Most people who learn to read tarot end up with more than one tarot deck. If you think you might fall in this category consider making at least one of them a Rider-Waite-Smith Deck or a Thoth Tarot.

Rider Waite Decks

Rider-Waite Tarot by A E Waite & Illustrated by Pamela Colman-Smith. This deck commissioned by A E Waite revolutionized tarot. Each card is illustrated with an aspect of the human experience. The magical symbolism of the Golden Dawn deck was replaced with human activities and iconography. You might consider the Rider-Waite Tarot the default tarot deck. It is the imagery that many people fall back on and may be the reason that Tarot is so popular today. Many of the modern meanings come from people’s projections on this deck. It is clearly not the most beautiful and you may find your self drawn else where, but its worth having and working with.

Universal Waite Tarot By Mary Hanson-Roberts & Pamela Colman-Smith Mary Hanson-Roberts has faithfully redrawn the Rider-Waite Tarot with attractive, softer artwork. It reads like the Rider-Waite and I find that people connect with it well. Unlike the Rider-Waite the backs are attractive, dark blue with stars. This also comes in a pocket size. The details are very close, the only one that stands out as incomplete is that the Temperance card should have the Tetragramaton on the Angel’s chest. Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh (4 letter name of God)

Thoth Decks

• Thoth
• Liber T

Reasonable Alternatives

• Voyager Tarot
• Robin Wood Tarot
• Golden Tarot
• Tarot of the Sephiroth by Dan Staroff

Tarot of the Sephiroth by Dan Staroff

Ok so maybe this isn’t what you would call a beginner’s deck, but I love it so! Its beautiful, Its original, its symbolic, its magical and its Qabalistic. The cards are explicitly illustrated with the tree of life. In fact you can build a tree by laying out the cards. The majors are shown with the paths and sephira in the background. If you put the suits of a court card together they form the associated Sephira. The minors show a colored border with its Sephira. The artwork is beautiful and modern and alive. It is not a re-drawing of previous imagery. This is a powerful deck for experiential work including path working and contemplation.

Tarot Reversals by Mary Greer

Although the purpose of the book is to cover reversals, in order for Mary Greer to accomplish this purpose, she covered ‘card meanings’ very carefully and completely. You can find historical and modern card interpretations in this book. Very handy reference for card meanings.

• The Complete Tarot Reader by Teresa Michelson
• Tarot for Yourself by Mary Greer
• Tarot Tells the Tale by James Ricklef
• Seeker by Rachel Pollack

The American Tarot Association has Free Reading Networks that can allow you to practice on real people by e-mail.