The History Of Tarot Cards

By Jack Levine

Tarot cards were invented in the fifteenth century in northern Italy. It was created for a new type of card game that is very similar to bridge. The deck was similar to the playing cards of the time with four suits and number cards from one to ten. There were also court cards that included a king, knight and page. The queen was not included in playing cards at that time. With the tarot, came the addition of the queen. There were also twenty-two other cards added to the deck that had pictures that had special meaning and symbols.

That first deck of cards contained all of the cards that we are familiar with in a standard deck of cards but it also had the addition of the twenty-two trump cards that we would recognize as the cards of the tarot. Each of these cards had a special place in the game and would be able to trump any other card when it was played.

The game was very popular during this time and there were many decks created for playing. However, because each of the cards had to be hand painted it was not a game that everyone had the privilege of playing. Only the very rich could afford the deck of cards to play the game of Triumphs.

It wasn't for centuries that the symbolic pictures on the card began to be seen as magical and mystical. This is where the current reputation for tarot cards began.

The cards that came from these old original decks are hand painted masterpieces and are worth a great deal of money. Artists who were commissioned to work on the cards by the wealthy elite generally painted them. If you search online you can view some photographs of these ancient tarot cards.

When you purchase tarot cards today, you will find that there are a number of different styles of cards to choose from. The number of the cards and the particular tarot or trump cards is the same in every deck, but what are different are the symbols and pictures that are used to represent the meanings. Tarot cards are very beautiful and make an excellent item to collect.

The tarot has also evolved to include many different spreads of the cards. Each spread of the cards is more suited toward a specific type of reading. For example, if you are interested in knowing the state of your relationship, there is a spread that will work best for this type of question.

As the cards moved from country to country, they began to be changed in their appearance. Every region put its own representation of the tarot deck out for the public display. These hand painted decks of cards are true artistic wonders and should be viewed if you get a chance.

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