Tarot

Tarot is a medieval card game (most commonly with 78 cards) which has gained popularity as a method of divination. The most common set is the Rider Waite deck. Invented in the fifteenth century, the Tarot gained it's connection to esotericism by Antoine Court de Gebelin's assertion that it contained mystical secrets. The tarot has been related to the kabalah and the Tree of Life.

Organization

A tarot deck is organized into two distinct parts:

Major Arcana

The Major Arcana (greater secrets), or trump cards, consists of 22 cards without suits:

• The Fool
• The Magician
• The High Priestess
• The Empress
• The Emperor
• The Hierophant
• The Lovers
• The Chariot
• Strength
• The Hermit
• Wheel of Fortune
• Justice
• The Hanged Man
• Death
• Temperance
• The Devil
• The Tower
• The Star
• The Moon
• The Sun
• Judgement
• The World

Minor Arcana

The Minor Arcana (lesser secrets) consists of 56 cards divided into 4 suits each with ten numbered cards and four court cards. The court cards are:

• King
• Queen
• Knight
• Page/Jack

Notably, the Thoth deck created by Aleister Crowley has different Royalty Cards.

In modern decks, the four suits are as follows, although many variations exist.

• Swords
• Wands
• Pentacles
• Cups

See Also

• Archetypal mind