Know about Selecting a Set of Tarot Cards
Choosing the right set of tarot cards is a confusing but important step that will ultimately determine how you will be able to use them. In short, different tarot decks are made up of different cards, and understanding some of the most important features of the decks will help you choose the right deck for your own personality and intentions.
There are many decks out there, and each has its own individual and unique history and purposes, so be sure to carefully choose your own deck.
The Beginning of the Tarot, Features of some Common Tarot Decks, and how they Evolved
The Tarot is a deck of playing cards that originated in 15th century Europe, and they were used to play a number of various and similar games. Many of these games had cultural and regional differences, and certain decks began to become very different from one another because of the distinct regional differences within mainland Europe in the Early Modern Era.
The most common decks had 78 cards and were comprised of four major suits that were different by cultural, ethnic, and regional differences. This was the majority of the deck, and these four types of suits had 14pip cards each that numbered from one (or ace) to ten, and 4 face cards featuring a king, queen, knight, and jack/knave. The last 22 cards feature a 21-card trump suit and a single card that is commonly known as the fool. The fool usually serves as the primary and most prized card much like a joker in contemporary playing cards. This card was used to avoid following the suit of the last played card in the game, and thus, was the most powerful card.
Depending on where the users played, the suits were either French, Latin, or German. In northern Europe the French suits were common, in southern Europe it was the Latin suits, and in the rest of the general central European continent, the German suits dominated.
Occultists, Mystics, and others Created Decks
After several centuries, the cards began to evolve far beyond their traditional purposes. Occultists, mystics, and others created decks to primarily be used for the greater purposes of divination. The word divine comes from the Latin “to foresee, and be inspired by a god”, and it is clear that these unique and highly spirited individuals wanted to create a deck that could be used for the divine purposes of determining god’s purpose for themselves and other humans while still being a conscious part of reality. People will always have an innate need to know their greater purpose and place in life, and in a highly religious Early Modern Europe, these occultists created this deck to help humans in the living realm find out their true place and reason to be involved in god’s plan. Different Types of Non-Occult Tarot Decks How to Pick the Right Deck for You.
German Suited Tarot Decks:
German playing cards originated in the 14th and evolved throughout the next several centuries. These cards were highly influential for the modern tarot decks we have today. During the Modern Era, German and French playing cards were in strict competition with one another to produce the best playing cards in the world. The French symbols and many other important factors were borrowed from the German style of playing cards.
These decks differ from regions throughout Germany and the greater Eurasian landmass. They have 36 cards, usually numbered 6 to 10, and featuring face cards called the Under Knave, Over Knave, King, and Ace.
These use Ace to 10 rankings, and this means that Ace is the highest followed by 10, King, Ober, Unter, then 9 to 6. Another key distinction for this deck and others and that the German deck uses the heart suit as the trump suit. German decks also typically have fewer cards than most other sets.
This deck is commonly used to play Schafkopf and others that are traditionally popular today in the Bavarian regions of Germany and other places like Austria.
German decks are typically used to actually play card games rather than for purposes of divination. Despite their uncommon use for divine purposes, these decks are still extremely important in the evolution of the modern tarot.
French Suited Tarot Deck:
This suit originated in the 18th-century Germany and has several different current patterns in use today:
Industrie und Glück is the primary deck of Central Europe, and it means industry and luck in German. It has 54 cards and uses Roman numerals for the trumps. A key difference to this deck is that the 5 to 10 of the red suits and the 1 to 6 of the black suits are removed.
The Cegodeck has 54 cards and is primarily played in the German Black Forest region nearing France. It is very similar to the Industrie und Glück but it uses Arabic numerals in the center.
The Tarot Nouveau features 78 cards and is commonly played in France. It uses Arabic numerals in the corners of all trump cards.
Although this deck is largely still used for card-playing games, it is rarely used for occult purposes of divination. So, this is important when you choose your deck, and if you are planning to use your deck for purposes of divination, I will repeat: save your money, do not buy these decks! But if playing common tarot games is all you need the deck for, be sure to study the key differences between them so you get the deck that is most suited to you.
