Medievalists.net

Where the Middle Ages Begin

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Online Courses
  • Podcast
  • Patreon Login
  • About Us & More
    • About Us
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Films & TV
    • Medieval Studies Programs
    • Places To See
    • Teaching Resources
    • Articles

Medievalists.net

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Online Courses
  • Podcast
  • Patreon Login
  • About Us & More
    • About Us
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Films & TV
    • Medieval Studies Programs
    • Places To See
    • Teaching Resources
    • Articles
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Articles

CATHARISM AND THE TAROT

by Sandra Alvarez
November 27, 2011

CATHARISM AND THE TAROT

O’NEILL, ROBERT V.

www.golden-dawn-canada.com (2010)

Abstract

Chapter 8 in Tarot Symbolism (O’Neill, 1986) considered the possible contribution of heretic sects to the design of the 15th century Tarot. Since 1986, academic interest in intellectual history in general and esoteric history in particular has produced an entire scholarly library on the late Medieval heretics. The abundance of new studies permits a re-examination of the question and leads to some rather different conclusions than were possible in the book. Interest in Catharism as a source of imagery arises because of the numerous symbols of dualism in the Tarot: pairs of pillars and pitchers, male/female duals, etc. Catharism, known as Albigensianism in southern France, was fundamentally a dualist heresy that inherited many concepts from the ancient Gnostics. Bayley (1912) hypothesized that the watermarks of French papermakers contained heretical symbols. Waite (1911) suggested the watermarks as a source of Tarot symbols, based on Bayley’s 1909 paper “New Light on the Renaissance.”

Click here to read this article from the Golden Dawn


Subscribe to Medievalverse




Related Posts

  • Eckbert of Schönau and Catharism: A Reevaluation
  • The Last Quest: Song of Montsegur
  • The Problem of Cathar Apocalypticism
  • The Relationship of the Italian and Southern French Cathars, 1170-1320
  • Women and Catharism
TagsCathars • Christianity in the Middle Ages • Crusades • Fifteenth Century • Gender in the Middle Ages • Heresy in the Middle Ages • Later Middle Ages • Medieval Sexuality • Medieval Social History • Occult

Post navigation

Previous Post Previous Post
Next Post Next Post

Medievalists Membership

Become a member to get ad-free access to our website and our articles. Thank you for supporting our website!

Sign Up Member Login

More from Medievalists.net

Become a Patron

We've created a Patreon for Medievalists.net as we want to transition to a more community-funded model.

 

We aim to be the leading content provider about all things medieval. Our website, podcast and Youtube page offers news and resources about the Middle Ages. We hope that are our audience wants to support us so that we can further develop our podcast, hire more writers, build more content, and remove the advertising on our platforms. This will also allow our fans to get more involved in what content we do produce.

Become a Patron Member Login

Medievalists.net

Footer Menu

  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Copyright © 2025 Medievalists.net
  • Powered by WordPress
  • Theme: Uku by Elmastudio
Follow us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter