The earliest tarot decks, originating in 15th-century Italy, consisted of 78 cards divided into two main categories: the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana cards were added to a standard deck of playing cards. These cards were unique in that they did not bear the typical Italian suit marks but instead featured elaborate allegorical illustrations.

This period was experimental in card design, with some decks including queens in the series of court cards, which traditionally consisted of a king and two male figures (a knight and a page). In standard playing cards, these four figures were later reduced to three by the suppression of the queen, except in French cards, which suppressed the cavalier (knight) (Parlett 2009).

The trionfi, or trump cards, each bore a different allegorical illustration, likely representing characters from medieval reenactments of Roman triumphal processions. These processions were akin to modern festival parades, where each float or participant depicted a distinct, recognizable character. Originally, these trumps were unnumbered, requiring players to remember the hierarchical order of the cards. Their primary function was to act as a suit superior in power to the other four suits in the deck—a suit of triumphs, or “trumps” (Manifestor 2020).

The Minor Arcana closely resembled the structure of contemporary playing cards, divided into four suits. Each suit contained ten numbered cards, four court cards (typically a king, queen, knight/cavalier, and page [sometimes referred to as knave or valet]). The four suits in early Italian tarot decks were typically Swords, Cups, Coins (Pentacles), and Staves (Wands) These suits bore the traditional Italian suit marks and reflected a continuation of the imagery found in earlier card games.

The Tarot de Marseille emerged in late 16th century France, standardizing imagery such as dogs and crayfish under the Moon and the woman pouring water on the Star card. This deck became a foundation for later occult interpretations and divinatory practices, influencing fortune tellers and esoteric traditions in France and England, despite regional variations in Italy.

In 1781, Antoine Court de Gébelin linked Tarot to Egyptian wisdom and the Hebrew alphabet, catalyzing the French occult Tarot. Etteilla popularized card reading and divinatory meanings, while Eliphas Levi's 1855 synthesis of Tarot and Qabala integrated alchemy, astrology, and ceremonial magic, establishing a unified esoteric system that influenced later decks and interpretations.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1888, placed Tarot at the center of its rituals and teachings, diverging from Levi by associating the Fool with Aleph and renumbering cards to align with astrological signs, which led to the Strength and Justice cards switching places. This system spread widely through the Waite Smith deck, popularizing new correspondences and divinatory practices in the English-speaking world.

The Waite Smith Tarot, created by A. E. Waite and P. C. Smith in 1909, combined Christian, Egyptian, and Golden Dawn symbolism. Its popularity was amplified by Waite's book "The Pictorial Key to the Tarot," leading to the deck's dominance in the Anglo-American Tarot tradition. This deck's imagery and divinatory meanings became standard, influencing numerous instructional books and solidifying the Golden Dawn's correspondences in modern Tarot practice.