Tarot: Just What Is It and Where Did It Come From?

Although having grown in popularity considerably in the later part of the 20th century, many people may still be unfamiliar with what the Tarot is. Simply put, they are a deck of cards traditionally being comprised of a total of seventy-eight (78) cards; twenty-two (22) “trumps” or “majors,” known as the major arcana, and fifty-six (56) cards in the minor arcana. The minor arcana is made up of four suits (typically: swords, cups, pentacles/coins, and wands/rods), each containing numbered cards ace (1) through ten (10) and four court cards (King, Queen, Knight, and Page).

As you may have noticed, the minor arcana is very much like a deck of standard playing cards with different suit names and an extra court card (Pages). In fact, many feel that there is a connection in the suits of the tarot and those of the playing variety. Swords is thought to equate to spades, cups to hearts, pentacles to diamonds, and wands to clubs. With this in mind, a tarot reader can read a deck of playing cards as though they were tarot cards without the majors, except for the Fool, who can be represented by the Joker.

The largest difference between playing cards and a majority of today’s Tarot decks is that most Tarot decks have all of their cards illustrated. So, instead of the three (3) of cups displaying nothing more than three (3) cups, you may see that card detailed as a scene—one popular image that is often seen on this card, for instance, is of three young ladies dancing together outdoors, each of them holding a cup. Though, many older decks (and a fair share of newer ones) didn’t illustrate the minor arcana cards and rather just displayed the corresponding number of whichever suit was represented (called a pip card). As you can see, what Tarot cards are is actually very straightforward. The big question many people ask is where did Tarot cards come from?

For centuries, the tarot has been shrouded in mystery. Just decades ago, people were still debating on where they came from. Many people are still deathly afraid of the cards and believe their use to be a form of devil worship. They recoil at the sight or mention of Tarot cards as though Lucifer himself crafted the deck and sent it to his loyal followers on Earth straight from the bowels of Hell.

Well, the simplest way to demystify anything is to understand its origins. Today’s controversial Tarot began as just a card game played by the wealthy in Europe, specifically in Italy, a handful of centuries ago. Not, and I repeat, NOT in Ancient Egypt as many claimed until only recently. Not in Hell after Satan was cast from the Heavens, and not as a way to stick it to the big guy—by… providing humans with… picture cards… to... help them? Seriously, it all started as some cards used to play a game. With the questions of “what” and “where” having been answered without much ado, it begs other questions that arise when discussing the Tarot, such as…

So, where did the “horrid” fortune telling part come from? A couple of hundred years ago, European (French and English) occultists ascribed meanings to the cards. Did the cards suddenly become vile at this point? No, they were and still are simply ink on some stiff paper and nothing more. I do hate to disappoint the dramatic, but you will not have your immortal soul cast into an eternity of misery for the sin of gazing upon these images. Many decks may have added a protective coating to the cards, but none of them have been imbued with an evil the likes of which mankind stands no chance against. I’m afraid that the cards themselves are simply ordinary things without any special powers at all.

So then, the cards are useless and unable to tell us anything of any value? “Fortune telling” is a scam where charlatans dupe others (or have duped themselves) into believing a bunch of nonsense, right? Again, the answer is no. This is not the case in the slightest. Just because something has an ordinary, earthly origin does not mean that it can’t be a vitally important spiritual tool.

How can a stack of pictures some people made provide any insight into a spiritual path, help you receive messages from lost loved ones, aid in self discovery, or yes, let you glimpse into a possible future? If you’d like to delve further into the subject and find an answer to this particular question, see my article "The Science Behind the Mystical: How Tarot Works" where I go into deeper detail on the how’s and why’s behind the workings of the Tarot, which also applies to other divination methods as well.