Tarot Cards are probably the original European playing cards, the forerunners of our modern pack; but the standard Tarots differ from its more familiar descendent in several ways.

For example, it is made up of a total of seventy-eight cards instead of only fifty-two.  Tarots are really two packs combined – a fifty six pack called the lesser arcana tarots and twenty-two called the greater arcana or Tarot trumps.

The lesser arcana of the Tarots is the source of present-day playing cards.  The fifty-six cards are divided into four suits called, in Italian, Bastoni (Batons or Clubs), Coppes (Cups), Spade (Swords), and Denari (Coins).  Each suit is made up of ten, numbered from Ace (1) to 10, with the addition of four others called the Re (King), Dama (Queen), Cavallo (Knight) and Fante (Knave or Jack).

English and American playing cards of today show French suit-marks which first came into use in the early 15th century.  Curiously enough, the names of three of the English suits are derived from the Italian tarots;  Spades from the Italian Spade, Clubs from Bastoni and Diamonds from Denari.  Only the suit of Hearts takes its name from the French, Coeurs (Hearts).

The remaining part of the Tarot, the twenty-two tarot trumps are now only used in certain parts of the world.  Only one card has affected the transition to the fifty-two pack.  The trump entitled 'The Fool' has survived as the Joker.

Each tarot of the greater arcana depicts a symbolical figure or scene and has a descriptive title printed at the bottom of it.  They are numbered in Roman Numerals from I to XXI, only The Fool having no number.  Prior to around 1750, all tarot card trumps seem to have been named in Italian but most later give the titles in French.  The word “Tarot” comes from the French cards whereas in Italy, they are called Tarocchi.  The origin of this word is not known.

Despite the popularity of the less complicated fifty-two card pack, Tarot cards have retained a loyal following in some parts of Europe as they are still manufactured today.  You will find the full seventy-eight Tarot Cards in use in a number of European countries and North Africa.

As a result of the current compelling interest in divination and other aspects of the occult, the tarots can be found on sale in major cities in practically every country in the West.

Although the tarots were established in Italy, France and Germany by the late 14th century, the time, place and circumstances of their creation remains a mystery.  The complex and beautiful designs of the twenty-two major cards creates an unexplained aura of complexities that in turn provides an enigma that has never been satisfactorily resolved.

Who made them and what are they meant to illustrate?  Nobody knows for certain of the origin of the Tarot Cards.