How to Choose a Tarot Deck

So many tarot decks…PART I

Choosing your tarot deck

In light of my upcoming tarot workshop, I thought I’d write a little prequel to it, to address the question, “How does a person choose a tarot deck in the first place?” Granted, there are a lot of myths and superstitions connected to tarot, I’ve heard plenty. And, I guess if you believe them, they’re as real as anything because you make it so. But let’s suppose for the course of this blog that tarot decks work if you purchase them yourself and that they don’t need to be a gift from another person (myth). This means you’ll have to go track one down. Where do you even look? What are you even looking for?  Here are a few ideas to consider to help you find the best deck for you:  

1. Online is truly the best place for window shopping.

Spend some quality time on a website like “Aeclectic Tarot” where at no cost to you, you can actually browse through hundreds of published (and unpublished) decks to see which ones you might like to have. There is information about the decks, sample card images, and reviews written by people who have actually seen and used the decks.  

2. Narrowing down your choices.

A lot of people I’ve run into have spent hundreds of dollars collecting decks they will never use (and in one case that resulted in all the decks being given by the babysitting grandmother to the granddaughter to play with in the bathtub!). In most instances you want one, maybe two (if you’re so inclined), to break in and learn with, decks that you’ll use time and time again. This means you’re going to want to choose the “right” deck. “Right” simply meaning a deck you WANT to use…and one that will work with you.

How to Choose a Tarot Deck: 

Shopping for tarot decks

Here are the things to consider while you’re window shopping:

1. Make sure the deck is not an ORACLE deck. They are different than TAROT.  They have their own separate purposes.
2. Try to get a deck that has 78-cards, and is titled or otherwise labeled “tarot”. This will be a standard tarot deck. Some reasonable decks will have 78, plus one or two. Those are still okay, as long as it says it’s a standard deck and gives an explanation for any additional cards. You will have to take into account though that most standard resources (ie. tarot workshops and books published about tarot) available to you won’t be considering those other cards, so learning their purpose will be entirely up to you. (Not impossible, just something to be aware of).
3. Look at the artwork. If  drawn to or intrigued by it, put it on your MAYBES list, and if not, forget about it. If you are in no way compelled by the imagery, you will never be able to interpret the cards.
4. Look at the MAJOR ARCANA (Roman numeral) cards. First, specifically the Death and the Devil cards. Why? If you find them horrific, grotesque, or “evil”, you’ll have a hard time keeping objective when they turn up. Second, look at the Star, the Lovers, and the World cards. If they’re “too naked” for you to bear, you will want to look for a deck you’re more comfortable with, since those characters are many times in the buff.
5. When you read the reviews or are sorting through a deck, be aware if you are selecting a deck that has “non-standard” MAJOR ARCANA titles.  In standard decks they are titled to begin with 0-The Fool and end with XXI-The World. I won’t list all 22 card titles here, but you get the idea…with some decks the authors/artists take liberty in changing the names of the cards (ie, the Death card called Transformation instead). If you think you can’t “translate” to standard titles in your head to make the connections, then you will want to stick with a more traditional deck.
6. Look at the MINOR ARCANA (the four suits) cards. If they all look too similar, take a pass. You will want a deck that the Major and Minor cards fully complement each other. Images full of detail and symbolism work the best for beginners and advanced readers.
7. Lastly, consider the size of the cards. If you find them too large to hold comfortably in your hands, they will be hard to shuffle. I’ve seen a number of people stop using those oversized decks no matter how much they liked the artwork, just because they wanted something that they could manage more naturally. Likewise with cards that are too small, the shuffling can be hard to control.

So make your list, and narrow it down to your favorite three or four…or five, without setting your heart absolutely on one yet, if you can help it.   And tomorrow the blog continues… Part II: Go shopping! …along with my personal recommendations for the best decks!

NEXT: Choosing Tarot Decks (Part II)

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