A Brief History of Tarot Cards

It is believed that Tarot cards originated in Italy in the 14th century. To be precise, the earliest dates are believed to be the year 1391. The pack of cards, known as the Tarocco, is made up of 22 major enigmas, whose figures represent a synthesis of the mysteries of life and 56 minor images incorporating 14 figures in four series (gold, clubs, swords and goblets). The 22 major enigmas can be related to the alphabets of Hebrew language. They can also be related to the number of hieroglyphs which the ancient Jews used in divination.

According to other stories, it is believed that Tarot cards were first mentioned in the year 1440. In a letter from the Duke of Milan, there was a request for several decks of "triumph" cards to be used at a special event. The letter differentiated triumph cards from regular "playing" cards. Some people also believe that the first Tarot cards were created as a game. There were four suits with cards numbered one through ten and also court cards that included a queen, king, knight and page. The deck also included 22 symbolic picture cards that did not belong to any suit. The decks were used to play a game called triumph that was similar to bridge. In triumph, 21 of the 22 special picture cards were permanent trump cards.

This game quickly spread to all parts of Europe. People started referring to it as Tarocchi which is an Italian version of the French word Tarot. Tarot became more prominent and important in 1781 when the followers of occult discovered Tarot cards. In 1781, Tarot cards became very famous in France and England. People practising occult saw the symbolic pictures of the cards as having more meaning than the simple trump cards they used at the time. They used the cards as a divination tool and occult writers wrote about "the Tarot." After this, the Tarot became a part of occult philosophy.

Some people even believe that Tarot cards originated in Egypt. In some circles, they are thought to be the sole surviving book from the great fire that burned the libraries of ancient Egypt. In this theory, the cards are considered to be the hieroglyphic keys to life. From the late 18th century until the present time the tarot has found use by mystics and occultists in efforts at divination or as a map of mental and spiritual pathways. The tarot is distinguished by a separate 21-card trump suit and a single card known as the Fool. Depending on the game, the Fool may act as the top trump or may be played to avoid following suit.

François Rabelais gives tarau as the name of one of the games played by Gargantua in his Gargantua and Pantagruel, this is likely the earliest attestation of the French form of the name.  The cards are traced by some occult writers to ancient Egypt or the Kabbalah but there is no documented evidence of such origins or of the usage of tarot for divination before the 18th century.

Introduction to Tarot Cards - Learn tarot card reading