Tarot Cards Through Time: A Symbolic Journey

From Palazzos to Arcana: The Noble Origins of Tarot

The Fool (tarot card), in the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck

Once upon a time, in the halls of Italian palazzos of the fifteenth century, cards appeared that changed cultural history: brightly colored and decorated with gold, they lay on massive tables and attracted the attention of aristocrats and their guests. 

No one has yet called these cards magic, but even then, they captured the imagination. What started as an entertainment for the elite has gone through the epochs of mysticism, religious prohibitions, and psychological discoveries to become what it is today—a tool that simultaneously belongs to culture, art, and personal development.

This is how the centuries-old history of the Tarot, a system of symbols that has evolved from a game for the aristocracy to an esoteric tool of self-discovery in the twenty-first century, was born.

Despite the popular belief that the Tarot is an ancient tool of magic, the very first decks were used not for divination, but for playing. Italian aristocrats of the fifteenth century enjoyed playing trionfi, colourful, handwritten cards that later gave rise to the classical arcana. Visual images that we are used to interpreting as symbolic today were originally just allegories. The modern list of all tarot cards on Nebula continues the tradition of these archetypes—and at the same time embodies their centuries-long evolution.

Italian Roots: the Game of Triumphs

The first tarot cards appeared in Northern Italy in the 14th–15th centuries as an entertainment for the nobility. The game, known as tarocchi, resembled modern bridge in its mechanics. The arcana (which later became the “senior cards”) played the role of trumps. The cards had meaning and allegory, but players did not interpret them as prophecies. It was a sophisticated way to have fun and to demonstrate status and education.

The Golden Age in France and the Mysticism of the nineteenth Century

In the eighteenth century, a new wave of interest in the Tarot emerged in France. Elitist Levy and Antoine Cours de Jeblen argued that the Tarot cards were fragments of ancient Egyptian wisdom. Although modern researchers consider these hypotheses to be romanticised, it was then that the Tarot began to be interpreted not as a game but as a key to esoteric knowledge.

Since then, the cards have been used for fortune-telling and mystical practices. Jean-Baptiste Allette (Etteila) created the first special deck for divination and developed a system of meanings, combining cards with astrology and the cabal.

It was the French who transformed the Tarot into an occult tool. In the 19th century, interest in mysticism surged—and Tarot cards stood at the heart of this movement. They were used as a meditation tool, as a way to access the subconscious, and as a means of interpreting dreams. They became something more than cards—a guide to the world of spiritual search.

Tarot and the Turn Toward Psychology

By the middle of the 20th century, the cards had transformed—tarot was no longer seen only as signs of fate but began to attract the attention of psychologists, especially Carl Gustav Jung. He argued that the images on the cards reflected something deeper than just divination: universal patterns that he called archetypes. That is, symbols that resonate with myths and dreams.

This idea opened a new door. Slowly, tarot moved from candlelit tables into therapy rooms and creative studios. It was used to spark conversations, break through blocks, and even help people tell their own stories. Instead of predicting “what will happen,” the cards were asking, “What’s happening inside you right now?”

That shift still shapes Tarot today. Many coaches, artists, and counsellors weave it into mindfulness work and art therapy. It’s not about the future anymore. It’s about the present—and about the questions we sometimes avoid putting into words.

The Church, Scepticism, and Prohibitions

Not everyone was thrilled with the popularity of the Tarot. The Catholic Church has repeatedly opposed “divination” and “witchcraft”.

In the twentieth century, regimes, including the USSR, also condemned everything related to the occult. But the tarot appeared again and again in underground circles, in literature, and in whispers in kitchens as a symbol of inner freedom and independent thinking.

With the development of digital technologies, tarot has moved to apps and online services. Today, you don’t need a physical deck or a seer to draw an arcana. This has made the practice more individualised while also expanding it to a new global audience.

The Language of Images that Never Ages

What makes Tarot so resistant to time? Probably flexibility. The arcana do not give definitive answers—they suggest but do not force. It is a system that offers a dialogue, not a dogma. The reader and the card enter into an interaction that is unique each time.

Tarot does not promise to predict the future. But it does allow you to see the present more deeply, with its doubts, dreams, and turning points. And precisely because it is not a rigid system but an open mirror, it continues to be relevant in a world of quick answers.

What makes Tarot alive is its flexibility. From the gaming table in the courtyards of dukes to the laptops of modern coaches, from mystical treatises to TikTok videos, the cards remain relevant.

Symbolic Language and the Modern Power of Cards

Tarot is a language of symbols in which each card is a metaphor. It is not magic in the Hollywood sense. It is a way of thinking. The Major Arcana, with their archetypes of the hero, sage, destruction, and rebirth, tell of a universal story—the human journey through trials to self-discovery.

In the twenty-first century, tarot cards combine tradition and modernity. They have not lost their appeal, despite scepticism and scientific progress. In an era when many people are looking for meanings beyond the rational, the Tarot remains one of the ways of dialoguing between the known and the unknown. And although the paths of these cards are paved with myths, controversies, and transformations.