Тarot Arcana in the collection of the State Museum of the History of Religion: Attribution issues

Abstract

The article deals with the attribution of two items from the collection of the Museum of the History of Religion, the history and purpose of which have long remained unknown. These are the Tarot arcana, which came into the museum’s collection in 1940. A comparison of items from the museum’s library, the scientific and historical archives, a study of records, and the use of contemporary publications made it possible to attribute these items as belonging to the history of the Order of the Martinists in Petrograd/Leningrad, led by Grigory Otonovich Mebes. Related to his name is the Course of the Encyclopaedia of the Occult — lectures in which Mebes referred to the hermetic sciences, magic, the Kabbalah, drawing on the symbolism of the major arcana of the Tarot for explanations. This explains the abundance of drawings done in pencil, ink and ink, as well as the “gift” copy of the large-format major arcana in the museum’s collections. The arcana, drawn after Papius’s Tarot models, revealed the continuity between the Petrograd Martinists and the Western esoteric tradition. Numerous contemporary publications and mentions of Mebes’ name in the literature on the history of esotericism, and the discussions that have developed on the iconography of the Tarot arcana illustrating Mebes’ lectures, are clear evidence of the fact that the museum has unique materials that should be introduced into academic discourse as one of the valuable historical sources.