JACK YANG

When it comes to dealing with types of tarot cards, their origin is undoubtedly associated with many distinct arguments and stories. While some people believe that tarot cards first came into use in Italy somewhere in the 15th century, others emphasize that they originated during the medieval tenure in Western Europe. Some people also presume that the origin of tarot cards is somehow related to ancient Europe. 

Whatsoever, there is no refuting the fact that most tarot cards that we use today come directly from Italy. With that said, do you know what the most interesting thing about tarot cards is? They still possess the exact same interpretation and meaning, irrespective of the never-ending arguments and stories that are circulating about their origin. 

Nowadays, psychic readers make the best use of tarot cards. In this article, we will shed some light on the numerous distinct types of tarot cards that are currently available, including the ones that are worth getting your hands on!

Introduction to Tarot Cards: What Are They?

Tarot cards are primarily used as a divination tool, and although these cards were not designed for divinatory purposes when they were first created, various mystics and psychics began using them when they adopted the practice of spiritual identification and growth.

Each tarot card has its own unique story that focuses on a different interpretation, depending on the placement of the cards, whether they are face-up or reverse-facing, or what the nature of the spread is. These details play a key role in tarot card interpretations.

The Major Arcana indicates the soul and life lessons that one must adhere to during one’s lifetime. On the other hand, the Minor Arcana cards enlighten our daily life experiences and the challenges that we must deal with. In addition to this, the 16 court cards in each deck show the personality traits of a person.

All suits of the Tarot indicate each of the four elements. In contrast, the Major Arcana is considered to be the embodiment of the fifth element, which spiritually connects people to their grand consciousness.

Basic Types of Tarot Cards

Although there is a wide variety of tarot cards available in the current era, below, we have mentioned some of the basic and widely-recognized types. 

If you are a tarot enthusiast or a beginner, it is recommended to use some of the more “classical” tarot cards. The use of classic, orthodox tarot cards can make it very convenient for the novice to quickly master tarot reading.

Rider-Waite Tarot Cards

The Tarot cards we generally see are derived from the Rider-Waite Tarot. It originates from the occult theory of the Golden Dawn, a British occult association, and combines some elements from astrology and magic to extend and develop a card system that is very suitable for beginners. It can help us understand the whole Western occult system and the worldview of the spiritual world from another dimension.

The main reasons for its popularity:

1. The number cards from minor arcana of Rider-Waite Tarot use specific story images to present the meaning, which is easy to understand and takes into account the occult connotations.
2. The author Waite wrote a book explaining the principles of Tarot and divination. The book was distributed with the cards, and it was the first time that Tarot cards were accompanied by an instruction manual. This became a common practice for future Tarot releases.
3. It was released in 1910, and its illustrations were all in English. With the strength of the British Empire at that time and the rise of the United States afterwards, the best-selling tarot deck in England gradually spread around the world.

Up to now, there are at least thousands of Tarot cards designed under the influence of the Waite system, and more than 70% of the English Tarot books are written with it as the model. Therefore, if you want to choose an international standard set of tarot cards from many, the first choice is definitely the Rider-Waite tarot.

Thoth Tarot Cards

The Thoth Tarot was created by the controversial occultist Aleister Crowley in collaboration with Frieda Harris over a period of five years (1938-1943), combining various occult elements such as astrology, Kabbalah, I Ching, mythology, alchemy and magic. This deck is based on the Egyptian theme.

Its painting style is unique and abstract in beauty, and the depth of content is beyond most of the previous tarot cards. According to experience, most people who have used this deck believe that the spiritual function of this card is greater than the divination function, so the Thoth deck is the most respected among people who use tarot cards for spiritual practice.

Marseilles Tarot cards

The Marseilles Tarot is a classic tarot deck from France. The structure of the seventy-eight standard tarot cards recognized today is based on the specifications of it.

It is simple and uncomplicated. Its number cards of minor arcana, like playing cards, have no character patterns, but simply draw the symbols of the deck. For example, the Four of Cups is basically four chalices, and the Four of Coins is four coins.

Although it is relatively simple, there are still many scholars interested in its study, such as the famous psychologist C.G. Jung who believes that it contains the archetype of the human mind. In addition, Marseilles is arguably more common than poker in France, and it is used to play card games instead of pokers.

