Tarot was not widely seen as a tool of divination until the late 1700s when esoteric Freemasons "discovered" it as such. Most people, even into the 20th century, used normal playing cards for divination.

So those getting pissy about white people using tarot as "cultural appropriation" from the Romani are, in fact, perpetuating a racist myth. The irony is off the charts.

Tarot was a game of the nobility in 15th century Italy. It is still played in Europe. It is not the property of any specific culture. Please stop regurgitating centuries-old myths. Read some goddam books.

I did a free, 45-minute talk on tarot history recently for the @AnomalyArchives benefit streamathon. You can watch it here (starts around the 14 minute mark):

@michaelmhughes (smdh) I have occasionally wondered if there are people out there mad that Mormonism is cultural appropriation from Native Americans. Now I am sure of it.

@michaelmhughes RIGHT? The weirdest part is that NO ROMANI PEOPLE ARE SAYING THIS! Like it’s just non-Roma witches saying a bunch of weird racist bullshit? I can’t

@saturnvelvet That seems rather confusing to me. From what I have been able to find, they largely used playing cards for fortune telling (as did most people before the tarot’s explosive popularity in the 20th century). Shouldn’t they be recognized for reality and not myths projected onto them?

@michaelmhughes dropping a link to the wiki on the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck, oldest surviving deck, circa 15th Italy

@michaelmhughes the mysticism and divination behind tarot as a form of fortune telling is present in every roma group. roma are the only ethnic group to claim this as a spiritual and cultural practice. they were literally killed for it in the Holocaust. listen to roma people and respect them.