Tarot Cards Explained: History, Purpose, and Card Meanings

If you’ve ever participated in a spiritual workshop, wandered through a metaphysical store, or simply noticed mystical imagery in design and culture, you’ve likely encountered tarot cards. For centuries, this illustrated deck has been used as symbolism, art, and yes, a tool for fortune telling.

Tarot carries a reputation that’s as layered as its imagery. It’s been praised as “magical,” dismissed as “demonic,” and misunderstood in just about every way in between. Whether you live and breathe tarot or are simply curious, we’re breaking down where these polarizing cards actually come from, what they were originally intended for, and what they truly represent today.

The Real History of Tarot

Tarot wasn’t always an oracle. It began during the Renaissance in 15th-century Italy as a card game, not a spiritual tool. Famous families, like the Visconti and Sforza, paid artists to decorate decks that were status symbols, used for entertainment. 

These early decks had four suits, like ordinary cards. Where they differed from a regular deck, is that they added extra 'trump' cards (early tarot had trionfi), decorated with figures like Justice, Fortune, and Time.

For about 300 years, tarot was just that, a game. Then in the late 1700s, writers in France began claiming tarot held ancient Egyptian secrets. There was no evidence for this, but the idea stuck. Occultists in the 1800s layered tarot with astrology, Kabbalah, and alchemy, inventing the mystical symbolism most people now associate with tarot today.

In 1909, the Rider-Waite-Smith deck was created. It was the first deck to fully illustrate every card, especially the Minor Arcana, so that each one told a story, making tarot far easier to read intuitively.

Today’s tarot is a blend of Renaissance art, symbolic narrative, and spirituality. But, it's 'otherworldly' association did begin when it was connected to an ancient civilization, which has stuck in modern psychic readings and spiritual practices. 

Why Tarot Should Be Included in Spiritual Practices Today

Tarot works because humans respond to symbols. Symbols give shape to feelings, transitions, patterns, and choices, the things language at times can fail to capture.

A tarot pull is not designed to be a psychic prediction, it’s meant to be a mirror. A way to name what’s going on inside of you. Pulling cards is intended to be a pause, a moment of reflection, a ritual that helps you notice what’s already happening under the surface. If you are not a spiritual person, and are slightly horrified by the use tarot cards, we urge you to think about it as a reflective practice. 

Most tarot card users and 'believers' incorporate it as a tool to either help understand their current circumstances, or as an elevated way to designate an intention for a moment in their life. 

Although tarot has been shifted and wrongly shaped by spiritual scams & the like, they are historically designed as a form of entertainment and shouldn't be criticized as a 'demonic' exercise. You can try to share this post with your great Aunt that is clutching her rosary when seeing your tarot deck. 

How the Deck Is Structured

A tarot deck has 78 cards, split into two parts:

Major Arcana: The Big Themes

These 22 cards represent major life experiences and archetypes.

Here’s what each of them stands for:

• The Fool: New beginnings & possibility

• The Magician: Skill & intentional action

• The High Priestess: Inner knowing & intuition

• The Empress: Creativity & abundance

• The Emperor: Structure & leadership

• The Hierophant: Rituals & beliefs

• The Lovers: Choices guided by values

• The Chariot: Focus & momentum

• Strength: Gentleness with grit

• The Hermit: Reflection & solitude

• Wheel of Fortune: Cycles & change

• Justice: Truth & accountability

• The Hanged Man: New perspective

• Death: Endings that make room for beginnings

• Temperance: Balance & harmony

• The Devil: What you’re overly attached to

• The Tower: Sudden shake-ups

• The Star: Hope & renewal

• The Moon: Intuition & the unknown

• The Sun: Clarity & joy

• Judgement: Awakening & reckoning

• The World: Completion & wholeness

These aren’t “good” or “bad.” They’re stages of growth, emotional states, and inner experiences. All cards have both 'lightness' and 'darkness', and it is up to you to interpret it how you see fit.

The Minor Arcana: Everyday Life

The Minor Arcana (56 cards) parallels regular playing cards but with a symbolic suit system:

Cups: Emotions & Relationships

• Ace: New emotional openness

• Two: Connection

• Three: Celebration

• Four: Disinterest

• Five: Loss

• Six: Nostalgia

• Seven: Too many options

• Eight: Walking away

• Nine: Satisfaction

• Ten: Emotional harmony

• Page: Curious feelings

• Knight: Romantic pursuit

• Queen: Emotional wisdom

• King: Balanced feelings

Wands: Energy & Drive

• Ace: Inspiration

• Two: Planning

• Three: Expansion

• Four: Stability

• Five: Conflict

• Six: Recognition

• Seven: Defense

• Eight: Quick movement

• Nine: Persistence

• Ten: Overload

• Page: Spark of creativity

• Knight: Bold action

• Queen: Confident energy

• King: Visionary leadership

Swords: Thoughts & Clarity

• Ace: Truth & clarity

• Two: Indecision

• Three: Heartache

• Four: Rest

• Five: Pyrrhic win

• Six: Transition

• Seven: Sneaky strategy

• Eight: Mental block

• Nine: Anxiety

• Ten: Crushing end

• Page: Curious mind

• Knight: Direct action

• Queen: Clear insight

• King: Strategic thinking

Pentacles: Physical World & Resources

• Ace: New practical start

• Two: Balancing priorities

• Three: Teamwork

• Four: Holding tight

• Five: Hardship

• Six: Generosity

• Seven: Waiting & evaluating

• Eight: Skill building

• Nine: Independent success

• Ten: Long-term security

• Page: Practical learning

• Knight: Steady effort

• Queen: Nurturing stability

• King: Resource mastery

What Tarot Actually Does

Tarot is not about predicting the future. It’s about clarity, presence, and self-awareness. No card is destiny. The cards are a structure for naming what’s already inside you, your fears, your opportunities, your values, your transition points. Kind of like how Yoda says the force is everywhere, even within you. He was onto something.

So, the real magic of them is not within the cards, it's within you. You're welcome!