Background on Tarot

Although the origins of tarot cards aren’t really known,  they are believed to have developed from playing cards from found in the late 14th century Europe. These cards were most likely brought from Egypt by gypsies. The earliest known tarot decks where developed in Italy. The early decks brought to Europe from Egypt contained the four suits of swords, staves, cups and coins. The decks formed in Italy then began including beautiful illustrations and an additional suit called trionfi later known as trumps. These early cards were made by hand carving the designs into blocks of wood then imprinting the designs onto the cards. Later the designs were hand painted. These original hand painted cards were mainly a luxury held by the rich families. The church still condemned them as playing cards and evil.

Tarot was originally seen as a normal deck of playing cards. Today they are used in divination and fortune telling. They are believed to be a psychological tool for accessing the subconscious and unconscious. The earliest known accounts of playing cards used for divination started in the 1500’s. Designs and styles vary from region to region and over time  many decks have come into existence  Some decks exist only for their artwork and usually only contain the 22 trump cards.

Tarot cards are made of 78 cards normally divided into two groups. The first group is the 21 trump cards and The Fool card. The second set is 56 cards divided into four suits. These suits are 14 cards each and the original suits of swords, staves, cups and coins. Some times the staves can be referred to as the wands or rods and the coins are commonly referred to as pentacles. In modern decks and divination  the trump cards are generally known as the Major Arcana or Greater Secrets with the suits cards known as the Minor Arcana or Lesser Secrets. Most of us are used to playing cards having three face cards per suit where the tarot cards suits have four: the King, the Queen, the Knight and the Page.

The Major Arcana consist of The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, and The World. The Minor Arcana then consist of 56 cards each divided into the four suits numbered one through 10 and then followed by the four face cards. Each suit having it’s own corresponding element : wands or clubs for fire, cups or hearts for water, swords or spades for air, and pentacles or diamonds for earth.

Tarot cards, although widely accepted back in 14th and 15th centuries, are now seen as a taboo subject among many. Mainly due to their association with the occult, divination and fortune telling; they are widely condemned my many religious groups.