Meetings at work kept me from getting out my typical daily card with the amount of thought I would normally put in, so to keep your little minds moistened (MOIST!) with helpful Tarot information, I thought I might throw out some information about Tarot decks in the event you may ever be interested getting one of your own (or adding to your collection). (Edit: This ended up being MUCH more than I expected. Thankfully I type fast!)

A Very, Very Brief History of Tarot

No one knows for sure when Tarot first came about. However, there are some key historical markers that show the evolution of Tarot starting in the late 1300s with an Italian card game called tarrochi which used a set of playing cards with four suits (cups, wands, coins, and swords). After a few decades of playtime, artists began introducing new cards, referred to as "Trump" cards, which were custom painted and exclusive to wealthy families who viewed the card game as a form of luxury. The earliest deck in existence is the Italian Visconti-Sforza deck which, interestingly enough, features women in around 50% of the images, although the standard images of the Major Arcana (Death, The Hanged Man, etc.) were not included until the 1700s. With the advent of the printing press in the mid-1400s, tarrochi soon spread throughout Europe, and tarot, as the game was called in France, was now easily accessible.

Fast forward to the early-1600s, and we first begin to see Tarot used for divination practices, although it was much simpler than today, and was more akin to reading tea leaves than traditional Tarot. By the 1700s, we see people beginning to assign meanings to the cards and the introduction of Tarot spreads.

In the late 1700s, we see the first introduction of Tarot as a true means of divinatory practice as promoted by Frech Freemason, Antoine Court de Gebelin. He insisted that the symbolism in Tarot was derived from the secrets of the Egyptians and the wisdom of Thoth, the god of the moon, magic, knowledge, and science (and claimed that the Pope and Vatican knew about this and desperately wanted to keep it secret). In 1791, another Frenchman and something of a competitor of de Gebelin, Jean-Baptiste Alliette (though the pseudonym Etteilla), released a Tarot deck with the intention of divination at its heart. It was a small deck, only 32 cards with an extra "Etteilla" card, but came with a book of meanings that could be read upright and reversed. Later this same year, Alliette would also release a book, Theoretical and practical course from the Book of Thoth, which includes representations of the Major and Minor Arcana and an introduction of the four elements and zodiac counterparts.

As interest in the occult grew, Tarot began to become affiliated with Kabbalah and mysticism.

Fast forward to the early 1900s, a new deck is commissioned by Arthur Waite from illustrator, Pamela Smith based on the artwork of the Sola Busca Tarot (created in 1491), the earliest complete tarrochi deck as we know it (including 78 cards). This deck, known as the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, uses Pamela Smith's illustrations are now the gold standard for Tarot symbolism around the world.

Since then, thousands of Tarot decks using the meanings and symbolism of the original Rider-Waite-Smith deck have been created, with more being created every year. While Tarot continues to be used as a divinatory practice, it is also being used in therapeutic practices as a means for self-reflection. This concept was introduced by Carl Jung in the 1930s, with a system of archetypes and psychological images that are recognized by the subconscious.

The Tarot Structure

Tarot still maintains the tie to traditional playing cards with the four suits and court cards. However, Tarot has expanded the deck with additional cards with assigned meanings. The Tarot deck is traditionally composed of 78 cards, divided into:

• 22 Major Arcana
• 40 Minor Arcana
• 16 court cards

Major Arcana
Cards in the Major Arcana represent life themes or patterns (archetypes) that we, as humans, move through in our lives. These are large-scale events that often focus on cycles and control (or lack of), such as birth, death, physical and emotional development, addiction, destructive events like divorce and illness, and the search for spiritual enlightenment. These cards are rich in symbolism that can be interpreted by the reader for insight into themselves or a particular situation.

Minor Arcana
Cards in the Minor Arcana represent our more day-to-day lives and the various situations that happen to us like heartbreak, grief, celebration, mastery, poverty, and charity. While there is still plenty of symbolism in the cards of the Minor Arcana, the lessons taught in these cards are usually more direct and circumstantial. They can also be open to interpretation based on the reader's intuition.

