Warning: artistic nudity and some mildly gory decks ahead

This introspective tag I found is by the tarottuber Exploring Tarot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii_ClehwHwI) and it asks us to share the decks that have either changed our mind about Tarot as a whole, or decks that we have changed our mind about. I, in general, don’t purchase decks I don’t care for, so I don’t have a lot of decks that I’ve done a 180 about, but since I’m rather new on my tarot journey (I only seriously started in 2015) I have a lot of decks that have shaped my experience and understanding of the Tarot systems.

I have to admit, most of these decks have been seen on this blog before—I’m sorry, a good deck is a good deck!

1. The Shadowscapes Tarot: My Foundational Deck

Czech edition

So of course I cannot do this tag without paying homage to the deck that completely changed my mind about Tarot—I had been introduced to Tarot when I was a teen, I kinda knew a little about the RWS, and knew some of the traditional RWS cards, but at that point Tarot was more of a strange card trick/game/hobby people had, rather than a tool of self reflection. But, my friend’s favorite deck, The Shadowscapes Tarot, inspired me to start paying attention to the nuances in the cards. Being my first deck I diligently used and learned the foundations of modern Tarot, I tend to constantly relate all other deck experiences back to this one. Most importantly, Shadowscapes showed me how to relate the images on the cards to my own personal self and current experiences. Of course, in each card there’s a LOT going on, which is often a criticism of the deck (and the subsequent small size of the cards), but it was great for someone just learning the tarot.

2. The Deviant Moon: Look Closer at Discomfort

This was the first deck I was brave enough to buy even though it gave me very mixed feelings. But, curiosity won out. This deck gave me an incredible and important “ah-ha” moment: images that invoke feelings (especially negative feelings) deserve our attention and study. Those feelings can actually tell us a lot about ourselves and can be a gateway to process and understand deep and profound self-truths. This in turn, shaped how I use Tarot.  

3. The Spacious Tarot: Beauty in Simplicity

For a while, I struggled to use decks that were not packed to the GILLS with imagery and symbolism. To this day I tend to favor “busy” decks. But, I finally was able to understand the appeal of a simplistic and arguably minimalist deck once The Spacious Tarot came into my life. I find using this deck very effortless. That isn’t to say it isn’t a deck without depth (not at all, this is a very “deep” reader when one wishes to go there), but rather the simplicity of the imagery speaks volumes.

4. The Brady Tarot: An Animal Deck that Felt Real

It is no secret I am an animal lover, but often I struggled with animal decks because many feel overly-gentle and “fluffy” and very unlike the complex and sometimes vicious behavior animals tend to have which is needed for their survival. I also struggle when human’s own mythos and meaning of an animal can get overly caught-up in the meaning the tarot card has for an animal. But the Brady Tarot really and truly flipped this narrative on its head. This incredible deck does not pull punches in the least and it was (and arguably still is) one of my most brutal readers. It added a level of discomfort I had not encountered in a deck and perhaps highlights the rather frivolous nature of life in a very real way. This deck demands sitting with your shock and taught me not to be so squeamish with the brutalities nature has in store.

5. The Broken Mirror Tarot: Seeing Things from Other’s Point of View

Fourth edition

Up until I purchased the Broken Mirror Tarot, I tried my best to ignore cardstock and hand-feel entirely, and focus my attentions only on the imagery of the cards. But this deck did two important things that shaped how I view and treat tarot: firstly, it taught me that how a deck feels in hand is, despite my most noble ideals, actually very important.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, this deck was the second that I had which was not created by a more “western” artist (of course, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, creator of Shadowscapes uses themes and inspiration from all over the world) and I could sense even though the art “felt” European in nature, the themes and general feel of the deck was very, very different than what I had experienced before. This was fascinating and really eye opening that the Tarot system can be used across culture with similar but also different imagery. There is a lot to be learned from seeing things from a different perspective.

6. The True Black Tarot: The Body Feels the Truth

The True Black was a gift from my husband, but this deck became an important turning point in my Tarot education. The imagery in this incredible deck is very evocative of the senses, not just the visual! Not only did the otherworldly perfection of the bodies that appear in this deck help me get over “oh no, naked people in the cards!” embarrassment, the imagery in this deck really demands the viewer feel the cards in a way that is outside of the norm. Look at how the wind blows through the triumphant lion’s mane and the water pelts the king of cups. What about the little, champagne like bubbles rising around the baby squid in the six of cups? What about the eerie stillness of Temperance with her long locks of hair ribbon-ing around her? These are all wonderful imaginary feelings that the cards offer to the reader.

7. The Sola Busca Tarot and the Game of Saturn Book: Tarot History is Complicated

I am a lover of history, so of course as I started learning Tarot, the history of Tarot fascinated me! Many sources told me early on that there were no illustrated pips until the RWS, which is simply not true on many accounts. There also is repeatedly mentioned that Tarot was used in the long past as a means of divination (which I think there is far too much evidence to say otherwise) but then there’s people who claim to have this old knowledge, and I’ll be frank, I think most is at best guess work. The Sola Busca is considered the oldest example of a fully illustrated deck, and there are several reproductions out there if any collector wishes to have their own copy. It’s clear that the deck had much deeper meaning in the card images than what the typical card game of the time detonates, but despite the delightful and researched theories that Peter Adams makes in his very large book The Game of Saturn, it is clear that the esoterica of the past may very well remain largely in the past.

8. The Trionfi Della Luna: There is No Reason not to Laugh at Your Cards

Where as The Deviant Moon really made me focus on getting *serious* about my tarot, the sister Trionfi reminds me that sometimes, you just gotta laugh! This deck (especially the fantastical illustrated pips version) isn’t afraid to make fart jokes, snicker in the open, and in general make totally inappropriate fun of the situation. While this would never be a deck I use to read for others (other than a tarot lover perhaps) this is the deck that taught me to lighten the hell up a little!

