the.com/tarot
a deck of 78 cards that lets you gossip about your future with a straight face.
means a card-based system of symbolic archetypes used for divination, storytelling, and psychological self-reflection.
from born in 15th-century italy as tarocchi, a card game for aristocrats; only in 18th-century france did occultists like etteilla decide the cards were secretly ancient egyptian magic, and the mystical reputation stuck.
original useplaying a trick-taking card game, not fortune telling
deck structure78 cards: 22 major arcana, 56 minor
death cardalmost never literally means death
pop revival1909 rider-waite deck standardized modern imagery