Traditional Tarot Decks

These are a few of the decks you may already be familiar with or have suggested to you for learning.

Tarot of Marseilles

The Tarot of Marseilles is similar to the playing cards we use today. It dates back to the 15th century is believed to have originated in northern Italy.

Rider Waite (Smith)

The Rider Waite Smith deck was created in 1909, so although it is often referred to as the 'original' or 'traditional' tarot deck, many decks existed before it. Created by academic and mystic A. E. Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, the images use meticulously crafted symbology to provoke emotional connections to the card's meaning.

Thoth Tarot

Alastair Crawley, a famous occultist known for doing a lot of drugs and looking like a very creepy dude, named the deck out of his reverence for the Egyptian god Thoth. Created in the 20th century and illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris using a lot of esoteric, Eastern, Egyptian, and Christian symbolism, it was published in 1969 after his death.