Meaning

The Complete seventy-eight Tarot Card pack is divided into two sections. 22 Major Arcana Cards and 56 Minor Arcana Cards. the 22 Major Arcana cards, also known as the Triumphs, Atouts, and Greater Arcana, comprise twenty-one allegorical cards numbered l to XX1 plus an unnumbered card known as The Fool. The 22 Major Arcana Cards are:

0 - The Fool     
1 - The Magician 
      2 - The High Priestess 
3 - The Empress  
4 - The Emperor  
 5 - The Hirophant 
6 - The Lovers   
7 - The Chariot  
8 - Strength     
9 - The Hermit   
   10 - Wheel of Fortune 
11 - Justice       
 12 - The Hanged Man 
13 - Death         
14 - Temperance    
15 - The Devil     
16 - The Tower     
17 - The Star      
18 - The Moon      
19 - The Sun       
20 - Judgement     
 21 - The World......

Some of the traditional decks designate number 8 to Justice and number 11 to Strength. The above number designation follows the Arthur E. Waites guidelines . The cards are usually numbered with Roman Numerals, I used the contemporary system for ease .

Generally, the Major Arcana cards represent the physical and spiritual forces of life--illness, death, storms, strength, power, love and religion.

The remaining 56 cards of the Rider-Waite Deck are called Minor Arcana or Lesser Arcana and they are divided into four suits.

The suits are:
Swords --- Spades
Rods (Wands) --- Clubs
Cups --- Hearts
Pentacles (Coins) --- Diamonds

Each of the four suits contain four court cards and ten pip cards numbered 1 (ace) through 10. The four court cards in each suit are called:

King 
 Queen 
  Knight 
Page

The Minor Arcana cards generally represent occupations, social position and status.

Today's ordinary deck of playing cards is a direct descendant of the fifteenth-century Tarot packs or decks. As card playing increased in popularity, the Major Arcana cards--with the exception of The Fool, which became the joker--were dropped and the Knight and the Page were combined into today's Jack. Thus giving us the standard pack of 52 playing cards, plus the Joker.

The precise origin of the Tarot Cards remains obscure. It is sometimes theorized that the Tarot Deck was created as a seventy-eight card deck. However, it might be that the 22 Major Arcana cards with their emblematic designs and the 56 Minor Arcana cards in their familiar four suits were originally devised seperately and at a later date were combined into one deck.

People beleive that the Tarot Cards first appeared in Europe in the 1400's, with a history dating back to the Eygptians.

Divination is a form of fortune telling and at the same time it is not. The Tarot cards are used to blend past experiences with present and your future experiences. The cards can tell you what will happen in the future, if .... you stay on the present path you are travelling. The old saying "Knowledge is power" is doubly true in using the Tarot cards for divination purposes. Once someone hears that easy street or a streak of good luck is headed their way, they may sit back and not follow the path that was intended for them. You as a recipient of a Tarot Reading can gain insight, a greater depth into your situation. You will understand your responsibility and relationship to the situation. You will discover new solutions to the problem and see other people's roles in them. Tarot should be used as a tool for inner growth and awareness.