The exact origin of the tarot is unknown, but it is thought that they originated from somewhere around India and were brought to Europe with the Gypsies. The earliest deck seems to have appeared in the fourteenth century.

Each suit has ten numbered cards, Ace through Ten, plus four court cards. The court cards generally go by the following description:

In addition to these 56 minors there are 22 cards called the majors. The cards are numbered from 0 (Fool) to 21 (World) as follows:

Here is a series of steps for interpreting those Tarot cards that have scenes or pictures on them. Use as many steps as you want and in any order (to create your own personal style), although we recommend beginning with the first four steps.

Draw at least one card a day, and go through several of the steps below, writing down your insights in a notebook. The next day make notes about what actually happened. For important dates continue adding comments as your insights develop over the years.

Step 1 Say the name of the card aloud.

Step 2 What number is on the card? What does this number signify (in one to three words)? As a Tarot student, lay out all the cards grouped by number. Make lists from books of what each number means and select one to three words that best apply to all cards of that number.

Step 3 What suit is the card? Name several characteristics of the suit.

Step 4 Put item two and three together in a short sentence or question.

Step 5 Simply describe the card as if the other person could not see it. Repeat your description in the first person, present tense. If reading for another you can ask them to do this, or turn your descriptions into questions.

Step 6 Describe what seem to be the emotions and feelings of the figures on the card and the mood and atmosphere of the environment. Repeat this description in the first person, present tense.

Step 7 Make up a spontaneous story or fairy tale about what is happening in the card.

Step 8 Notice any impressions, ideas, or thoughts that come up while doing the above. Ask yourself how these are relevant, then let them go. Don't become emotionally attached to any of your ideas or opinions as being right. These may be psychic insights, metaphors for a deeper meaning, or your own stuff. If reading for another don't make judgments about whether something is good or bad.

Step 9 Do any expressions, sayings or cliches come to mind as you look at the image on the card? Proverbs can be especially insightful. How do these relate to the situation?

Step 10 What are traditional interpretations of the card? Eventually you want to be able to draw on an great field of possibilities. Subsequent cards and the situation will start emphasizing particular segments of that field, thus narrowing down the possibilities.

Step 11 Imagine the entire range of card meanings as stretching from most problematic to most beneficial. Give an example from each extreme. See this range of meanings as on a dial or continuum. Move your hand along the continuum until finding where you are now. Next determine where you want to be along the continuum. Is there another card in the spread that supports that?

Step 12 If applicable, is this card modified by any other cards in the spread or by being reversed? Note repetitions of suit, number, color, shape, figures, detail, theme, etc. among all the cards.

Step 13 Imagine that you are one of the figures on the card by physically acting out the scene depicted on the card. Take your time and really feel yourself in the situation. What are you doing? How does it feel? What do you want or need? Why are you there? Examine, handle and use objects found in the card.

Step 14 Close your eyes. Imagine the card becoming life-sized. Enter into the card. Look around you. What do you see? Answer questions such as those in Step 13. Speak as the figure.

Step 15 Comment on any beliefs, attitudes, or judgements you think are suggested by the card. Are these appropriate and helpful? If not, how can they be modified or changed? A reader should never  make judgments about the situation. However you can may need to acknowledge an apparent situation.

Step 16 What does the card have to teach you? If in doubt, ask these figures. Speak the first response that comes to mind. Again, a person should only do this for themselves.

Step 17 How do all of the above relate to your life right now?

Step 18 What are the qualities that you see in the card that you would most like to develop in yourself? Name those qualities. Turn them into a statement affirming that you already have and are using those qualities in your life right now.

The purpose of the cards is to establish the when and why of some important events that took or will take place in the life of a person. In that matter, the meaning of the cards is very important.

Here's a general meaning of each cards:

Fool is the person whose moral code is being changed. The image on the card shows the fool carrying a satchel, which contains the treasure of true happiness, though apparently the fool isn't aware of this.

Magician represents powers unleashed by the new moral code, resulting from tapping the energy of the underlying desires.

High Priestess represents the serenity generated by the new moral code, along with the sense of having an intuitive grasp as to the right and wise course of action to take in life.

Empress represents the idea that experiencing pleasure or pain allows us to construct a better moral code. Imagining that we will enjoy something isn't enough. We must experience pleasure in reality to know for sure whether it is right for us or not.

Emperor represents the idea that taking an active role in life allows us to construct a better moral code. Merely thinking about what we should do isn't sufficient. We must test our ideas by putting them into practice and seeing what works and what doesn't.

Hierophant represents the idea that helping and teaching other people allows us to construct a better moral code. Solitary thinking is often confused and irrational. In order to explain our ideas to someone else, we are forced to make our thinking clear and logical.

Lovers represents a union between all components of the mind such that the reasoning mind and moral code work together to satisfy the underlying desires to the maximum extent possible, thereby producing maximum happiness and minimum pain.

Chariot represents the power of control of the mind, symbolized by a team of horses or sphinxes in harness. Controlling the mind means not allowing it to be excessively disturbed by emotions such as anger, greed, fear, worry, jealousy, etc.

Strength represents the power of control over the body, symbolized by a tamed lion. It is the body and its pleasures which are the true source of pleasure and zest in life.

Hermit represents the ability to accept guidance from others. In the image on the card, the hermit is holding a lamp which casts a light who represents the wisdom available from others.

Wheel of fortune represents the power to accept fate. If some people are born physically deformed while others are born healthy, then we must just accept this as the way things are.

Justice represents the power of correct judgement and common sense and healthy skepticism.

Hanged man represents the ability to see that every experience of suffering has something to teach us, and that, to a great extent, we are the cause of our own troubles in life.

Death represents the final destruction of the old moral code, allowing for the creation of a new moral code.

Temperance represents an attempt to rational analyze the existing moral code. This card is related to the alchemical process of purifying a substance through a series of dissolving and combining operations.

Devil represents confrontation with socially disapproved underlying desires. Very often, a moral code that is causing problems for a person is one which has not properly taken into account these socially disapproved desires.

Tower represents a violent rebellion against the old moral code--it is as if we were breaking open the walls of a mental prison. A little discussed esoteric meaning of this card is that it represents the rite of circumcision.

Star represents the moral code, or spirit. The figure is standing on both earth and water. This represents the idea that the optimal moral code results from relying on a blend of emotions and sensation to guide us in the process of change.

Moon represents the underlying desires, or soul. Underlying desires are often hidden, which is why they are associated with the moon, which is associated with the night and darkness.

Sun represents the reasoning mind. The reasoning mind includes the ego, which distinguishes and thus imposes a barrier between the self and the not-self. This barrier is symbolized by the wall in the image on the card.

Judgement represents dissatisfaction and desire to change. Once dissatisfaction is admitted, the next step is to take stock of the existing situation in the mind.

World represents renewed satisfaction with life. So, we return to the starting point, with the cycle repeating each time the moral code becomes obsolete.

Queens, Kings and Knights represent the cardinal, fixed and mutable astrological signs of the element corresponding to the card's suit.

Numbered cards show how the various aspects of the conscious mind behave in the face of a need for spiritual change.

Aces show the aspect itself. it can be interpreted as a power or opportunity being handed to us, with the exact type of power or opportunity corresponding to the suit of the card.