Eastern Cards

Eastern Tarot cards and decks with a strong Eastern or Oriental theme. Featuring Arabian, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian or Tibetan cultures and symbols.

Buddha Tarot The Buddha Tarot links the Tarot trumps and the story of Siddhartha on his journey for enlightenment. The minor arcana suits are Vajras, Jewels, Double Vajras and Lotuses. Created by Robert M. Place, who also created the Tarot of the Saints and the Alchemical Tarot.

China Tarot The China Tarot is a re-release of the Chinese-published Der-Jen Tarot by Lo Scarabeo. The majors are rather beautiful atmospheric paintings, and the minors are similiar in feel but feature Chinese suit emblems instead of illustrated scenes.

Chinese Tarot Very pretty, traditional Oriental artwork is used in the Chinese Tarot, combined with a mix of Rider-Waite style and unique Tarot symbolism. Both the major and minor arcana have fully-illustrated cards. Now out of print.

Dragon Oracle The Dragon Oracle is based on Chinese astrology and has 36 cards. The cards are illustrated with significant animals with astrological associations, and the Chinese character for that animal.

Feng Shui Tarot A colourful and finely illustrated synthesis Tarot and Feng Shui, the Chinese system of environment arrangement. The biggest change in the Feng Shui Tarot from a 'standard' tarot are the suits, which are now Black Tortoise, Red Phoenix, White Tiger and Green Dragon instead of Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles, and it can be difficult to get to used to.

Fengshen Tarot The Fengshen Tarot was billed as China's first tarot deck, and is based on the story of Houshin Engi, a classical epic about the rise of the Zhou dynasty. It has beautiful major arcana and courts, but the numbered cards are non-scenic.

Fortune Teller's Mah Jongg Using the Chinese game of Mahjongg as a basis for an oracle, this Fortune Teller's Mah Jongg deck is very large (over 140 cards) and has authentic looking oriental artwork. The cards are divided into four 'decks' with three suits each, seven honours cards and eight guardian cards.

Golden Dragon Tarot The Golden Dragon Tarot is a deck of 78 cards, fully illustrated with pretty - but perhaps not historically accurate - scenes from ancient China and Chinese culture. The major arcana have been retitled to suit the theme.

I Ching Cards A functional but boring oracle deck, which shows only the layout of the I Ching sticks, the associated Chinese character and a few English words on a white background. The back of each of the 64 cards has a more in-depth look at the meanings.

I Ching Tarot A game of divination and discovery, the I Ching Tarot is not a Tarot deck despite the name. The cards number 1 to 64, reversals are ignored and there is no major or minor arcana.

Javanese Folktales Tarot The Javanese Folktales Tarot draws its inspiration from the legends and stories of the cultural melting-pot of Java, an island in Indonesia. The 22 cards show elegant, masked figures and stylised scenery. Now published in a limited edition by Adam McLean.

Kama Sutra Cards The Kama Sutra Cards, subtitled the Positions of Love, are an Italian-published deck. The art has soft watercolour images, of a more romantic than sexual style than the title suggests.

Kamasutra Tarot The Kamasutra Tarot is based on the "textbook of desire" best known as a catalogue of sexual positions. The cards are indeed graphic, but are intended to reflect fourth century attitudes towards sex rather than modern Western views. The imagery across the cards is also deliberately repetitive, so that the subtle cues of posture and body language of the couple are more obvious.

Karma Oracle The Karma Oracle is a 33 card divination oracle, representing ancient Indian gods and goddesses. The cards are very brightly coloured and patterned.

Kitsune Tarot The Kitsune Tarot pictures the mythical creatures known in Japan as kitsune. They are multi-tailed tricksters, combining immortality and a youthful outlook, playfulness and hidden wisdom. The deck is still in progress.

Lebanese Tarot The Lebanese Tarot sprang from the artist's love of her country, and desire to pass on the Lebanese tradition and folklore through her detailed paintings. The deck is majors only and has 22 luminous, realistically painted cards.

Lorland Chen Tarot The Lorland Chen Tarot is a majors-only deck from China, published as a limited edition of 300 copies. The art is atmospheric, part anime and part fantasy novel, and is titled in English.

Lunatic Tarot The Lunatic Tarot has 78 cards with expressive, artistic character illustrations in brownish hues. On the back is the corresponding card from the Rider-Waite and its title in English. The large size 'portfolio' edition - approximately five by ten inches - has cards bound together with thin, tearable plastic binding, but can be separated for use. Now also available in a regular card-sized edition with titles in English and Chinese.

Manga Tarot This Manga Tarot is a a deck connected with the Eastern imagination, as illustrated in the comics known as manga. It has attractive artwork which is in the manga/anime style (but not exaggeratedly so), and the symbolism is fairly recognisable. There is one significant change however - cards that traditionally showed a man now show a woman, and vice versa.

