Uranian Love in the Tarot
John Lauritsen
Several decades ago I fell under the spell of the Tarot cards — read books on them and collected a lot of different packs. My interest was spurred initially when I was asked by the editor of The Freethinker, a British monthly, to review a book on the Tarot by the philosopher, Michael Dummett. Professor Dummett's thesis was that the cards were intended for gaming, pure and simple, and that their use had been sullied by occultists of the 18th and 19th centuries.
I then wrote an expanded article, “Uranian Love in the Tarot”, which was published in the Spring 1981 issue of Gay Books Bulletin. I argued that some of the cards represent the male love of Ancient Greece. To read this article, in facsimile pdf form, click here.
I do not claim to understand what most of the Tarot cards represent. But the cards are fascinating. Some are beautiful. Below are links to reproductions of the Tarot packs mentioned in the article.
The Tarot of Marseilles
The most authentic pack. First printed in the 18th century, its designs go back centuries earlier. This is the edition of B.P. Grimaud.
The major arcana
The minor arcana:
Clubs
Coins
Cups
Swords
The British Museum Tarot
A variant of the Marseilles design, in the collection of the British Museum.
The major arcana
The minor arcana (I, X, and the face cards):
Clubs
Coins
Cups
Swords
The Spanish Tarot
From 1736, in the collection of Museo Fournier, Vitoria, Spain.
The major arcana
The minor arcana (I, X, and the face cards):
Clubs
Coins
Cups
Swords
The Visconti Tarot
The most beautiful Tarot cards, hand painted in Milan about 1450, and reproduced from the originals by the miniature painter, A.A. Atanassov.
The major arcana
The minor arcana (I, X, and the face cards):
Clubs
Coins
Cups
Swords
The Wirth Tarot
First printed in 1889. Oswald Wirth was a Swiss Kabbalist, who changed designs to conform to his own occultist notions.
The major arcana
The minor arcana (I, X, and the face cards):
Clubs
Coins
Cups
Swords
The Waite Tarot
The most popular Tarot, and the silliest and least authentic. It was designed by Pamela Colman Smith, a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn, and Arthur Edward Waite, a Rosicrucian Master.
The major arcana
The minor arcana (I, X, and the face cards):
Clubs
Coins
Cups
Swords
The Rákóczi Designs
These are taken from Basil Ivan Rákóczi's book, The Painted Caravan: a penetration into the secrets of the tarot cards (1954, L.J.C. Boucher, the Hague [Holland]).
Book cover
Book inside cover 1
Book inside cover 2
Book inside cover 3
Book inside cover 4
The Chariot
The Devil
Eros
The Fool
The Hanged Man
The Moon
The Sun
The Tower
Books on the Tarot
Dummett, Michael: Twelve Tarot Games, London 1980; The Game of Tarot, London 1980.
Kaplan, Stuart: The Encyclopedia of Tarot, New York, 1978. Contains considerable foolishness, but indispensable for its thousands of illustrations, as well as its comprehensive bibliography.
Rákóczi, Basil Ivan: The Painted Caravan: a penetration into the secrets of the tarot cards, The Hague, 1954. Charming, and written with a wonderfully mercurial sense of humor. Beautifully illustrated by Rákóczi's own designs which, he assures us, are “based on ancient Gypsy packs” and which show a fine appreciation of the young male physique.
I write books and am proprietor of Pagan Press, a small book publisher. Each of our books is unique and well produced. Please check out the Pagan Press BOOKLIST.