By Michelle Crandell
Choosing a Tarot deck can be confusing and overwhelming. The traditional Western Tarot deck is the Waite-Rider deck or Morgan Greer deck. There are many wonderful Tarot decks available, though, and a little research might lead you to a deck that works better for you than either of these.
- Be sure it is a Tarot deck. Tarot decks have 78 cards. Twenty-two of these cards are called Major Arcana. The rest of the cards are divided into four suits. There will be four “court cards” in each suit, usually designated as King, Queen, Knight and Page. Each suit will also have cards from Ace through ten.
- For beginners… and for most advanced Tarot readers, the cards need to be clearly marked. For example, a very readable Major Arcana card will have a name and sequential number on the card and a visual image that matches the name. The Star, for example, will have a star in the picture and the number 17 or XVII on the card, along with the words The Star.
- Over the centuries, Minor Arcana cards have had some name changes which can be confusing. For example, the suit of Cups is sometimes called Chalices; the suit of Rods might be called Wands or Staves; the suit of Pentacles may be called Discs or Coins. The only suit that has maintained only one name is the suit of Swords. Minor Arcana cards need to be clearly marked, as well.
A “readable deck” shows the number of the card and an image of that number of the suit on the card itself. For example, the Two of Wands shows a picture with two wands on it and the number two on the card. On the Five of Pentacles, you should be able to count five pentacles in the image of the card and find the number of five on the card. Some decks add color coding; cards indicating Swords might be gray while Rods (Wands) might be red and Pentacles (Coins) might be black.
- Court cards have pictures of people on them. A King card has a king, a Knight card has a knight, etc. They have the name of the card written on the card, for example: Queen of Cups.
- Beyond the basics, I would suggest you choose a deck that matches the level of intensity you are ready for. Some decks are full of dark imagery while others are very playful…and everything in between.
- Types of decks I would avoid? Decks with one sex or the other primarily depicted, decks that rename Major Arcana, Minor Arcana or Court Cards excessively, decks that do not take Tarot seriously, decks that stray too far from the traditional visual imagery depicted on Waite-Rider decks, decks that are too abstract to read and decks that have distracting written information on the cards themselves.
I suggest you look at Tarot decks online with the guidelines I have given. If you buy one that is not right for you, feel free to give that deck away or sell it…whatever…and buy a different deck. Most Tarot readers have decks they thought they would use and found were not right for them once they had them. As you progress, you may also want other decks that show you different aspects of the cards. This can add to your interpretation of the cards.
Michelle Crandell provides individual readings for a fee. Once a year, she teaches LEARN TO READ TAROT. For more information, email michelle.crandell@gmail.com or call 501-655-6242.
