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Tarot, as we know it now, was invented sometime in the middle 15th century
in Italy. It closely mirrored the playing cards of the day. Some believe that
people had started using playing cards for divination purposes and the tarot
were just a refined version of these cards. These basics playing cards had
four suits of ten cards each. These cards were brought to Europe from the
Islamic world. It is thought that tarot originated when gypsies and
astrologers started using ordinary playing cards to tell fortunes.
During the 15th century, special cards were added to the playing cards.
Later, these became known as the major arcana cards, then called the
trumps or triumphs. The major arcana cards consist of 22 cards with titles
rather than numbers and suit. Each one has a strong symbolic meaning and
are considered to be the 'leaders' of the tarot deck. The remaining 56 cards
are refered to as the minor arcana cards. usually these cards are split into
four suits: cups, staves, swords and coins. Though there are many variations
on this.