Ronald Decker and Michael Dummett's scholarly history of the occult tarot, published by Duckworth, covering the Golden Dawn's tarot attributions, the Waite-Smith deck and the Crowley-Harris Thoth deck as historical developments in the card's reinterpretation as a magical and divinatory tool. Dummett's standing as the leading historian of playing cards and the academic publication place this at this atlas's top tier. It is a strong source for how and when specific occult tarot systems and decks were actually created. It documents this history rather than validating any deck's divinatory claims, which are outside what historical scholarship can confirm.
Facts
Citation
AuthorRonald Decker and Michael Dummett
PublisherDuckworth
Publication Year2002
URLhttps://www.duckworthbooks.co.uk/book/the-history-of-the-occult-tarot/
Source TypeScholarly work
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
A scholarly history from Michael Dummett, the leading historian of playing cards, and Ronald Decker, covering the Golden Dawn's tarot attributions and the Waite-Smith and Thoth decks as historical developments. NotesCovers the Golden Dawn attributions, the Waite-Smith deck and the Crowley-Harris Thoth deck.
Connections
Associated With
Thoth, Deities This source names Thoth directly: "deck and the Crowley-Harris Thoth deck as historical developments in the card's reinterpretation as a magical and divinatory tool."
Source A History of the Occult TarotRonald Decker and Michael Dummett
Claims Backed By This Source (578 claims)
This source backs 578 claims across the atlas. As facts: 412 well-attested, 2 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 55 holds. Plus 109 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Decans, 216 claims: 144 well-attested, 36 holds, 36 general references.
- Articles, 118 claims: 117 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Tree of Life Paths, 68 claims: 46 well-attested, 22 general references.
- Tarot Spreads, 35 claims: 18 well-attested, 17 general references.
- Tarot Decks, 30 claims: 24 well-attested, 2 scholarly debate, 1 holds, 3 general references.
- Esoteric Texts, 22 claims: 17 well-attested, 2 holds, 3 general references.
- Disciplines, 14 claims: 7 well-attested, 4 holds, 3 general references.
- Secret Societies, 12 claims: 7 well-attested, 4 holds, 1 general references.
- Tarot, 11 claims: 4 well-attested, 7 general references.
- Historical Figures, 10 claims: 6 well-attested, 1 holds, 3 general references.
- Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Playing Card Suits, 8 claims: 4 holds, 4 general references.
- Rituals, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Years, 4 claims: 2 holds, 2 general references.
- Categories, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Religious Symbols, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Studies, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Subcategories, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Tarot Suits, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Lenormand Cards, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Well-attested
412Articles
A Book Written to Accompany a DeckA Mystery School Taught Through the Tarot, by PostA Tree of Life Drawn into a Pip CardCorrespondences, and a Note on the AuthorCrowley's Tarot, and Lady Frieda HarrisEtteilla, a Fortune Teller, and a Parlour GameFrom Gebelin to Dummett, How the Question Was SettledHow the Modern Deck Was AssembledLetter, trump and starNeither Ancient nor CelticOrdinary Cards, Read in CombinationReversals, Significators, Clarifiers and the Shadow CardSola Busca's Reach into the Rider-Waite-SmithTables, and What a Table Does to a SubjectTen Positions Is a Lot to Hold ApartThe Aces, and the Invention of the Minor CardsThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its ImageryThe Card and Its Imagery Showing 1 to 50 of 200 entities carrying this claim.
General References
109Showing 1 to 50 of 108 entities carrying this claim.
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