these teachings to survive and created a safer way to pass this information -with less chance of retribution.
In the Renaissance period, a practice was developed based on ancient Greek teachings which was a pictorial memory system. Working with this became integral to occult teachings at this time and was commonly used to assist in meditation.
In later periods, astrology, gnosticism, Kaballah and magick have all been attached to the history of Tarot cards. These practices, along with modern psychology, have played a role in developing the meanings of each Tarot card. Many of the the Tarot spreads and individual card meanings were reinterpreted during the occult revival that occurred during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Order of the Golden Dawn, a short-lived group of esoteric magicians, played a particularly powerful role in this regard. One member, A.E. Waite, created a pictorial key to the Tarot and worked with another member, Pamela Colman Smith to create a new Tarot deck, the Colman-Rider-Waite deck (AKA Rider-Waite Tarot deck). Another prominent member, Aleister Crowley, also created a Tarot guide and worked with a notable artist, Lady Frieda Harris, to design and create the Thoth Tarot deck. Crowley believed that the Major Arcana was based on images from the Egyptian Book of Thoth -hence his deck’s name.
Current history of Tarot cards will sometimes claim the cards to be created for evil purpose or make them much older than they are. While Tarot cards have been connected with various religions and occult movements, there is nothing inherently evil or negative about them. Working through the Tarot cards in the Major Arcana is like moving through all the main phases of life,