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Soy, I am the writer but if I don't ask these questions who will?

As for Chrys's involvement in this whole affair? That's a question that will be answered in time.

For the record, playing cards date back to, at least, 9th century China. Hard evidence of their existence in Europe dates to sometime in the 14th century. Tarot's existence dates back to the mid-15th century and was used to play certain French and Italian card games (and others, most likely). They quite possibly evolved from more "regular" playing card decks when the addition of cards containing metaphorical images were added to the already existing four suited, numbered cards. Playing cards were already used for divination and tarot cards likely used for that purpose early on, too. It isn't until the 18th century, though, that you started seeing tarot really adopted by the secret and esoteric societies of the day.

The Rider-Waite deck isn't the oldest style in existence, though it was one of the first to give symbolic images to both the major and minor arcana. That's one of the reasons we use it as a base for Mysteries of the Arcana. That and the deck itself is in the public domain (though US Games' version of it is not).

This is all, of course, assuming the tarot doesn't have an older significance dating back to Thoth in ancient Egypt.