What is the origin and meaning of the word Tarot? The word Tarot may have originated during the fourteenth century in Italy in the word form of Tarocco or Tarocchi. Also, Tarot cards first appeared in the region of Northern Italy where the River Po flowed, a tributary of which is the River Taro. The word Tarot is the French word given to the cards. Other words describing the cards include Tarok, Taroc and Tarock . The use of the Tarot for the purpose of fortune telling (Tarot readings) may have been adopted by the Gypsies who first appeared in Europe in large numbers about a century after the first documented appearance of Tarot cards. In the 18th Century a deck of Tarot cards was produced in France (the Tarot of Marseilles) which appeared to be based on earlier woodcut designs and which precipitated the popularity of Tarot readings in Aristocratic circles in that country.

What are Tarot cards and how do they work? Tarot cards consist of 22 pictured cards called the Major Arcana or Trumps and 56 suit cards called the Minor Arcana. Each suit consists of 10 numbered cards and 4 court cards. In modern Tarot decks the numbered Suit cards often contain pictures depicting the meaning or symbolism of the card. The four suits are Wands (Batons, Staves), Cups, Swords and Pentacles (Coins) . The Tarot provides advice and guidance as to how you may best achieve your desired aims or how to avoid unpleasant consequences of maintaining a destructive course of action. Remember the Tarot does not judge you it merely depicts honestly your current state of spiritual being. In Divinations the cards are laid out in a predetermined pattern or spread usually in response to a specific question by the querent. The cards are then read and interpreted by the Tarot Reader both individually and in relation to one another. Why the cards should fall in a particular manner that appears to relate to the question is open to argument. Possibly the Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung’s theory of Synchronicity (meaningful coincidence) may provide some explanation. Perhaps the psychic abilities of the reader to penetrate the rich layers of psychological meaning contained in the cards enables them to intuitively free associate an understanding of the images which is relevant to the question of the querent. However the Tarot works, for centuries people have been profoundly affected by the Tarot’s capacity to transform, inspire and enlighten the reader and give meaningful insight to whomever has studied their astounding beauty.

Where did Tarot cards come from? The enigmatic images depicted in Tarot cards seem to mainly derive from European life in the late Medieval era yet the source of the cards and the images contained therein remain obscure. The images of the Trumps deck depict some aspects of late Medieval life which appear familiar for example The Lovers Trump seems to depict a marriage, The Hierophant Card is obviously a depiction of The Pope ( in some decks this card is actually known as “The Pope” ). The familiar Medieval villain The Devil also appears. Yet nowhere to be seen is an obvious depiction of God or Christ. Perhaps this suggests the origin of The Tarot is not Christian but either derived from Pagan sources or one of the secret mystery cults that existed in Europe at this time such as the Gnostics or Knights Templar. Some commentators such as Eighteenth Century occultist Court De Gebelin asserted that the Tarot was Egyptian in origin. However no concrete evidence exists to support any of these theories. In the Fourteenth Century card games were brought back to Europe from China by merchant travelers who visited there in the wake of Marco Polo but the images differ from those in the Tarot. Decks of Playing Cards are mentioned in documents in Europe dating from around the late 14th Century. A deck of hand painted Tarot cards was created for the Duke of Milan in 1415. It is not clear if the playing cards mentioned by late Medieval Church authorities and Tarot cards derived from the same source or originated separately and were combined later but certainly, the four suits of the Minor Arcana of the Tarot closely resemble contemporary playing cards with the four Tarot suits of Wands (also known as Batons or Staves), Cups, Swords and Pentacles (Coins) corresponding to Clubs, Hearts, Spades and Diamonds respectively. Several original Tarot decks dating from the fourteenth century are today in the possession of museums and libraries as well as private collections. Tarot cards enjoyed a resurgence of interest at the at the turn of the last Century alongside a general interest in the Occult. One of the most important Occult Orders at this time was the Order of the Golden Dawn among whose most important members were Aleister Crowley and Arthur Edward Waite who both commissioned the design of new decks of Tarot cards which are amongst the most widely used Tarot decks today.

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