How are playing cards similar to Tarot and how are they different?
With playing cards, different people in your life are represented by the kings and queens of the various suits. However, the playing cards use the suits to represent the various stages in life, three stages in total, and then the state of being deceased. Diamonds are birth through early twenties and thirties, Hearts are thirties to fifties, and Clubs are the last stage in life, where we take on the role of elders. As such, Diamonds represent young vital energy, and have a fresh, new quality to them. Hearts are more grounded and stable. Clubs portray wisdom and learning. Although Spades do not always represent Death, in terms of those individuals in our life, the King or Queen of Spades can represent someone who is no longer with us in this world, but watches over us and affects the course of our life.
In contrast, although the Kings and Queens of the various suits in the Tarot can represent individual people in our life, the suits do not describe the stages of life in terms of age. Instead, the Tarot handles age with the Pages of the different suits, each page representing childhood into our twenties. Those who have gone on are not necessarily addressed in the Tarot. This is a major difference between the two practices of reading.