This page is devoted to tarot decks that I either own or desire to own. My criteria are based almost purely on the art, with a few exceptions (for instance, as far as I know you will not find a single “Photoshopped” deck in here – I hate them with a passion); in fact, there are only two exceptions that I can think of right off. The Hanson-Roberts deck was my first, and is the one that I use on the rare occasion that I actually do a reading; and the Faery Wicca deck, which I would never even have looked at normally (based on the name alone!) gave a truly extraordinary reading when an experienced friend read it for me.

Most of the links that follow are to Aecletic Tarot because it’s easy and they have good card images.

[NOTE: If you actually want to learn something about tarot, I recommend starting with these links:

• Aeclectic Tarot
• Learn Tarot
• Mary K. Greer's tarot blog]

Tarot decks

• Mary Hanson-Roberts – This is my reading deck.
• Tarot Art Nouveau – This one I have.
• Art Nouveau Tarot – This one I don’t have, yet – but I love the stained-glass effect.
• Tarocco delle Vetrate (aka the “Stained Glass Tarot”) – Did I mention I love the stained-glass effect? I think I did.
• Olympus Tarot – I picked this up for reasons that seemed obvious at the time, but on further inspection I found that some of the associations were… a bit odd, and the art was not all I could have hoped for. Overall, for a Classical mythology themed deck I prefer the next one…
• Renaissance Tarot – A mythology deck done right. There is also a companion book written by the artist (Brian Williams).
• Buddha Tarot – This is just a phenomenal deck by Robert M. Place, creator of several other decks that I’m oddly not interested in (except his Vampire Tarot and eventual Pre-Raphaelite deck, both of which you can see elsewhere on the linked site). If you get this deck, DO be sure to get the companion book – it’s worth it for the introductory essay alone, and to see the rather remarkable parallels he draws between the story of the Buddha and the seeker’s journey as laid out in the major arcana.
• Gothic Tarot
• Fenestra Tarot
• Haindl Tarot – I was completely not interested in this deck online, but the moment I held it I knew I had to have it. This is an incredibly dense and compelling deck, and I know that I have only barely begun to scratch the surface.
• Old English Tarot – I waffle about this one.
• Pagan Tarot – This one, too.
• Tarot of the Thousand and One Nights – Ooooh. Pretty.
• Tarot of the Secret Forest – I would have to hold this deck. On the surface it just looks sort of weird, but I suspect that in person it might have the same impact that the Haindl deck did…
• Lunatic Tarot – Could be great in person.
• Faery Wicca – Who’dathunkit?
• Whimsical Tarot – A delightful fairytale deck by Mary Hanson-Roberts; I’m hoping my daughter will become interested enough to pick this deck up some time soon.
• Fairytale Tarot – A radically different approach to the same basic concept.
• Chinese Tarot – I’m not normally big on “cultural” decks – the Egyptian Tarot and Ukiyo-E Tarot, for instance, leave me cold – but this art in this deck is exceptional.

Non-Tarot decks

• Brian Froud – The Faeries’ Oracle – This was the first deck that I bought entirely for the art.
• Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards
• Celtic Tree Oracle – What can I say? It reminds me of woodcuts – I like woodcuts a lot.
• Fortune Teller’s Mah Jongg Cards
• Druid Animal Oracle – I have this.
• Druid Plant Oracle – Don’t have this one yet.
• Green Man Tree Oracle – The last of my Will Worthington trilogy…

“Adult” decks – There are a small handful of erotic tarots out there that I actually find attractive rather than vulgar… I make no excuses for including these decks – if you don’t want to see them, don’t look.

• Tarot of Casanova – The prettiest of the lot.
• Manara: the Erotic Tarot – Milo Manara has a wicked sense of humor.
• Decameron Tarot – This deck sometimes veers over the line into vulgarity, but most of the cards I’ve seen have a strong Rabelaisian flavor that works beautifully.
• Black Tarot – The art of Luis Royo.