If you are new to the Tarot, you may wish to read a brief history about how the cards came to be.
The first designs are said to have originated in Egypt and entered Italy around the time of the Renaissance. The oldest surviving tarot cards are the 15 or so Visconti-Sforza tarot decks painted in the mid-15th century for the rulers of the Duchy of Milan.
The deck has evolved during the years, and around the late 18th century, the Tarot of Marseilles became popular as a divinatory tool.
The most widely known deck is the Rider Waite Tarot, which was originally published in 1910, and most designs that have followd from then on are loosely based on that deck.
The Tarot card deck is made up of 78 cards, with 22 of them being part of the Major Arcana. When you get one of these cards, it usually indicates that a major change is about to take place in your life. The rest of the cards are related to more mundane things, and they are made up of four suits. These are Cups (element Water), Swords (element air), Pentacles (element Earth) and Wands (element Fire).
