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Tarot card pack reviews by Crystal Green
Crystal is an advanced Tarot Master/Teacher, and has been reading The
Sacred Tarot for over thirty years. Below is a guide to many of the most
popular pack presently available, with a guide to their suitability for
beginners and for the more advanced reader. These pages will be updated
as newer packs are discovered. |
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General observations.
Tarot cards have over the past few years come a
long way from their original symbols and meanings. Some packs can
still be considered ' traditional', but others are so changed as to make
me wonder if they are indeed 'Tarot' at all? I suppose it depends
how we define Tarot. An encyclopaedic definition tells us that
Tarot came from the mid-15th century game of tarocchi, and it
corresponds closely to our conventional playing cards, which are of
course its descendant. So to define a pack as tarot, it needs
to have four suits,(the minor Arcana) including court cards and cards
numbered one (ace) to 10 and to distinguish it from an ordinary pack of
playing cards, Tarot also has 21 trump cards (the major Arcana) and a
single un-numbered card known as the fool.
Of the more modern packs, the Rider Waite is
the most traditional and closer to its beginnings, and the pack that
most other true tarot packs have been developed from. All the packs below are packs
that I have owned or used regularly. The opinions expressed are also
entirely my own.
The Rider Waite Pack. is probably the most traditional pack available at
the present moment, and of which there are many clones. this pack it is
recommended for learners to the tarot, although somewhat plain by modern
standards, it is traditional and its symbology is easy to follow....Read
more here
The Golden Rider Tarot. is a straight adaptation of the Rider Waite
Pack, and is almost identical in content but more attractive, again suitable for
learners..... Read more here
The Gilded Tarot. is a most beautiful and modern pack, and again
based on the Rider Waite Pack. Semi traditional, and exquisitely
designed not for rank beginners..... Read more here
The New Palladini Tarot. This pack is from the same
artist as the Aquarian pack. Colourful and easily read.
Derived again from traditional packs, suitable for readers with some
ability.... Read more here
The Aquarian Tarot. again a beautiful Semi traditional pack, very easy to
read with court cards that have very human faces. Symbology a little
more difficult to interpret so best for readers
that have some
abilities.... read more here
The Celtic Dragon Tarot. although this beautifully worked pack can be
described as a traditional pack for the most part, every card includes
dragons, and this makes it a little more difficult to easily understand.
Not a pack for beginners... Read more here
The Universal Goddess Tarot. although basically designed from
traditional tarot, this pack is difficult to understand and follow and
is difficult to make flow... Read more here
Legacy of the Divine Tarot. this fabulous and beautiful pack is loosely
designed on traditional lines, each card is an artwork in itself, and
together with the Gilded tarot is in my favourite top five. However this
is a difficult pack to read, because the beauty of the cards themselves
presents something of a distraction.. definitely not a pack for the
beginner, but a joy to read....Read more here
Tarot of Dreams. from the designer of the Gilded tarot and the Legacy
Tarot, this pack is truly beautiful! based on traditional lines but with
extra cards and added, this is a pack for some one who has already
got to grips with the concepts of reading tarot, and is ready to move on
to something with more substance...
Read more here
The Morgan Greer Tarot.
Having used this pack for years I find it also
very admired by clients...there is a definite 'friendly/comforting' feel
to it....Read more here
Tarot of Vampyres. A new vampire tarot deck, and to my mind by far
the best to date! Pictures are stunning and the whole atmosphere
surrounding the cards is relevant to the dark and mysterious subject. A
must for Vamps & Goths!
....Read more here
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