TOP 10 TAROT DECKS

Top 10 Tarot Decks

This is a top 10 list of tarot decks that I use regularly. My opinion is each deck on this list has tremendous experiential value. This list in no particular rank or order because each deck has unique benefits and features.

The beautiful thing about social media is that you can be requested to do something. This list was a request from a TikTok user. So, if you have come here from TikTok, thank you, and enjoy the list.

Because this list is in no particular order I wanted to have each entry contain multiple decks when it applies. For example the Waite Smith tarot deck has many iterations and re-imaginings. Therefore, when that entry comes up it will contain the many forms I own. (oops I gave away one of the decks!)

You will also see valuable books that are associated with each deck. My goal is to not only recommend the these tarot decks but all the available resources that come along with it.

Entry 1

Tarot Deck

Golden Dawn Magical Tarot by Llewellyn Publications

Cicero, Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero. Golden Dawn Magical Tarot. Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 1991. Print.

The Golden Dawn Magical Tarot by Chic and Sandra Cicero deck was a game changer for me and my tarot experience. This was not my first tarot deck, and it found me only after a deep longing for a higher understanding of the tarot.

Cicero’s Golden Dawn Magical Tarot is a wonderful execution of the Golden Dawn teachings of the tarot. The colour scheme, astrological associations, and images all create a unique tarot experience unlike any other tarot deck on this list.

Guide Book

Cicero, Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero. Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot: Keys to the Rituals, Symbolism, Magic & Divination. Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 1991. Print.

The Golden Dawn tarot deck and guide is excellent, and is not your regular guidebook that contains the meanings of the cards and how to use them. This book contains all of that plus the mystical associations for the tree of life, Kabbalah, esoteric colour scales, Hebrew, zodiac, and the planets. On top of these associations, the book covers methods of divination and ritual work. In the last section of the book, you will also be introduced to the pentagram and hexagram rituals. Think of this as a quick introduction to the rituals could be used to experience the Golden Dawn magical system.

Experiencing the deck and guidebook made me understand that the tarot is a tool. It can be used for various methods of self-exploration and ceremonial magic. The isn’t just a pack of cards that I shuffle when I have a question.

My biggest takeaway from this deck and guide book is how the colour associations work on each card. The guide book attempts to reveal that each card has a colour scheme with specific mystical associations. These colour schemes make Cicero’s cards vibrant and mesmerizing.

Associated Text

Golden Dawn Magic: A Complete Guide to the High Magical Arts by Llewellyn Publications

Cicero, Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero. Golden Dawn Magic: A Complete Guide to the High Magical Arts. Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 2019. Print.

What I didn’t understand about the tarot at first is that it’s a part of a greater system of magic. Cicero’s text is a well-structured introduction to the complex and deep system of ceremonial magick. You will find everything you need to know about the tarot and its relationship with ceremonial magick.

My biggest takeaway from Cicero’s text is the complex relationship between colour and the tarot. Every tarot card in the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot has Qabalistic and astrological associations. These associations are then connected with specific colours. The guidebook begins to explain this, but Golden Dawn Magic: A Complete Guide to the High Magical Arts shows you the whole matrix of the planetary, zodiac, and Kabbalistic colour associations.

What we end up with is vibrant colour patterns that interact your conscious and subconscious mental states. The result is a very meditative tarot deck. You can enter these cards through colour and have spiritual experiences.

Much of what I learned through the deck, guide book, supplementary text allowed me to create my tarot deck. You can read more about there here.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetic_Order_of_the_Golden_Dawn

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchase. Know that any gains are reinvested into this website. The end result is that you are supporting the creation of quality content.

Golden Dawn Magical Tarot by Chic Cicero and Sandra Tabatha Cicero © 2019 Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. 2143 Wooddale Drive, Woodbury, MN 55125. All rights reserved, used by permission.

Entry 2

The Book of Thoth by Llewellyn Publications

The value of this tarot deck comes from its place in history, the design, and how it compares against other contemporary tarot decks.

The Book of Thoth is also known as Etteilla Tarot. This helps reference the author of the deck Jean-Baptiste Alliette who lived in 18th century France. Alliette was known to popularize the use of tarot cards for use in divination. He also went to great lengths to publish writings about astrology and ancient wisdom in its relation to the tarot.

This version of the deck by Lo Scarabeo represents a reproduction of the original. The cards are labelled meticulously for their upright and reversed meanings.

