Chapter 16: Conclusions
So what have we learned from this analysis of the similarity between the Tarot majors and symbols in the Commedia? The first conclusion must be that these are not the same system of symbols. Dante's structure is 3 X 9 and the Tarot majors are 3 X 7. The symbols do not appear in the same sequence. The Devil appears at the end of the first cycle and the Chariot at the end of the second. In Dante, many symbols such as the Emperor, Pope and Virtues appear in many places throughout the structure, rather than being isolated at a particular hierarchical position. Further, there are groups of symbols in Dante that do not appear in the Tarot. These include citizen-politicians, philosophers (e.g., Plato), theologians (e.g., Thomas), mythic creatures (e.g., Harpies and Furies), and animals (e.g., leopard, wolf, eagle). Some of the complex themes of Dante (Ferguson 1940) do not appear as part of the Tarot structure. These involve Florentine politics, courtly love, poetry, and scholastic philosophy.
That being said, there is a significant number of Tarot majors that can be found in the Commedia. There are only three Majors that are not explicitly considered: Fool, Papess, and Hangedman. But even here one can speculate that the Fool (Inferno 1) and Hangedman (Inferno 34) are representations of Dante and Beatrice represents the Papess (Purgatorio 30).
Of the 19 symbols in common, 10 are key symbols for Dante. Three play pivotal roles at the end of each leg of the journey (Devil, Chariot, World). Seven (Emperor, Pope, Lovers, Hermit, Star, Moon, Sun) were judged as key because they (1) appear in all three sections of the Commedia, (2) were important enough to be illustrated, and (3) receive extended discussions. The remaining nine (Magician, Empress, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance, Wheel, Death, Tower, Judgment) are certainly part of Dante's symbolic system but play less pivotal roles. It might be argued that if the Empress represents Mary (Paradisio 31) then she also plays a key role as intercessor. Some commentators might also argue that the entire structure of the Commedia concerns Divine Justice and this virtue also is a major symbol. But despite these minor points, it it clear that 19 of the Tarot majors also occur in Dante.
But if so many of the Tarot symbols are found in the Commedia does this mean that there was a direct influence? Such an influence is certainly feasible. The Commedia was well known in early 15th century Italy. Public art was influenced by Dante's vivid descriptions. The miniaturists and woodcuts that produced the early Tarots would have been familiar with the illustrated manuscripts of the Commedia. The popularity of the work and its availability in venacular Italian means that both designers and card-players would have been familiar with Dante's symbolism.
Arguing against a direct influence is the difference in structure of the two works. It is certainly true that many (most? all?) of the symbols can also be found in other sources including the secular and religious art of the period, illustrations of Petrarch's Triumphs, the Dance of Death, and illustrations of John's Revelations. So a balanced conclusion would be that the Commedia was one of the sources from which the Tarot designers drew.
But even this conservative conclusion bears on three important points. First, the Commedia is unequivocally a coherent symbolic system. The resemblance of the Majors to Dante argues that the Tarot is another example of a coherent symbolic system. There is an extensive scholarly literature (e.g., Woodfield 1996, Panofsky 1960) that deals with the breadth and complexity of late Medieval symbolism. In the case of the Tarot, we do not have an epic poem to stitch together the complex associations. After more than five centuries, it is difficult to decipher the Tarot system. But that difficulty does not mean that the Tarot is not a coherent system.
Secondly, the resemblance of the Tarot to the symbolism of the Commedia, as well as other contemporary symbolic systems, argues strongly against simple theories of origin. The Tarot isn't simply a representation of a festival parade (Moakley 1966). The Tarot isn't simply a representation of the tree of QBLH. Any theory that postulates a single source must face the evidence that 19 of the 22 majors are mentioned, discussed, and pictured in Dante's Commedia which was untouched by QBLH. It seems far more reasonable to conclude that the Tarot designers drew on a number of predecessors and that all of these symbolic systems, including QBLH and Petrarch, drew on images of the complex Medieval vision of the physical and spiritual world.
Thirdly, the Commedia and its illustrations were first available in the late 14th century. The symbolic system was well known in Italy because the poem is in Italian. Therefore, the similarly of Dante's symbolic system to the images in the majors argues that the Tarot originated in Italy sometime after the late 14th century. Any theory that postulates an earlier origin in a different place must deal with the resemblance to Dante's Commedia. Secret societies, Templars, Sufis, Islamic navigators, Gypsies, Jewish mystics, ancient Egypt, Freemasons – if any of these are the source of the Tarot, then they must also have been a strong influence on Dante. That would be a VERY difficult case to argue.
