This is a very complex question -- whose answer is often controversial. I will keep this answer brief, simple and factually correct, but I invite those who are interested in more information on the history of the Tarot to research it either in libraries or online yourself.

The origins of the Tarot are obscure, controversial, and sometimes hotly debated by those to whom this point matters. Answers as to where the cards originated sometimes include even Ancient Egypt and China. Some say the Tarot came to Europe with the Crusaders, Nomads, or Gypsies.

The origins of Tarot date back into the 1400's where it first appeared as a book containing pictorial concepts of major symbols common to the religious and spiritual teachings of many different cultures. The Tarot further described various personality types and recognizable life experiences encountered in the process of personal growth and evolution.

In time the pages of this book were disassembled into what became the 78 cards of the Tarot deck. In this form, they could be shuffled, rearranged, randomly accessed and otherwise manipulated -- at which point, it seems, an understanding emerged -- somehow to someone --that certain patterns of distributing cards in response to questions, dilemmas or requests for "hidden" or unknown information ... would often result in an uncannily intelligent description of how certain future events were likely to unfold. Thus the Tarot gained its present popular reputation for being a predictive tool, a forecasting prop, and / or a fortune-telling device. The Tarot certainly has general applications as such a possible source of knowledge and information. But in truth, the Tarot is a symbolic representation of the process of human life -- as each of us in time experiences it.

There is evidence that the Tarot may have once been used as a game, or even as a gambling device, at some points in its history, but there is no doubt that it has been used for centuries now as a tool that aids intuitives and psychics to probe the deeper secrets of life, personality, themselves, and the future. The Tarot does have an uncanny ability to clarify one's present circumstances ... and yes, indeed, it appears able to give advice and predictions about what may be unfolding in the yet unseen future.

The potency of the Tarot as a means of facilitating these aims, clarifying one's surrounding conditions and present circumstances, and describing a probable outcome of unfolding events makes it still one of the best tools for psychic development, self-understanding, and spiritual education available today.

Although contemporary artists have fashioned a kaleidoscope of options when it comes to selecting a Tarot deck, including some highly non-traditional options, the time-honored structure of the Tarot remains largely constant in most commercially available Tarot decks.

Although you can see in the structure of the Tarot the outlines of the more familiar playing card decks which probably derived from the Tarot and became almost exclusively applied to gaming, there are important and striking differences between "regular cards" and the Tarot.

This article is a chapter in our free Tarot EBook, "Tell Me About the Tarot" available on our website.

About the Author

Rebecca Brents writes on astrology, tarot, feng shui, and self-improvement at Enchanted Spirit: http://www.enchantedspirit.org/, and offers online lectures and classes. Get our free Tarot EBook, Tell Me About the Tarot.