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Tarot

The list of the current decks that I have, what I think of them, and where they can be found (if still in print/sold). None of the links listed are affiliate links.

If I ever get the energy to type up my notes for my current deck study I may post them in a subpage linked to the relevant deck.

⋆˖⁺ Current Decks ⋆˖⁺

Deck Artist Author ISBN-10 ISBN-13 Indie/MM
Deviant Moon Tarot Patrick Valenza Patrick Valenza 1572816368 978-1572816367 Mass Market
Rider Tarot Pamela Coleman Smith A.E. Waite 0-913866-13-x 978-0-913866-13-9 Mass Market
Tarot of the Magical Forest Pietro Alligo Leo Tang 8865271809 978-8865271803 Mass Market
78Tarot Astral 78 artists (one for each card) Trish Sullivan n/a 978-164008583-1 Indie (OOP)
Rider-Waite Playing Card Deck Pamela Coleman Smith Paula M. Palmer n/a 978-1-64671-018-8 Mass Market
Mini Cat Tarot Rachillu Rachillu 746935760410 n/a Indie
Arcana Tarot Playing Cards n/a (no guidebook) Dead on Paper n/a n/a Indie
The Normal Tarot (1st Ed.) Amy Smith (cards), Samantha Dow (book) The Caretaker n/a n/a Indie
The Alleyman's Tarot Too many to count! Depending on if you added the booster packs the deck can range from 137 to 213 cards, each with a different artist. Seven Dane Asmund n/a n/a Indie
The Literary Tarot Shan Bennion, Isabel Burke, Bradley Clayton, Sam Dow, & Ejiwa Ebenebe Margaret Atwood & Damian Barr 195893099603 n/a Indie
Blooming Cat Tarot Jen Brown Cosmic Eye, LLC. n/a n/a Indie (OOP)
Medusa Tarot (Ashen Scepter) Unknown Woh Studios 6974605452066 n/a Indie
The Pressed Flower Tarot Celeste Thyme Celeste Thyme n/a n/a Indie