The entire major set is renamed and re-ordered compared to what we know in most contemporary tarot decks. You will see unfamiliar cards like prudence, chaos, rest, temple, and marriage. Only a few familiar cards remain like justice, the magician, death, and the wheel of fortune.

The minor arcana and court cards retain the same structure as we know them now. The court cards are ranked as the French valet, cavalier, queen, and king. The pip cards have a playing card-like design using symbols of the suit in geometric patterns.

Etteilla Tarot is comparable to the Tarot de Marseilles deck. Both Etteilla Tarot and Tarot de Marseilles have a playing card-like structure on the pip cards of the minor arcana, and the court structure is the same. The only difference between the two is major arcana structure.

If you want to learn about tarot time periods check out this article.

Interestingly it was the major arcana set from the Tarot de Marseilles that became dominant in the 20th century. This is due to the Waite Smith version of the tarot using the major arcana card name and structure in thier tarot deck.

My biggest takeaway from this deck is the fact that major arcana could be different. When I think of Etteilla’s Tarot deck I am reminded that the major arcana can be anything as long as it represents a strong archetypal system.

To the benefit of contemporary tarot decks, we still see the structure of the major arcana tweaked and changed based on the artist’s choice. In a way, I see the Book of Thoth as a reminder that Jean-Baptiste Alliette dared to create something unique hundreds of years ago.

The Book of Thoth © 2003 Lo Scarabeo srl, via Cigna 110, 10155 Torino, Italy. All rights reserved, used by permission.

No Supplementary Texts at this time.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etteilla

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Thoth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot_of_Marseilles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rider-Waite_tarot_deck

Entry 3

The third entry on this list is what I feel to be a classic standby, CBD Tarot de Marseilles. This deck is faithful reproduction of the 1760 deck by Nicholas Cover. This deck was restored and adapted by Yoav Ben-Dov in 2010.

I appreciate the old style of imagery. The tarot is an evolving art form, and looked very different than what it is now. The style of CBD Tarot represents closely how early tarot decks would have appeared. Similarly, the style of CBD Tarot de Marsilles resembles the previous entry on the list, Etteilla tarot.

The cards have imagery only on the major arcana and court cards. I feel this changes how the cards can be read. They are a different experience than the Waite Smith images that we more commonly know.

Another stand out feature of this deck is that it is available for free through a creative commons license. The images can be used as long they are for non commercial use. You can find the images on Yoav Ben-Dov’s website.

I was able to have a very deep experience with these cards because I chose to re size the images and print them myself. I put my own border on the cards and re-named them in English for my own readability. You can learn more about I created my own version of the deck here.

I think that to have the experience of printing a tarot deck would be very valuable to anyone who wants to learn more about the tarot.

You can still easily find the deck printed and available for purchase through US Game Systems.

Don’t forget to check out Ben-Dov’s The Marseille Tarot Revealed: A Complete Guide to Symbolism, Meanings & Methods by Llewellyn Publications.

CBD Tarot De Marseille by U S Games Systems

The Marseille Tarot Revealed: A Complete Guide to Symbolism, Meanings & Methods by Llewellyn Publications.

Entry 4

The Linestrider Tarot Mini by Llewellyn Publications

The Linestrider Tarot is an important deck for me because it has a special attribute that inspired me. It comes in a mini version. Having a mini tarot deck was inspiring because it allows you use the deck in non private settings away from your usual place of tarot workings.

The size makes it an easy travel companion. This on-the-go benefit inspired me to create a new method of reading the cards with this deck.

The challenge with reading tarot cards away from your private space is that you are missing that private space. You need a lot of room to layout cards, and sometimes that can’t happen wherever you are.

This special method of reading the cards solves that problem by allowing the reader to use the entire deck in the palm of their hands to create a virtual space. This space is created by using the entire deck as a storage vessel for your cards.

Draw the first card off the top of the deck and overhand shuffle it back into the deck. Then you keep turning over the top card on the deck and shuffling it back into the deck. This will draw out as many cards as you need for a reading. Sort through the deck in your hand to see your the cards you collected. They will appear upright against the back facing cards.

You can learn about the reading method here. I called it the Strider Reading Method aptly named after the deck itself.

