What is the Tarot?

The Tarot is a system of cards which have been used for Divination for some three hundred years. Divination is defined as "the act of revealing occult (hidden) knowledge by the means of an augury" - that is, it is concerned with finding out information which is not yet known to the conscious mind, through the use of some apparently random act (in this case the shuffling and dealing of cards). Although often used in the past for simple fortune telling - that is attempting to predict the future - the Tarot is now increasingly used as a tool for therapy and self development.

A Tarot deck is simply a collection of cards, each of which has been given a very particular meaning. The aim of a deck is to encompass within it the great breadth of human experience - there are cards which can mean birth, cards which can mean death, cards which represent love and happiness, cards which can represent heart-break and sadness. Each card may mean many things, depending on its context in a spread and the type of reading being performed - part of the skill of a reader is to draw from a card its exact meaning in a particular instance. There are many, many different Tarot decks - different writers, artists and scholars have created their own images based around standard meanings for the cards, or, indeed, have created new meanings, and new cards. There is no such thing as a 'standard deck', only those which are more popular. Likewise, there is no such thing as a 'correct meaning' for a particular card - only those that suit the reader and client best.

The first Tarot decks seem to have appeared in Italy in the 15th Century. Originally the Tarot was designed for playing various games, with those cards which would become known as the Major Arcana being the 'Trump' cards. Although rumours persist that the symbolism, or 'wisdom' of the Tarot is in some way connected to ancient Egypt, or the Romany, all historical evidence points to a European original of the cards, and the 'standard' symbols on them. Likewise, it is untrue that playing cards come from the Tarot, as there are decks of playing cards fifty years older than the oldest recorded Tarot deck.

The first records of Tarot being connected with anything magical or mystical appear over a hundred years after the Tarot first appeared, and the use of Tarot for fortune telling comes later still. It's also worth noting that in early decks there were several different versions of the Trumps - different cards were included and left out, and they were often presented in different orders. So there is no 'true' or 'original' organisation for a Tarot deck - only those which have become common.

However, Divination as a practice has existed in most human cultures for thousands of years, be it with Runes, bones, dice, drawing lots, the yarrow sticks of I-Ching, scrying in pools of water or crystals, or many, many other techniques. It was, therefore, perhaps natural that something as complex and rich in symbolism as a Tarot deck would be turned to more mystical practices. By the early 1700s there are records of meanings being assigned to the different cards for divination, and from that time on the use of Tarot divination seems to have grown rapidly.

The current style of deck, and symbolic meaning of the cards, mostly comes from the 19th century, thanks to the work of French occultists like Eliphas Levi, and then the considerable influence of the English occult organisation the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Most ideas of a 'standard' deck go back to the work in this period.

The most well known Tarot deck is the Waite-Smith deck, (also called the Rider Waite deck). This was created in 1909, by A.E. Waite, a prominent member of the Golden Dawn, and this deck owes much to their system of magic. For many years it was the most widely publicised Tarot deck, which has led some to believe it is 'the most authentic' or 'most accurate'. In fact all of the different decks bring their own interpretation, symbolism, and meaning to the themes of the Tarot. Each reader should choose the deck that they feel most comfortable with, and whose symbolic language most resonates with their own views of the world.

I believe the Tarot is such a versatile and constantly useful tool, because of this rich tradition, and the number of people that have contributed their thoughts, creativity and wisdom to it over the years. Whilst feeling very connected to the past, the Tarot is also a very modern tool - it has never lost its relevance to the changing shape of our lives because its fundamental themes are eternal in human experience. With luck reader, artists and writers will continue to contribute to this tradition and ensure the Tarot has a healthy, and varied, future.

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