London – Ask any tarot reader on the origins of the popular practice of cartomancy, and you will get a variety of responses. “It's ancient Egypt.” “It was the Italians of the Renaissance.” “They are connected to playing cards.” “No one really knows.”
Tarot – Origins and afterlives At the Warburg Institute begins by looking at this story, without overshadowing magic in this practice. “When an aesthetic or visual form does so much work in culture, like the tarot, I want to know why,” noted Jonathan Allen, one of the conservatives of the series, in an interview with Hyperalgic. “We can start to start answering the question by looking at the history of the phenomenon-why does Tarot do all this conceptual work and what kind of work does culturally?”
Founded in part in the search for the homonym of the Institute, the art historian Aby Warburg, the show is WarburgResearch in 1909 in the tarot in the Tarot Atlas section. Among the rare visualized elements are the 15th century Tarot MantegnaA precursor of the modern tarot bridge (probably used more for the game than divination), and the wooden engravings of the 19th century which make up the Marseille TarotA deck still in common use today.
The exhibition also plunges into a major historical turning point in the history of the tarot. In the 1780s, the French Freemason and the scientist Antoine Court Gébelin said that he “was not a simple pack of playing card”, declares the text of the exhibition, “but a benchmark of arcanic wisdom known as'Thoth book“Originally from ancient Egypt”. Other fascinating objects are the notions of tarot as a “history machine”, through a novel by Italo Calvino in which the characters can only communicate with tarot cards, and the famous of Suzanne Treister Witches 2.0 And Witches 5.0 The decks, which help us to direct us towards alternative future; A complete view of the popular DECK RIDER-WAITE-SMITHillustrated by Pamela Colman Smith; and a tarotkammer, a collection of contemporary decks inspired by the Renaissance era Wunderkammeror cabinet of curiosities.
I asked Allen and her conservative colleague, Martina Mazzotta, on the lasting attraction of Tarot. “The tarot and its combinatorial system of symbols mean that it is perfectly suited to tell stories in many different areas and (for) different ends,” said Allen. “This functional diversity surfaces throughout our exhibition.” It is also, as Mazzotta said, “a source of wonder.”
Perhaps one of the most interesting ideas that emerges from the exhibition is the way Tarot was adopted in the modern era – somewhere between a body of esoteric knowledge and a game. “There is a snowball effect where Tarot is now like a complex game that has more in common with its playful and recreational origins than with its deeply occult history.” Allen observed. “It's a third phase of the tarot – a serious game, modeling complexity.”
The commissioners politely refused my invitation to give a reading during our interview – they noted that they are researchers and not practitioners – but they shared two cards they like: “Le Monde” by Tarocchino Mitelli (1660) and “The Juggler” of the deck Tarot Austin Osman de Rédénge (1906). While “The Juggler” does not appear in most of the contemporary tarot decks that I have seen, it visually resembles “The magician”From the Rider-Waite-Smith bridge, while the 17th century Tarocchino Mitelli card remembers the legendary image of the Atlas of the Greek Titan.
The world feels very heavy at the moment, because so many of us, like Titan, bear the burden of our time. If I had to take the freedom to combine these cards in a significant reading, I could emphasize that they accomplish exactly what the tarot allows so many today – bringing an intelligent mixture of game and old wisdom that could help us juggle our reality, with at least part of the will and the dexterity of the “juggler”.
Tarot – Origins and afterlives continues at the Warburg Institute (Woburn Square, London, England) until April 30. The exhibition was organized by Jonathan Allen, Martina Mazzotta and Bill Sherman (whose favorite game is the favorite game Research alone).
The Warburg Institute will organize a series of related events on April 24, 26 and 30. Check the website for more details.