Lenormand Tarot Cards

This system was invented by Madame Lenormand, who was a born diviner. She is best known for predicting Napoleon’s accession to the throne and the claim of Napoleon’s wife, Josephine, to the throne. 

Modern Custom Tarot Cards

Since then, she has become a favorite of the court as Napoleon’s royal soothsayer. If each of Waite’s Tarot cards provides a detailed and philosophical view of a situation, Lenormand’s, on the contrary, refers to a specific event or person in a single card, giving the seeker a simple and intuitive result.

Compared to these classic tarot cards mentioned above, modern popular tarot cards are more rich in elements and have no recognized specific classification. If, for example, you are a very personalized diviner, there is nothing wrong with whatever tarot cards you choose, but rather they can become distinctive personality labels. For example:

Most of these cards are custom tarot cards with individualized character images, colors and patterns, but basically follow the rules of the four classic tarot systems mentioned above. Because of the diversity of custom tarot card faces, it may be difficult for novices to understand and describe the picture, so it is recommended for advanced readers or masters.

Main Purpose Behind the Use of Tarot Cards

Tarot cards are believed to assist individuals in matters of their present, past, or even future events by offering them guidance and support. This way, people can comprehend their current, past, or future life events in a better way. Some people even take tarot reading as a soul-touching journey so that they can evaluate the purpose of their lives. 

Normally, people who use tarot cards utilize them for spiritual growth instead of fortune-telling purposes. However, most psychics make use of tarot cards for connecting with their higher beings or solidifying their intuition. Eventually, this practice will swap its purpose with connecting with elevated spiritual realms. This is why most present-day psychics use tarot cards to sharpen their skills and abilities. 

Now, let us come to an important question, how do tarot cards attract clients for contemporary psychics? Psychics use tarot cards to help their clients connect with their present, past, or future events through story-telling. That being said, many people prefer tarot card readings over no-tool readings as this enables them to reflect and review their cards independently. 

Summary

Although the main purpose behind the origin of tarot cards was to encourage recreational activities and fun games, presently, they are widely being used for meditation and divination purposes. Having said that, we can find never-ending types of tarot cards nowadays, each of which has its own specific characteristics and value. 

In many people’s perception, tarot divination is a sacred and rigorous activity. You might be surprised if I told you that you could do divination of tarot cards with playing cards that is readily available. This method has been around since the 1700s. If you’re willing to give it a try, you will find tarot playing cards reading is easy and fun!

Who Is Suitable For Using Playing Cards For Divination?

If tarot cards reading makes you feel rugged, you can start playing card divination. It is much easier to learn than a Tarot because you can get familiar with all the cards’ symbols and numbers soon, and it is portable. Also, it is a good choice for anyone who wants to try a new form of divination.

Why Can Read Tarot Cards with Playing Cards?

The original prototype of playing cards was the French Tarot which was simplified to 52 cards. There are 78 cards in the tarot cards as we know it, 22 of which are the tarot cards major arcana. After taking away these cards, the remaining 52 cards are the playing cards.

It means that every playing card in the past has a meaning! 52 cards represent 52 weeks in a year, 364 days, which is a typical year. 4 suits correspond to different 4 seasons. 1-13 points add up to 91 points, and each season is also 91 days. A leap year has 366 days, which is 2 days more than an ordinary year. These extra days are two ghost cards. In addition, all playing cards have two colors, where red represents day, and black represents night.

What Is The Meaning Of Tarot Cards Represented By Playing Cards?

Let’s start with a comparative understanding of the four suits of playing cards and the four elements of tarot.

Like Rider-Waite Tarots, tarot cards can be divided into the elements of “Wand, Chalice, Sword, Pentacle” and “Fire, Water, Wind, Earth,” which correspond to “Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds” in playing cards. For the specific meaning, please refer to the following description:

1. Single playing card

2. Playing cards combination

One noticeable difference between reading playing cards and tarot cards is the emphasis on card combinations. There are many permutations and combinations of playing cards. Only some of the more common combinations are provided below:

How To Read Tarot Cards Using Playing Cards?

1. Set up a scene

As with any ceremony, it’s essential to establish a calm and supportive space. Clear clutter and allow your mind and intuition to be clear and free to flow. If desired, you can also offer a prayer or blessing before reading the playing cards.

