The Tarot: Its Occult Signification, Use in Fortune-Telling, and Method of Play
S. L. MacGregor Mathers · 1888 · 8,452 words
A short early guidebook to the Tarot by a founder of the Golden Dawn: the meanings of the trumps and minor cards, methods of laying them out, and the game itself.
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The Tarot
Its Occult Significance, Use in Fortune-Telling, and Method of Play, Etc by S. L. MacGregor Mathers
HTML formatting at sacred-texts.com, December 2003. This text is in the public domain worldwide. This…
Its Occult Significance, Use in Fortune-Telling, and Method of Play, Etc
To enter, within the limits of this short treatise, upon any long inquiry into the History of Cards is utterly out of the question; and I shall therefore confine myself to examining briefly into what relates to their most ancient form, the Tarot, or Tarocchi Cards, and to giving, as clearly and concisely as possible, instructions which will enable my readers to utilise them for fortune-telling, to which they are far better adapted, from the greater number and variety of their combinations, than the ordinary cards. I shall also enter somewhat into their occult and Qabalistical significations.
The term "Tarot", or "Tarocchi", is applied to a pack of 78 cards, consisting of four suits of 14 cards each (there being one more court card than in the ordinary packs—the Cavalier, Knight, or Horseman), and 22 symbolical picture-cards answering for trumps. These latter are numbered from 1 to 21 inclusive, the 22nd card being marked Zero, 0. The designs of these trumps are extremely singular, among them being such representations as Death, the Devil, the Last Judgment, &c.
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Contents
- The Tarot
- Symbolism of Each of the Keys
- Meanings of the Cards
- Methods of Divination
- Tarot Game Play
- Occult Significance of the Tarot Cards