We may also ask if our analysis of Dante offers any evidence for the theory that the Tarot was originally designed for divination or magical purposes. The resemblance of the majors to the Commedia offers no support for this theory. Dante didn't think much of divination and consigns magicians and diviners to the depths of the Inferno as false prophets. Dante's bias, of course, doesn't disprove the possibility. However, our analysis offers no support either.
The resemblance of the majors to the Commedia seems to argue that the Tarot is an orthodox Christian symbolic system. And if it is an orthodox Christian system doesn't that exclude the possibility of esoteric or magical connotations? The answer hinges on two key words: 'orthodox' and 'exclude'.
The Commedia is clearly a Christian symbolic system. The resemblance of the majors to the Commedia argues that the Tarot is also a Christian system. But is the Commedia 'orthodox'? The answer is no. A number of commentators have suggested that if Dante had not had powerful protectors and the entire work had been widely circulated before Dante's death he might well have been censured or excommunicated. The most extensive analysis (de Salvio 1935) provides convincing arguments. There are lots of popes in hell and the Church is called a sewer of stench. The current pope, Boniface VIII is identified with the Antichrist in the person of the apocalyptic whore of Babylon. The most important heretics of the age, the Cathari, are never condemned or assigned to the Inferno with the other heretics. Dante argued for the separation of the powers of Church and State, while the popes were writing encyclicals on the superiority of papal authority over secular rulers. The works of Joachim of Fiore had been condemned, but Dante places him in Paradise with the wisest theologians. Lots of people got burned in the 14th century for a lot less! So the Commedia is not an orthodox Christian system and the related Tarot system probably isn't either.
The second keyword indicated above was 'exclude' – if the Tarot is a Christian symbolic system doesn't that exclude the possibility that it has esoteric or magical connotations? Here we must remember the principle of multiple levels of interpretation. The literal symbols can have deeper, esoteric and mystical meanings. So the Christian symbolism of the Tarot does not argue against deeper esoteric connotations. Of course, it doesn't prove magical connotations either. Multiple levels of interpretation simply means that we cannot exclude other hidden meanings.
Finally, we may then ask if our analysis offers any support for the modern interpretation that the Tarot represents the mystical journey of the Fool. Here the answer is clearly yes. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that the Fool's journey was there at the Tarot's origins rather than being a latter occultist addition. The prima facie argument is simple: the Commedia is the story of an individual's spiritual journey. But the Tarot shares almost all of its symbols with the Commedia. Ergo, the Tarot may also represent such a journey.
But the simple argument is only the beginning of the story. Another important element is modern Jungian interpretations of Dante (e.g., Luke 1975) that sound strangely like modern interpretations of the second half of the Tarot. The Commedia is set in the context of a mid-life crisis (Inferno 1:1-2) "When I had journeyed half of life's way…" Virgil tells Dante (Inferno 1:91-93) "It is another path you must take…if you would leave this savage wilderness." Dante then undergoes a journey that takes him into the depths of despair (Death, Devil, Tower) where he undergoes a conversion experience (Hangedman) and begins an upward journey of increasing enlightenment (Star – Moon – Sun) ending with the Beatific Vision (World). Although this argument is experiential rather than evidential, it indicates a compatibility between the second half of the Tarot majors and an archetypic journey of self-development.
The third part of the argument establishes the feasibility of the journey interpretation based on this type of journey being common to the culture in which both the Commedia and the Tarot originated. Dante acknowledges that his journey has been previously taken by Aeneas and the 'Chosen Vessel'. The Chosen Vessel is St. Paul (Mandelbaum 1995) who states in 2Corinthians 12:2-4 that he was taken up into heaven. The apocryphal Vision of Paul was also widely available and respected in Dante's time. This work, later excluded from the orthodox canon, contains a description of Paul's journey into hell. There is a wealth of other folk stories, legends, and religious literature that deal with 'other worldly journeys' (Gurevich 1988, Haas 2000, Himmelfarb 1983, 1993, Gardiner 1989). These stories, as well as the Commedia, were well-known and formed a part of the cultural milieu within which the Tarot was designed. So it is quite feasible that the 15th century cardplayers saw this theme in the majors, even though it seems very foreign to our culture in the 21st century.
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