Changed Suit/Element Associations Tarot Decks

Tarot decks that have Swords associated with Fire and Wands with Air, rather than the more common Wands/Fire and Swords/Air.

Art Nouveau Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Art Nouveau Tarot by Matt Myers is decorated in a gorgeously coloured, vibrant (though rather eighties-looking), stained-glass style of imagery. The major arcana are reasonably traditional, while the minor arcana are unique in that they tell the story of four couples going through the trials and tribulations of life together.



Australian Animal Tarot  Open in New Window

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A wholly Australian tarot deck, each of the 78 cards in the Australian Animal Tarot has a different animal, bird, reptile or insect illustrated in lifelike detail. A gemstone and four keywords are also associated with each card. Suit elements have also been changed - Wands are Earth, Swords are Fire and Pentacles are Air.



Butler Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Butler Tarot is a fusion of traditional tarot imagery and modern digital techniques. The Rider-Waite system is loosely adopted but Swords are designated as fire and Wands as air. It was Chris Butler's first deck, designed for his personal use, and has now been revised and updated for a handmade self-published edition.



Celtic Dragon Tarot  Open in New Window

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Dragons are the theme of this deck and they appear on every card in the Celtic Dragon Tarot, with or without humans. The scenes are traditional tarot with a few changes - Swords are associated with Fire and Wands with Air.



Dante Tarot  Open in New Window

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Inspired and directed by the life and works of the medieval Italian poet Dante, who is perhaps best known for his Divine Comedy. The Dante Tarot is a stunning and unique tarot deck that has tranformed the traditional tarot symbols.



Dreampower Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Dreampower Tarot is a non-traditional deck for dreamworking and self-knowledge. It has no titles or text on the cards, only a thin white border to frame the gorgeous soft artwork.



Fantastical Creatures Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Fantastical Creatures Tarot has 78 cards of mythical creatures, fantasy animals and legendary races, painted in watercolours in Lisa Hunt's beautiful and detailed style. It's based on the Rider-Waite, but in this deck Swords are associated with Fire and Wands with Air.



Far Sight Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Far Sight Tarot is a beautifully detailed, original tarot deck from Australian artist Helen Meinicke. Filled with personal imagery and meaning, the scenes are local to her home town of Brisbane, Australia. The set, with cards and companion book, was published in first edition of 50 decks in 2006, and again in a limited edition in 2016.



Legend: Arthurian Tarot  Open in New Window

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As the title suggests, the Legend: Arthurian Tarot is based on the myth of the Dark Age King Arthur, and his fabled court at Camelot. Each card has misty artwork surrounded by a grey border, and corresponds to a character from the legend.



Medieval Enchantment: Nigel Jackson Tarot  Open in New Window

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Based on Medieval/Renaissance symbolism and Pythagorean numerology, the Nigel Jackson Tarot looks polished and authentic. Bear in mind it associates Swords with Fire and Wands with Air, but it's a deck worth adding to any tarot collection. Reprinted by Llewellyn in 2004 as the Medieval Enchantment: Nigel Jackson Tarot.



PoMo Tarot  Open in New Window

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The PoMo Taro by Brian Williams is only loosely associated with the traditional tarot archetypes, featuring renamed suits such as Bottles and Bills, and an interesting array of modern symbols. The art is simple, ink and watercolours.



Renaissance Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Renaissance Tarot deck has gorgeous artwork with touches of gold. All twelve deities of Olympus and several other Greek and Roman gods and demigods are pictured in the major arcana. The minor arcana are pips illustrated with small scenes from Greek mythology.



Shapeshifter Tarot  Open in New Window

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Shapeshifting is the taking on of animal identity during trance. The Shapeshifter Tarot is a beautifully mystical and expressive deck from a very talented artist, depicting a system with its roots in Paganism and European shamanism.



Ship of Fools Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Ship of Fools Tarot is a pen-and-ink tarot blending classical tarot symbolism with the illustrations and ideas of Das Narrenschiff (The Ship of Fools), a satiric medieval German poem warning against over 100 vices and follies.



The Talking Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Talking Tarot is an Australian deck of 78 cards, with imagery that is a mix of photography and computer collage. It's generally based on the Rider-Waite, but has unillustrated pip cards and Swords are linked with Fire and Wands with Air.



Whimsical Tarot  Open in New Window

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While based on fairy tales and nursery rhymes, the Whimsical Tarot is not just for children. Created by Dorothy Morrison and illustrated by Mary Hanson-Roberts, this is a friendly, cute, but not sickly sweet tarot deck.



Witches Tarot  Open in New Window

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A Pagan/Witch-friendly deck, the Witches Tarot has substitutions such as Pan for the Devil, and the Seeker as the Hermit. Knowledge of the Qabbalah would help interpretation, as each of the major arcana correspond to a place on the tree of life. The cards are painted and borderless.



Women's Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Women's Tarot has reasonably attractive cards with simple and slightly abstract paintings of female faces and figures. The white borders are very wide and some of the titles have been mis-translated, as seen on the Fool. The deck als has switched suit associations - Swords are Fire and Wands are Air.



Wormweird Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Wormweird Tarot is a true tarot of horror - there are few romantic gothic visions in this deck! Described as "an Absinthe-fulled descent into a Victorian never-land of plague, dark magick and monsters", the cards feature skeletons and piles of bones, ghosts, ghouls and more. The images were created using stage illusions and wax sculptures that were then photographed.



Zukunfts Tarot  Open in New Window

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The Zukunfts Tarot has fabulously attractive, magical major and court cards, but disappointingly plain suit cards. All cards have enormous white borders and the text and titles are printed in German.



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