What is commonly called the Tarot is a deck of playing cards that are used for fortune telling in the form of what said practitioners call tarotology or cartomancy…they aren’t your father’s playing cards, unless of course your father had Tarot cards...the history of the cards can be traced back by some writers of the occult to the days of pyramids, Cleopatra, and freshly minted mummies...all the way back to ancient Egypt, maybe even to the legendary Book of Thoth...but in reality, there’s no proven evidence of such origins or of the usage of tarot for divination before the 18th century… that’s when a man called Etteilla, a.k.a. Jean-Baptiste Alliette was the first to issue a tarot deck that was specifically designed for occult purposes and introduced it to the masses who couldn’t get enough of this exoticness…his tarot contained themes that were related to ancient Egypt even though as stated, there was no documented connection...those who practice Tarot reading will bring a person into a room...usually dark and mysterious looking to set the proper ‘mood’...they will sit down and the Tarot reader looking every inch the part of an all seeing mystic will begin the process...he or she will slowly and carefully lay out the cards and then give the subject a long deep look, and then render their interpretation in carefully measured tones...sometimes favorable, other times not...can somebody’s future really be told through these Tarot cards?...well, that depends of how much you believe in the art...and remember that the reading of such cards may not be what you want to hear, so prepare yourself for the up and the down and the lowdown...only time will tell if the Tarot is correct…some tarot cards aren’t used to foretell the future...but for our paranormal loving purposes, we look at the tarot cards used for ‘occult’ reasons and ponder whether they might have the answers to our future...there are many psychic ‘shops’ that will do tarot readings for you, but find an authentic Tarot specialist for the best results...one thing’s for sure, when the cards are laid on the table, you don’t want to see the card of death, the ten of swords, five of pentacles, three of swords, the Tower, or the devil...those are bad news...death, betrayal, financial disaster among other badness.
