Beginner Tarot Decks
Beginner Tarot cards and decks. These are the Tarot sets that are easy for Tarot beginners, newbies and novices to use - though plenty of advanced readers use them too. Usually, their symbols of the beginner decks are based upon the Rider-Waite Tarot.
The Beginner's Guide To Tarot is an ideal kit for the novice tarot reader. There are a clearly and attractively illustrated set of 78 cards inspired by the Rider-Waite and Visconti-Sforza Tarot decks, and a 192-page book written by Juliet Sharman-Burke.
The Easy Tarot kit was created for the tarot newcomer. It includes the lovely Gilded Tarot deck and a 240-page companion book called the Easy Tarot Handbook by Josephine Ellershaw.
The Essential Tarot Kit is a small but solid introduction to tarot for beginners. The pretty, playing-card size Hanson-Roberts Tarot cards are accompanied by a hard-cover book with the meanings of all 78 cards.
The Fenestra Tarot is a pretty deck, with 78 soft, watercolour, almost sepia-toned cards. It roughly follows the Rider-Waite format in the tarot scenes, surrounding them with large, decorative borders. New from US Games.
The Gilded Tarot is a visually stunning Rider-Waite style tarot, the first from the talented Ciro Marchetti. The 78 cards feature real people, and have a mix of medieval, fantasy, cosmic and steampunk art, all illustrated in lush, vivid colour.
The Golden Tarot is a sumptuous collage Tarot deck, skilfully blending medieval and Renaissance artwork into whole Tarot scenes. Long known as a digital deck, the Golden Tarot is now in print from US Games. The edition comes in a sturdy box with a companion book, and cards with gilt edges.
The Hanson-Roberts Tarot is the deck I learnt to read with.. it's an easy to understand one for beginners and has positive, slightly medieval artwork that was originally drawn in coloured pencil. Some of the humans look a little odd, but it grows on you.
The Housewives Tarot is a kitschy "domestic divination deck" packaged in a mock recipe box. The artwork is thoroughly fifties in style, attitude, furnishings, and fashion. It's a light-hearted gift set for the complete Tarot beginner, or a novelty deck for the more experienced reader or collector.
Llewellyn's Classic Tarot is a very readable fresh take on the Rider-Waite symbolism. It's been re-illustrated in a colourful, vivid and approachable style by Eugene Smith, where each card appears in a sharper focus and closer to real life than in the traditional deck.
The Morgan-Greer Tarot is a reworking of the Rider-Waite deck created in the 1970s. The cards are borderless, and the artwork has a lush, immediate feel, where the characters are shown in close-up. It's a good option for beginners.
Now available in a small-size tin edition!
In the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot, Poshkus has re-illustrated and updated Pamela Colman-Smith's famous images used in the Rider-Waite Tarot. Compared to the original, these cards are much more luminously coloured and three-dimensional.
Now out in a tin box edition!
The Rider-Waite Tarot is a classic Tarot deck, perhaps the most well-known in the Western world. It is often called the first modern Tarot deck, as the cards drawn by Pamela Colman-Smith and commissioned by Waite were the first to use detailed pictures on the minor arcana cards.
Easy for beginners and tarot newcomers to use with its Rider-Waite foundation, Robin Wood's self-titled Tarot deck is also rich in Pagan symbolism. The illustrations in this popular deck are attractive, and brightly but not harshly coloured.
The Tarot Kit for Beginners includes the 78-card Universal Tarot deck, along with a guidebook written by tarot reader Janet Berres, called Your Guide to the Tarot. It's a solid set with which to start your tarot journey.
Tarot Made Easy is an all-in-one introduction to tarot cards. The kit includes the Llewellyn Classic Tarot, and a comprehensive guidebook by tarot author, Barbara Moore.
The Tarot of the White Cats is very much in the tradition of the Rider-Waite Tarot - except for the blue-eyed, white cats drawn in the cards, instead of people. The symbolism is standard and non-threatening enough for use for the Tarot beginner.
The Universal Tarot is a multi-lingual basic tarot deck suitable for beginners. Pamela Colman-Smith's Rider-Waite images have been recoloured and redrawn in a more Italian, dynamic style.
Imagine the Rider-Waite with artwork in the style of the Hanson-Roberts deck. The Universal Waite Tarot is quite a pretty version (or clone) of the Rider-Waite, with more appealing, softer artwork.