Tarot cards, Major and Minor Minor Arcana.
Extract from letter from C. A. Burland dated 19th Oct. 1965: TAROT. There are four suits: Cups, Swords, ands, Pentacles (magic discs). A full set comprises 1 to 10, knave, knight, queen, king (that is, 14 to each suit). Then there is a group of cards called Trumps. They have really an esoteric significance that is not easy to determine, but the whole tradition goes back to the 14th century at least. At the period of the French Revolution the meanings were changed to what was considered a more intellectual aspect. This set may be the Tarot of Etteila (Ethel) , the Tarot of Etheila, which was the assumed name of the French barber Alliette of the late 18th century revolutionary period. The Trumps in this set are: the magician (Bataleur); Spritual strength (la force morale); Death the Reaper (also a promise of resurrection); The Moon ( a very unfortunate sign - a shock. 18th in the series); Zero, (21, the key of all, the Fool. He resents being fate or chance). The set is 15 cards short in all.
