Tarot cards are one of the most famous methods of reading the future. They are enshrined alongside crystal ball reading and palmistry, or palm reading, as one of the most iconic methods of fortune telling in the West. Modern tarot cards have 78 cards divided into two major groups called arcana, meaning “secret.”
There are 22 major arcana or trump cards and 56 minor arcana cards. These are then divided further into four suits. The four suits of tarot cards are cups, pentacles or coins, wands or staves and swords. Each suit has four court cards: page, knight, queen and king. Each suit also contains one ace card and nine pip cards numbered two through 10.
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| Rider Waite Tarot Deck (Major Arcana) |
No one really knows for sure what the meaning of the word tarot is. Some scholars believe it comes from the Italian word “Tarocchi”, which is a card game played with tarot cards. Historically, tarot cards were first mentioned in the 1440s, in northern Italy. Tarot cards were used for games, much more than the games we are aware of today.
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Ancient Italian Tarot Deck |
The popularity of tarot cards spread as Europe’s fascination with the occult grew. French writer Eliphas Lévi popularized the notion that tarot symbols were somehow connected with the Hebrew alphabet, and thus to the Jewish mystical tradition of kabbalah; the pulpy book The Tarot of the Bohemians concocted the notion that tarot cards were a Gypsy invention.
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| Customized made Tarot Deck |
The beginnings of the use of Tarot as a means of divination is said to have begun in 1781, and is attributed to a Frenchman by the name of Antoine Court de Gébelin. One of the beliefs that Court de Gébelin had was that the images on tarot cards (specifically the ones on the Italian suit) have their origins in ancient Egypt, and that mystical knowledge was encoded in them. Since then, the idea that tarot could be used for divination continued to be developed through the centuries.
A common misconception about Tarot readings is that they
will help you change your life overnight. While the Tarot cards might provide
insight or present you with options about your future, a reading is only there
to provide guidance. If you want things in your life to change, you have to
actually act on the advice that your Tarot cards and signs from there giving
you.
Before you start Tarot Journey just keep in mind:
- Tarot was not created as part of any religious or even magical tradition, which makes the reader free to adapt it to his own beliefs. The most important thing is that you feel comfortable.
- Find a deck that has a symbolic system with which you feel comfortable. Not everyone can use the same deck!
