“And when finally you leave
your earthly body
and go towards the free heavens,
you will see that you are no longer mortal;
but a God, an Immortal, You as well.”
(Pythagoras, Golden Verses)
In the preceding chapter, we presented a series of rather radical theories regarding the knowledge of the Coded Structure of the Tarot.
It must be clear that, until there is an evident validation of this type of system, the above must remain a simple supposition. However, from an expositive point of view, it was essential to proceed in this manner, as the formulation of a hypothesis must always precede, by its nature, the relative demonstration.
Specifically, regarding the story of the Tarot, we are used to imagining that their origins reside in the Italian Renaissance, when actually this is a blatant error. In order to understand the evolution of these cards in the course of the different epochs, therefore, we have opted for a purely didactical subdivision into three long periods:
The first centuries after Christ;
From the year 1000 to 1500 circa;
From the 1700’s to modern times.
In this way, we will endeavour to study in depth, the path that these cards may have followed from an historical point of view, remembering that only the Coded Structure may provide definite information regarding certain fundamental considerations that will follow.
2.1 The first centuries after Christ
According to the most recent theories, the birthplace of the Tarot in the West was the most ancient city in France, Provence. According to legend, recounted by Marcus Junianus, its foundation in VI BC was a result of the meeting and union between the Greek Protis, head of an expedition of Focean sailors guided by the goddess Artemis, and the beautiful Gyptis, daughter of Nanno, king of the Segobrigi, a Ligurian tribe of Celtic origin. As often happens, this mythical tale conceals fragments of truth, which are in this way transmitted to future generations. In this case, we may deduce that Marseilles, from a cultural and therefore spiritual point of view -these being, in ancient times, closely connected- was born under the sign of the Mother-Goddess Artemis, under the imprint of three principle influences: Greek (Protis), Celtic (King Nanno) and a third, less evident, Egyptian. The term Gyptis, in fact, takes us back phonetically to Egypt, as the word gypsy, used also in English to denote the Romany population, would suggest. 11
This is not an observation of secondary importance. Marseilles was and is the leading city of a vast region, which includes, in particular, the territory of Provence as well. For the history of the Tarot, and more generally for a part of Western esoterism, Provence had a decisively significant role as, from the very beginnings of the Christian era, it was site of important events. Regarding these, we may remember:
1. The legend of the landing of a number of Apostles on the coast of the South of France, told also by Jacopo di Varazze 12 in the Golden Legend and by the Catholic historian Michel Faillon 13 in a text of his:
“In the VIII and IX centuries, the apostolate of Saint Maximus, Saint Mary Magdalene, and Saint Martha in Provence, was a fact known and accepted everywhere in the West, based on immemorial and indubitable tradition.”
Although there are several versions, on the whole they all tell the same tale: of a number of followers of Jesus who, after the first persecutions in their country on the part of the emerging Church of Peter, arrived in 44 AD in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Saint Mary of the Sea), a small village on the coast of Provence, where they began to preach the Christian word. Whatever the source, most narrations agree that these Apostles were Mary Magdalene, her sister Martha, their brother Lazarus, Mary Salome, Mary mother of James (sister of Mary, mother of Jesus), Maximus, Sidonius, the blind man of the Biblical story, and a servant named Sarah.
2. However often forgotten, there is a story from the I century which tells of a Grail taken to Marseilles by Joseph of Arimathea, a personage of the New Testament and in some apocryphal Gospels regarding the crucifixion and the deposition of Jesus. He also was of the group who came to Provence.
Fig. 1
Mary Magdalen travelling to Marseilles, by Giotto.
Assisi, Basilica of Saint Frances (Chapel of the Magdalen)
3. At the beginning of our era, this region was in the middle of the most meaningful events of Christianity. It is enough to remember that in 314 AD Arles, a small city near Marseilles, meaningfully known as Little Rome of Gaul , hosted the first Western Christian council called together by the Emperor Constantine. This is undoubtedly a direct testimony to the importance of Provence at the origin of this tradition.
