How Were Tarot Cards Invented? The Real History, The Myths, And What It Means For Your Readings Today

Tarot did not drop from the sky. It showed up in northern Italy in the 1400s as a trick-taking game called tarocchi. Picture fancy courts in Milan and Ferrara. Silk, music, and a new pastime where extra trump cards added a twist. Those trumps were named after big ideas like Love, Fortune, and Death. They sat above the regular suits and could win a trick.

The earliest decks we still have were made for rich families. They were hand painted on thick card, with gold leaf, and the art was personal. You can still see the faces and fashions of the time. Nothing occult there. More like a custom board game that showed off the owner’s taste and money.

When people say old tarot, they often mean the Visconti Sforza decks. These were made for the ruling families of Milan, the Visconti and the Sforza. The art glows. The gold shines. The figures look straight out of a Renaissance fresco. If you hold a reproduction, the cards feel long and elegant.

Those trumps set the bones for many decks to come. The Fool. The Magician. The High Priestess did not have that name yet, she was more like a female Pope. The Lovers. The Chariot. Justice. The Hermit. The Wheel of Fortune. And so on. Each card was a picture of a virtue, a role, or a scene from everyday life and church teaching. Not a secret code. A visual map of values and ideas people already knew.

So how did a game turn into fortune-telling? Two French figures helped that change along in the late 1700s. Antoine Court de Gébelin, a Protestant pastor and writer, saw tarot cards in a Paris salon. He wrote that they held ancient Egyptian wisdom. He loved patterns and old myths. He connected dots that were never linked in the records. Egypt was fashionable at the time, so his idea stuck to people’s imaginations.

Then came Etteilla, born Jean-Baptiste Alliette, a print seller who published one of the first books on reading tarot. He taught spreads, which are simple layouts for placing cards, and meanings for upright and reversed positions. Reversed means the card looks upside down, and some readers take that as a change in flavour or a blockage. He also designed decks tailored for divination, with keywords right on the cards. You can see the bridge being built. A household game becomes a mirror for questions about love, work, and life.

If you are curious to try a short, focused reading the way I structure it today, you might like my 3-Card Tarot Reading ($79). Three cards, one clear question, and you get a written reading you can come back to when your head is busy.

Jump to London, 1909. Arthur Edward Waite, a writer and member of a mystical society, teamed up with Pamela Colman Smith, an artist and stage designer with a strong sense for storytelling. The deck they made is known as Rider Waite, but many of us call it Rider Waite Smith to honour Pamela’s hand. She drew scenes for all 56 minor cards, the everyday suit cards. That was a shift. Earlier decks often showed suit symbols stacked in patterns. Pamela gave us people doing things. Work. Rest. Celebration. Loss. Travel. She turned numbers into stories.

With pictures on every card, beginners could read with less memorising. A figure holding tight to coins says more than a plain row of coins. A person looking out to sea with wands in hand hints at plans and choices. Pamela’s art carries the mood, the posture, the weather, and that gives readers a place to start. Her name fell into the margins for a long time. Publishers put Rider first because of the company, and Waite next because he wrote the guide. Yet the mood and motion you feel in those cards is hers.

Tarot grew out of play, picture-making, and curiosity. People designed it. People changed it. That is good news for your readings. A deck is a set of images arranged in a known order. When you draw a card, your mind meets a scene. You notice colour, faces, the weather in the picture, and you project a bit of your own story. That is where insight enters. Not from a hidden power source. From the way symbols wake up your thinking and feeling.

I have read for more than two decades. The best readings meet a person where they stand. A restaurant owner in Manchester once asked me about expanding to a second site. The Three of Wands showed up with the Two of Pentacles. We talked about timing and cash flow. He waited six months, hired a part-time manager first, then opened in a quieter neighbourhood. He wrote to say the slower start saved his sleep and his marriage. Tarot does that. It helps you picture the move before you make it.

If you like this kind of practical thread, I have a plain guide on how reversals can behave in real life, with examples you can test with any deck you own. It is here: Exploring the Power of Reversed Tarot Cards.

A few stories come up again and again. People say tarot came from lost Egyptian books. The museum record does not support that. The oldest decks we can hold and date are from Italy. People say the Romani community invented tarot. Card reading is part of many folk traditions, and the Romani kept and shared rich methods. The deck structure we call tarot took shape in Italian courts.

I meet clients who fear a Death card means a literal death. In the game, the Death trump just beat other cards. In readings, it points to endings, pruning, and the compost that feeds new growth. It can mean the end of a habit. The close of a role. When you read with history in mind, the scare factor slides away and the card becomes easier to use. If you want a soft place to start with basics, I wrote Intro to Tarot Reading: A Simple Guide for Newbies.