The fact this deck is the mini version is not the only thing that makes this is a stand-out tarot deck. The artistry of Silo Thompson is excellent. The cards have a hand-drawn feel with a watercolour style making them beautiful and mesmerizing. The deck has a unique naming system where the major arcana cards are only named but not numbered. The minor arcana cards have their names written out as in four, five, etc. This is different than other tarot decks that use Roman or Arabic numerals on the cards. All of this adds up to a tarot deck experience you do not want to miss out on, especially the mini version of it.

Entry 5

Edmund Dulac Tarot Deck by Llewellyn Publications

Rackham Tarot by Llewellyn Publications

John Bauer Tarot Deck by Llewellyn Publications

This entry contains three different tarot decks. Each of these decks relate to each other by the fact they are based on the illustrations from artists of the Golden Age of Illustration. This is a period of time from the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

The illustrator John Bauer, Edmund Dulac, and Arthur Rackham’s entire body of work is vetted and chosen to fit into the 78 card tarot system. The images are provocative, detailed, mesmerizing, and with a lived-in feeling. You can gaze into the cards with wonder and intrigue.

These images would be unfamiliar when compared to most Waite Smith inspired decks, yet they seem to carry a similar message. Having a different perspective on the tarot’s archetypal system is what makes these decks a valuable experience.

What a task it must have been to assess each the illustrator’s entire breadth of work and choose 78 images to fit the structure of the tarot.

The images are jam-packed with symbolism and meaning for easy storytelling. Beginners and connoisseurs alike will both appreciate these tarot decks.

The images for each tarot association are well chosen for their depth and ability to convey the tarot’s meaning. My thought is that first-time users will be able to harness the energy found in these images with little effort. Experienced tarot users will be able to use the cards to weave incredible tales of mystic energy.

These decks I feel work best as a trio, but apart they each carry great story telling potential.

Entry 6

FOURNIER Jeu De Tarot Cards by NAIPES HERACLIO FOURNIER, S.A.

French Tarot is my next choice for the top 10 list of tarot decks. This is an oddball choice because this deck of cards is meant for playing games, and not for divination.

The game of tarot is a trick-taking game that has been played since the 16th century. This kind of game is based on collecting points. If you are unfamiliar with trick-taking games think of the card game war. Each player draws a card and the highest value card gets both cards.

French Tarot cards have little to no definable features associating them to a tarot deck meant for divination. As a result, a french tarot deck used for divination would require more memorization and reference.

Here are some things to consider if you want to use a French Tarot deck for divination.

The cards are ordered in the same way a tarot deck is. All you need to know is the suit associations to the tarot.

Spades are swords and are associated with the element air.

Clubs are wands and are associated with the element fire.

Hearts are cups and are associated with the element water.

Diamonds are pentacles and are associated with the element earth.

The trump cards numbered 1 through 21, and the fool are the major arcana cards associated with spirit.

When you know the associations of the tarot you can easily impose the meaning onto the french tarot cards.

I use French Tarot in unique ways for divination. I use the french tarot deck in conjunction with other decks to create micro agreements. This allow for matching the suits and cards. I treat the French Tarot deck as a token that if matched to conventional tarot cards tell me if the card is more important than other cards.

Here is an example. If in a reading I draw a major arcana card, and I also draw a trump from the french tarot deck it would tell me that the tarot’s major arcana card is more important than any other card in the session. If the trump number matches the major arcana number, then it means that the card is even more important. When the French Tarot cards are used in this it adds another layer of subttle complexity to help you identify the key cards.

Using the French Tarot in conjunction with other tarot decks is how I normally use the deck. I try to match the french tarot with decks that use the French and Italian style of pip cards. This is a style tarot where the pip cards have no imagery on them and instead have geometric shapes of their suit.

I use the french tarot in other ways beyond divination. I will sometimes use the deck in a modified version of the solo card game called beat the devil. With 78 cards the game becomes more complex and can take longer to play a single session. You can read about how play beat the devil here.

A French Tarot deck offers a lot of extra value when used with or without tarot cards, and because of this, I think it should be in any tarot reader’s collection.

Entry 7

Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot (Pocket Edition) Pocket Swiss Crowley Edition by Aleister Crowley (2000) by U.S. Games Systems Inc.

This entry will cover the pocket edition of the deck and recommended books for further learning.

Even though these are not ranked in any way I would consider Crowley’s Thoth deck to be one of the few definitive Tarot decks for anyone’s collection.

