Tarot cards were originally invented in 15th-century Italy as a basic parlor game for wealthy nobles called Tarocchini, completely devoid of any mystical or divinatory meaning.

A closer look

Tarot cards were originally invented in 15th-century Italy as a basic parlor game for wealthy nobles called Tarocchini, completely devoid of any mystical or divinatory meaning. It was not until the 1780s that a French clergyman named Antoine Court de Gébelin randomly decided the cards were actually a magical book of Egyptian wisdom, despite having exactly zero knowledge of Egyptian history. Modern spiritualists now charge hundreds of dollars to map out your entire romantic and financial future using a deck of cards that was historically designed for bored Renaissance aristocrats to play tricks on each other. So whenever a mystic pulls the Death card to warn you about a major life transition, remember they are technically just using a vintage version of Uno