I am an American Tarot player. I play Tarot, Tarock and Tarocchi card games with those cards. I do not practice divination nor do I seek to change anybody's beliefs regarding divination. While it is true that the Bible condemns the services of psychics, mediums, and fortune tellers, there is no mention at all of Tarot cards. The cards first appeared in northern Italy during the 15th century for playing a trick taking card game and the use of these cards for divination would not begin until the 18th century, long after the creation of this deck. I'm quite pleased to see that HEthePrimate did some research on the history of Tarot cards. It is correct that Tarot cards were intended for nothing more than a card game, one that is still played today especially in places such as France and Italy.
Most Americans only associate Tarot with fortune telling and divination because most of us have not been told the entire truth about these cards. Most of us are presented with a very skewed and one sided vision of Tarot cards as a tool for divination. An aspect of culture is being stereotyped and distorted by those making money pushing the divination uses of the cards and the mainstream media in this country often accept it at face value. I believe that needs to change because this distortion of culture is having some adverse side effects. I have found, for example, that many authors on the subject of Tarot card games are having their works improperly classified as "occult" or "paranormal" by those who have been given no other context in which to view Tarot cards and the French cannot use the name of one of their national card games on a website without attracting Google ads for psychics or astrology. The common perception of Tarot cards in our country badly needs revision.
Thank you, HEthePrimate , for introducing this topic.