Alizon Tarot
Tarot Decks for Beginners
If you just started using the tarot its important to use a tarot deck that can facilitate the interpretation of the single tarot cards by using illustrations that provide you with clues.
The following tarot decks I found most fitting for that purpose:
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Rider Waite Tarot
Most modern tarot decks and tarot books are based on this deck. The Rider Waite Tarot was originally published in December 1909 in London. Its illustrations were drawn by Pamela Coleman Smith under direction of the occultist Arthur Edward Waite.
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The Rider Waite Tarot features detailed scenes on the cards of the Major and Minor Arcana.
It is the number one deck to recommend to anyone new to tarot card reading.
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The following Tarot decks feature illustrations reminscent of the Rider Waite Tarot and can therefore provide you with clues once you are familiar with the Rider Waite cards:
The Golden Tarot by Kat Black
The Golden Tarot is actually my favorite deck to use as an alternative to the Rider Waite Tarot. The cards, in most cases, show scenes that are very similar to the illustrations on the RWS cards.
What is special about them is that the illustrations are collages from artwork of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance.
The Golden Tarot Deck comes with a box and a little booklet with interpretations for each card, examples of tarot spreads and a listing of sources for the illustrations of the cards.
The illustrations are colorful with a warm, golden tone and the edges of the cards are golden and shiny.
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The Llewellyn Tarot by Anna-Marie Ferguson
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I was immediately drawn to this deck when I was searching for decks that are beautiful and easy to interpret. The Llewellyn Tarot deck stands out with its dreamy, beautiful watercolor imagery. The cards of the Major Arcana show illustrations a little different from the Rider Waite cards, but this is not at all of disadvantage. On the contrary it adds a very interesting original note to the deck.
The figures and scenes pictured on the Major Arcana are often part of Welsh mythology, like for example the depiction of a man overcoming a boar in the Strength card, rather than the lion in traditional tarot cards.
The Minor Arcana cards follow the illustrations of the Rider Waite cards. Differences can be seen in the details. For example, very often a woman is depicted instead of a man.
The Llewellyn Tarot comes with a box including the deck and a book that explains the myths that provide the base for the image on the Major Arcana cards and their divinatory meanings. The meaning of the Minor Arcana cards are explained as well.
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