A Wicked Pack of Cards: The Origins of the Occult Tarot

by Ronald Decker, Thierry Depaulis, Michael Dummett

Historians of art and games trace the origins of Tarot cards to Italy in the early 15th century, and follow their gradual transformation from a tool for playing games to a prop for French fortune telling and finally into a mystical occult system. They argue that various figures throughout the centur

Genres: Tarot, Occult, History, Nonfiction, Esoterica, Divination

308 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Barth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A realist's history of tarot. Not for the mystic or the wannabe gypsey, Wicked Pack of Cards is for the reader who appreciates a detailed history of charlatans, confidence men, sham academics, and other agents of ridiculousness, all of whom have had a huge impact on tarot.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This and Paul Huson's The Mystical Origins of the Tarot should be required reading for anyone seriously interested in Tarot. Whereas Huson's book is a detailed look at the development of the cards and their symbols, written from a practitioner's perspective, this book is a painstakingly detailed look at the history of the cards, seen through lives of the men who discovered its ancient secrets. Or, rather, the men who discovered the 15th century card game, and just started making up crap about it on a monumental scale.

Some readers complain about the amount of detail, but I found it a refreshing alternative to the reams of BS written about how the origins of the cards are shrouded in mystery. I found myself chuckling several times at the academically snarky tone, and the skewering of the greats of the western occult tradition.

Definitely worth the slog.

[Aaron Francione · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scholarly history of the evolution of the tarot from the medieval origin of playing cards up until the 20th century. The authors go into thorough detail (perhaps too much at times) chronicling every stage, contributor, writer, source, fallacy and misconception. Some readers looking for more illumination of the mysteries of the occult tarot may feel disappointed by the realist approach, but those looking for academic truth and a deeper understanding of the history of the cards will also find it here. I don’t believe those two ideas need be mutually exclusive. The occult connection is certainly addressed in its historical context but for a full and examination of the purely occult tarot, the authors follow up “A History of the Occult Tarot” may be more satisfying. A great reference on the subject.

[Philebus · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book detailing the history of tarot cards from the late 18th century when they were first adopted by occultists. If you want to understand just how tarot cards gained their occult reputation and why the various myths are very, very wrong, then this is a good place to start.

[John Dobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, informative source for the origins and growth of occult tarot from its inception in late 18th Century France through the early 20th Century there! It shows that the numerous overlays from ancient Egyptian secret "hieroglyphs," Hermeticism, Cabbala, astrology, numerics, and more, that were made-up, yet taken by many of the time as the truth secretly embedded in the "Book of Thoth," the ancient Tarot.

I've been fascinated by and have derived some insight from these associations, yet have been frustrated at the many contradictory elements between the now many existing systems of these occult associations. I see them as nice to know but not to be taken too seriously.

[Kurt]

More research for my story. To be completely honest, it wasn't as helpful as I hoped it would be - maybe five useful passages/diagrams in the whole 260 pages, and I ended up skimming most of it. Much bigger on the drama of the lives of those involved in the creation of Tarot mythology than I expected, though the snarky tone throughout is entertaining at times!

[S. Hurley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually did way more skimming than actual reading here, but it was for a last-minute school project that I procrastinated the heck out of, so I'm cutting myself some slack. I'd love to revisit it at a later date and really sit down with the history of Tarot!

[Laura Eppinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painstakingly sourced academic book about the history of tarot cards as playing cards, arguing that their use for divination is based squarely in Orientalism.

[Araminta Matthews · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting history of the occult use of tarot. While the scholars behind this research clearly have an agenda revealed in their repeated biased phrases (a careful count of the exclamation points use to repudiate the pseudo-research offered by the selected French (and only French) occultist writers they reference reveals this), this work does offer some historical evidence that the origins of the tarot are, in fact, merely playthings for a complicated card game of tricks and not the mysteriously hidden "Book of Thoth" that some occultist writers suggest it to be. By tracking the first print runs of the card deck and tracing that against the context in which each occultist writer wrote, the scholars behind his book clearly illustrate that--for the selected occultists, at least--the claims about the tarot's origins could have no foothold in reality or preceding research/history. An interesting read in some respects.

[Van Choojitarom · Rating 2 out of 5]

In addition to being one of the foremost philosophers today, Michael Dummett was first to actually historically research the Tarot deck and determine its origin as an Italian card game with no initial occult significance.

[Miss Michaele Hoodoo Foundry]

I wrote a long review of this pedantic yet snarky book on my website: hoodoofoundry.com/casting/?p=891

Shorter version: great, wicked fun until my brain overloaded from centuries-old publication data.

[Maurine · Rating 3 out of 5]

well-researched with a bent toward debunking occult myths about the origins of the tarot. i quit being in the mood for academic books and got bored of it.

[Beth Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book! The pages are filled cover to cover with useful information. It is a journey through the birth, beginnings, and growth of Tarot. This one is a definite must read.