⋆˖⁺ Thoughts/Links ⋆˖⁺

  1. Deviant Moon Tarot:
    This was my very first tarot deck ever! I got it in 2016 when I was very much in my "edgy teenager" phase. It's been a solid reader all these years, though I find it leans a bit more towards darker meanings. Most cards are very direct comparisons to a regular Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck meanings-wise, with a few cards that are definitely depicting more of the artist's personal interpretation of the card. I bought the separate book this year (2026), which is ten years after I got the deck, and it goes much deeper into the process of how the deck and artwork were created, as well as anecdotes from the author on why certain cards are depicted differently from a typical RWS.
    I do love it, and it will always have a place in my heart, but I don't use it as much as I used to. The cardstock, at least in the batch that my deck is from, is quite stiff and hard to shuffle. That plus the larger size of the cards causes my hands to hurt like crazy when I try to use it and I just can't keep that up anymore.
    Artist's Site | Amazon
  2. Rider Tarot:
    This was my second ever deck. I got it about a year or so after I got my first deck because I was curious about the RWS system that it was based on. I don't know what I can say other than it's a standard RWS. It's been a good workhorse, and one that I've never been afraid to take out and about since I'm not as attached to it as I am some of my other decks.
    It's been trimmed, edged, and is probably the most beat up of my decks. The cardstock isn't too thick, and it's a bit smaller than normal tarot card size because it's been trimmed. I can shuffle this one without too much pain if I need to, but my very uneven trimming of the edges means that the cards don't mix as well.
    Amazon
  3. Tarot of the Magical Forest:
    A creepy-cute RWS clone that I find adorable. It's a Lo Scarabeo deck, so it does have the multi-language borders; but you can trim those off and if you're familiar with RWS you shouldn't have any problem identifying the cards. It reads well and I have a lot of fun looking at the images.
    It has thinner cardstock than most of my decks, so it's easy to shuffle. I did trim it and edge it in a dark green color to match the beautiful backs, so I find it very fun to sit and shuffle through the deck.
    Amazon
  4. 78Tarot Astral:
    This is a gorgeous deck to have if you like space! 78 different artists, one per card, collaborated to create this! I have it more for the art than for reading with it, but the few readings I have done have been accurate.
    It is quite a large deck with thick cardstock and a rose-petal finish, which makes it difficult to shuffle. Especially if one has small hands!
    OOP
  5. Rider-Waite Playing Card Deck:
    Pretty much what it says on the tin. It's a playing card-sized RWS with playing card suits on the minors. You can use the deck for divination or you could take out the majors and use it as a deck of playing cards with fun images on them. I like these mostly for portability.
    Amazon
  6. Mini Cat Tarot:
    A cute, square RWS inspired deck featuring cute kitties! The images are smaller than you would expect within the borders of the cards, but the symbolism is still there and still just as readable. In my experience with the deck it's been a breeze to read because all of the important symbolism is still there, even with more minimal images.
    The cardstock is nice, not too thick or too thin, and the only trouble I had with shuffling was simply figuring out how to shuffle a square tarot deck.
    Artist's Site | Artist's Etsy
  7. Arcana Tarot Playing Cards:
    A fun deck to have in the collection for reading both traditional cartomancy and tarot. This is a playing card sized deck that has the 22 majors alongside the traditional suits of a regular playing card deck. I find it quite useful as an on the go deck for it's size.
    It has a linen texture and shuffles beautifully for me. The size is also ideal for my small hands.
    Dead on Paper
  8. The Normal Tarot (1st Edition):
    This one is very, very different than any other deck in my collection. It is called a tarot deck, but the creator made their own system that is in no way based on RWS, Thoth, or Marseille (as far as I can tell). The suits follow the seasons, with a completely re-imagined major arcana and extra cards that when pulled change the rules or context of the reading. The Normal Tarot is its own system, one that I find is fascinating to learn.
    It's one of the easier decks I have to shuffle, being standard tarot size and having cardstock that sits in that sweet spot between too thin and too thick.
    Publishing Goblin
  9. The Alleyman's Tarot:
    I have this deck as an art piece. It's a kickstarter-funded magpie deck created and managed by the Publishing Goblin, with many, many cards. Depending on how many booster packs you get the official deck can range from (if I've added correctly) 137 to 213 cards. There are some cards made by the Publishing Goblin, others sourced from over one hundred different artists, and some sourced from historical tarot decks. There are the traditional 78 RWS based cards featured, with extra suits, extra cards that can change the rules of a reading or interact with other cards in the spread, etc.
    This deck is also the origin of the Alleyman's lore, from which multliple other decks and a podcast were made, and a community of magpie deck enthusiasts who have been trading cards and growing their unique decks ever since. I find it fascinating and amazing to flip through. Do beware though, even the base 137 card deck is a beast to shuffle, let alone if one got all of the booster packs or has added cards of their own.
    Alleymantarot.com
  10. The Literary Tarot:
    Another art piece in my collection, that I also use as a TBR list! This beautiful deck pairs each tarot card with a classic literary work. There are more common classics such as pairing Death with Dracula or The Devil with Moby Dick, and others that I hadn't heard of such as the Eight of Quills (Swords) as Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper.
    The deck is on pretty heavy cardstock, so my hands aren't able to handle shuffling it. The gold foiling on the cards, though, is absolutely gorgeous to look at. When I'm bored or don't know what to read I break this deck out to see the wonderful artwork and also to get a suggestion on what to read!
    Brink Literacy Project
  11. Blooming Cat Tarot:
    My other cat deck! It is very, very cute, and also very shiny! The cards are sturdy and look pretty high gloss to me. The version I have is a kickstarter version with the 12 zodiac signs added in as cards.
    I haven't used this deck a ton, but I like to look through the artwork every so often! The cards do tend to stick together a little bit, so it takes some time and a few tricks to shuffle it well, but the art is so cute that I'm able to overlook that.
    OOP
  12. Medusa Tarot (Ashen Scepter):
    It's a beautiful RWS clone on nice linen finish cardstock. I pull it out when I want the RWS images without the bright, garish colors.
    It shuffles really, really well with the linen finish, and at 330gsm isn't too thick. I quite like it and when I have it out I'll often sit and watch a show or youtube video and just shuffle it.
    Vermillion Collection | Etsy
  13. The Pressed Flower Tarot:
    I adore this deck, and it feels like it might be my "soul deck". It's an entire tarot deck created from pressed flowers! I actually had just decluttered my collection of decks when I stumbled across a single comment mentioning it on a reddit post asking about decks without human figures in them. I found the listing for it on Etsy, as well as the artist's site, and was very strongly reminded of pressing flowers with my Nana over my childhood summers. I had resolved not to buy tarot decks at the first few glances, so I thought it was a beautiful piece of art and moved on... except I kept coming back to the listing for a week straight afterward. After looking through the pictures on the listing and finding the one single flip through video for the deck on Youtube, I bought it and the rest is history.
    Creating the deck took the artist about 4 years (if I'm remembering correctly) and over 3000 bits of pressed flora! It's a work of art and in my opinion a bit of a hidden gem. I'm currently doing a deck study with it to understand why the creator used the plants she used for each card and how she connected them to the meanings of the RWS framework. It's been really fun! It reads really well and most cards, while not having any human figures, do match up with how RWS is drawn if you're good at seeing patterns.
    I'm not sure what gsm the cardstock is, but it has a nice snappy feel to it and a wonderful linen finish. While the cards are closer to standard oracle size than standard tarot size, the linen texture and whatever gsm it is has made it very easy to shuffle. Even my tiny hands are able to do so without hurting!
    Artist's Site | Etsy