This tarot deck comes in a complete package with the deck and pocket guide book. The booklet contains two sets of interpretive meanings. One set is by the author of the booklet Stuart R. Kaplan and Donald Weiser, and the other by the author of the images, Lady Frieda Harris. The booklet is a great starter resource that allows you to begin right away, it even contains an in-depth 15 card tarot spread.

This deck was designed between 1938 to 1943 with both artists Crowley and Harris not living to see its publication. The time period in which the deck is designed helps define some of the art styles. The late 1930s and early 1940s would have seen significant world conflict that may have influenced the visceral art design. We can also consider that the technology for visual art had advanced significantly since the early 20th century. As a result, the images feel emotional and in high definition.

The art style incorporates the use of astrological symbols. Harris incorporates the zodiac, planetary, and Hebrew associations into the cards. The way this is done is very clever. The major arcana shows plainly their associations in the space where the cards name is. However, on the minor arcana cards, the symbols are embedded right into the image. The symbols are easily seen, but they are placed in a way that doesn’t draw attention from the main image.

The design style of the pip cards cards is similar to the Tarot de Marseilles. The similarity happens in the geometric patterns using the symbol of the suit.

A stand-out feature of this deck is that a handful of the cards have been renamed. The court cards are ranked Knight, Queen, Prince, and Princes. Cards like the Magician are renamed as Magus, Strength as Lust, and Art as Temperance. This makes for a unique tarot experience and is an example of a structural departure from the associations of the Waite Smith and Tarot de Marseilles.

Another interesting attribute of the Thoth tarot is that it closely aligns with the Golden Dawn tarot associations. The colour schemes and some of the name associations match exactly. However, Thoth Tarot still maintains a unique identity by making amendments to these associations and changing the names of other pip cards.

Overall, I would consider this deck to be an important tarot experience and something that should be in the collection of any tarot reader or enthusiast.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoth_tarot_deck

Associated Text

There are lots of text out there to learn more about Crowley’s mysterious Tarot deck. These are my choices that I think will allow one to learn more about the Tarot deck.

Tarot: Mirror of the Soul: Handbook for the Aleister Crowley Tarot by Weiser Books

Mirror of the Soul is a great way to learn more about what the cards mean. This book is primarily a resource for meanings along with card spreads at the end of the book. I would recommend this as your primary guidebook to learn more about each card image.

The biggest benefit of this book is that it offers a unique way to look at the cards. It reveals that each card has a particular question that you can ask of it. This is useful because the deck can generate a question you could be asking of the whole deck, or even other decks. If you are stuck and don’t know what to ask, this book will help create a starting point for you.

Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot: New Edition by Weiser Books

Understanding Crowley would by my next choice if you want a deeper understanding beyond Mirror of the Soul. This text takes you into the influence and magickal materials that make up Thoth Tarot. It also provides an introduction to the Qabalah and how it relates to Crowley’s Tarot cards. This book also contains a description of each of the cards along with more information related to their astrological and magickal associations.

I would recommend both of these books as a study for Crowley’s Thoth Tarot deck. These two books would give you a great foundation for knowing the cards, and a fundamental understanding of the magickal tradition in which there were created from.

Entry 8

The Wild Unknown Tarot Deck and Guidebook by Kim Krans and HarperOne

The Wild Unknown Tarot is a deck that I hold dear to my heart. It was the third tarot deck I purchased, and I got it under an interesting set of circumstances.

My first tarot deck was Marty Yeager Meditations Tarot, an out of print deck from the early 1980s. Oddly enough it was gifted to me at a time when I never would have considered the tarot. It stayed in my possession for 8 years until I finally decided to use it regularly. Yeager’s deck got me reading the tarot, but the Wild Unknown got me thinking about it.

When I decided to become more serious about tarot reading I purchased the Universal Tarot. It was a Waite Smith revision by Lo Scarabeo and Llewellyn. It was easier to read because it had images on all the cards. It was unlike Yeager’s tarot where the only images were on the trump and court cards.

Getting my second tarot deck felt like I was onto something. So, I started the web blog you are now reading and reached out to tarot readers asking for advice. The best advice I got was to experience the Wild Unknown Tarot.

What I Realized Using the Wild Unknown

Using the Wild Unknown got me looking at the differences between the few tarot decks I had. The Universal Tarot was so different from the Wild Unknown, and I wanted to understand the differences.

