Why are there 78 cards?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Mar 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

eastarot	19 Mar 2004
This evening someone asked me why a typical Tarot deck had 78 cards? Why not some other figure? I admitted not knowing and have looked through my books and the websites and have been unable to find the reason behind 78 cards. is it a mystical number? did they feel the soul's journey was complete with this figure? If anyone knows why the creators of the various decks chose 78 do let me know.

HOLMES	19 Mar 2004
it changed at the beginning, and just became standarized over time, most people think that the major and the minor arcana were totally seperate until they were put together, and even in the major arcana there are cards missing, added, and numbers changed i do believe research shows that the tarot first appeard in the 14 century , but the form is not definate in my eyes

eastarot	19 Mar 2004
Thanks for your perspective:) The person who asked me was studying numerology and was looking at the significance of various numbers eg 7, 13, 9 etc Hmmmm.....will continue researching. If I find anything, will defintely post it here.

Phoenix Rising	20 Mar 2004
What I know about numerology, the 7 is the magical number. "People who understand the power of the 13 will have all knowledge". And 9 was the number assigned to God.

closrapexa	20 Mar 2004
22 paths in the tree of life. about the 56 I'm not so sure

Phoenyx*	20 Mar 2004
Perhaps 9 is the number of the Divinity, not just of a male God. That's why I felt that my Inner Cgild cards are so special, they are my 9th deck. :)

Marion	20 Mar 2004
I moved this thread here so that it would reach its intended audience.

eastarot	20 Mar 2004
Thanks for moving the post Marion:) I'm still a newbie with a terrible road sense:) Again TY everyone for their points of view. Just thinkin aloud ----->78 cards boil down to the Number 6 which stands for harmony.....the yin and yang, the Lovers..... harmony .the ultimate goal of a human soul hence encapsulating all 78 cards. The possibilities are endless:)

Thirteen	20 Mar 2004
Um...have you asked this question in the History and Iconography section? It's a really excellent question and if anyone knows the answer, it's the experts in History & Iconography.

northsea	20 Mar 2004
There may be a Pythagorean structure to it as in: 78 = 12+11+10+...+3+2+1, 'the triangle of base 12' 16 = 4x4 court cards, 'the square of base 4' 10 = 4+3+2+1 , 10 pip cards per suit, 'the 4 Tetractys' 22 = 10+7+4+1 , 10 being the base level, 'the pyramidal 22' *Imagine a triangle pointing upward. *Place the 'square of base 4', a diamond shape at the upper section of the triangle (so that the upper tip of the diamond fits the upper tip of the pyramid). *Place a square inside the triangle, directly under the diamond, AND remove the upper/north part of the square (dividing the square into 4 triangular sections) so the diamond fits on top of it. *The 4 Tetractys, all of equal size to each other, will fill-in the rest of the triangle. source: Tarot-FR.com or Google: Arithmological Tarot

mandragora	21 Mar 2004
About this one I have a theory about vices and virtues and Christian mysteries in the Middelage period, we have whole range of possible 8potential) Major Arcanas in the work of Giotto for example, and Middelage aryhetypes like Death, Mystical Marriage and Judgement, (there is a short explanation on my web site http://www.atanor-art.hr). In modern times there are Strenght, Temperance, Justice included in set of 78 cards and are generated from Middelage Christian Mysteries, but many others like Prudence, Faith, Sapientia...and Vices....like Hypocrsy, Gluttony...etc, are excluded from modern decks. We must not underestimate Middelage in theory and hystory of Tarot. I believe that Major arcanas are reduced to 22 cards because it was convenient fit to hebrew letters, and others (minor arcana) are designed simmilar to standard playing cards. So there would have been much more Majors withouth kabalistic fusion of hebrew and christian hermetism.

The Why are there 78 cards? thread was originally posted on 19 Mar 2004 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.