AmericanOccultTarot1910

1960
Capitalism,populismanddemocraticopennesscharacterizedtheAmericantarotscenefromitsbeginningsinthe
early20thcentury.IfyouwantedtolearnaboutTarot,youdidnthavetobeproposedformembershipinasecret
lodge.By1920,youcouldattendoneofPaulFosterCasespubliclecturesorpurchasehiscorrespondencecourse.C.
C.ZainsBrotherhoodoftheLightalsoofferedmailorderlessons.DoityourselferscouldbuyapiratedRiderWaite
deckfromthedeLaurencepublishingcompanyandteachthemselveshowtoreadwiththeirpiratededitionof
WaitesPictorialKeytotheTarot.In1917,F.HomerandHarrietteCurtiss,followersofMadameBlavatsky,
illustratedthefirstAmericantarotbook,TheKeytotheUniverse,withtheWirth,FalconnierWegener,Tarotde
Marseilles,andRiderWaiteSmithdecks.
TarotarrivedinNorthAmericaintheearly20thcenturycutofffromitsItalianrootsandwrappedinanauraof
esotericism.By1915,everymajordeckandtraditionhadmigratedtotheU.S:
FalconnierandWegenersesotericEgyptiandesignbasedonPaulChristianswritings
OswaldWirthsdeckbasedonEliphasLevisdescriptions
TheTarotdeMarseilles
AleisterCrowleysOrdoTemploOrientisandhisThothdeck
TheHermeticOrderoftheGoldenDawn
TheRiderWaiteSmithdeck
LetslookateachtraditionasitadaptedtotheNorthAmericanenvironment.

EgyptianDecks
ThefirstTarotstyletogainafootholdinNorthAmericawastheEgyptiandeckdesignedby
FrenchoccultistsFalconnierandWegenerin1890basedontheesotericwritingsofPaul
Christian.In1918,C.C.Zain(ElbertBenjamine18821951)usedWegenersEgyptiandeck
forhisBrotherhoodofLightmailorderlessons.ThiswasthefirsttimePaulChristians
teachingswereavailableinEnglish.In1936thedeckwasredrawnbyGloriaBeresfordwith
nosignificantchangestothedesign,thenredrawnonceagainin1994andissuedasThe
SacredTarot.NowcalledtheChurchofLight,theorganizationstilloffersZains
correspondencecourses.
ItseemsthateverygenerationappropriatestheEgyptiandeckforitsownuse.In1930JohnDequerusedthe
FalconnierWegenerdecktoillustratehisbookArrowsofLightfromtheEgyptianTarot.In1951Dequersstudent
GeorgeFathmanusedthedecktoillustratehisbookTheRoyalRoad.In1967DorisDoane,agraduateofZains
esotericschool,usedthesamedecktoillustrateherbookHowtoReadTarotCards.In1973,LynnBuessusedare
drawnEgyptiandeckforhisbookTheTarotandTransformation.

OswaldWirthsTarot
Wirth,oneofthegiantsofFrenchTarot,hasalwayshadafollowingintheEnglishspeaking
world.In1887,hedesignedatarotdeckaccordingtoEliphasLevisspecificationsaTarot
deMarseilleswithcabalisticandEgyptianflourishesandHebrewlettersprintedonthecards.
WirthsteachingsonhowtoreadTarotweretranslatedintoEnglishandpublishedinthe
UnitedStatesinthe1980sasIntroductiontotheStudyoftheTarot.Twootherbookswritten
inEuropeandtranslatedintoEnglishwereillustratedwithWirthsdeck:TheWisdomofthe
TarotbyElizabethHaichandtheTarotoftheBohemiansbyPapus.
Inthe1920s,AugustusKnappbeganhiscollaborationwithManlyP.Hall,founderofthePhilosophicalResearch
Society,thatresultedintheKnappHalldeckpublishedin1978.ThisdeckisablendofWegenersEgyptian
designsandOswaldWirthsdeck.
TheTarotdeMarseilles
TheTdMwasthelaststyletocatchoninNorthAmericaandhashadtheleastinfluence.In
fact,theRiderWaiteSmithdeckhassodominatedNorthAmericanTarotthatmany
AmericantarotstudentsdontknowtheTdMexists.
RollaNordic,aBritishwitchandstudentofFrankLindsInsightInstitute,movedtoNew
Yorkintheearly1960sandproducedthefirstupdatedTdM.Herblackandwhitedeckdrawn
byPaulMathisonhasafolkartfeelandwasmeanttobecoloredbyherstudents.Her1960
bookTarotShowsthePathgiveshercardmeaningsandreadingtechniques.Someofher
studentspublishedbooksillustratedwithherdeck:CarlylePushongsTarotoftheMagi,Sandor
KonraadsNumerologywithTarot,andRichardGardnersEvolutionthroughtheTarot.
AsAmericansbecameawareofTarotshistory,theybecamecuriousaboutthepossibilityof
readingwithhistoricdecksandcreatedamarketforreproductionsofhistoricFrenchand
Italiandecks.ArtistslikeKrisHadar,andRodes&SanchezhavefollowedNordicsexample
andredesignedtheTdMtogiveitamoremodernandfreshappearance.Publisherslike
Fournier,CartesFranceandFranceJeuxhavecreateddeckswithacontemporaryfeeland
brightercolors.
ThothTarot
AlthoughAleisterCrowleywasBritish,hisdeckhasastrongAmericanconnection.
CrowleyspentWWItouringtheU.S.andCanada,networkingandacquiringdisciples.In
1914afollowerknownasFraterAchadfoundedthefirstO.T.O(OrdoTempliOrientis)in
Vancouver,B.C.andwroteextensivelyonCrowleysteachings.TheThothdeckwasnot
availabletothepublicuntil1969,whenG.L.McMurtry,theAmericanheadoftheO.T.O.
photographedadeckandpublishedapoorqualityversion.Laterversionsofthedeck
publishedbyU.S.GamesandWeiserareprintedfromphotosoftheoriginaloilpaintings.
TheThothdecksinfluencecanbeseeninmanycontemporarydecks:CosmicTribeby
SteviePostman,Rohrig,VoyagerbyJamesWanless,CosmicTarotbyNorbertLosche,andTarotoftheSpiritby

