Guide Note:

Tarot is a set of 78 cards used primarily for purposes of divination, or fortune-telling.

Fast Facts:

1. The Tarot is split into the major and minor arcana
2. The most famous Tarot deck is the Rider-Waite, but hundreds of decks are available
3. In France, Tarot cards are used for games

The first tarot cards seem to have appeared in the 15th century in northern Italy, and there appears to be a relationship between the origins of tarot cards and playing cards. Tarot cards did not gain their association with mysticism and divination until the 18th or 19th century.

One of the first people to bring wide reaching attention to the fortune telling aspect of tarot cards was a French occult follower named Alliette. He fashioned the cards with supposedly Egyptian influenced themes, and put divination related text on his cards.

Eliphas Levi helped to bring tarot into the English speaking world, and some believe that he is the real originator of the modern tarot reading system. Today, a deck devised by Arthur Edward Waite called the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot has caught popularity with the general public who purchase tarot.