2. Ask a question

Before shuffling, you should ask a question in your mind and meditate continuously and attentively during the shuffling and cutting process. It would be best if you were specific about your question, preferably open-ended, such as:

• What will be the fortune in 2022?
• How is my relationship with Adam currently?
• Will my job get better if I change jobs?
• Will it rain on Tuesday?
• Am I suitable to live in California?

3. Draw and interpret the playing cards

When you sense that you should stop shuffling, layout all the playing cards on the table and draw 1 or 3 cards, like we would question how to do a one-card tarot reading if you choose to draw only one playing card, then the red card means “yes,” and the black card means “no” (just like tarot cards yes or no).

If you choose to draw 3 cards, line them up in order (which means tarot reading with playing cards layout) before deciphering your cards. The first card represents the past, the second card represents the present, and the third card represents the future. Explain the suits of the cards first, then deepen your explanation with numbers. Combine all the cards at the end to get a complete picture, and use your intuition to decide what the cards mean to you. You can go back to point 2 of the article for the meaning of the relevant suits and numbers.

Of course, if you want to rely on playing cards alone, it is impossible to predict more accurate or complete results. Because it has 26 fewer cards than the tarot cards, and it can only be interpreted by the suits and numbers of the cards, the amount of information will be much less than that of the tarot cards. So, playing card divination is only suitable for some emergency places or playing a little as entertainment.

However, you do not need to despise or refuse to use this method. Perhaps it can help attract or lead those who like playing cards to enter the mysterious world of the Tarot.

If you are just starting to feel interested in tarot cards and learning how to read them yourself, then finding your first tarot deck is arguably one of the most important things to do. However, this can be a daunting ordeal, as there are thousands of different designs of tarot cards on the market to date! Here, WJPC combines its experience in tarot card printing with extensive market research to recommend the 12 best tarot cards for beginners in 2022.

How to Choose Your Tarot Deck?

Choose The Most Popular Tarot Cards for beginners

Tarot conveys information through patterns, and different patterns make different interpretations. So the pattern is crucial to a tarot deck. It is recommended that beginners try to choose a tarot deck that is very popular internationally so that you can easily get very many learning resources from websites and books.

Choose Your Favorite Cards

In fact, tarot cards are just a tool, and ultimately the user needs to use his or her own intuition to understand the meaning contained in the patterns of the cards. Therefore, your own feeling of the cards is very important. Choosing a deck of tarot cards that you like makes it easier for you to focus your experience to understand every detail of the cards.

For example, if you are a superstitious constellation person, you can choose tarot cards for Virgo; if you want to commemorate important days in your life, you can choose tarot cards for your birthday; if you think you have too little knowledge, you can also choose card sets with a booklet of detailed information card tutorial.

Choose Cards Designed By Tarot Masters

The design of tarot cards is extremely precise. Generally, only tarot masters who have studied tarot and related background knowledge for many years are qualified to design tarot cards, and not just any cartoonist or tarot enthusiast is qualified to design tarot cards. This is also something that beginners need to pay special attention to when choosing cards, otherwise you may not be able to get the right information from these cards.

Choose Tarot Cards With Intuitive Patterns

Sometimes, the more ornate and richer tarot cards are not the better. For novices, intuitive patterns or symbols can easily make you think and recall, even if you don’t have much material to learn, you can get some inspiration relatively easily.

Choose Good Quality Cards

Choosing a good quality and guaranteed deck of tarot cards will allow you to study and use them for a longer period of time. For example, some tarot decks use high-end paper that allows the printed colours to be more vibrant and have a higher degree of stiffness and opacity. Another example is the complex coating process that gives the tarot cards a richer visual feel and tactile sensation. Even if some of them are more expensive, they are worth the price. After all, you can’t expect some tarot cards for free or cheap to be any better.

12 Best Tarot Cards for Beginners in 2022

1. Rider-Waite Tarot Deck by Arthur E Waite

The Rider-Waite Tarot is arguably one of the most traditional tarot cards and is still loved by very many tarot diviners and enthusiasts since its birth in the 20th century. Its best feature, and the reason why it has retained its popularity, is that all the cards, including the Minor Arcana, depict complete scenes with characters and symbols.

Before that, almost all tarot cards were marked with only the arrangement of suit symbols on their faces. It ushered in an era of tarot cards rich in symbolism and even easier to interpret than some modern tarot cards. This means it is perfect for beginners, as almost all tarot readers will be familiar with this deck and its interpretations.

