Tarot or Tarot Cards 
(Created 20 Jul 2010 10:00 and Modified on 01 Aug 2010 23:31 )

The Tarot consists of 56 cards known as the Minor Arcana and 22 picture cards called the Major Arcana.

The Minor Arcana became the basis of the modern Deck of Cards, which often includes the Fool Card of the Major Arcana, now usually called the Joker.

Some claim that the Tarot was developed by the Knights Templar while others claim that the Tarot was developed in China or in India. Some say the Tarot came out of Egypt.  It is said that the Knights Templar used the Tarot as coded symbols to communicate secrets that they did not wish for the authorities of the Catholic Church to know about. (See "The Second Messiah" p 88-89 for more information.)

Tarot Cards seem to laid down in the shape of the Mobius Strip and are said by some to be against the teachings of Christianity.  It is said that the Tarot teaches that The Fool, who represents the novice, can achieve salvation through his or her own actions by doing good deeds and being a good person, while Christianity teaches that Salvation can only be achieved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  According to Christianity Salvation can be obtained simply by believing in Jesus Christ even if the person being 'saved' has been a mass murderer, rapist and a thief all of his life. (I do not know a whole lot about the Tarot, yet) (See "The Second Messiah" p 93.)

The Tarot was outlawed by the Catholic Church just Nine years after the Shroud of Turin was first publicly exhibited.( See "The Second Messiah" p 98.)  Since the Tarot still exists we can safely say that the the attempted Censorship by the Catholic Church again failed.  The great unknown is how much  Destruction of Knowledge did they really succeed in totally destroying simply because it did not totally agree with the Catholic Church's rather narrow-minded thoughts.

The Tarot is often used by fortune-tellers.

Probably the most common Tarot Cards are those in the Universal Waite Tarot Deck.  The drawings were made by Pamela Colman Smith and were re-colored by Mary Hanson-Roberts.  The copyright of the Universal Waite Tarot Deck seems to be owned by U. S. Games Systems, Inc.  This set of Tarot Cards is said to be a colorful alternative to the Rider Waite Tarot Deck.

Also see:
9 
22 
52 
56  
Catholic Church 
Christianity 
Deck of Cards 
Destruction of Knowledge 
God (Christian) 
Jesus Christ 
Knights Templar  
Major Arcana 
Major Arcana Card List 
Minor Arcana  
Mobius Strip 
Nine 
Salvation 
Shroud of Turin 
Tarot  
Tarot Cards 
The Fool Card of the Tarot 
"The Second Messiah" (pages 88-100)
Universal Waite Tarot Deck