Originally written for Spells8 - https://forum.spells8.com/t/its-in-the-cards-tarot-and-oracle/20678
In our occult community, there are so many different methods of divination. Cards, dice, pendulums, water, crystals, birds, clouds. You name it and there is probably a method of divination you can do with it. I mean there have been times where I have seen images in the bubbles from my coffee creamer. Today though, I want to discuss the different types of cards that we may see used in divination among magical practitioners.
When we think of fortune-telling, we often imagine someone sitting across from us shuffling an ancient-looking deck of cards. In fact, I think tarot is the most widely used method of divination in the Western occult world. I could be wrong about that and I don’t have statistics, just my own perception, so don’t quote me on that. However, tarot decks are not the only types of cards we can use to divine or seek insight into ourselves. I want to go over the difference between tarot cards, oracle decks, Lenormand decks, and the Thoth deck.
Tarot cards were originally used for specific card games. These include games such as the Italian tarocchini, the French tarot, and the Austrian Königrufen (1). Some of these games are still played today, though you would be hard-pressed to find them in the United States. The tarot decks we know today were invented in Italy in the 1400s (2) by adding an additional suit to the four-suited deck. This suit, originally called the trionfi (triumphs) and an odd card called il matto (the fool), are what we now know as the Major Arcana.
The first-ever tarot deck designed specifically for use in divination was created in 1971 by a French occultist named Jean-Baptiste Alliette, also known by Etteilla. (3) This was after someone else had made the (wildly historically inaccurate) claim that tarot actually has roots in ancient Egyptian wisdom. So from there, we can thank this French occultist for creating the tool many of us use today. You can see some of the images from his deck by clicking here.
However, his deck is not the one we are all familiar with. In 1909, an occultist named Arther Edward Waite, better known as AE Waite, released a deck of cards that were illustrated by Pamela Coleman-Smith. Both Waite and Coleman-Smith were members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret society devoted to studying occult, metaphysics, and the paranormal in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Your traditional tarot deck is made up of 78 total cards. This includes four suits, the trump cards, and the fool. The suits vary widely depending on the deck used. However, they are usually some variation of cups, pentacles, wands, and swords. This is the deck that most modern tarot decks take inspiration from. If you have gotten a reading from my in the Freebie Friday posts, I’m sure you’ve seen me use Hanson Roberts Tarot deck. This deck is heavily influenced by the original artwork of Pamela Coleman-Smith.
But what makes tarot, tarot? The structure, of course. Tarot has a very specific set of rules and amount of cards. Each card is read in a specific way with specific symbolism. This allows for ease of use no matter what tarot deck you use. Each deck will generally have a Major and Minor Arcana. Some decks have added cards, too. For example, the Crystal Visions tarot includes a card for The Unknown.
You would be hard pressed to find a tarot deck that does not follow the standard 78-card system and symbolism. However, they do exist!
Unlike tarot, the Lenormand deck was named after a French woman named Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand in the late 1700s. According to Labrynthos, the cards came into being in the late 18th century and the oldest surviving deck dates back to around 1799. This deck is currently kept in the British Museum in London. It appears that Lenormand cards are modeled after another card game called The Game of Hope, but just like tarot, it evolved into a divination method.