2. Crystal Unicorn Tarot Card by Pamela Chen

The Crystal Unicorn Tarot Card is a healing tarot card with the theme of macaroon color, in which the mythical unicorn, plays a different role in each tarot card. The overall design of the card is very cute and warm, and the user will unconsciously inject a surge of joyful energy. This deck is suitable for tarot beginners who are cheerful in nature and interested in cute things.

3. Pendulum Tarot Card by Alexander Gowan

The Pendulum Tarot Card features a black and white thematic palette with its own design of artistic illustrations for a very high class and artistic look. This deck is recommended for the individual, independent, and calm Tarot novices.

4. Cat Tarot Card by Megan Lynn Kott

It is believed that animal lovers, especially cat lovers, cannot take their eyes off the Cat Tarot Cards. It incorporates the unique sense of humour and wisdom of cats to interpret the meaning of the classic Tarot. At the same time, since cats are very common animals in daily life, people who come into contact with the tarot card for the first time will have a more intimate feeling.

5. Morgan Greer Tarot Card by Bill F. Greer

The Morgan-Greer Tarot is the first modern tarot deck, based on the joint research of tarot leaders Arthur Edward Waite and Paul Foster Case. It is an evocative deck of deep and saturated colours, exquisite figures, and landscapes, which together present magical images. The deck is listed in several tarot guides as an entry deck, stating that “an emotional response to each card can be created before the images are even viewed in-depth”.

6. Everyday Tarot Mini Tarot Card by Brigit Esselmont

This approachable mini tarot card for today is from Brigit Esselmont, the founder of Biddy Tarot and a renowned tarot researcher. It comes in regal gold and purple color scheme with bold graphic designs. In addition, it combines common activities in daily life with mysticism, thus making it easy for beginners to apply ancient wisdom and create the desired way of life.

7. Llewellyn’s Classic Tarot Cards by Eugene Smith & Barbara Moore

The Llewellyn Classic Tarot Card is based on the Rider-Waite system and features romantic watercolour artwork. Its biggest advantage is that each card is marked with a detailed meaning instead of the Roman numerals of the traditional deck, so tarot readers who are just getting started can easily get an explanation of each symbol.

8. The Learner Tarot Card by Neshla Avey

The Learner Tarot Card, as the name suggests, is specially designed for beginners by Neshla Avey. It has an all-white background with very simple and intuitive graphics and text descriptions that even younger children can understand. And, it comes with a corresponding instruction manual, so beginners can quickly learn about these tarot cards.

9. OK Tarot Card by Adam J. Kurtz

This deck of tarot cards has a pleasant and calming vibe. It’s painted on a warm pink card with simple black illustrations and the most basic keywords, perfect for beginners who may struggle to intuitively read the classic symbolism of more traditional tarot cards. Plus, it can be placed in your space as an ornament.

10. The Modern Way Tarot by J. Bindels & N. Fernando

In contrast to other tarot cards, The Modern Way Tarot Card, while also using the Rider-Waite system, places more emphasis on the elements and shapes in the design, thus making it easier to understand and use. You will find it a perfect balance of dynamism and minimalism.

11. Affirmators! Tarot Cards Deck by Suzi Barrett

The Affirmators! Tarot Cards Deck is a high-end tarot deck of excellent quality. The front and back of the cards are satin-finished, and gold leaf is used to create wavy stripes on the back. All these make the effect stunning, both visually and tactilely. Even though the cards use stronger materials, they surprisingly remain fluid and malleable when shuffling.

12. The Modern Witch Tarot Card by Lisa Sterle

This deck has won many awards. Its overall production pays great attention to details: the cards themselves use thicker papers, which have excellent stiffness and hardness, ensuring their sturdiness and durability; the colour printing on the card surface is delicate and exquisite and uses varnish and gold plating technology so that they have a smoother feel and a beautiful visual experience! In addition to that, it comes in an impressive slide-out hard case with fine print inside, which guarantees good looks and effectively protects the cards from damage.

Above is the recommendation of easy tarot cards for beginners. If outlining it, there are 3 basic principles: meaningful, self-understanding, and has strong feeling. In addition, after meeting these points, you can consider the printing quality, material, and some production processes of the card, which is related to the length of using time. Finally, hope that the number of tarot card enthusiasts will continue to increase, and the beautifully designed tarot cards will continuously release.