Although no one can say for certain where and when Tarot cards appeared, there does seem to be a common consensus that the first decks ( that we know about today) appeared in the 15^th Century in Italy and were a popular card game. At that time these decks of cards were handmade and sometimes designed by prominent artists of the day.

Although it is argued that the Tarot cards entered circulation in Italy as something for fun, it is believed that the cards had already been in use for sometime as a means of fortune telling. Today Tarot cards are widely used as a means for self understanding as well as future predictions. Certainly by the early 19^th Century the Tarot cards were of increasing interest to Occult groups.

Tarot cards are a deck of 78 cards. The cards are divided like this:

• 4 sets known as 'suits'. Each set consisting of 14 cards. These are known as the MINOR arcana. ( 56 in all). The actual names of the ‘suits’ have varied across the years.
• 22 remaining cards are known as MAJOR arcana.

Major Arcana:

These 22 cards do not belong to any of the 'suits'. These cards are extra cards and are the famous 'symbolic' picture cards which have complex meanings.

Minor Arcana:

As already mentioned these cards are divided in to 4 suits of 15 cards. Each suit represents 'Wands'(clubs) 'Cups'(hearts) 'Swords'(spades) 'Pentacles'(diamonds). The cards themselves are numbered cards like a standard deck of playing cards.

How does it work?

The principle is that the Tarot cards can only really be interpreted by a ‘psychic’ who is able to sense both the cards and the individual.

The reading can be done using either a full pack or just the Major Arcana cards. A question is asked of the cards and the cards are drawn. The person asking the question shuffles the cards and cuts the deck. The psychic then lays out the cards in a spread and interprets the cards in relation to how they are drawn and the individual cards relations to each other. There are different methods used to interpret the cards.

Tarot cards are yet another tool through which people aim to search for self meaning and divination.