By Sarah Smithon Tuesday, 8 Aug 2006 The reading of Tarot cards has long been a way for fortune-tellers to get in touch with "the other side" and predict the future.
More than any other medium for reaching out into the unknown, the Tarot deck is packed with mystical import and historical significance.
Although the earliest reliable records trace it back only as far as 15th century Italy, many believe that the Tarot is far older, with its origins in ancient Egypt or the Kabbalah form of Jewish mysticism.
The 78 cards in the Tarot deck comprise 22 trump cards, which psychologist Carl Jung believed to have archetypal significance that would be recognised by any person's subconscious.
These are: The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, The Judgement and The World.
Each of these has its own divinatory meanings attached, so that The Magician represents creative action, good communication skills or confusion and The Hanged Man represents devotion to a good cause or lack of commitment.
An early practitioner of Tarot card reading was the French occultist Etteilla, who designed the first esoteric Tarot deck.
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