Tarot: The Cards That Began as a Game and Ended Up Trying to Explain Fate

There is something curious about human beings: we can build telescopes capable of observing galaxies billions of light-years away, develop artificial intelligence, and send robots to Mars — yet when it comes to our own future, we still have an almost irresistible urge to ask:

“What is going to happen to me?”

It is in that small space between curiosity, anxiety, and the unknown that Tarot found its territory.

Today, Tarot is associated with predictions, spirituality, self-knowledge, occultism, and divination. Some people consult the cards to ask about love, money, work, or important decisions. Others simply enjoy the imagery, symbolism, and mysterious atmosphere.

But there is a rather interesting historical irony:

Tarot was not created to predict anything.

At least, not in the beginning.

Before the Magic, There Was a Game

The earliest historical evidence of Tarot appears in Italy during the 15th century, particularly in the northern part of the country. The oldest known references are concentrated around cities such as Milan, Venice, Florence, and Urbino during the Renaissance. (metmuseum.org)

The earliest known decks were luxury objects, often produced for aristocratic families. The famous Visconti-Sforza decks, for example, belong to this Renaissance tradition.

At the time, the cards were used for games. The deck contained four suits — Cups, Swords, Wands, and Coins — along with special cards known as trionfi, or triumphs, which would eventually become what we now call the Major Arcana. (metmuseum.org)

In other words, if you had been sitting at an Italian table in the 15th century, you would probably have been far more concerned about winning the game than discovering whether your ex was coming back.

Apparently, destiny had to wait a few centuries before becoming entertainment.

When the Game Acquired a Mysterious Past

The transformation of Tarot into a tool for divination happened much later.

It was mainly during the 18th century, in France, that interpretations began associating the cards with ancient and hidden knowledge. The occultist and writer Antoine Court de Gébelin was one of the important figures in this transformation.

After examining the Tarot images, Court de Gébelin believed he had discovered remnants of an ancient Egyptian wisdom within them, even connecting them to the legendary “Book of Thoth.”

The problem?

There is no solid historical evidence that Tarot originated in ancient Egypt.

The idea became extremely influential within occult traditions, but it is considered a later interpretation rather than a conclusion supported by the available historical evidence. (themorgan.org)

And here lies one of Tarot's great historical ironies: one of the things that contributed most to its aura of mystery probably emerged when someone looked at a Renaissance card deck and decided that it seemed far too ancient to be merely a game.

Fair enough.

That is certainly one way to start a theory.

The 78 Characters of the Mystery

A modern Tarot deck normally contains 78 cards.

They are divided into:

22 Major Arcana

and

56 Minor Arcana.

The Major Arcana are probably the most recognizable cards: The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Justice, The Hermit, The Wheel of Fortune, Death, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgment, The World, and others.

The presence of figures such as Death, The Devil, The Tower, The Moon, and Judgment helps explain why the deck looks as if it was designed by someone determined to make sure nobody slept peacefully after a reading.

But the symbols serve a much more interesting purpose.

They tell stories.

The Death card, for example, does not necessarily have to be interpreted literally as physical death. Within many modern Tarot traditions, it represents transformation, endings, and transitions into a new stage.

The Tower may represent disruption.

The Fool may symbolize beginnings, freedom, or risk.

The Hermit may suggest introspection.

The Sun can represent clarity, vitality, and success.

Interpretation depends on the system being used, the card's position, the question being asked, and its relationship with the other cards.

That flexibility is precisely what makes Tarot fascinating — and also makes it remarkably easy to interpret in completely different ways.

So, Does Tarot Really Predict the Future?

Here we need to separate two things.

Spiritual belief and scientific evidence.

For some people, the cards function as instruments of intuition or divination. The experience can be deeply meaningful and even transformative.

But that does not mean there is scientific evidence establishing that Tarot cards possess a supernatural ability to predict future events.

It is entirely possible to use Tarot as a symbolic tool without claiming that it possesses supernatural powers.

And perhaps that is where the subject becomes even more interesting.

Because the real power of a card may not be in revealing something you do not know.

It may be in making you think about something you already know — but have been avoiding.

The Strange Power of an Image

Imagine that you are facing a difficult decision.

You draw a card.

The Tower appears.

You look at that image of destruction and think:

“That doesn't look good.”

But then you begin to reflect.

Why did that card bother you?

Are you afraid of losing something?

Is there an unstable situation in your life?

Do you already know that you need to make a decision but keep postponing it?

The card may not have revealed some secret piece of information.

Perhaps it simply provoked a question.

And questions can sometimes be far more useful than ready-made answers.

That is why some people use Tarot as a form of personal reflection. The randomness of the cards creates an external stimulus that can help a person organize thoughts, emotions, and possibilities.

