Tarot started out being a deck of no less than 78 cards. These 78 cards were divided into 4 suits, all of which had 14 cards. There were 22 trump cards that were originally unnumbered, but were soon numbered 1 21 with a fool card being a 0 or remaining unnumbered.
The 4 suits of the common cards (ace, 10, knight, page, king and queen) were known as Minor Arcana and the trump cards were known as the Major Arcana. These cards could be used to play card games rather than for tarot readings. They were called the Tarot Deck when they were used for fortune telling and not for games.
No one knows for definite where the tarot cards actually originated from, however, it is though that they were brought into Europe by Gypsies. This myth was to originate from the early occultists who thought that the cards and the gypsies came from Egypt. The early occultists were wrong about the gypsies coming from Egypt and about them bringing the Tarot cards and the Tarot Readings with them. It is thought that the real origin of the Tarot came from Islam and the Tarot card originated from their cards that used the suits of coins, cups, swords and polo sticks.
It is also thought that Tarot cards and tarot readings began in or near Italy and spread throughout Europe like wildfire. The facts and the reality of the tarot readings and cards has been misconstrued for all of time and it is thought that they were not used for divination until much later.
It was in the early 1800 s when Eliphas Levi who was a Catholic Priest, a teacher and a writer first created the tarot cards that are still widely used in today s practices. Levi went on to study many religions not just his own, and this allowed him to freely incorporate all religions and all elements (Fire, water, air and earth) into the tarot cards you see today.
You may even notice a few references to certain scriptures that are in the Bible on some of the tarot cards and in the tarot readings. It was thought that Levi actually created the tarot cards not specifically for tarot readings, but to help his students to see and experience true spiritual enlightenment, self awareness and finally, self improvement.
It was A.E Waite that used the Tarot cards to predict future events rather than help improve one s personal life. He created tarot cards that would be used specifically for tarot readings and named this deck of cards The Rider Waite deck. It is actually this deck of cards that is used in a majority today.
There are some people that believe tarot readings to be the work of the devil. Tarot readings are rarely used for negative purposes and are only used to read the recipient s subconscious mind. It is the readings that tell people what may or may not happen in their lives. It is still up to the recipient to make these things happen for them in a positive way.
There are many works of literature on tarot readings, the different decks that can be used and the different way in which the cards can be read. For anyone thinking of having a reading done or going into reading for other people these books and information portals are a must.
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