4. The Sefer ha-Bahir , or simply Bahir , although written after the Sefer Yetzirah , is unanimously considered, for structure, content and symbolism, the first strictly cabalistic literary work. Notwithstanding the importance attributed it by scholars of this sort of literature, it remains a text certainly little known in all the Western world, differently from the more heralded Sefer Yetzirah and Sefer haZohar . It is a collection of affirmations from various sources written, in effect, in Provence by an anonymous author, probably near the end of the XII century. The fundamental importance that researchers confer on this work regarding cabalistic studies, is that it is the only testimony of the condition of the Cabala at the beginning of its evolution, when, that is, it was pertinent only to reserved initiatic circles and before it became known to a larger public.
5. Nostradamus, born Michel de Notre-Dame (Miquèl de Nostradama in Occitane), was born in Saint-Rèmy-de-Provence in 1503 and died in Salon-de-Provence in 1566. Astrologist, writer, and pharmacist, he is better known for a book of quatrains in rhyme, in groups of 100, the Centuries et prophéties ( Centuries and Prophecies ) of 1555, which made him the most famous prognosticator in history... another unusual and distinctive connection with this land. Thus, Provence has been for centuries, between myth and reality according to points of view, a place of singular particularities, among which may be counted the Marseilles Tarot. To understand their relationship with this region, it is however essential to introduce another connection, that with Egypt, which has been revealed of primary importance in order to comprehend further aspects.
Fig. 2
Prophecies of Nostradamus
We have already said that together with the Celtic, the Greek and Egyptian civilizations were at the root of the founding of Marseilles. This condition is even truer because the stories of Greek philosophy and Egyptian tradition have always been closely interwoven. In general, since it is possible to prove a relationship with the origin of Christianity, ancient Egypt may be considered the primary crossroads for the development of the culture, wisdom, and religion of the modern Western world. Thales and his contemporaries, Anaximander and Anaximenes, are usually considered the first philosophers in Western history. We are in the pre-Socratic period of the birth of one of the most important schools of the Hellenistic world, that of Pythagoras, of which Crotone was the principle centre of illumination.
Fig. 3
Pythagoras, Athenian School
“At its first appearance, its political, ethic, and religious thought spread like a fire through all of southern Italy; the activity of all of Magna Graecia was subverted; it spread to neighbouring countries and many came to hear the marvellous word which resonated in Italy with unfamiliar accents. The institutions of Rome, as Cicero himself wrote, were much influenced: multa sunt in nostris institutis ducta ab illis (in our institutions, much is taken from those, that is, the institutions of Pythagoras). 14 ”
Founded circa 530 BC by Pythagoras, one of the most renowned initiates of antiquity, this School, directed with severe discipline and organized in three levels, was structure on the example of the Orphic communities and the religious tendencies of Egypt and Babylon, lands which, according to tradition, the philosopher had visited in earlier journeys of study. The injunctions of the Ancient Mysteries, “Know thyself” and “As above, so below” were used by Pythagoras to illustrate more clearly than before the marvellous relationship between Macrocosm and Microcosm, that is, the Universe and Man. Although having little resonance in the literature of the following centuries, “ the fascination evoked by the School from the Renaissance onward was in part owing to the conviction of the Italians that, through Platonic thought, Pythagorean thought revealed itself . 15 ”
The influence of Pythagoras, then, was enormous, not only upon his contemporaries but on modern Western thought, as it allows the continuation of that golden thread of Wisdom between Egypt, whose history loses itself in even more remote times, and the splendour of Greece of the last centuries before the appearance of Christian tradition. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the Egyptian capital, Alexandria, was the greatest cultural centre of the Roman Empire from III BC, when it was founded, to III AD, epoch of its decline, having taken on the role that once, in the constant ebb and flow of history, belonged to Athens. Alexandria, which with its illustrious Library became an extraordinary point of attraction, in effect offered the possibility to cultivate the sciences, mathematics, geometry, astronomy, music, history, literature, art, etc, in a word the most diverse of disciplines in the most various areas. In such fertile soil, there also developed a meeting of the tendencies of different philosophical and religious currents of thought of late antiquity. This capital was transformed into the cradle of that which is today called the metaphysics of Christian theology. In fact it is here, where the elaborate traditions of the East flowed from Egypt and Greece, that grew among the other schools, the Didaskaleion , 16 one of the most important theological centres of early Christianity, which the Church traces back to the figure of Saint Mark and whose historical data leads to Clement (150-205 AD), disciple of Pantenus and Origen Adamantius (185-254). This last in particular, was certainly one of the most significant Christian philosophers of all time, revealing his genius in the convergence and fusion between the non-philosophical heredity of the new Christian religion and the Gnostic and neoplatonic tendencies of his own century.
