A Wicked Pack of Cards: Origins of the Occult Tarot

Really like this and would recommend to anyone who like's tarot.

If you are into Tarot history this is a fascinating book. I'm not sure i agree with all of their "facts" but overall it's a fascinating read - not to mention that many other Tarot books mention this work as an authoritative reference. My only beef is in the authors sense of confidence about the origins of the Tarot. However I have only read about 100 pages, so this review is VERY limitedI like the hint of skepticism. I think that's what makes this book so refreshing. It feels honest In their attempts to convey their version of events. So far, I'm enthralled and hate to put it down - damn life getting in the way of a good book!

It has everything you might want to know about the origins of the occult tarot and then some. I found myself skimming large portions just to stay awake; but it's good to have all this information together in one volume for reference. The second volume, A History of the Occult Tarot, is much more interesting overall in my opinion.

Well written. Although I am not on board with everything this author presents, I am still very happy with another entry into the very slim pickings on Lenormand available in English.

Dummett et al. could have decided to take up the subject of Tarot as historians, but for some reason seem unable to stop snickering behind their hands at everyone involved: the fools, the charlatans and their gullible dupes. At least with this one the limited scope--the French Occult Revival--keeps them focused more on Tarot, rather than the unrelieved sensationalism and gossip that distracted from the sequel. Given the colorful occult scene in 19th Century France, one can only admire their restraint.Even so, here's this odd example on p. 239: "Both of Wirth's versions may seem subtly repellent to some, but this is obviously a matter of taste." (I had to flip through the book to find that, since Oswald Wirth--of all people--didn't even make it into the index.) I'm not sure what features make Wirth's decks worthy of special condemnation, or why the authors imagined anyone would be interested in their bald opinion. They not only don't conceal their contempt for their subject; they revel in it.Eliphas Levi is portrayed merely as a sincere wretch too much attracted to women, but gets some sympathy for his conflicted Catholicism. Did the struggles Dummett the philosopher wrote candidly and movingly about with his own Catholic faith color this? But there's the problem in a nutshell. When any pretense of objectivity is abandoned, a reader can be forgiven such questions. The facts and inferences the authors choose to present seem correct, as far as they go. But, given their obvious agenda, can a reader have faith in their scholarship as a whole? Since the purpose of their books is clearly to debunk not only fanciful stories of Tarot's origin but to discredit it (and anyone connected with it) in any context whatsoever, the answer is no. They have made no pretense of objectivity, so how could it be otherwise?I'm not carrying a brief for Tarot as a means of reliably foretelling the future, or in possession of the one system that finally encodes the secrets of the universe (darn it). I would, however, have been interested in an actual cultural and artistic history.As a survey of errors propagated by some flawed human beings about an interesting topic in a colorful period, this book is pretty good. It is rightly--by that very limited definition--considered a classic, despite the smug tone. If you need to be convinced that Tarot probably didn't survive the sinking of Atlantis, this is a great book. If you are unfamiliar enough with the subject to be surprised that different authors have inconsistent approaches to Tarot, you can read all about it in mind-numbing detail.But if you're interested in "the game of Tarot" as it has been been played this particular way, the original, maddening, works are better. Oswald Wirth (however "subtly repellent") shows more humility and charity (and not a little debunking scholarship of his own) in his "Tarot of the Magicians." He certainly gets Tarot, not as bamboozlement, as Dummett et al. feel compelled to treat it, but as a field for the imagination.And if not, there are now better and more readable books that place Tarot in its historical context (especially covering the French Occult Revival). Dummett et al. never once try to see their subject from the inside, whatever that might have represented. The survival and continued fascination with Renaissance imagery (and its--yes, scholars--earlier sources) cannot be separated from the story of the Tarot.Well, it can, with a hatchet, but then you get this book.

Great book, but a knowledgeble researcher. Michael Dummett, knows his stuff. Great read for anyone who wants to delve in to the history of tarot.

Amazing book! Excellent read!

As this book confirms, contemporary interest in Tarot cards was rekindled by a brief mention of the traditional Marseilles deck by a late eighteenth century French writer named Court de Gébelin. Writing without the benefit of Champollion's rediscovery of the Egyptian language, de Gébelin created a fanciful history of the cards, a fanciful etymology of the word "tarot," and was the catalyst for a great deal of mystification and malarkey.The authors of this book try to do for the history of this old game what Ronald Hutton did for the origins of neo-paganism in "Triumph of the Moon." What they lack, though, is a wider background in the literature and culture, including the popular culture, of the period of French history in question. A broader grasp of this material would answer the question of why a need was felt for a mystic Tarot in nineteenth century France, and enable them to relate to their subjects with somewhat more sympathy. This background is given in Hutton's book, and is perhaps the most successful thing about it. Without it, the discussion of occult cartomancy turns into a round of "liar, liar, pants on fire."

This is an academic research around the history of tarot. No nonsense, well written. Great knowledge, like the second book . Thank you!

Excellent history of the occult roots of the tarot. Healthily critical and sceptical in all the right places, but hugely informative and extremely well- researched at the same time. This book warrants a place on any serious tarot student's bookshelf. No new-age fluffiness in sight, just serious, analytical - but readable - academic analysis. Fascinating.