Why, then, are there 22 Trumps?

Zephyros

It may seem like an obvious question, but I know the Golden Dawn, among others attributed the cards to the 22 paths of the Tree of Life, but that was a later mnemonic addition, as it were. But why were there 22 Trumps before? Was it always like that? Was it always meant to be like that?
 

nisaba

I think there is a missing one from antiquity: God.

Mediaeval people thought in polarities. Emperor, empress. Pope, Papess. Devil, God.

In fact, the earliest decks are so damaged with the centuries that there might be several missing that we simply don't know about: the Cary-Yale Visconti has cards that decks designed later didn't have, like Faith and Hope (which begs a third: Charity).
 

Zephyros

Interesting position, but then shouldn't there also be a Life card to counteract Death?
 

Richard

There is a theory that the 22 Majors were a Hebrew alphabet book (no Kabbalistic or esoteric significance). I think that's too far fetched, but here's a link if you're interested -
http://pasteboardmasquerade.com
 

RexMalaki

I think they wanted a number that was evenly divisible by 6...so six people could play!

e.t.a. 78/6=13
 

Zephyros

It's a nice theory, as far as it goes, only it's obvious the writer doesn't know hebrew, there are many mistakes in the transliterations.

But I think I'm going on the wrong track here anyway; reading over my post again I think I actually asked what the definitive origins of Tarot are, and I know there isn't an answer for that.
 

Zephyros

I think they wanted a number that was evenly divisible by 6...so six people could play!

e.t.a. 78/6=13

It could also be 3 times seven plus one, the holy numbers :)
 

Richard

It's a nice theory, as far as it goes, only it's obvious the writer doesn't know hebrew, there are many mistakes in the transliterations.

But I think I'm going on the wrong track here anyway; reading over my post again I think I actually asked what the definitive origins of Tarot are, and I know there isn't an answer for that.
I know the alphabet and can read a tiny bit of Hebrew, but transliterations confuse the heck out of me.

In my more lucid moments, I tend to think that the structure of the 78 card Tarot deck evolved from card game considerations, as did the 52 card structure of modern playing card decks. I wonder if Paul Huson's Mystical Origins of the Tarot could throw any light on the matter.
 

DoctorArcanus

Here is an excellent post by Ross Caldwell on the subject.

A 1500 ca German tarot deck explicitly associates each of the trumps with the roll of two dice. The deck was presented by Andrea Vitali in "Il Castello dei Tarocchi" (Lo Scarabeo, 2010).

I think there is a missing one from antiquity: God.

Mediaeval people thought in polarities. Emperor, empress. Pope, Papess. Devil, God.

I never thought it this way, an interesting point of view. It certainly is in good agreement with Boiardo's tarot where the trumps are composed of opposite couples (a Virtue and a Vice).

The Steele Sermon (possibly the oldest surviving complete list of the tarot trumps) identifies the highest trump with God: "El mondo (cioe Dio Padre): The world (i.e. God the Father)"
 

Zephyros

I know the alphabet and can read a tiny bit of Hebrew, but transliterations confuse the heck out of me.

Oh, that was just a native speaker talking, don't pay any attention, it was a dead language up until a few years ago, after all.

Such an interesting discussion, you all raise some important points, I see I have so much reading to do :)