

In order to complete the system, I had to make three (not very convincing, I admit) suggestions:

1)      That Trump V, The Hierophant or Pope, can be attributed to the virtue Charity. The image of the Pope though, bears no connection with either the Mantegna Tarocchi Charity or Giotto’s Charity. I assumed that the blessing gesture could symbolize a similar idea, and that the papal office could be given to this Virtue because of St Paul’s quotation “but the greatest of these is charity”.

2)      That the depiction of Giotto’s Wrath (distorted face and torn robe) may remind a person who has just returned from the dead, thus reminding somehow Trump XX, Judgement.

3)      That Eliphas Levi was right (for a reason unknown to me) when he placed The Fool immediately after Trump XX, Judgement. Thus, Trump XXI, The World, stands on its own, symbolizing the Soul of the World, within which all the above are contained. The Visconti World depicts two angels carrying the Heavenly Jerusalem, while other old decks present a sole angel holding the Cosmic Sphere, standing on it, or even sitting on it. I believe they are all variations of the Mantegna Tarocchi Genius of the World.

 

Here follows a table with my suggestions in a nutshell. Planets are colored red, Virtues green and Vices blue:

No	Tarot Trump	Meaning
Ι.	The Magician	Mercury
ΙΙ	The High Priestess	Faith
ΙΙΙ	The Empress	Prudence
IV	The Emperor	Injustice
V	The Hierophant	Charity
VI	The Lovers	Venus
VII	The Chariot	Mars
VIII	Justice	Justice
IX	The Hermit	Infidelity
X	The Wheel of Fortune	Jupiter
XI	Strength	Fortitude
XII	The Hanged Man	Desperation
XIII	Death	Saturn
XIV	Temperance	Temperance
XV	The Devil	Envy
XVI	The Tower	Inconstancy
XVII	The Star	Hope
XVIII	The Moon	Moon
XIX	The Sun	Sun
XX	Judgement	Wrath
0	The Fool	Foolishness
XXI	The World	The Soul of the World

 

The pattern appears symmetrical, at least partially:

I	IV	VII	X	XIII	XVI	XIX
II	V	VIII	XI	XIV	XVII	XX
III	VI	IX	XII	XV	XVIII	0

 

I believe that there must also be other sets of images depicting the Cardinal Virtues and Vices, and maybe with their help one could solve the “Tarot riddle” in a better way (well, if there is really a riddle and not just the human trait of trying to put everything in order). I am unaware of any other set though, so this is how far I can reach. I am also unaware whether there is a hidden mathematical type in the numbering. Maybe mathematics would give another interesting hint towards the solution of the supposed riddle. 

I would like to thank Ian Cowburn, Kemal Menemencioglu and Christina Avgerinou-Lummel for their contribution to my research on the depictions of the Seven Sins. I would also like to thank Stelios Demonakos for proof reading this article.

 

SOURCES

The images of the Tarocchi of Mantegna, Visconti-Sforza Tarot and Marseilles Tarot are cited at the excellent Trionfi website.

The images of Giotto’s frescoes are cited at the Web Gallery of Art.

St Augustine, Of the Morals of the Catholic Church, at the New Advent website.

Crowley Aleister, The Book of Thoth, Weiser, 1985.

Encausse Gerard (Papus), The Tarot of the Bohemians, at The Internet Sacred Text Archive.

Kaplan Stuart R., The Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. 1, U.S. Games Systems, 2003.

Knight Gareth, A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism: On the Paths and the Tarot, vol. 2, Cahn & Averill, 1993.

Levi Eliphas, Transcendental Magic, Red Wheel/Weiser, 1968.

McLean Adam, An Hermetic Origin of the Tarot Cards? A Consideration of the Tarocchi of Mantegna, at The Alchemy Web Site.

Regardie Israel, The Golden Dawn, Llewellyn Publications, 1995.

Rickaby John, Cardinal Virtues, article in The Catholic Encyclopedia.

Westcott William W., An Introduction to the Study of The Kabalah, at the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn website.

Westcott William W. (ed.), Sepher Yetzirah, at the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn website.

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