With these decks, I began to investigate how tarot cards could be designed. The author of a deck could choose to change many things like renaming the cards, change their positions, and even change the court structure. We now know this now to be true having experienced many other decks that are on this list.

One of the first tarot articles for this website attempted to grasp the meaning behind the position of the card Justice in the context of both Universal Tarot and The Wild Unknown Tarot.

With the Wild Unknown, I began to understand that the Tarot had no definite structure. Each deck is an artist’s unique opportunity to use the foundations of the tarot system.

Final Words

The Wild Unknown is indeed a unique creation. The images are hand-drawn in a style that uses animals to replace the human archetypal form. The court cards are renamed to represent the structure of a family using the father, mother, son, and daughter as its categories.

The pip cards are structured like Yeager’s cards where they have only symbolic designs. The difference between them is that Kran’s design chocies are much more elaborate and colourful.

The Wild Unknown Tarot is part of greater series of decks. Kim Krans has gone on to create The Wild Unknown Archetypes and Animal Spirit Decks. All decks share a similar theme of nature and animals and can be used together with great effect.

The Wild Unknown Tarot is a great experience and is a welcome departure from the common styles found in tarot decks.

Other Decks by Kim Krans

The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck and Guidebook (Official Keepsake Box Set) by Kim Krans and HarperOne

The Wild Unknown Archetypes Deck and Guidebook by Kim Krans HarperOne

Entry 9

I have hinted about this entry already, so here it is. The Waite Smith Tarot is the 9th entry on this list.

Many claim this to be THE definitive tarot deck for all ages. This is true largely due to the deck’s worldwide adoption. Released in the early 20th century it has been in use for over 100 years worldwide. In that time it has and will likely remain as the go-to deck for the majority of tarot readers.

People usually refer to this deck as the Rider Waite Smith deck (RWS), or the Waite Smith deck (WS). The names come from the creators of the deck: Rider Company (the publishing company), Arthur Edward Waite (the designer), and Pamela Colman Smith (the artist).

I want to take a moment to create a perspective for this tarot deck. It would have been more common near the end of the 19th century to be using tarot decks that resembled the Tarot de Marseilles. 

In the Tarot de Marseilles, the only full illustrations were the 22 trumps and the court cards. The rest of the deck’s images were more symbolic and without any human figures.

You will know what I mean by scrolling up to the Wild Unknown, CBD Tarot, Thoth, and Etteilla Tarot decks. These decks are known for an artistic style that relates their pip cards to the Tarot de Marseilles.

Now, imagine being used to only the Tarot de Marseillest. Think what it would be like to see a tarot deck where there are images on all of the cards. Wouldn’t that be profound? Well, it was.

The Waite Smith tarot set a new standard for what a tarot deck should be. The illustrations were able to hold deep symbolism and allow the reader to come up with new ways to interpret the cards. Each card’s illustration had a clear interpretation that required less memorization.

Since the deck’s release, there have been many reinterpretations of the deck. The two that I have are Universal Tarot and Golden Art Nouveau Tarot both from Llewellyn Publications. Both decks feel like a high-definition update on the original images by Smith. The Universal Tarot has a drawing style that depicts more detail and vibrant colour in the images. The Golden Art Nouveau is an extravagant design with highly defined images using gold foil. Both are great choices to experience the original Waite Smith design in high definition.

The Waite Smith tarot deck or any of its progeny will likely remain the top choice for any tarot readers.

Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot Deck by U.S. Games Systems Inc.

Universal Tarot by Llewellyn Publications

Golden Art Nouveau Tarot by Llewellyn Publications

Associated Text

The benefit of the Waite Smith images is the fact they are used commonly in books and other learning resources. These images have become so universally accepted that they are now the teaching aids for learning the tarot. Below are a handful of books that are exceptional learning material based on the Waite Smith images.

The Complete Guide to the Tarot: Determine Your Destiny! Predict Your Own Future! by Bantam

I use this book almost every day to double-check a keyword or two. I use the Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot Deck when posting on Twitter. In the daily readings, I usually have a quick peek to look up how a phrase can fit into the reading. The book does well at explaining the definition of the tarot and its history. This would make a strong addition to your tarot book collection.

Tarot Kit for Beginners by Llewellyn Publications

This kit comes with Universal Tarot and the book Your Guide to the Tarot by Janet Berres. This is a simple introduction to the tarot. Everything you need if you started here. This book contains rudimentary explanations for the cards.

