Tarot in Victorian Era: Occult Revival and Spiritualism

BY NICOLE LAU

The Victorian era (1837-1901) witnessed an explosion of interest in the occult, spiritualism, and esoteric practices. Tarot, which had been primarily a card game, was swept into this mystical renaissance and transformed into a tool for spiritual exploration, divination, and occult study. This era established tarot's modern identity as a mystical practice.

The Occult Revival: Why Victorians Turned to Mystery

Despite (or because of) the Industrial Revolution's materialism, Victorians craved spiritual meaning:

Scientific Rationalism: Darwin, industrialization, and scientific progress left many feeling spiritually empty.

Death and Mourning: High mortality rates, especially child death, drove desperate desire to contact the dead.

Colonial Encounters: British Empire's expansion exposed Victorians to Eastern religions and "exotic" mysticism.

Romantic Reaction: Romanticism's emphasis on emotion, imagination, and the supernatural countered cold rationalism.

Spiritualism: Talking to the Dead

The Spiritualist movement (1840s-1920s) believed the living could communicate with spirits of the dead.

Séances: Victorian parlors hosted séances where mediums channeled spirits, moved tables, and produced "spirit phenomena."

Tarot's Role: Some mediums used tarot cards to facilitate spirit communication or receive messages from the other side.

Famous Mediums: The Fox Sisters, Madame Blavatsky, Daniel Dunglas Home - celebrities of the spirit world.

Theosophy: Ancient Wisdom Revived

Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891): Founded the Theosophical Society (1875), claiming to channel ancient wisdom from Tibetan masters.

The Influence: Theosophy popularized ideas of karma, reincarnation, spiritual evolution, and hidden masters - creating a framework where tarot fit as "ancient wisdom."

Tarot Connection: Theosophists embraced tarot as part of the perennial philosophy, linking it to Egyptian mysteries and Eastern spirituality.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1888)

The Victorian era's crowning occult achievement:

Founded: 1888 in London by Westcott, Mathers, and Woodman.

The System: Synthesized Kabbalah, alchemy, astrology, Egyptian magic, and tarot into one initiatory system.

Tarot's Transformation: Golden Dawn made tarot central to Western esotericism, creating the Kabbalistic correspondences still used today.

Members: W.B. Yeats, Arthur Machen, Aleister Crowley, A.E. Waite - the era's occult elite.

Victorian Tarot Readers and Writers

Éliphas Lévi (1810-1875): French occultist whose books popularized tarot's connection to Kabbalah and magic. His Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1854-1856) influenced all later occult tarot.

Papus (Gérard Encausse) (1865-1916): French physician and occultist who wrote The Tarot of the Bohemians (1889), a comprehensive tarot manual blending Kabbalah, astrology, and divination.

S.L. MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918): Golden Dawn leader who developed the order's tarot system and wrote The Tarot: Its Occult Signification.

Tarot in Victorian Parlors

Tarot reading became fashionable entertainment:

Fortune Tellers: Professional readers set up in fashionable areas, reading cards for society ladies.

Parlor Games: Tarot reading at parties, alongside séances and table-turning.

Exotic Appeal: Readers often dressed as "gypsies" or "Egyptian priestesses," playing on Victorian Orientalism.

Gender Dynamics: Tarot reading was one of few acceptable "professions" for women, though often dismissed as frivolous.

Victorian Tarot Decks

Tarot de Marseille: Still the standard deck, imported from France.

Etteilla Decks: Explicitly divinatory decks based on Etteilla's 1785 system.

Oswald Wirth Tarot (1889): First deck designed with occult symbolism, influenced by Lévi and Golden Dawn ideas.

The Dark Side: Fraud and Scandal

Not all was genuine spiritual seeking:

Fraudulent Mediums: Many spiritualists were exposed as frauds using tricks and deception.

Exploitation: Vulnerable people, especially grieving parents, were exploited by unscrupulous readers.

Social Criticism: Rationalists mocked spiritualism and tarot as superstition and delusion.

Legal Issues: Fortune-telling was illegal in many places, forcing readers underground or into legal gray areas.

Victorian Attitudes Toward Tarot

Upper Classes: Fascinated but often secretive. Occultism was fashionable but socially risky.

Middle Classes: Divided between enthusiastic spiritualists and skeptical rationalists.

Working Classes: Traditional fortune-telling continued, less influenced by occult theories.

Women: Tarot offered women spiritual authority and even income, though often dismissed as "feminine intuition."

The Victorian Legacy

The Victorian era gave tarot:

Occult Identity: Tarot became "ancient wisdom" rather than a card game.

Systematic Correspondences: Kabbalah, astrology, elements - the framework we still use.

Spiritual Practice: Tarot as path to self-knowledge and spiritual development.

Cultural Cachet: Association with poets, artists, and intellectuals elevated tarot's status.

Bringing Victorian Tarot Into Your Practice

Create Victorian Atmosphere: Candlelight, velvet cloths, ornate settings. Our Ritual Candles create perfect Victorian ambiance.

Study Victorian Occultists: Read Lévi, Papus, Mathers. Understand the foundations they built.

Honor the Seekers: Victorians who turned to tarot were seeking meaning in a materialistic age - just like many today.

Sacred Space: Display tarot with our Sacred Geometry Tapestries and Tarot Tapestries, creating a space that honors this mystical heritage.

The Transformation Complete

The Victorian era completed tarot's transformation from Italian card game to mystical tool. What entered the 19th century as entertainment emerged as spiritual practice, occult science, and path to self-knowledge.

Every time you shuffle a deck, you're participating in the Victorian occult revival. Every spread you lay continues the work of those gas-lit parlors where seekers gathered to glimpse the mysteries.

From séance parlor to your table. The Victorian legacy lives on.