Shrouded in myths and mysteries since the very inception, tarot is a treasury of magical insights into the wisdom and esoteric secrets of the ancient Egyptians, Indian cultures, Kabbalah, the Greece and the Romanians.
The Archetypes like The Emperor, The Empress, The Fool can very well be perceived as The Divine Father, The Divine Mother and The Divine child. It is a common belief that Tarot emanated from the North of Italy, in the valley of the Taro River, tributary of the River Po. Hence the Italian name Tarochhi and the French name Tarot.
The contemporary Tarot deck comprising twenty two trumps or Major Arcana has been influenced by the Italian version, the Venetian or the Piedmontese and the French Tarot de Marseilles. The rest fifty six cards represent the four suits of Swords or scepter, Wands, batons or clubs, Cups or chalices and Pentacles, discs or coins. Each suit represents a different strata of the society. Swords signifying the ruling class, aristocracy, Wands the peasants and labourers, Cups signifying the clergy or monastic orders, religion and spirituality, Pentacles the merchant class. Arthur Edward Waite who joined The Order of the Golden Dawn 1891 made the greatest contribution to the modern Tarot deck by entrusting an artist by the name of Pamela Coleman Smith with the responsibility of colourfully illustrating the Minor Arcana comprising the four suits. This deck known as The Rider Waite pack is the foundation for most other contemporary Tarot decks. The Rider Waite is by far the most frequently used deck in modern times.
According to Antoine Court de Gebelin, a French Protestant Clergyman, Tarot contains the encoded magical wisdom of Thoth, the Egyptian God of magic, writing, science and the judgment of the dead. The Greek Hippopotamus Goddess of childbirth Taueret, also known as Thoeris, The great one, holds massive resemblance to the card lll of Major Archana, The Empress while the name Taueret does seem connected to the term ‘Tarot’. Kabbalah, the origin of ancient esoteric Hebrew wisdom is also believed to have given birth to Tarot. Torah, comprising the first five Books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy is supposedly the source of the term Tarot.