Tarot vs. oracle

The distinction between tarot and oracle comes down to structure: the tarot follows a fixed, long-standing composition of seventy-eight cards, Major and Minor Arcana, whereas an oracle is a deck freely created by its author, with a variable number of cards and themes, often accompanied by written messages. Both are used in readings, but the tarot draws on a shared symbolic tradition, the oracle on the guidebook that comes with it.