Tarot cards are well known in popular culture as a means by which the future may be divined, and personal insights gained. They may be used both for serious and recreational purposes.
A traditional pack of tarot cards is divided into two parts: there is the major arcana, which has 22 illustrated cards depicting individual characters and symbols (such as the Hanged Man, the Tower, Death, the Sun etc.), and the minor arcana, which has 56 cards that are divided into four suits (the Cups, Wands, Swords and Pentacles/Coins/Disks).
The cards that constitute the tarot date back many centuries. Playing cards with four suits were introduced into Europe from Egypt in the 14th century, and the first tarot decks seem to have been developed in Italy in the early 15th century.
Tarot cards were first used as playing cards; it is unknown when tarot cards first used for divination, but the first documented example of this type of use is in the 18th century. Antoine Court de Gebelin wrote a history of the tarot in 1785, which included the first known detailed method for laying out the cards. Since then, tarot cards have become very popular for divination purposes.
During a tarot reading, the cards are shuffled and laid out in a spread. The spread may take the form of any of a variety of patterns - common spreads include the Horse-Shoe and the Celtic Cross. The spread is then interpreted by the card reader, with specific meanings being ascribed to each card, which are influenced by its position in the spread. Some people interpret the cards differently depending on whether they are the right way up or reversed; in such cases the reversed meaning is often considered to be opposite of the upright meaning. The reader may be a professional tarot reader, or an individual may perform a reading for her/himself.
An enormous number of tarot decks are available today, with designs to suit all tastes. Influential decks that have been popular for many years include the Rider-Waite deck, the Thoth deck and the Golden Dawn deck. Other, more unconventional, decks include the Motherpeace deck, with its round cards, and decks tailored to niche interests such as Karen Kuykendall's Tarot of the Cat People, and the Tarot of Baseball. Tarot decks are available to buy online, as well as in new age and occult shops, and many more mainstream stores.
There are also a large number of books and websites devoted to the subject of the tarot, so anyone who is interested in this fascinating subject will have no shortage of places to find information. One very good website is Learn Tarot which contains a free online course on the topic. Another good site is the Tarotpedia a Wiki-style site with a wealth of information.
