Structure of a Standard Deck

The precise origins of the Tarot remain a mystery, but over time a fairly consistent standard has evolved for the structure of a Tarot deck. The components of this structure include not only the number of cards and their symbols, but also their order in relation to each other and their division into groups.

The standard Tarot deck follows the structure of the Venetian or Piedmontese Tarot from medieval Europe. This consists of 78 cards made up of two groups: the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana, having 22 and 56 cards respectively. In the Major Arcana are found the archetypal Tarot cards, like the Fool, the Devil and the Moon; while the Minor Arcana is comprised of four suits of fourteen cards, each containing cards numbered from one to ten as well as four 'court' cards. Examples of cards from each of the Arcana are shown below, as depicted in the influential Marseilles deck from medieval Europe. Click on an Arcana to find out more about it and to see all the cards that it contains.

Variant Decks

While the 78 card structure described above is the standard for a deck to be a true Tarot deck, not all decks that claim to be Tarot adhere to this pattern. Early decks were of several types with differing numbers of cards, and some contemporary decks vary the system to accommodate the underlying non-Tarot philosophies on which they are based. Examples of early European decks related to the Tarot include:

An example of a modern deck that eschews the historical Tarot structure is the Enochian Tarot: an augmented deck containing eight extra cards in the Major Arcana to support the system of Enochian Magic on which it is based. Although they contain elements of standard structure, whether such decks are really Tarot decks at all is debatable. Even those modern decks constructed on traditional lines often replace cards in the Major Arcana with inappropriate alternatives or ignore important aspects of established symbolism.

The Kabbalistic Structure of the Tarot

The most influential model in the development and interpretation of the Tarot from the 19th century on has been the consideration of the cards as an expression of the esoteric system known as Kabbalah. The most important decks of the 20th century have been based on Kabbalistic ideas, in terms of their structure, their symbology and their interpretation. Two major examples are the Rider-Waite deck and the Thoth deck, designed by Arthur Edward Waite and Aleister Crowley respectively.

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