How Tarot Came Into Life

Around the 1300s–1400s, people in Europe started using special cards. At first, these were not used for fortune-telling. They were just playing cards, used in games by kings, queens, and rich families in Italy and France. These early cards were beautifully painted with pictures of rulers, knights, and symbols.

Later, these decks became known as Tarot cards. The tarot deck had two parts:

The Major Arcana (22 powerful cards with big life lessons, like The Fool, The Lovers, The World).

The Minor Arcana (56 cards about daily life, with suits like Cups, Wands, Swords, and Pentacles).

By the 1700s, people began to believe that tarot cards had a hidden, mystical meaning. Some said they came from ancient Egypt, others linked them to gypsies, Kabbalah, and astrology. Tarot slowly became connected to spiritual guidance and divination instead of just games.

In the 1800s and 1900s, many mystics and secret groups (like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn) studied tarot. They connected the cards with deep spiritual wisdom, symbols, and even the journey of the soul.

Today, tarot is used all over the world as a tool for self-reflection, guidance, and intuition. People no longer see it as just a card game—it’s seen as a mirror of the soul and a way to understand life’s path.