In primitive Christianity, therefore, certain personages such as Origen, traditionally counted among the Fathers of the Church, acted as a bridge between the ancient Greco-Roman mystery cults of Egypt, the Gnostic current of thought, and the rising framework of Christian theology. Observing modern Christianity, it appears quite variegated with all of its latrias, from Baptists to Orthodox, from Calvinists to Roman Catholics and many others; but if we look at the first centuries after its birth, the variety was even greater. In those times, neither canon for writing the New Testament, nor creed nor specific structure existed – they would be established only later – on which all Christians could unanimously agree. Thus, it is indubitable that the initial formation of this new belief system was forced to confront other, far more ancient religions, including those Gnostic doctrines which, from India to Egypt, appeared, disappeared, and reappeared in the form of the most disparate of beliefs. Gnosticism, more than an organization or a well-defined doctrine, has always presented itself as a philosophical, religious and esoteric concept with many ramifications.
This proposed knowledge, which purported to be a revelation of a nature superior to the common tradition of the Church, from the II and III centuries AD was severely criticized and was forced to continue the teachings of its fundamental principles in secrecy and clandestinity. After all, as history is written by the winners, certain pre-Christian faiths as the Gnostic or other archaic religions, when not englobed by Christianity, were condemned and accused of paganism. Consequently, they were persecuted and decimated as teachings contrary to the truth taught by the current, more powerful, religion. In any case, after the accidental discovery in 1945 of 13 antique papyri, Gnosticism became a burning topic for researchers, who analyzed it with great care in the attempt to better focalize certain historical truths which the Christian religion had not completely clarified. These Egyptian manuscripts, called The Nag Hammadi Codes , 17 are for the most part Gnostic writings dated between the II and IV centuries AD, and include three works belonging to the Corpus Hermeticum , 18 as well as a partial translation of Plato’s Republic . They are thought to have been property of the library of a Pacomian monastery of the area, where the monks had hidden them in order to save them from certain destruction, precisely when Gnosticism was beginning to be persecuted as hereticism.
Briefly, therefore, early Christianity was a religion indebted to many ancient traditions and influences; and the first-century hermits of the Egyptian desert may be considered the explicit witnesses of this continuity. Around the IV century AD, this form of Eastern Monasticism 19 was put again upon the interrupted road of Clement and Origen by an avid reader of the works of this last, Evagrius Ponticus. Born circa 345 AD, he included a teaching on the rules of monasticism in a treatise known as Praktikos . Retiring later to contemplative life in one of the many hermitages in the Egyptian desert, he was the teacher of an essential personage in the history of the Tarot, the monk John Cassian. As is known, the ascetics, who lived in an anchoritic state or among the organized monastic communities 20 , consecrated their life to an experience of total spirituality. Knowing the immense cultural, religious, and esoteric richness of the Egypt of those centuries, it should not surprise us that those who in those times desired to have contact with a different and superior knowledge, decided to travel to this country and with this specific motivation. Cassian himself, disciple of Evagrius, spent many years in the desert Thebaid regions in close contact with these Holy Fathers who gave such prestige to early Christian tradition.
John Cassian (Giovanni Cassiano)
In spite of historical uncertainty as to his origin (he was born probably around the year 365 AD, in Scythia Minor, the modern Dobruja), we know that Cassian, raised in a rich and religious family, followed classical studies and after these, embraced the monastic life. With his friend Germanus he departed for Palestine, “ to join the spiritual militia ” where, welcomed into the cells of Bethlehem, they encountered the Cenobites of that region, of Syria, and perhaps of Mesopotamia. However, “ after having received the first rudiments of the faith and having gained profit thereof, we felt the desire of a higher perfection and decided to travel to Egypt. ” 21
Attracted by the inland, they left again in search of the anchorites living in the deserts where he spent ten, or possibly twenty, years of his life, near wise men such as Macarius the Egyptian, the abbot Piamm, the Blessed Pannunzio, and also Evagrius . He thus discovered a new teaching of which, as he himself averred, he had never heard before.
