Medieval Tarot for Christians

By Nancy Vivien Blicq

An advanced exegesis of 15th century Tarot.

Examines the historical Christian meanings of the cards, with references from scripture to enhance your spiritual practice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vivien Blicq
• Release date: Jun 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386857990

Nancy Vivien Blicq

The author is fellow believer who spent many years serving as a community chaplain. She is also published on Quora.

Book preview

A Guide to

Medieval Christian Tarot

For Spiritual Practice

By

Vivien Blicq

2018

Introduction

Welcome. 

This study is for believers who are curious about the Tarot and for anyone who is interested in the origins of the Tarot.  If you  have had your cards read or watched videos of Tarot readings,  you may be familiar with the modern interpretations.  You may have been taught that Tarot  is dangerous heresy, akin to witchcraft.

So you may be surprised as I was to learn that the Tarot has its roots in Christianity and that the cards have a deeply spiritual Christian meaning. Examined in the light of history and of scripture,  the cards convey quite a different message than that which modern readers interpret. 

My hope is that this book will help you to understand the cards in such a way that they will serve as a tool for reflection on your path to spiritual maturity.

Tarot was a card game that came about around the 15th century, in a place and time when the Church were the ‘Powers that Be’, and who for centuries had controlled nearly every aspect of life with an iron grip.  It began to lose its grip with the advent of the printing press, the Protestant Reformation, and the Italian Renaissance,  as people began reading the Bible for themselves, and speaking out about error  in  Church doctrine.

These became dangerous times to dissent.  To stay in the good graces of the church, people not only had to be devoutly religious, but also be seen to be religious.  Their piety can be seen in the artwork and literature of the time, in their speech and clothing, and in many aspects of their lives and behaviour, including their recreation.

So Tarot, although it is a simple game of cards, is rich with meaning. It is an allegory of the Gospel message, portrayed as the Fool’s journey,  in a similar way to the story of Christian in the book Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan.

The cards were never intended for divination...it was a game,  rather like the modern board game, ‘Life’,  but with a Christian theme.  The predecessor of  modern playing cards,  they may also have been used for a devotional aid, or to illustrate spiritual truths.

A word about Divination and the Occult.  Occult means, ‘hidden knowledge’.  The word ‘Arcana’  (meaning mystery) was added long after the game was invented.

Unlike the nobility of 15th century Italy, who were well versed in Christian doctrine of the day, to someone who is not acquainted with scripture the illustrations on a tarot card would be a mystery.  So over time various people have attached other significance to the cards,  astrological archetypes, numerological, and so on.  Tarot began to be used for prognostication in the 1700’s.

Divination is usually thought of as seeking insight through signs and wonders, but it can also be seen as discerning the mind or will of God, not in any supernatural way, but by studying his words.

I have included scripture references, which are in keeping with the traditional meanings of the cards, and some examples of how they might apply in modern terms.

There are usually 78 cards in a modern deck,  divided into Major and Minor Arcana.  The original game contained only the cards of the Major Arcana. Modern decks have added astrological and numerical significance, but for the purposes of this study I will focus on the religious symbolism, commonly illustrated in the Visconti and Rider-Waite versions.

Because most people in 15th century Italy received religious instruction, such as the Catechism, the meanings of the cards were familiar themes, and the symbols and archetypes were easily understood. 

Once common knowledge among the faithful of the Middle Ages, its meaning has been obscured over the centuries, so in these pages I hope to shed light on this beautiful story of faith and redemption.

From its name,  Tarot,  derived from the word ‘Tarocchi’ , which means