The Major Arcana is composed of 22 cards with numbers printed on them. These cards were numbered from one up to 21 except for the Fool card, which is printed with zero. Each card or arcanum may depict a symbol, an individual, or a group of individuals. These depictions could mean various things -- from life's principles, ideals, and concepts to dynamic and powerful events in a person's life.

Meanwhile, the Minor Arcana is comprised of 56 cards categorized into four suits: pentacles or circles (commonly called coins), cups, swords, and wands. These suits are usually connected with ancient and classical elements such as pentacles for earth, cups for water, swords for air, and wands for fire. Apart from these representations, the four suits could also mean other things such as classes of people or faculties. In addition, the four suits of the Minor Arcana also have their playing-card suit counterparts: wands for clubs, pentacles for diamonds, cups for hearts, and swords for spades. However, unlike the Major Arcana, the Minor Arcana speaks about common things and situations in a person's life.

There are different versions as to the real origin and history of tarot cards. Perhaps one of the most famous of these origins was the deck of cards that existed in Italy during the 15th century. It was said that during that time, the Duke of Milan wrote a letter that requests for special decks of cards called "triumph" to be made. These triumph cards were different from the ordinary game cards that were already used that time. This is because the triumph deck includes picture cards with symbols in addition to the suited cards. This card deck was originally used for "triumph," a card game that is much like bridge in concept. This game spread far and wide in Europe. When it reached France in 1530, the game, as well as the card deck, gained a new name: tarot.

More >>

Tarot Books
Tarot Spreads