Having returned to the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Cassian was ordained a deacon; but owing to involvement in the dogmatic and political conflicts between Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, and the Patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom, Cassian was forced to flee to Rome. Here he became a friend of the future Pope Leo and was consecrated priest. Enrich by such meaningful experiences, towards 415 he journeyed to Marseilles to found the monastery known as the Abbey of San Vittore (Saint Victor). The principle object of this mission was to restore a more complete and spiritual way of living the monastic life in the region of Provence, in a word, to restore strength and splendour to the so-called Western monasticism .
In practice, with the mediation of Cassian, religiosity and the knowledge of the ancient Eastern traditions were transmitted to the West as well, specifically in Provence. In fact, his written works of this period, among which the Collationes ( The Conferences of the Fathers ), from circa 420 AD and De institutis cenobiorum ( The Cenobitic Institutions ), will be an essential contribution to to the entire later progression of Western spirituality. In the “Cenobitic Institutions”, in particular, inspired by his Master, Evagrius, Cassian explains the purpose and right conduct of a monk. These writings were of such calibre and ascetic profundity that Saint Benedict of Norcia drew on them in conceiving, elaborating, and living a morality appropriate for Latin individuals, described in detail in his Rule . He wrote, in the last chapter of his work:
“ We have written this Rule because, by observance of it in the monastery, we show a certain restraint of manner or the beginning of spiritual life. But for those who have urgency to arrive at the perfection of this spiritual life, there exist the teachings of the Holy Fathers, the practice of which leads man to the summit of perfection. Indeed which page and which voice of divine authority of the Old or New Testaments, is not a just rule of human life? Which work of the Holy Catholic Fathers does not exhort us to reach our Creator by the most direct way? The “Conferences” of the Fathers and their “Institutions” and “Lives”, as also the Rule of our Holy Father Basil, are these not a virtuous means for good and obedient monks? ”
Does it not seem curious that Saint Benedict, spiritual father of the Benedictine Order, chose to build his monastery in Cassino , thus closely allied with the name Cassiano and the Cassinite order...? That John Cassian had been the Teacher whose precepts Benedict affirms to heed in the prologue to his Rule ...? Beyond these curious and unexpected questions, it is in any case certain that there was a direct historical tie between the Hermits of the Egyptian desert and Provence; or between the Eastern, Egyptian teachings, John Cassian (with the Abbey of Saint Victor, founded by him) and Western tradition. Why is it then, that in this context, such a long and elaborate introduction had been necessary? The answer is:
Cassian was a leading figure in the vicissitudes of the Tarot, guarding them and handing down their authentic Teaching.
The graphic appearance of the Arcana was re-elaborated by a group of Gnostic initiates of the first centuries. In this version, they may be considered the testimony, in the form of a silent Book composed only of images, of Knowledge and Faith derived from an even more Ancient Wisdom. They represent, therefore, a joining link between Egyptian and Christian knowledge, a spiritual and sapiential continuum between East and West.
The history of the Abbey of Saint Victor is closely tied to the annals of these cards, as we will see presently. John Cassian
22
, with the Order that bears his name, had a great religious and esoteric influence on Provence and on the whole of Europe: we have only to think that, in the various confraternities, the study of his theological vision continues even today. This monk and his disciples, initiated in the same principles, made it their task to preserve and propagate these
Icons
today known as the Tarot, in all the territory of the spiritual influence of the Abbey, also thanks to the fact that in those days the profession of amanuensis was cultivated, precisely, in religious locations
23
(in Italy in particular, in the Benedictine monasteries). Therefore, Cassian proved to be an authentic and fundamental Teacher of Christianity, one of the essential guardians of Western spirituality, whose works and accuracy it is impossible to doubt.