Tarokka
Overview
The Tarokka is a deck of 78 or so cards that is commonly used in divination and fortunetelling, and is the origin of the common deck of playing cards. There are two categories of cards in the Tarokka. The Arcanes Majeures (Arcana Major) are known as "trump cards", and consist of 22 numbered cards without suits:
Les Arcanes Majeures
- Le Mat (The Fool) - Indicates the beginning of a journey
- Le Bateleur (The Magician) - Initiation, a teacher
- L'Haute Prêtresse (The High Priestess) - Hidden mysteries or secrets
- L'Impératrice (The Empress) - Pregnancy, fertility, a mother figure
- L'Empereur (The Emperor) - Authority, paternal issues, a father figure
- Le Hierophant (The Hierophant) - Tradition, moral values, conformity
- L'Amoureux (The Lovers) - Romance, marriage, a need to make choices
- Le Chariot (The Chariot) - Conquest, victory in battles
- La Justice (Justice) - Indicates a need for objectivity, logic, impartiality; legal issues
- L'Hermite (The Hermit) - Solitude and introspection
- La Roue de Fortune (The Wheel of Fortune) - Fate, destiny; may indicate higher forces at work
- La Force (Strength) - Stability, self-sufficiency
- Le Pendu (The Hanged Man) - Sacrifice for knowledge or the greater good
- L'Arcane sans nom/Le Morte (The Unnamed Arcana or Death) - Major changes, the end of one stage and the beginning of another (sometimes but not necessarily literal death)
- Tempérance (Temperance) - Balance
- Le Diable (The Devil) - Hedonism, lack of self-control
- La Maison des Dieux (The House of the Gods) - Disaster, chaos
- L'Étoile (The Star) - Hope, optimism
- La Lune (The Moon) - Confusion, illusions
- Le Soleil (The Sun) - Clarity, healing, enlightenment
- Le Jugement (Judgement) - Rebirth, salvation, new beginnings
- Le Monde (The World) - Completeness, fulfillment
Les Arcanes Mineures
The Arcanes Mineures (Minor Arcana) consists of four suits: Bâtons (Rods/Staves), Epées (Swords), Coupes (Cups) and Deniers (Coins). It is the Arcanes Mineures that are the ancestor of modern playing cards. Like playing cards, each suit has numbered cards from the Ace to 10, and four court cards (Les Honneurs). In the Arcanes Mineures, the court cards are, in order from lowest number to highest, Le Valet (the Page or Knave), Le Chevalier (the Knight), La Reine (The Queen) and Le Roi (The King).
History
The Tarokka's origins have been under hot dispute by esoteric scholars for years. Some say it was created by Elven sorcerers and stolen by humans (the most popular theory among Elven scholars), some say it was a prank pulled by gypsies. One theory even involves the Nu. The only indisputable fact is that the oldest surviving Tarokka deck was made for the wealthy Gabbiani family of Jidoor, in Esper Dimension, by the famed Vectoran artist, Marie du Renaird. Its popularity spread among the idle rich of the city, and many copies of the Gabbiani Tarokka were duplicated and distributed, leading to numerous variations by celebrated artists. Eventually, the Tarokka came into the hands of the common folk, and spread throughout the dimension and the Web.