Italian Suited Tarot Decks
The oldest form and most influential of the tarot decks were devised in the 15th century in Italy. These types of decks are the primary basis for the occult tarot decks that are in use even today! Here are some common Italian-suited decks:
The Tarocco Piemontese features 78 tarot cards and consists of four suits that are each headed by a king, queen, cavalier, and jack. These cards are followed by the pip cards. Strangely, trump 20 outranks 21 in most games played with this deck, and the Fool is numbered 0 despite not being a trump.
The Swiss 1JJ Tarot is a lot like the TaroccoPiemontesedeck, but it replaces the Pope with Jupiter, the Popess with Juno, and the Angel with the Judgement. The Trumps rank in numerical order and the Tower is known as the House of God. The cards are not reversible like the TaroccoPiemontese.
The Tarocco Bolognesedoesn’t use numeral cards 2-5 in plain suits, thus the deck totals 62 cards. It has somewhat different trumps, not all of which are numbered and four of which are equal in rank. It differs in graphical structure from the others because it has origins in other decks (the first two mentioned being primarily influenced by the Tarot de Marseille, another extremely influential tarot deck).
These decks like the French and German-suited ones are all commonly used to play certain games. Despite their contemporary popularity, they serve little purpose and significance in regard to tarot decks used for practices of divination. So let’s explore some occult tarot decks that are used for these purposes.
A Brief History of Occult Tarot Decks
The occult tarot decks were introduced in the 18th century by Etteilla for the greater purposes of divination rather than playing games. His belief is that tarots are derived from an ancient Egyptian script written by the god Troth so thematically, his set is closely related to ancient Egypt. The Book of Troth is now widely accepted to be a work of fiction.
This deck usually features 78 cards and 2 distinct parts that make it much, much different than the other non-occult tarot cards. These features are the Major and Minor Arcana.
The Major Arcana which is sometimes referred to as the greater secrets serves as the trump cards. There are 22 suit-less cards in this part.
The Minor Arcana which is sometimes referred to as the lesser secrets consists of 56 cards, and it has four suits of 14 cards each with ten numbered cards and four court cards.
These two terms however were introduced in the nineteenth century by Jean-Baptiste, and they are strictly related to the occult version of tarot cards. His work The History of Magic and Practice is an extremely important piece of literature to anybody interested in the occult tarot decks and more generally, magic in the Modern Era.
The two potentially most important occult tarot decks are the Raider-Waite-Smith deck and the Crowley Harris Thoth deck.
Rider-Waite-Smith deck
This deck was created by the mystic A.E. Waite and was illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith in the early 20th century. It was ultimately printed by the Rider Company, and the deck found has found success and popularity throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Despite the often simple images, the unique backgrounds ultimately have greater symbolic meaning, and the cards in this have been altered in the order in which they are ranked.
This highly influential deck is great for beginners and advanced users alike, and it is a great place to start learning about popular contemporary occult tarot decks.
Crowley-Harris Thoth deck
The Thoth deck was invented by the mystic Aleister Crowley and was drawn by Lady Freda Harris. This book which was steeped in symbolic meaning was carefully planned by Crowley who had his illustrator create numerous attempts at making the perfect cards. It was first published in 1969, some years after both Crowley and Harris had passed away.
This deck is not only historically important, but it is also very aesthetically appealing with very carefully chosen hand-drawn pictures. Each picture holds its own great symbolic value and helps to show us why Crowley was such an important character for these types of decks: knowledge of philosophy, science, and of course of the occult systems that he further helps explain throughout the accompanying text, The Book of Thoth (that shares the same name of the Egyptian Book of Thoth).
For any person aspiring to know more about occult systems and similar things, Crowley is a crucial figure in the Modern Era, and his name and works will surely not be forgotten. The BBC ranked him 73rd out of 100 of the “100 Greatest Britons” in a 2002 television poll.
Different Occult Tarot Decks and How to Choose the Right One
Choosing the right occult tarot deck can be extremely difficult now, quite frankly, because there are so many that exist! If you would like to explore a vast wealth of different decks that now exist, click here.
Now that you have clicked, you have seen that there are so many decks with so many different large or subtle changes between them. So be sure to do some prior research before you go out and buy any random deck. Starting with the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and the Crowley-Harris Thoth deck is always a great place to begin to get your bearings in the world of occult tarot decks. Then as your knowledge grows of the way the cards are used in each specific deck you can choose any future deck you buy accordingly!