{"id":9292,"date":"2023-07-10T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T08:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psychictoday.com\/blog\/?p=9292"},"modified":"2023-09-28T09:44:52","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T08:44:52","slug":"origins-history-tarot-cards-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychictoday.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/10\/origins-history-tarot-cards-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the Tarot Card History, Origin and Structure"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tarot Card History<\/h2>\n

The first decks of 78 tarot cards appeared in the 15th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 The first tarot card origins are somewhat cloudy. Some will say they first originally were produced in Italy and used as a game of playing cards<\/a>. The aspect of using them for oracles came much later on.<\/p>\n

Other legends recount the Knights Templar bringing them back from the Middle East during the crusades and the tarot cards<\/a> origin coming from Arabia. This history recounts that they were already used from ancient times for the purpose of psychic readings and insight, complete with their air of mystery and spiritual aura.<\/p>\n

Certainly India, Egypt, Persia and China had been using picture based systems for many centuries. The tarot cards history was also recorded around the same time in Italy . These have similarities in the suits that later become the four suits in the\u00a0 modern day European decks.<\/p>\n

Overall, tarot cards history can be traced back to many different places in the world, from Europe to the Middle East, with different intended uses. However, today they hold a similar spiritual meaning in all corners of the world.<\/p>\n

The Marseille Deck<\/h2>\n

The basis of most of our popular decks today comes from the \u201cTarot de Marseille\u201d decks. These were produced later and are mainly attributed to Antoine Court de Gebelin. He was a former member of the Clergy who created many writings on the Cards and undertook many years of research. He looked to the Ancient Egyptians and their esoteric beliefs and believed their sacred secrets came directly from the Egyptian Book of Thoth. Through the interpretation of the cards, hidden mysteries could be revealed. De Gebelin proposed various ways of interpretation and layout and things then developed from there.\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

The Cards<\/h2>\n

In each deck there are 4 suits comprising of 10 cards<\/a> numbered 1 to 10, plus 4 cards with pictures of the \u201cRoyal Family\u201d; Page, Knight, Queen, King. In addition there are the 22 Major Arcana or picture cards which are also labelled number 0 to 21 or 1 to 22 .<\/p>\n

The four suits are;<\/p>\n

WANDS\/STAVES\/RODS\/CLUBS<\/strong>\u00a0representing creativity, imagination, dreams and desires, action. Wands represent the Fire signs Aries, Leo, Sagittarius and the season of Spring.<\/p>\n

CUPS\/CHALICES\/HEARTS<\/strong>\u00a0representing emotions, love and empathy. Cups represent the water signs Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio and the season of summer.<\/p>\n

COINS\/PENTACLES\/DIAMONDS<\/strong>\u00a0representing material situations, the physical, material progress, the home, security etc. The earth signs of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are represented by this suit, as well as the autumn season.<\/p>\n

SWORDS\/SPADES<\/strong>\u00a0representing battles, or \u201ccutting through\u201d issues, challenges and observations. Swords also represent the air signs Gemini, Libra and Aquarius and the winter season<\/p>\n

The Major Arcana tarot cards<\/a> are also the Trump cards of the pack and are therefore viewed as being the cards with the most powerful messages. They tell a story, and are like representations of various learning stages in life, people we encounter, influences and situations. From a reading perspective they hold the keys to the various lessons in life we can expect.<\/p>\n

Gain insights and guidance with a live Tarot card reading from one of our professional Tarot readers<\/a>. We have Tarot readers\u00a0available for a private consultation at\u00a0Psychic Today.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Tarot Card History The first decks of 78 tarot cards appeared in the 15th century.\u00a0 The first tarot card origins are somewhat cloudy. Some will say they first originally were produced in Italy and used as a game of playing cards. The aspect of using them for oracles came much later on. Other legends…<\/p>\n

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