The Tarot Cards: 8 Interesting Facts About Tarot Cards
To many people reading Tarot cards is simply harmless fun.
It seems to fit in with the New Age Movement where people try to get in touch with their ‘Inner Spirit’. They believe a Tarot card reading can be used by them to channel their thoughts and connect somehow with the ‘Oneness of the Universe’.
To others it can become a practice or activity to which they are completely devoted, and eventually it becomes part of their way of life.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TAROT CARDS
The Tarot is the most practised art of divination in the world. The cards are sometimes called ‘The Book of Divination of the Gypsies’. They have been used for hundreds of years to reveal hidden truths and to foresee the future of the person receiving the card reading.
Some psychologists even use Tarot cards to identify how a client views himself by asking the patient to select a card that he or she identifies with.
The origins of Tarot are steeped in mystery and it is impossible to be certain where they first came from. Some people claim that they may have come from as far back as the 11th century. However the most commonly held belief suggests Tarot originated in 15th century Italy by adding to a normal set of cards 21 trump cards, a fool and 4 queens of each suit. This eventually evolved into the traditional 78 card deck used today.
The traditionally deck of 78 cards has various symbolic pictures on them. A standard pack is made up of 22 cards called the Major Arcana and four suits of 14 cards similar to playing cards. These are called the Minor Arcana. The word Arcana simply means ‘mysteries’ or ‘secrets’. The Major Arcana consists of:-
THE FOOL
THE MAGICIAN
THE HIGH PRISTESS
THE EMPRESS
THE EMPEROR