PamelaEakins.
TheHermeticOrderoftheGoldenDawn
TheGoldenDawnestablishedabeachheadintheU.S.earlyinthe20thcenturywith
templesinNewYorkCityandafewothermajorcities.IsraelRegardie(19071985),who
hadbeenCrowleyssecretaryinthelate20sandamemberofDionFortunesStella
Matutina,aspinoffoftheGoldenDawn,emigratedtotheU.S.in1937,wherehe
publishedalltheGoldenDawnsritualsandtarotlore.Regardiethenbecamea
Reichiantherapistanddisappearedfromtheoccultsceneuntilthe1970swhenhe
returnedtohelprevivetheO.T.O.byfoundingtemplesinGeorgiaandLosAngeles.In
the1970sand1980sRegardiecollaboratedwithvariousmembersoftheO.T.OtocreateTheGoldenDawnTarot
(RobertWang),TheGoldenDawnMagicalTarot(ChicandSandraCicero)andtheNewGoldenDawnRitualTarot
(theLosAngelesO.T.O.temple).
PaulFosterCaseandtheB.O.T.A.
AfterleavingtheNewYorkbranchoftheGoldenDawn,PaulFosterCasededicatedhislifeto
makingTarotaccessibletoallbygivingpubliclectures,sellingcorrespondencecourses,and
writingnumerousarticles,pamphletsandbooksonTarot.Inthe1920shefoundedthe
BuildersoftheAdytum(B.O.T.A.)whoseteachingsareverysimilartotheGoldenDawns.In
1931,CasecommissionedadeckfortheB.O.T.A.fromcommercialillustratorJesse
BurnesParkethatturnedouttobeverysimilartotheRiderWaiteSmithdeck,muchtoCases
disappointment.Hiscareerculminatedin1947withhisbookTheTarot,averyreadableand
jargonfreedistillationofhisteachings.TheB.O.T.A.isstillactiveandoffersrigorousesoterictrainingby
correspondencecourse.
TheRiderWaiteSmithdeck
In1918,theAmericanpublisherdeLaurencebeganpiratingtheWaiteSmithdeckandA.E.
WaitesbookThePictorialKeytotheTarot.Theyquicklybecamethemostpopulartarot
publicationsintheEnglishspeakingworld.In1959,thebookanddeckbecameevenmore
ubiquitouswhentheywerepickedupbyamajorpublisher,UniversityPress.Inthe60sand
70s,EdenGraysblockbustertarotbooks,whicharestillinprint,disseminatedWaites
deckandcardmeaningsevenfurther.Bythemid20thcenturytheWaiteSmithdeckhad
becomethestandardAmericandeckandthetouchstoneforfuturedevelopmentsindeck
design.
TheAmericantarotscenewasratherdormantfromthe1930sthroughthe1950s.Macysdepartmentstorecarrieda
tarotdeck,presumablyaRiderWaiteSmith,inthemid1950s,sotheremusthavebeenamarketforTarotamong
thegeneralpopulation.Untilthelate1950s,theselectionofbookswasverynarrowandnearlyallrootedin
19thcenturyesoterictraditions.Thisstagnantsceneblewwideopeninthe1960sasTarotdetachedfrom
esotericismandbecameaccessibletoawideraudience.
OnthenextpagewellseehowTarotbecameafixtureinAmericanpopularculture.