2 Quotes by Ben Hoshour

For all its modern glamour and for everything else that the Tarot has become, it had a fairly humble origin; it began as a simple pack of playing cards. No matter what use the Tarot is put to today, from psychological insight to divination to collectible folk art, it began and remains a card game. Trying to understand the Tarot without knowledge of this fact would be like trying to perform surgery without any knowledge of anatomy. In both cases, we end up with a mangled product.

Flower’s evidentiary gymnastics beautifully illustrate the primary point I wish to make, which is that almost all of the Tarot’s acquired meaning has been derived from a foundation that has been shown to be lacking in both substance and truth. Furthermore, this pseudo-history has been promulgated ad infinitum from the late 18th century to the present day.