The Knights Templar and the Tarot: Hidden Codes in the Cards

This post is part of my new series: “The Most Googled Spiritual Questions about Esoteric Astrology, Past Lives & Ancient Wisdom''

Every week, I take one of the most-searched questions about astrology, past lives, the soul, ancient history, or the hidden realms and break it down using ancient wisdom, sidereal astrology, and everything I’ve learnt through my own spiritual path.

The Tarot has always carried an aura of mystery, but one of the most intriguing theories is its possible connection to the Knights Templar. Was Tarot simply a card game that evolved into divination, or could it have been used as a secret code, carrying the hidden wisdom of a persecuted order?

This isn’t about Tarot as fortune-telling, nor a simple retelling of Templar history. This is about the space where myth, symbol, and secrecy meet. The suggestion that the Knights Templar used Tarot as a survival tool for forbidden knowledge is not just a story, it’s a doorway into one of the most compelling mysteries of esoteric history.

Why Would the Templars Need a Secret Code?

In 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar. Accused of heresy, blasphemy, and secret rituals, many were tortured and executed. By 1312, the order was officially dissolved by Pope Clement V.

Whether or not the charges were true, the Templars were forced into secrecy. Legends say that their sacred teachings, mystical knowledge gathered during their time in the Holy Land, could no longer be shared openly. If they wanted to preserve it, they needed a disguise.

Tarot may have been that disguise. A deck of cards could pass as harmless entertainment, but for those who understood the symbols, it became a book of initiation written in pictures.

The Tarot as a Templar Manuscript in Disguise

To outsiders, Tarot was a game. But to initiates, the cards may have carried a layered symbolic language. When viewed through a Templar lens, the Major Arcana especially begins to read like a spiritual map:

• The Fool- The initiate, beginning the path of wisdom, naïve to the trials ahead but protected by divine guidance.

• The Magician- The mastery of tools and willpower, echoing the Templar’s alleged knowledge of alchemy and sacred geometry.

• The Hierophant- Spiritual authority outside the Church, representing hidden teachings preserved through initiation.

• Justice- A reminder of divine law above human law, reflecting the Templars’ defiance against earthly rulers.

• The Tower- The destruction of false orders and corrupt institutions, perhaps mirroring the Templars’ own fall.

• The Star- Hope and divine guidance, the eternal flame of wisdom that persecution could not extinguish.

The Fool’s Journey through the cards could mirror the path of initiation itself, a step-by-step process of spiritual awakening, disguised in plain sight.

The Role of Symbolism in Secret Societies

The idea of Tarot as a Templar code is not so far-fetched when you consider how secret societies have always worked. When knowledge cannot be spoken openly, it is encoded in symbols, rituals, and allegory.

The Templars themselves were accused of worshipping mysterious idols, of holding secret rituals that outsiders could not understand. Whether true or not, the very nature of their secrecy means symbols would have played a role in how knowledge was preserved.

Tarot’s imagery is rich with archetypes that would fit perfectly into this tradition, towers, stars, hierophants, wheels of fortune. Each card could serve as a memory key, a teaching tool, or even a ritual object.

Did the Templars Actually Create the Tarot?

Here’s where fact and legend blur. Historically, the first Tarot decks we can prove existed were created in 15th-century Italy, more than 100 years after the fall of the Templars. These were luxury playing cards for the nobility, like the Visconti-Sforza deck. There is no direct evidence linking the Templars to their creation.

So why does the theory persist?

Because in the 18th and 19th centuries, occult writers such as Éliphas Lévi and later members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn began to reinterpret Tarot as an esoteric tool. These groups often traced their inspiration back to secret societies, some of which claimed Templar influence. For them, Tarot was not a game but a symbolic system containing Hermetic, Qabbalistic, and possibly even Templar knowledge.

While mainstream historians see Tarot as a card game turned mystical, esoteric traditions argue that its archetypes were chosen with purpose, reflecting universal truths preserved by groups like the Templars.

Tarot, Templars, and the Power of Myth

The lack of hard evidence doesn’t weaken the story. In fact, it may be why it still thrives. The Knights Templar and Tarot connection has endured because it touches something deeper:

• Archetypal resonance: The Major Arcana reflects the same symbolic journey seen in initiation rites.

• The Templar mythos: An order accused of heresy, secrecy, and forbidden wisdom fits perfectly with Tarot’s layers of hidden meaning.

• The survival of knowledge: People are drawn to the idea that wisdom cannot be destroyed, only disguised and carried forward.

Whether or not the Templars designed Tarot, the cards became a natural container for the type of wisdom they were said to protect.

FAQs About the Templar–Tarot Connection

Did the Knights Templar invent the Tarot? Historically, no. Tarot first appears in 15th-century Italy, after the Templars were suppressed. But esoteric traditions suggest Tarot may have carried wisdom influenced by Templar or mystery school teachings.

Why are the Knights Templar often linked to hidden knowledge? They were accused of heresy, secret rituals, and worshipping forbidden idols. True or not, these charges created the legend of the Templars as guardians of lost wisdom.

Why do Tarot and secret societies overlap? Both rely on symbols and archetypes to carry teachings that cannot always be spoken openly. Tarot’s imagery makes it a natural fit for initiatory paths.

Myth, Mystery, and Hidden Codes

Search for the Knights Templar and Tarot connection today and you’ll find countless theories, but no conclusive proof. And perhaps that’s the real magic. Tarot has always been more than ink on paper, it is a symbolic journey of the soul.

When you link it to the Templars, the story deepens. The idea that these cards may have been a survival tool for forbidden wisdom makes every draw feel like a doorway into mystery.

The truth may be that the Knights Templar and Tarot connection will never be proven historically. But it remains one of the most compelling intersections of history, legend, and esoteric imagination. And maybe that is the secret: the mystery itself is part of the teaching.

The sources of my information and inspiration behind the blog post