
Obligatory warning: mild nudity in the cards.
This is a delightfully creative and excellent fall/winter Tarot tag developed by Tarot Geek on Tarotube (see original video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BKfUbLnVjM) that uses concepts from the Dark Academia aesthetic as themes to apply to our tarot decks. So, full disclosure, I actually really like the Dark Academia trends and I love me a new twist on “gothic” lifestyle, so I have been chomping at the bit to do this tag! BUT! I’ve been waiting for a specific deck to arrive because I SO BADLY wanted to include it in this list! I have it in hand, so now I get to have some fun!
1. Secret of the Library: The deck that captivates you with its mysteries and hidden depths.
Sola Busca Tarot

This deck continues to puzzle me even though I’ve had it for a very long time and I even was gifted a book about the deck to help me unravel it. It certainly is proof that esoterica is very much a product of its time and, like memes, probably makes a lot more sense to the person who was alive when it was first produced. I don’t really believe I’ll ever fully understand this deck, nor will I ever be proficient at reading with it. Nevertheless, I still regularly pull this deck from the shelf to ponder over it, or even attempt a reading for myself.
2. Inkwell and Quill: A deck that inspires you creatively, like the pages of an old leather-bound journal (your muse deck).
The Citadel Oracle and Tarot of the Abyss

Well, the prompt does say inkwell AND quill! I find these two decks drastically deviate from the typical tarot and oracle, but they also incite my imagination in a way no other decks do! And they do so in very different ways.
The Citadel Oracle is ultimately a deck of archetypes, but those you typically find in fantasy/medieval stories. I personally find this just a delightful way to think of archetypes, and it’s always a surprise to see the simple yet intriguing art on the cards. This deck really gives me space to interpret the name and role on the cards, and it pairs well with just about all of my decks in my collection, so it ends up being a bit of a workhorse.
The Tarot of the Abyss is in a way polar opposite in that it’s oddly specific in its complex card depictions. But, this deck really distills the emotional meaning of the tarot in a very potent sort of way that hits me in the feels every time I use it, even when I end up doing a rather “mundane” reading for myself! I always am left feeling like there is more to tarot that I’ll ever be able to learn after using this deck.
3. Eternal Autumn: A deck that captures the melancholy and beauty of fall, embodying the bittersweet nature of change.
Heartwood Tarot

The month of December was the first real stint of time I spent using this deck and it still feels very new and strange to me. That said, there is something so dream-like about this deck that sets it apart from other decks Three Trees has made. It is beautiful, like all their decks, but it’s very (aptly) haunting. I think “melancholy” is a perfect descriptor for Heartwood! And the nature of decay and change are apparent everywhere in every image. The feeling of entering darkness in the transition from fall to winter seems to be a central theme we see over and over again in these cards in a variety of different ways.
4. Philosophers Stone: A deck that aids in mental transformation.
The Terra Volatile Tarot

This was the deck I was waiting for. I held off purchasing this very strange, five-minor arcana deck (that is a blend of RWS, Thoth and Marseille systems!) for SOOOO long because I was really worried the standard size cards would be too small for my eyes to appreciate all the details. I JUMPED out of my chair when I saw the preorder for their large collector edition this past summer. Though it did not turn out to be what the creators hoped, I was still stoked to get a copy and let me tell you what, I’m so glad to have this (ridiculously) huge deck, and the wonderful companion book.
The creators of this deck, in case you are unfamiliar, are very inclusive of esoterica from around the world, so every time I draw a card and read the book I do feel like I’m learning and improving my tarot. The edition of a fifth minor arcana (Vessles, representing aether, or the spirit of self) also really makes me use my noggin when drawing from this deck!
5. Candlelight in the Shadows: A deck that is ideal for reading by candlelight late at night.
The Nameless One