Miracle Tarot The Miracle Tarot is Japanese deck, despite the English titles on the cards. The artwork is a smooth blend of styles with a distinct Japanese look to the characters.

National Geographic Tarot The National Geographic Tarot was published in China, presumably to accompany National Geographic magazine. It has photographic images with recognisable Tarot symbolism, created by pretty models holding props and posed in elaborate costumes.

Ravenswood Eastern Tarot The colours in the Ravenswood Eastern Tarot are simple - black line drawings on plain white - but the theme is exotic and mixes tarot symbols with Middle Eastern art. The deck is meant to be coloured by the user.

Roots of Asia Tarot A tranquil and beautiful Buddhist tarot deck. The otherworldly art in the Roots of Asia Tarot was created by Thai artist Amnart Klanprachar and aims 'to be a wonderful passage to spiritual realization'.

Royal Thai Tarot The Royal Thai Tarot has been created for fortune-telling by Thai Tarot reader, collector and enthusiast, Sungkom Horharin. The authentic artwork (unfortunately limited to the major and court cards) has been created by Thai artists and honours the art, culture, history and religion of Thailand.

Rumi Tarot The Rumi Tarot is based on Sufi traditions as interpreted by the medieval Persian mystic, Rumi. Created and meticulously painted by Nigel Jackson, who also was the author and artist of the Nigel Jackson Tarot.

Samurai Tarot The Samurai Tarot is a themed deck based around the samurai tradition of feudal Japan. It has non-standard tarot imagery on the 78 cards, and detailed comic-style watercolour illustrations.

Secret Dakini Oracle A tantric oracle deck with Eastern-looking collage artwork and Hindu references. The Secret Dakini Oracle's symbolism draws from many different cultures, as a tantra is a magical path, and there are many different paths.

Siamese Tarot The Siamese Tarot is essentially a version of the Rider-Waite with Thai imagery, symbols, costumes and people. It has 78 borderless cards about 7cm x 10.5cm in size, plus 2 extra cards with keyword card meanings. The deck is unfortunately difficult to obtain outside of Thailand.

Tantra Tarot The Tantra Tarot features colourful and complex imagery taken from east Indian art and miniatures in its major and court cards. Many of them show deities or erotic scenes, while the suit cards are decorative pip cards. Published in Germany.

Tantric Dakini Oracle The Tantric Dakini Oracle is a set of 65 cards with collages of surrealistic images, based on teaching of the Eastern Tantric tradition. The cards were formerly published as the Secret Dakini Oracle.

TAO Oracle The Tao Oracle is a visual approach to the I Ching, in 64 cards. The cards are lovely, as you'd expect from Ma Dava Padma, who also created the Osho Zen Tarot.

Tarot du Roy Nissanka The Tarot du Roy Nissanka is a French deck based upon the myths of the medieval Sri Lankan king Nissanka. Only major cards have scenes, and the card titles and booklet are in French only.

Tarot of the Magical Forest The Tarot of the Magical Forest is a bizarre journey through a world of strange-but-cute animals and characters in eye-catching Rider-Waite based illustrations. First published in Taiwan by Taiwanese artist Leo Tang, it's also been re-published by Lo Scarabeo with their standard borders.

Tarot of the Rishis The Tarot of the Rishis is a solely Hindu tarot deck with round cards. A Hindu deity is associated witheach of the major arcana, though the minors are the normal suits of Cups, Swords, Pentacles and Wands. Still in-progress, this deck is unfortunately not yet available.

Tarot of the Thousand and One Nights The Tarot of the Thousand and One Nights is inspired by the Arabian folktales reputed to be the work of Scheherazade. The art is finely detailed with thick, ornate borders around each scene.

Tarot Wayang The Tarot Wayang is an unusual tarot based on wayang kulit, Indonesion shadow puppet performances, and designed to introduce tarot to an Indonesian audience.

The 5 Keys to Happiness Oracle The 5 Keys to Happiness Oracle has 34 cards in five 'suits' that Tibetan elements of Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and Space. The cards have a central illustration with an Eastern feel, and large printed keywords on each card.

Tibetan Gemstone Oracle These large oracle cards combine Buddhist symbolism and gemstone photographs. There are five suits of eight cards in the Tibetan Gemstone Oracle, each standing for aspects of earth, air, fire, water and etheric, plus five 'skandha' cards.

Ukiyoe Tarot The Ukiyoe Tarot adapts Marseille symbolism into a Japanese style deck, with traditionally dressed figures on the Major Arcana, and undecorated minor arcana. Now out of print.