The Tarot Trumps and the Holy Grail: Great Secrets of the Middle Ages

by Margaret Starbird

Have you wondered about images on the Tarot trump cards: the Pope, the Tower, the Sun, the Hanged Man? Where did they come from? Who made them up? Did they have a life before they became associated... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0967842808
• ISBN13: 9780967842806
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Woven Word Press
• Length: 74 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Small Book, A Great Treasur

Going out on a limb: this tiny book may not be the last word on Tarot but any Tarot student who hasn't read it is missing out. Big time.

Cohesive theory

This book presents an unusually coherent and cohesive theory about the origins of the Tarot Trumps and their relationship to the "Grail" heresy: the belief in medieval Europe that Jesus was married and that his bloodline survived in the Merovingians and related families in Europe. The trumps are here explained purely as an historical artifact without any reference whatever to divination. The images provide a "flash-card catechism" for the Grail story, including connections with the Knights Templar, the alleged "guradians of the Grail." In my view, other theories of the origin of Tarot trumps do not provide as plausible an explanation for their images in a purely historical context as does this little book.

Behind the Tarot Trumps

Well all I can say is bravo! Mrs Starbird. I bought this book and I could not put it down. I read it through, twice, in one sitting. It was so logical, historical, well written, thoroughly researched, and extremly easy to read. Like many people I am sure, I looked at the Tarot Deck and wondered what the story was behind those trumps. I have seen playing card decks, from other countries, that look like tarot cards minus the Trumps which sparked my interest even more, but what about those Trumps? Have you ever wondered the same?Pick up this book! You will not be disappointed in what Margaret Starbird presents to you in a clear concise manner. Once you read it you will just step back in awe, and say that makes so much sense.A must read for any student of religious history.

spiritual & love mysteries from the middle ages in the tarot

I just love the book, and Margaret Starbird has made a believer of me. Perhaps this is the ultimate "cross-over" book as it combines impressive knowledge and scholarship of medieval Europe with a bold and heart-opening interpretation of Christianity and Tarot that occult scholars will also appreciate. Starting with the obvious, the earliest extant tarot deck, Starbird quickly shows, with some impressive fanfares along the way, including the possible origin of the "Pope" and "Emperor" cards, how the mystery of the original "church of love," as she puts it, i.e. the gnostic church's belief in the sacred marriage, was continued and carried by followers of Mary Magdalene, throughout Europe, possibly by troubadours. This is one hell of a mystery, (I suspect even for major sceptics!)and Starbird's book proposes the most plausible "real" origin of the tarot ever to come along. As a teacher of English and someone who has studied tarot for twenty years, I can only say, brava!

Message of the Tarot

In her relentless Quest to restore the lost Bride of Christ - the sacred feminine so long ignored and repudiated by the Church -Margaret Starbird's journey takes a new turn with a fascinating interpretation of the 22 cards that form the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Delving into a world most people associate with fortune telling, she explores European history, medieval art and Scripture to conclude that the earliest Tarot Trumps sprang directly from medieval roots in northern Italy and the Languedoc of Southern France. Readers will be impressed with her powerful arguemnts suggesting that the Major Arcana is in fact a visual depiction of the 'Great Secrets' of the alternative Christian church, the 'Church of the Holy Grail', preserved in a fashion that would not arouse the suspicions of those who sought to stamp it out completely.