TAROT CARD DECK, CENTENNIAL EDITION

DID YOU KNOW: 

Tarot fortune-telling readings generally take into account not only the individual divinatory meaning of a card but also the proximity between two or more cards and whether the card is upright or reversed (which weakens, delays and even reverses the meaning). The brief descriptive title on each of the 22 Major Arcana cards serves as a catalyst toward a broader and deeper meaning, which the diviner seeks to express.

The 56 Lesser Arcana cards contain four suits including the usual court cards; King, Queen, Jack (Valet, Page) plus a fourth card, the Cavalier (Knight, Knave), which is placed between the Queen and the Jack. The suits are generally Swords (Spades), Batons or Wands (Clubs), Cups (Hearts), and Coins or Pentacles (Diamonds). Suit origins are believed to represent the four estates of life during medieval times: nobility or persons who held their rank by military service were symbolized by swords; peasants or working-class people by clubs; clergymen and statesmen by cups; and tradesmen and the industrial class by coins.

Today’s ordinary decks of playing cards seemingly descend from the medieval Tarot decks.  

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