It is almost like having a conversation with someone who answers using mysterious drawings.

A therapist would probably choose words.

Tarot chooses a burning Tower.

Every profession has its methods.

The Brain Is Part of the Reading Too

There is also an important psychological aspect.

Human beings are remarkably good at finding patterns, connections, and meaning. That ability was extremely useful for our survival.

The problem is that our brains can also find meaning where there is nothing more than coincidence.

A phenomenon known as the Barnum Effect, or Forer Effect, helps explain why broad descriptions can feel extremely personal. When a statement seems to have been written specifically for us, we tend to perceive it as more accurate, even when it could apply to many other people. (health.clevelandclinic.org)

Something similar can happen with divination readings.

Imagine someone saying:

“You have been through a difficult period, but you are entering a time of transformation.”

It is difficult to find a human being who cannot somehow fit that statement into their own life.

It is almost like saying:

“You are someone who sometimes enjoys being alone, but also appreciates company.”

Congratulations.

We have just described humanity.

But that does not mean every experience with Tarot is false or useless. It simply means we should be careful about confusing psychological resonance with evidence of supernatural ability.

Can Tarot Influence People's Decisions?

It certainly can. And this is where the issue becomes much more important.

Someone may consult the cards about a relationship and, depending on the interpretation, decide to end it.

They may ask about work and interpret a particular card as a sign to accept an opportunity.

They may consult the cards about money and make a financial decision based on the reading.

At that point, Tarot is no longer merely a cultural object.

It is influencing behavior.

And that can be positive or negative.

If someone uses the cards to reflect on their options, question their own feelings, and consider different perspectives, the process can function as a kind of narrative tool.

But if someone completely hands over their decision-making ability to the cards, the situation changes.

The question stops being:

“What does this card make me think about?”

and becomes:

“What did the card tell me to do?”

That difference is enormous.

No card should be responsible for your life.

Especially because, let's be honest, you probably would not want to discover that a decision involving your marriage, your company, or your money was made because a piece of paper illustrated by a Renaissance artist appeared to be in a bad mood.

Rider-Waite-Smith: The Deck That Changed Everything

Among modern Tarot decks, few have had an impact as significant as the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot.

Created through the collaboration between occultist Arthur Edward Waite and artist Pamela Colman Smith, the deck was published in the early 20th century.

Its importance was enormous because the Minor Arcana also received more elaborate figurative imagery, making symbolic interpretation easier.

The result helped establish a visual language that would influence countless decks that followed.

To this day, millions of people immediately recognize figures derived from this tradition.

And this demonstrates something fascinating about Tarot:

its symbols survived because they can be reinterpreted.

Artists, occultists, writers, and creators continue producing new versions.

There are Tarot decks inspired by mythology, animals, science fiction, popular culture, psychology, art, nature, and practically anything that can fit into 78 cards.

Why Are We Still Fascinated?

Perhaps because Tarot speaks about things that have never stopped bothering us.

Love.

Fear.

Death.

Desire.

Loss.

Change.

Hope.

Power.

Loneliness.

Fate.

It does not matter whether you believe the cards possess supernatural powers or consider everything a symbolic construction.

These themes still exist.

And perhaps that is exactly why Tarot has survived for roughly six centuries without disappearing.

It began as a game.

Then it became a divination tool.

It was incorporated into occult traditions.

It influenced artists.

It entered popular culture.

It reached social media.

And now it has also found a place in digital tools and artificial intelligence, where people experiment with automated readings and new forms of symbolic interpretation. Recent research has even begun examining this phenomenon academically. (arxiv.org)

Not bad for a deck that originally just wanted to help someone win a game.

The Real Mystery

Perhaps the most interesting question is not:

“Does Tarot predict the future?”

But:

“Why do we want so badly to know the future?”

We want to know whether the relationship will work.

Whether the money will arrive.

Whether that person is thinking about us.

Whether we should accept that opportunity.

Whether something terrible is about to happen.

The future is a territory we cannot see.

And human beings hate not being able to see.

We created myths, religions, astrology, oracles, prophecies, statistics, mathematical models, and, more recently, artificial intelligence.

We changed the tools.

The question remains almost exactly the same.

“What comes next?”

Perhaps Tarot never truly managed to answer that question.

But it discovered something much more interesting:

sometimes, to try to understand the future, we first need to look carefully at what we are doing in the present.

And perhaps that is the Magician's real trick.

Not convincing you that the cards know your destiny.

But making you realize that, on some level, destiny is also shaped by the choices you have not yet decided to make.

In the end, the cards may not know what will happen tomorrow.

But they can make you think quite a lot about what you intend to do when tomorrow arrives.

And, ironically, that may be a much more useful kind of magic.