Before Rider Waite Smith, the Tarot de Marseille style spread in France and beyond. Those decks kept the number cards simple, with suit symbols arranged in patterns, and named trumps in French. Many modern readers still love that clear, woodcut look. After 1909, picture-rich minors became common. That made reading more accessible for people who think in stories.

Publishers later printed themed decks. Cats. Herbs. Cosmology. Tech. Some treat the structure with care, keeping the core imagery while adding flavour. Others change suit names and reorder trumps. Both can be fun to play with. If you know the original bones, you can move between decks with ease and keep your footing.

Pamela was a mixed heritage artist, born in London, raised partly in Jamaica, and later a New Yorker for a time. She worked in theatre as a set and costume designer. She listened for rhythm and drew scenes that moved. When you look at the Two of Swords and feel the quiet, or the Nine of Swords and feel the 3 a.m. mind chatter, that is Pamela’s gift.

Publishers pushed her name to the back for decades. Readers and writers have brought it forward. You and I can do the same by saying her name, learning her story, and supporting editions that credit her. It costs nothing and it turns the light the right way.

Knowing tarot began as play takes the pressure down. You do not need a special state. You need a clear question and a deck you like. The structure is there to help you think. Trumps show big themes. Suits cover areas of life. Wands for work and spark. Cups for feeling and bonds. Swords for thought and talk. Pentacles for body, money, and craft. Court cards show styles of people or parts of you. No need to memorise a phonebook of meanings. Look. Speak. Test.

A client of mine in Lisbon, a software tester, came with a choice. Stay at a big firm or take a startup role. The Eight of Pentacles, the Lovers, and the Six of Swords showed up. We saw craft, choice, and a move. She took the startup, asked for a training budget upfront, and kept a small contract with the old team for two days a month. That mix matched the cards. Pay rose within a year. Her weekends opened up.

I wrote a longer piece for when you want to push further and try layered methods, like linking cards by numbers or themes. You can read it here: Unlocking the Tarot's Full Potential: A Guide to Advanced Reading.

A nurse in Leeds was torn about night shifts. The Ten of Wands sat next to the Four of Swords. We spoke about load and rest. She asked for two weekends off in a row and swapped one shift for a training day. Burnout eased within two months and she kept her role.

A copywriter in Bristol wondered if a long-distance relationship had a future. The Two of Cups came inverted, and the Eight of Wands pointed to travel plans that kept slipping. We set a three-month test with set call times and one visit booked ahead. They split later with care and kept a friendship. The cards helped them treat time as data.

A barista in Dublin wanted to apply to art school. The Star and the Page of Pentacles showed. We broke it into steps. Portfolio by March. Two open days. One mentoring session. He got in. He emailed me a photo of his student pass and a sketch of the Star taped above his desk.

If you have a deck, great. If not, search for Rider Waite Smith images online. Pick one card that matches your mood today. Spend five minutes describing it on paper. Colours. Weather. Faces. Objects. Then write one sentence that starts with Because of this, I will, and finish it with a small action.

Now do a one-card draw for a question with a seven day span. What can I focus on at work this week. Pull a card. Describe. Decide on one move. At the end of the week, write two lines about what happened. That review step is where your skill grows. If you want a short piece on intuition and how to hear it without forcing it, have a look here: Following Your Psychic Spark: The Role of Intuition in Tarot.

Tarot is great at surfacing patterns, stress points, and chances you have not considered yet. It is clear on short time frames and concrete choices. It is weaker on long-range forecasts with many moving parts. When I read on money, I ask for a time frame and a focus, like cash flow this quarter or pricing this offer. That lets the cards speak to levers you can pull. If that topic is on your mind, this piece might help: Money Tarot Readings - Yes, they work. And this is how!.

When a reading touches health, law, or mental health, I point people to a licensed pro. Cards can point to stress, rest, and support. They cannot replace medical care or legal advice. Use tarot as a thinking partner that helps you act with more care.

If you are buying your first deck, pick one with clear scenes on all cards. Rider Waite Smith or a close cousin serves you well because so many books and guides match it. If a Marseille style deck draws you, go for it and lean on number and suit patterns while you learn. Hold the cards in your hand if you can. If the pictures pull words out of your mouth with ease, that deck fits.

Use a simple spread while you learn. Three cards. Keep your questions sharp. Add a fourth card only when the three-card habit feels smooth. I have a short page on how a written reading works if you are curious about my process.

They began as an Italian card game with beautiful trumps that mirrored public life and church themes. French writers and readers added an occult layer in the 18th century and taught spreads and meanings. In 1909, Pamela Colman Smith’s art turned the whole deck into scenes that any person could enter with a glance. That is the deck family most of us read today.

If you want to see how a small spread can clear fog around one choice, book a 3-Card Tarot Reading ($79). If you prefer to browse other options, my menu is here: all of Kate's readings.