The Egyptian Origin of Tarot Myth
Antoine Court de Gébelin · Monde Primitif (1781)
- First attested
- 1781Published in Volume VIII of Court de Gébelin's Monde primitif, analysé et comparé avec le monde moderne (1781).
A captivating romantic origin story can ignite a transformative tradition regardless of historical accuracy.
Antoine Court de Gébelin, Monde primitif (1781); Michael Dummett et al., A Wicked Pack of Cards (1996).
The 18th-century occult myth asserting Tarot cards were the surviving Book of Thoth.
In Volume VIII of Monde primitif (1781), French Protestant clergyman Antoine Court de Gébelin announced that the Italian card game of Tarot was in fact the sole surviving hieroglyphic book of ancient Egyptian priests—the lost Book of Thoth. Etteilla developed this into the first dedicated divination deck by 1788. Although Champollion's 1822 decipherment of the Rosetta Stone definitively refuted any Egyptian linguistic connection, the myth inspired Eliphas Lévi, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and modern occultism.
Light
Igniting creative esoteric symbolism, revitalizing interest in ancient wisdom, and inspiring profound spiritual art.
Shadow
Pseudohistorical dogmatism, ignoring genuine Egyptian archaeology, and obscuring historical Italian origins.