Hi

I'm a little overwhelmed by the choice of tarot cards available. Can anyone recommend a good set of cards for someone dabbling for the first time?

It depends on what feeling you wish to invoke with your effects. If you are going for an exploration into the dark, ancient and arcane, then I would suggest the Tarot of Marseilles or some other tarot set reprinted from an earlier era.

I personally like the 1JJ Swiss Tarot deck because it looks old fashioned and it has a great Death card. If you want something that looks really old-fashioned, check out the Viscont-Sforza deck. It's a beauty. If you are looking for something that people will quickly recognize, then try the Rider-Waite deck. The Waite deck has the advantage of having pictures on the minor arcana. If you are doing something bizarre, you might want to use Aleister Crowley's Thoth deck, although the images are too busy for my taste.

You can see examples of all of these at the following link:

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/list.html

Jim Morton

I personally like the Alester Crowley Deck as it is a little bizarre as is my performances at times.

There are lots of different sets and you can see samples of most on the net. I think amazon sells tarot cards with samples that are viewable on the net. One important thing to do though is to 'age' them so they look ancient and I'm sure if you go to the workshop, people can go into detail there.

I assume you are just getting into the Tarot area.
So I would suggest the basic deck: Rider-Waite.
It is the most common, comes in standard size, bridge card size, and miniature.
And it is the one that the public is most familiar with.

I would recommend the Vertigo Tarot (by DC Comics). It has outraging graphics by Dave McKean a must see. Only low point is the paper quality of the cards.

I like the Morgan Greer deck, as every single card (i.e. not only the Major Arcana) has a picture on it.

I agree with Peter. The Rider-Waite deck is well known. Once you master it, you can pick up virtually any Tarot deck and do a reading. The exception is that there are a few very esoteric decks that have special meanings for their particular cards.

I like the designs on the Witches' Tarot, though there's many versions - I like this one:

http://www.hobbiesandgames.com/tarotdecks/rcusghp78.html

Wasn't that [Witches Tarot] the one used in the Bond film 'Live and Let Die' ??

Jax,
you are right, that is the one from "Live and Let Die". It was the film that started my interest in Tarot cards (although for the wrong reasons, obviously). I was 12 and I still have the cards.

The "Tarot of the Witches" was designed by Scottish surrealist, Fergus Hall, and is the one used in "Live and Let Die." It has been published in two forms, one of which was marketed as the "James Bond" tarot and featured a stylized "007" design on the back of the cards (and is worth some major bucks to collectors, being out of print and slightly rare).

"The Witches Tarot" is by Ellen Cannon Reed, and is basically a Wiccan take on the venerable Rider-Waite(-Smith) deck, but changing many of the overt Christian mysticism symbols to more pagan images.

Similar names; much confusion.

:firedevil:

Some of the previous suggestions are probably OK for your first deck, the Rider-Waite and the Morgan-Greer are among the most popular so it will be easiest to find a book featuring them. I prefer the Morgan-Greer, but you should note that it does not have borders on the front pictures, which may affect some sleights if you are planning on that sort of thing. The Rider-Waite would be a better choice I think if borders are an issue.

I asked my wife who is the tarot card specialist in the family for a good bizarre deck (she has gypsy blood, over a dozen decks, and has been reading for many years). She showed me one called the Masonic Tarot that I would agree is quite evocative - the only problem is that it may be out of print and costs a great deal of money since there is real gold leaf on the cards. It has been seen in period westerns and other movies that want a deck that looks really old. Probably not a good first deck unless you have money like Gates. The other one she showed me that is rather creepy is called "The Sacred Rose", which I believe is still available so you should be able to see it online somewhere. Some of the imagery is distinctly chilling, and it has an old feel to it.

I personally like the Rider-Waite and the Mythic Tarot. The former for its recognizability, and the latter for a more classical pagan feel without any Christian symbolism. Of course, it all depends on your personal style. I agree that if you have no particular reason to go for a certain deck, then start with Rider-Waite.

I also think J. Philip Thomas's Paris Tarot, or Tarot de Paris is quite beautiful (but note: there is at least one other deck with the same name)... the images on the cards are produced from photographs of Parisian statues and artwork.

Note: Consider that the "official" Rider-Waite deck has NO border on the back (It's a crosshatch pattern that extends from one edge of the card to the other) and that the Universal-Waite does (It has a "starry" background with a white border).

You might want to keep this in mind depending on what you intend to do with the cards, however both have the same familiar imagery on the faces.

Both are available from U.S. Games, and you should have no problem finding them in most bookstores.

If you want to take a break from studying the Waite materials, I suggest the Morgan Tarot as an offbeat (and fun) alternative.

NOTE: not the Morgan-Greer Tarot Deck

My personal favorite is actually not specificly tarot though I still use them effectivly for readings. Check out the Girmaud cards (found in Black Harts accesories section at

[outdated link]

If you really want tarot cards, for somthing different I would also suggest the Tarot de Marseilles shown on the same site in the tarot card section. They are quite colorful, easy to read symbols but still unique and fairly unfamiliar to the general public.

Enjoy

If you want card that are easy to look at, try the Feng Shui Tarot by US Games Systems Inc. I just got this deck a few days ago, but whenever I get them out, people want to touch them. I mean it, people i don't know will sit there and look at them, and if I say hi, they'll ask to touch them. The images are just gorgeous Peter Connelly watercolers, and a spread of them has an evvect like half of a stained glass window: you want to see the rest of it. They are larger format, so if you want to do slights, etc, it is a little more difficult. Great cards, though.

Hello Jello

I m not sure what style you are looking for but the Farie Oracle is fantasically illustrated tarot deck and just over all stunning to look at.The fairie orcale also comes with its own hard cover book featuring detailed instructions on spreads and meanings of all the cards. There is also a nice celtic dragon deck available as well, but if you are looking for a classic deck that most people would reconize there is the popular Rider-Waite deck. Hope this helps
Mina