The history of the tarot is something much disputed with varying stories about how it came into being, including it dating back to ancient Egyptian times, with tarot meaning royal path (ta-roh).

This either adds to the mystery or detracts from its authenticity depending on your viewpoint.

Here at innermoo, we strongly believe that there is no need for ancient providence in order to give it credence. Much of our scientific understanding has only been uncovered in the last couple of centuries and yet it forms the underlying basis of our society.

However, rather than enter into a philosophical and scientific debate, here is a timeline of what is known about the history of tarot:

In c1377 the first playing cards are introduced in Europe . This is followed by the earliest known confirmed tarot pack being commissioned in the mid 1400s in Italy , known now as the Visconti-Sforza, pack one of several known to be commissioned in the fifteenth century. It is likely that these packs were commissioned for game playing, specifically for an Italian game known as tarocchi. The evolution into a divinatory tool is not unexpected given that symbols have been used for divination pre-dating playing cards, and with the development of playing cards, cartomancy was part and parcel of their use.

We can date the uses of symbols as a method of communication to pre-history, and as history progresses symbols are evident consistently as is their use to predict life journeys and understand the complex and confusing.

In modern society we rely on symbols as warning signs, communication signs and as history has shown, as ways to help us understand the things we cannot.

This is where the tarot has continued to develop, from an extension to cartomancy, tarot decks today are brimming with symbolism all of which has evolved from our earliest understanding of symbols to help us gain insight into the seemingly unanswerable questions in life.