Sabio Tarot · 12 articles
History and curiosities
Sources, dates and changing uses, from early Italian decks to modern tarot traditions.
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Where and When Did the First Tarot Decks Appear?
The earliest known tarot evidence points to fifteenth-century northern Italy. See what surviving cards and documents show, and what remains uncertain.
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Tarot Before Divination: Cards, Trumps and Games
Explore what early fifteenth-century tarot decks looked like, how their trumps worked in play and when tarot became associated with divination.
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The Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards: What We Know and What We Do Not
Examine what surviving Visconti-Sforza cards reveal about fifteenth-century tarot and which claims remain hypotheses because the sets are incomplete.
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Did Tarot Come from Egypt? The History of an Idea
The Egyptian origin theory arose centuries after the Italian tarot decks. Separate historical evidence from later esoteric interpretations.
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Why Does a Tarot Deck Usually Have 78 Cards?
Understand the 56 plus 21 plus 1 card count, historical exceptions and why 78 is a useful convention rather than a universal rule for early tarot.
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How Early Tarot Cards Were Made, Printed and Coloured
Learn how historical tarot cards were painted, printed and hand-coloured, and how to distinguish an original card from a modern reproduction.
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What Does Tarot de Marseille Mean in Deck History?
Tarot de Marseille names a family of designs and editions. Distinguish a historical pattern, a reproduction and a modern reading method.
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When Did People Start Reading Tarot for Divination?
Trace tarot from fifteenth-century Italian games to eighteenth-century cartomancy and nineteenth-century popularisation, with clear historical distinctions.
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Etteilla and the Early Tarot Cartomancy Manuals
Learn who Etteilla was, how he shaped cartomancy and why his decks and manuals differ from earlier Italian tarot game decks.
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Pamela Colman Smith and the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Images
Explore Pamela Colman Smith's illustrations and how scenes on the Minor Arcana gave tarot readers new details to observe.
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Waite, Rider and Smith: Who Did What in the Tarot Deck?
Understand the roles of author A. E. Waite, publisher Rider and Company and artist Pamela Colman Smith, and how to read edition credits and dates.
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Five Verifiable Facts About Tarot History
Explore five historical facts about tarot cards, names, makers and editions, with museum evidence and clear limits on what each source proves.
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