Greg Stanton said:
Actually, an excellent book has been written about the connection of Tarot and Christian Neo-Platonism, called "The Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination" by Robert Place. This book, along with Huson's "Mystical Origins of the Tarot" really do lay to rest the old myths of Egyptian origin, and quite conclusively explain how the Major Arcana was derived from street parades called "Triumphs" -- within a Neo-Platonic framework.
Hi Greg,
This of course leads immediately to the question "What influenced the street parades?"
The Neo-Platonist framework is probably the answer. Where then does this lead us?
To the general discussion:-
I note that our modern knowledge tells us that Hermetics is largely fake, and derived from Platonism in about the 2nd century.
Yates makes a good argument that Hermetics was, at the time, considered more ancient, and hence more significant than Plato.
Let us remember that the GD is The HERMETIC Order of the Golden Dawn, so it is likely that any Secret Doctrine of theirs, or their members, is a Hermetic doctrine (and hence a neo-platonic doctrine).
Also note that Yates says that Ficino translated the Corpus Hermeticum in 1460 for Cosimo de Medici, making its knowledge contemporary with early Tarot, at least the the Majors.
Given that this is the Renaissance, when everything Old is New again, and that Italy seems to have been in the grip of Hermes fever, resulting in a Renaissance of Magic and Alchemy, I find it extraordinary that commentators can say that the Tarot was derived from street parades, and leave it at that.
While this may very well be true, it is only a small part of the picture. The facts must be interpreted in terms of their context, and the context is one of Hermetics and Neo-Platonism. Any Secret Doctrine behind the Majors is almost certainly Neo-Platonic or or Hermetic in origin.
Neo-Platonism is currently showing as an active topic on these fora, but I find little reference to Renaissance Hermetics or Alchemy in these discussion, and wonder why.