Are Tarot Card Readers for Real?
The story of tarot cards started around the 15th century, one century after cards were introduced in Europe starting with the newly rising towns in Italy like Milan, Ferrera, and Bologna. The evolution of Tarot as we know it today has a variety of stories and legends. The mystical quality of tarot cards intrigues historians, scholars, spiritualists, and hobbyists. Tarot cards were first used as game pieces much like regular decks, far different from what we think of tarot cards today, although a reference to Tarot as a set of devil cards was made as early as 1450. The culture of tarot cards started in Egypt, which is the same civilization that championed astrology.
A typical tarot deck contains 78 cards consisting of the four suits seen in regular card games, which are hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs. The Latin version of the tarot deck has a different set of suits. They are swords, batons, cups, and coins. Like a regular deck, tarot cards are numbered from one to ten plus the four court cards; jack, queen, king, and ace.
The difference between a tarot deck and the regular deck is the twenty-one divinity cards known as Major Arcana. A joker equivalent in the tarot deck is called the Fool, or the excuse. The Fool can take all four suits and acts as the strongest trump card.
Meaning is assigned to each card in a tarot deck; however, the specifics of interpretation are impacted by the layout of the cards, whether they are upright or reversed, and the interpreter’s own reading. Many of the cards in the major arcana, the trump cards, are fairly logical. The Lovers represent love, in some capacity, while Strength is symbolic of courage and drive. Each of the cards in