Court Cards
The Court cards in Tarot are usually viewed as the more complex cards in the deck and often represent personality types and traits rather than specific individuals (although some readers do affiliate the court cards with age, gender, and other forms of social influence). They can represent people, personality traits, situations, or energies, and are often reading in their affiliation with their elements (for example, Queens are associated with water - Cups -, but a Queen of Wands is also affiliated with Fire, which can bring a merger of the two elements and their associated traits).

Tarot Spreads

Tarot readings are often performed through the use of a Tarot spread: an arrangement or layout of cards where each card represents a specific perspective. When used in conjunction with the prescribed meanings of the Tarot cards, a reader is able to tell a detailed story about whatever situation has been asked.

Beginner readers often work with 3-card spreads (Past-Present-Future, Problem-Solution-Outcome, You-Your Relationship-Your Partner, etc). These can be evolved into more complex spreads like the 7-card Horseshoe or the 10-card Celtic Cross.

However, many people start their day with a simple 1-card draw, the card of the day, to help channel their thoughts and energy and help them focus on a specific mindset. These can be used as a journaling prompt or a theme for meditation.

SO Many Decks To Choose From

As you've seen from my daily posts, there are many, many decks available today that can range in interpretation and art style. I've seen Tarot decks as cheap as $8 and as expensive as $88. Some decks come in an attractive box with a book of meanings; others come in a flat box with no book of meanings. Some decks are tiny, some are massive. Some have beautifully gilded edges, some are printed on horribly cheap paper.

Picking a deck can be a trial-and-error experience. You may see and deck and fall in love with it visually, but have it hand and feel no connection to it or your reading style. This is not uncommon, unfortunately. Some people choose different decks for different reasons. Some decks are personal and used for their own personal readings and shadow work (using Tarot for working through trauma and difficult situations), whereas other decks are "cute" and used for social, party-style readings.

Personal Deck Preferences

I have two decks that I use routinely:

• The Modern Way Tarot: Even though this deck is simply designed and has lost some of the detail from the original Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the color design and "flatness" of the images appeal to me. It is the primary deck I used to deep dive into Tarot and still use it routinely for my private readings. It is well-crafted and inexpensive and available on Amazon for around $25.
• The Terra Volatile: This is an amazing deck that I work with on an almost-daily basis. This is a very detailed and well-thought-out deck that offers alternative cards for quite a few cards in the deck to take into consideration sexual preference, gender, and skin tone. It also offers an additional suit, The Vessels, alongside the traditional Cups, Wands, Swords, and Pentacles, which is intended for deep introspection and shadow work.
  
  This deck is on the more expensive side (coming in at $58, not including shipping). It also does not include a guidebook, although meanings can be found on their website or downloaded as a PDF. The printing of the deck is done with high-quality materials. My only complaint is that the imagery in the cards can be a little on the dark side, which can be problematic if you are in a low-light setting.
  
  Additionally, this deck offers an "expansion" set of cards that can be used to replace some of the other cards in the traditional deck (such as "Princess" cards in place of "Page" cards. Equally, as stunning in their artwork and detail, this extension has already made its way into my deck.

When you are looking to purchase your own deck, I highly recommend you research the deck and the author(s). Make sure the energy of the deck and its purpose is in line with your desires. If you can, venture to a physical store (local metaphysical store or even a place like Barnes & Noble - they, surprisingly, have a considerably large collection of Tarot decks available), and handle the physical deck. They are often shrink-wrapped, so you may not be able to touch the physical cards, but it will give you a better feeling of if the deck is for you or not. Also. make sure that the deck you are looking to purchase is original and not a knockoff. Sadly, people make cheap duplicates of decks and sell them (usually on Etsy) at a fraction of the cost of the original. However, the quality is poor and they often do not include a guidebook - and even worse, remove any mention of the author(s). Considering the amount of work that goes into the production of a Tarot deck, please be supportive of the original creators and make sure you purchase from an official channel.

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