9. Fantastic Menagerie Tarot: Tarot Transcends Decks

For the longest time I had difficulty with “Art Decks” or Tarot decks that are made from preexisting art. Well, to be honest, I still kinda do have difficulty with them! But Baba’s Fantastic Menagerie really showed me how you can take preexisting art and make is fit into Tarot SO. GOOD! J. J. Grandville may have been a comic artist from nearly 200 years ago, but his art still hits that funny satire mark. But there was an important lesson I learned from using this deck that broadened my Tarot horizons–the themes of human existence depicted in Tarot are so universal we can see tarot “meanings” in things that aren’t even meant to be card decks. And that, if you ask me, is pretty cool.

10. Children of Litha Tarot: A Deck that’s Changed My Mind. Twice

The Children of Litha Tarot is a deck I held off buying for years and years because I was truly unsure of the art. After my friend loaned it to me for a few very good, complex readings, and waffling a bit more, I broke down and bought it.

I actually hated it, and didn’t use it for a good year.

Buuuut, after sitting down and purposefully using it and getting to learn the deck, I’ve finally come around. This is a very cool deck, even if it isn’t something I was immediately in love with. So, here’s the deck that I actually changed my mind about. Several times.

11. The Nameless One Tarot and Grimoire: Modern Esotericism Exists

There was a post on Tarot Reddit once that caught my eye. The post was something along the lines of “What Tarot decks are very esoteric?” So I offered what I thought were some particularly esoteric decks (I think I mentioned The Mary El), but the poster scoffed and made it clear that in their mind, only particularly old decks could be considered “esoteric”!

This interaction stuck in my head, and I for a while wondered if all our card esoterica came from the RWS or the Thoth, 1900’s esoteric visions.

But upon getting a copy of The Nameless One and its absolutely MASSIVE companion tomb, it became abundantly clear that esoterica exists in the modern world, having developed its own unique meanings and flavor. After all, historic Tarot, which was rooted very much in Renaissance Catholicism esoterica and imagery, has now been claimed into the modern practice of witchcraft, Wicca, and various pagan practices. We have new esotericism that is constantly evolving around our cultures.

12. The Heartscapes Tarot: I Personally Don’t Like AI Decks

I debated even posting this one seeing as the subject is so very contentious and for good reason. But, I think it’s worth talking about. This is my second AI deck (the first was The Golden Journey, a very early AI deck on Kickstarter) and its the first deck that fooled me into thinking it was human made, not AI. It wasn’t until I got it in hand and had my friend look it over that I had to admit I was duped.

Despite the glaring things wrong in the images that give this away as AI, it is a beautiful deck. But, after using it several times, my mind was made up that giving money to a product that reaps the benefit of other, real people’s hard work and does not give them due credit is, to my mind, wrong.

13. The Tabula Mundi Tarot: The Thoth System is Actually Pretty Rad

I won’t belabor this one too much seeing as I did a whole month of working with Thoth, BUT! After looking at many Thoth decks, and failing to be able to read with the gorgeous Mary-El for many years, I finally broke down and got the much more accessible (and frankly fun and trippy) Tabula Mundi deck and accompanying book. I went from feeling like I’d never learn the Thoth to “hey, I can’t wait to pick this up again!” I still have a long way to go before I feel comfortable with this system, but at least it feels attainable!

14. Anna K. Tarot: Beauty Is As Beauty Does

I am a little embarrassed about this one. I suspect that I’m not alone in this boat either. I knew of the Anna K Tarot since I started my Tarot journey in 2015–it has had several waves of popularity, and it was a common deck sold in stores (though recently it is OOP both its mass market and indie editions). But every time I looked at it I cringed at the “cabbage patch” faces of the people in the cards.

Yep, that’s right. I passed on this deck because I thought it was ugly.

Many times I watched others use this deck or watched a flip through, but I couldn’t get over the faces in these cards. Finally, just last year I held a deck in person and I realized I’d been prejudice of this art work–the faces were not classically perfect or beautiful, but they captured perfect emotion and feelings and, well, real people perfectly! This deck very quickly became one of my favorite decks to use for any reading.

15. The Last Unicorn Tarot: Tarot and the Inner Child

I am not a person who is terribly attracted to “cutesy” or “childish” decks. In fact, there are many decks that are too childish/overly cute for my personal tastes. I also only have a handful of decks that really bring my Inner Child to the surface (namely, Smoke Ash & Embers and the Tarot of the Abyss). I find that these decks tend to be too much emotionally charged to use in frequent readings for myself (Tarot of the Abyss) or tend to be a little too soft in its readings to have a completely neutral feeling deck (SA&E).

I came across the Last Unicorn Tarot several years ago (not that long after it’s successful kickstarter) and it was sold out and I talked myself into thinking that my childhood obsession with The Last Unicorn movie and book(s) ought to stay in my childhood past, with all the rest of the trauma (don’t do this folks, its bad for your health). But, this deck seemed to keep popping up in my life, I kept coming back to look at it, and even though I promise not to be suckered into tarot decks based off franchises (though will someone PLEASE make a kick ass fully illustrated LOTR decks?), I decided to try this deck.

I was shocked to find in hand this deck truly made me feel like a kid again. I had no idea how many complex feelings I had wrapped up in this story. Obviously, not everyone is like me and grew up loving and fearing this film, but I realized that it’s okay to get a tarot deck just because you have feelings about it–you don’t need to justify those feelings. AND! I also learned its totally okay to work on the Inner Child in your tarot practice!

What decks have changed YOUR mind?