So…I have a lot of decks I could slot into this category. And, I was determined not to pull out The Nameless One for this tag. But. Well, I can’t help myself. I am an insomniac, and I do read tarot at night when I can’t sleep (I actually do many of my readings when I can’t sleep), and I do more often than other decks, grab this deck if I wake up in the wee hours and can’t go back to sleep. I just love it’s versatility, it is straightforward, but you get SO MUCH from reading the book too. It very witchy without being “kitschy” and the art is beautiful and very natural feeling. I’m a little embarrassed I have all these other awesome decks, and I keep showing y’all this one.
6. Ghosts of the Past: A sentimental deck
The Bloody Tears Tarot

I was such a wanna-be-goth kid when I was in middle and high school! This deck would have been teen me’s perfect deck and I love it for that! It seems to encompass a gothic story in its images and there are various people who reappear in multiple cards over and over. The time and place are very fluid and undefined (could be anywhere from early medieval to early modern judging from the clothing), and the whole “story” is seems a bit fast and loose with the details, but I love it all the more because that’s how teen me would have made such a deck.
7. Scholarly pursuits: A tarot deck you use to study, learn, and gain a deeper comprehension of the cards.
The Mary El Tarot

This deck is so complex, beautiful, wild and in a league of its own. While I struggle with it, I still am determined to learn it and become a reader who can use it!
8. Moonlit Daydream: The deck that reminds you of forgotten fantasies that linger in your head at midnight.
Gothic Literature Tarot

I was a dumb dumb and passed this up on its Kickstarter campaign because I wanted to see all the cards. I liked what I saw, but I was being stubborn and wanted to see ALL THE MINORS. Mostly I remember passing on the The Literary Tarot Kickstarter a couple years ago and I felt like I dodged a bullet because it was a rocky production and I mostly don’t agree with the choices of books they put with many of the cards—what can I say, English was my undergrad. BUT! I do LOVE in this deck the character choices for the majors, and while the minors are rather simple, the major characters do reappear in the minors and I love the general ghosty spooky vibes this whole deck has. It is very romantic and dark and a little disturbing and I’m here for it.
9. Wuthering Heights: A deck that stirs intense emotions, like a gothic romance novel.
Bohemian Gothic Tarot

I mean, is there anything that needs to be said for this one? This contradictory deck has BIG feelings whether it be silly or sad.
10. The Ivy-Covered Tower: This deck evokes the spirit of your most beloved mentor.
The Woven Path Tarot

Perhaps my favorite college teachers was my Advanced Literary Studies professor. But his niche of studies was old English. And he had an unwavering passion for stories of all kinds, spoken in all voices. He perhaps was the reason that I made it through my rigorous degree path. He helped me remember why it is I love to write and read, and he also taught me how to think about and enjoy stories that I normally wouldn’t bother to read. This deck, with its multitude of artists and individual card stories reminds me of him and how he went about in the academic world.
11. Golden Sunset: Which deck reminds you of the last pleasures you get to endure during the summer’s waning hours? A liminal deck.
Golden Wheel Tarot

This deck is really a gem in the tarot world. It is so beautiful and has such strong end-of-harvest vibes that I sometimes find it difficult to use it in the winter because I am longing for the summer days after using a reading with it. It gives very distinct readings. The art is “folksy” and a bit historic, which hearkens to that feeling of a time gone past where life was simpler (of course, we know this is an illusion, but one we can still play pretend and enjoy). While this is a RWS deck, there does feel like there is a sort of depth and complexity in the art that brings it beyond a simple clone deck.
12. Whispers under the Oak Tree: Which deck makes you think of the timeless truths that lurk and hide in the depths of our souls?
Blood Moon Tarot

I could not help but immediately think of my beloved Blood Moon Tarot for this final prompt. Personally, this deck feels like it represents my (and human’s) base-nature. It is a very primitive-feeling sort of deck, and it does tend to read heavy-handedly. Every card’s emotions are amplified and the meanings seem to be reduced to their essential basic form. This isn’t exactly a “kind” deck, which, I tend to think of oak trees as “kind” in the way they support many organic forms of life, but this deck does not in any way mask the truth. Like an oak’s wood, there’s a hardness to it, but also a sort of timelessness.
Have you done this tag? Do you have a deck that feels like it falls beautifully into the Dark Academia trend?










































































































































