*Excerpts from The Book of Thoth have been “improved” using AI for brevity
The Tarot is a pack of seventy-eight cards. Like modern playing cards (which are derived from it), it contains four suits. However, the Court cards number four instead of three. Additionally, there are twenty-two cards called "Trumps," each featuring a symbolic picture with its own title. While this arrangement might seem arbitrary at first glance, it is not. Rather, it is necessitated by the structure of the universe—particularly the Solar System—as symbolized by the Holy Qabalah. This will be explained in due course.
“If Le Mat be placed before the first card of the Tarot deck and the others laid out in a horizontal line in sequence from left to right, it will be found that the Fool is walking toward the other trumps as though about to pass through the various cards. Like the spiritually hoodwinked and bound neophyte, Le Mat is about to enter upon the supreme adventure-that of passage through the gates of the Divine Wisdom.”
Excerpt From The Secret Teachings Of All Ages Manly P. Hall https://books.apple.com/gb/book/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/id1265285597 This material may be protected by copyright.
The Fool's Journey is a metaphorical journey that is represented through the twenty-two major arcana cards in a tarot deck. The Fool is the first card in the deck and represents the beginning of the journey. As the Fool travels through each card, they encounter different archetypes and experiences that correspond to different stages of personal growth and development. The journey ends with the twenty-second card, The World, which represents completion and wholeness. The Fool's Journey is often used as a tool for personal growth and self-discovery, as each card represents a different aspect of the human experience that can be explored and learned from.
The origin of this pack of cards remains obscure. Some authorities trace it back to the ancient Egyptian Mysteries, while others date it as recently as the fifteenth or sixteenth century. However, the Tarot undoubtedly existed in its classical form by the fourteenth century—surviving decks from that period prove this, and the form has remained largely unchanged since then. During the Middle Ages, these cards were widely used for fortune telling, particularly by gypsies, leading to common names like the "Tarot of the Bohemians" or "Egyptians." When scholars discovered that gypsies were actually of Asiatic origin, some researchers began seeking the Tarot's roots in Indian art and literature. These origin debates, however, need not concern us here.