Tarot Card Types

Tarot cards were once used for game-playing in the Middle Ages.

Tarot has transitioned over the centuries from a simple Italian card game into a popular method of divination. While today's tarot packs may be illustrated with angels, dolphins, astrological symbols, cats and dragons, tarot experts consider the most visually compelling cards to be the Marseilles, Rider-Waite and Thoth decks. Tarot decks usually contain a group of cards known as the Major Arcana, with images that signify specific concepts such as "Love" or "Death," along with four suits of cards known as the Minor Arcana, which closely resemble modern playing cards.

Tarot of the Marseilles

The Tarot of the Marseilles, or Marseilles Deck, is one of the oldest and most famous tarot decks in existence. According to Sarah Bartlett's book "The Tarot Bible," this deck appeared in France during the 16th century but was modified around 1750. The Marseilles deck's Major Arcana is considered to have highly evocative imagery in primary colors, but only displays Roman numerals on the Minor Arcana. Bartlett notes that while the Major Arcana cards have French titles, the Minor Arcana use Italian imagery depicting suits of wands, pentacles, swords and cups. "Although it is crude, it is still highly effective," she wrote.

Rider-Waite Deck

Tarot cards have been described as a symbolic instrument.

In the late 1800s, esoteric scholar Arthur Edward Waite created a tarot deck illustrated by artist Pamela Colman Smith that was published in 1909 by the Rider Company. In his book "The Pictorial Key to the Tarot," Waite describes the cards as being a symbolic instrument. "They do become a kind of alphabet which is capable of indefinite combinations and makes true sense in all," he explained. The Rider-Waite deck has become one of the most popular card packs due to Waite's fame as an expert in mystical arts.

Thoth Deck

The Thoth Deck contains imagery from sources such as Egyptian mythology.

The Thoth deck was illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris under the direction of famed occultist Aleister Crowley over a five-year period between 1938 and 1943. According to "Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot," author Lon Milo DuQuette says that the imagery appearing on Crowley's cards blends concepts from many sources including Qabalah, Egyptian mythology, astrology and numerology and were meant to be used in conjunction with Crowley's "Book of Thoth." Crowley's interpretation of the tarot is so different from the Rider-Waite pack that users familiar with Arthur Waite's tarot deck may find it confusing.

Historical and Cultural Perspectives

The artwork on some tarot cards can provide historical and cultural insights.

While the tarot was originally devised as a popular card game in the 15th and 16th centuries known as tarocchi, artwork on the cards usually contained historical and cultural references. Helen Sara Farley's 2007 thesis "Tarot: An Evolutionary History" says that the 15th-century Visconti deck's cards "provide knowledge of the prevailing attitudes and beliefs current in early modern Italy," and "help to determine the significance of the symbolism at that time." The Marseilles deck illustrates "La Papesse" ("Female Pope"), a possible reference to the alleged female Pope Joan, and the Rider-Waite deck reflects artistic styles popular at the turn of the 20th century.

References

• "Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot"; Lon Milo Duquette; 2003
• "The Pictorial Key to the Tarot"; Arthur Edward Waite; 2006
• University of Queensland: Tarot: An Evolutionary History: Helen Sara Farley; 2007
• "The Tarot Bible: The Definitive Guide to the Cards and Spreads"; Sarah Bartlett; 2006

Resources

• Learning Tarot