Tarot

The tarot (also known as tarocchi, tarock or similar names) is typically a set of seventy-eight cards, composed of twenty-one trump cards and one Fool (called the Major Arcana), and four suits of fourteen cards, ten pip and four face cards (called the Minor Arcana).

The terms Major Arcana and Minor Arcana are used in occult tarot and are seldom used by card players. The divinatory meanings of the cards has been lost through time, but they have been linked recently to the Kabbalah of Jewish mysticism. Although arcana is the plural form of the Latin word arcanum, meaning 'closed' or 'secret'.

Each card has a variety of symbolic meanings that have evolved over the years. Custom or themed tarot decks exist which have even more specific symbolism. The minor arcana cards have astrological attributions that can be used as general indicators of timing in the year, based on the Octavian calendar, and the court cards may signify different people in a tarot reading, with each suits nature providing hints about that persons physical and emotional characteristics. The four suits can be associated with the four elements, Swords with air, Wands with fire, Cups with water and Pentacles with earth.