The Tarot

One of the strangest things about the Tarot pack is that there seem to be no legends concerning its origin, although an 18th Century philogist, Count de Gebelin, declared that it was an ancient Egyptian work called the Book of Thoth. However, this was before the discovery of the Rosetta Stone which enabled scholars to decipher hieroglyphics, and further research found no reference to the Tarot in ancient Egypt. 

What is known, is that the Tarot was used by gypsy fortune-tellers in the 15th Century. However, the knowledge that it was known in Spain, Germany and France at least a Century earlier, discounts the theory that the gypsies invented it. The fact that the Tarot should have no known origin may not seem surprising until you take a closer look. The Tarot pack consists of 78 cards, and can be easily divided into two packs: one of playing cards similar to our own pack (with one extra court card per suit); and 22 cards containing various typical symbols of the Middle Ages. 

What is interesting, however, is that these cards remain unchanged throughout the ages, and the order has always remained the same. If they had been the invention of gypsy fortune-tellers, you would expect the pack to exist in many different forms.

The Major Arcana

The Minor Arcana