HoroscopoDiario
Published by Aeon Books
RRP £22.50
ISBN 978-1-90465-805-4
This is an intriguing glimpse of Tarot at the end of the 19th century, pre RWS and Thoth decks, although highly associated with the esoteric organizations that influenced these decks. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Tarot and is written as an aid to divination. Papus doesn’t define what he means by ‘divination’ at any point in the book, although he does mention drawing cards for prediction, and with the glossary of specific meanings given in the latter part of the book, we can understand his purposes.
The Divinatory Tarot was written at a time when books and theses were published in response to each other, and so there is much referring to earlier works by Papus and by other authors of the day. Papus includes copious excerpts from such texts, drawing particularly from the works of Paul Christian, Etteilla and d’Ouducet. While Tarot men of the day are broadly referenced, “female cartomancers” are dismissed with a sentence. All work comes to us filtered through the cultural norms of its place and time, and the prejudices of the author, and this is no different – readers may find some of the meanings somewhat outdated, although others are still used today in many contexts.
An image and description of the divinatory meanings of each of the 78 cards is included in the book, along with astrological and sacred alphabet associations for each card; as well as a fascinating snapshot of Tarot as it was over a hundred years ago this book would serve as a reference for anyone seeking to expand their library of meanings for each card. This is probably more for those who are already familiar with Tarot and would like to add more nuance and other perspectives than a guidebook for complete beginners.
Also of interest are the spreads. In a world where literally thousands of Tarot spreads exist, it is fascinating to meet some of the earlier spreads and understand the correspondences of them. Emphasis is placed on astrology and on hermeticist themes. I enjoyed trying out these spreads for myself and applying the older fashioned school of drawing cards by suit depending on the question. I did a career spread, for which the instructions were to use the suit of Wands.
There are plenty of methods for drawing cards in a particular way, many of which allow for Minor Arcana only divination, and a fairly thorough dictionary of incredibly specific meanings for cards as they fall in certain positions, or in relation to each other (for example, four tens suggest a “habitual criminal”, whereas the nines of Cups, Swords, and Coins when drawn together indicate that “the person will become a top-ranking dignitary in a foreign country, and occupy positions of great responsibility”).
The text has been translated from the original French by Beryl Stockman and it is a lovely, clear translation into modern English with no affectations, so that the work remains accessible to the lay reader.
Unfortunately, some of the explanations of spreads and instructions for specific techniques are let down by missing diagrams, diagrams which do not match the texts, or confusing wording, but it was possible to follow almost all of them regardless.
For me, this book’s strongest point is the window into the modes of esoteric and divinatory thought from which modern Tarot has evolved, and I would recommend this title to readers who have a strong interest in Tarot history and in esoteric symbolic meaning as understood from the specific cultural viewpoint of 19th century Europe. The very specific interpretation data can certainly add to an existing Tarot practitioner’s knowledge but should not be used as ‘only’ interpretations by new practitioners who are not experienced at working in context. They will be particularly useful for practitioners who have an interest in numerology, astrology, or kabbalah.
The cover describes the translation of this work into English as “a great leap forward for Tarot users and theorists”, and it is definitely powerful to connect with our Tarot ancestors through The Divinatory Tarot.
Review by Keziah Gibbons
