Interest in the tarot as a fortune telling device and the proliferation of tarot decks was a feature of the revival of the occult in the eighteenth century. The imagery in the tarot cards was associated with Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Cabala and the Arthurina legend. While there is no historical basis for these theories, ideas about origins and meaning encapsulate a fascinating mixture of speculation and esotericism which give the modern tarot both its vigour and its lack of coherence.
© Juliette Wood