Tarot for Writers by Llewellyn Publications

Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner; an outstanding instruction for the tarot and how it relates to storytellers. Use this book only if you want to advance your storytelling. It also serves as an in-depth keyword-based guidebook for the tarot using the exact images from Universal Tarot.

This was my first tarot book. At the time it seemed like a good choice because it not only had all the meanings for the tarot cards, it had other information that seemed important, and it was.

When I looked at it against other tarot books it seemed to hold the most value. I knew it would give me what I needed to start reading the Yeager deck (my first tarot deck), but it would also allow me to advance my understanding of the tarot. It was an easy first purchase.

Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth by North Atlantic Books 

The name of the book says very clearly what it is. Benebell Wen delivers a complete education experience in the tarot. With over 800 pages of foundational, expansive, and transcendent material you will learn enough to become a well-defined tarot reader.

This book becomes associated with the Waite Smith due to the use of its images throughout the book. The images are so foundational that they serve as ideal training figures in Wen’s text.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rider-Waite_tarot_deck

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._Waite

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Colman_Smith

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rider_(imprint)

Entry 10

The Path and Tarot Deck

Always save the best for last they say. This is it, the last entry, and the most personal of entries. The Path and Tarot Deck. This tarot deck is the next evolution of my tarot deck design. You can find the first version of it here.

The Path and Tarot deck is an original design inspired by the material of Cicero & Cicero’s Golden Dawn writing. The books Golden Dawn Magic: A Complete Guide to the High Magical Arts and Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot: Keys to the Rituals, Symbolism, Magic & Divination serve as the primary resources for the symbolic associations in the deck.

Look up to the first entry to see the tarot deck that helped me understand that colours are a language of the tarot.

The cards are very symbolic in their design. There are no conventional illustrations, only symbols that make up the images. Each card contains planetary, zodiac, and Hebrew symbols along with a sigil. The symbols are superimposed with the sigil placed on top. The result is a collage-like design and a blended symbol.

The court cards and aces are separate from the sigil collage design. These cards are based on the 4 western elements with the court cards made up of two elements. Spirit, the fifth emelent can found in the major arcana design as a circle.

The primary composition element of this tarot deck is the use of colour in the border design. Each card has all of its symbolic colour associations embedded into the border.

The major arcana cards are composed of a unique colour pallet based on their astrological and Qabalistic associations. The minor arcana pip and court cards are composed of their elemental colour associations.

Path and Tarot Deck
Path and Tarot Deck

I changed the court structure to give nod to playing cards and French names. The Jack is the Page or Princess. The Cavalier is the Knight or Prince. The Kings and Queens both keep their names and place in the court.

Each court card have elemental designations. The Jack’s element is earth. The Cavalier’s element is air. The Queen’s element is water. The King’s element is fire. Each of the court’s elemental designation combines with the element of the suit to create a sub-element. For example, the King of Swords is Fire in Air and the Queen of Cups is water in water.

The court cards become connected to the aces of each suit due to their symbolic relationship. It allows them entry into cycles of the pip cards without being connected. The court cards and aces are the only cards without sigils. Instead they are designed after the western elemental symbols. Each element and court card also contain their playing card associations. Hearts for cups, Diamonds for pentacles, Spades for swords, and Clubs for wands. This is that that the tarot deck can interface with the elemental cards and playing cards.

Having the court cards and aces based as the western elements allow independence from the pip cards and major arcana cards. This allows the aces to play a more focused role on establishing the importance of each suit. The courts are then able to act as the significator and layers of the seekers psyche.

The sigils were made using the magic squares found in the Golden Dawn Magic text. There are different magic squares that make up of the planets, and a specific one is used for each planetary association. There are only 7 magic squares. So, each zodiac sign is associated with a certain magic square.

Magic Squares are a great way to make a sigil using numerology. Words or phrases can be translated into a code that can be mapped out onto the magic square. The text is then transformed into a shape and can enter your subconscious easily.

The sigils will soon change as I keep working on the deck, but for now the sigils were made using Chaostarot’s sigil generator. The link for it can be found here. Thank you Chaos Tarot.

I use these decks often and you will see them most on my TikTok and Instagram accounts in videos and live readings. Much work still has to be done before I can consider this tarot deck for release.

Currently, the deck is its third iteration from the first. You will see the progress of this deck tracked on this website. Stay in touch with PathandTarot and sign up for the mailing list for important updates.