Only 10 mass market tarot decks, a video response

Hello and welcome. I’m Cosette. I usually write about tarot and other subjects, but seeing all the amazing Tarot Tube videos of this hashtag inspired me to give this a try.

Theia at Garden Goddess Tarot and Meg at Rose Honey Ritual started the hashtag #Only10MassMarketDecks, and when it comes to tarot, video is a fun way to show the cards.

So, if I was travelling to a deserted island and could only take ten mass market decks, here are the tarot decks I would take.

CBD Tarot de Marseille by Yoav Ben-Dov (U.S. Games)

The first one is the CBD Tarot de Marseille by Yoav Ben-Dov. I love the Tarot de Marseille, and the CBD is one of my favourites. It’s such a beautiful, elegant restoration of the Conver deck published in 1760. I love the colours, and I love how clean it is, the lines. It’s just a gorgeous, gorgeous deck.

Dr Ben-Dov published his CBD tarot independently, and sadly he died in 2016. U.S. Games now publishes it, and I see it often in stores, and I think it’s a beautiful, affordable, and accessible option for people looking to learn more about the Tarot de Marseille.

I have both versions of the deck. The cardstock of the U.S. Games version is thicker, which is good. It makes for a sturdier deck, and I don’t notice any difference in the artwork.

Of course, it comes with a little white booklet, but if you really want to dive into it, I recommend getting Dr Ben-Dov’s own book on Tarot de Marseille (Tarot – the Open Reading).

The Book of Thoth by Etteilla (Lo Scarabeo)

Next is the Book of Thoth by Etteilla, published by Lo Scarabeo. I love this deck because it’s beautiful and different from modern tarot decks, with its numbers 1 through 78 and the Fool being 78. It has this structure that begins with Creation with Chaos, then the Virtues, and finally, we get to some of those more familiar cards like the Devil, the Magician, and Judgement. I love the Death card, and I think it’s absolutely beautiful.

I love this deck so much, and I have other versions of it. Tarot by Seven uses Etteilla imagery in her Tarot of the Bastard, and I love that deck. I have the Samhain version, and it’s one of my favourites as well.

Rider-Waite-Smith (U.S. Games)

No tarot list of mine would be complete without a Rider-Waite-Smith, this classic by A.E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith, or Pixie.

I have about 20 different Pixie decks–blue boxes, yellow boxes, U.S. Games, Lo Scarabeo, and so forth. And if I can only keep or recommend one mass-market version that is currently available, it’s this one: the Centennial Edition by U.S. Games.

I love the softer colours of the Centennial and Pixie’s original lettering. The Centennial Edition has extra cards to show Pixie’s artwork.

If you can, spring for the Commemorative Set, which includes a couple of books, some prints, and some other goodies in a keepsake case. And I also like the Centennial Tarot Deck in a Tin. It’s the one I tend to carry with me when I’m on the go.

Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris (U.S. Games)

Next on my list is the Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley and painted by Lady Frieda Harris. This is also from U.S. Games, and there are several versions of the Thoth Tarot. I have a pocket-sized version, but I like this large one because I can see the art better, and that is my favourite thing about this deck.

I love the art. I love how dynamic and alive this deck feels, like the sense of motion in it; I just love it. This Death card is one of my favourite representations of Death in the tarot. I love the colours. I love the sense of movement. The sense of motion is just fantastic. I love the art of the Thoth Tarot.

The Golden Dawn Magical Tarot by Chic Cicero and Tabatha Cicero (Llewellyn)

This is the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot by Chic Cicero and Tabatha Cicero. This one is by Llewellyn.

I’m not a serious, deep student of the Golden Dawn or the Qabalah, but I have a deep appreciation for this deck. I consider it one of my “level-up” decks. This is a deck that expands my knowledge, not only of the tarot but also of the tarot as a tool for personal work, not just divination. I love the intense deep colours, the flashing colours; it’s another really dynamic tarot deck.

I can’t say that this tarot comes with a little white booklet; it comes with a full-size book–an excellent book that tells you a lot about this tarot and gives a really solid introduction to the Golden Dawn and the Qabalah.

Robin Wood Tarot by Robin Wood (Llewellyn)

Next is the Robin Wood Tarot by Robin Wood, published by Llewellyn.

I love this Magician card and this High Priestess card, and this Empress card, and I could go on and on. This is a deck that I bought for myself in the early years of my tarot journey. I was a teenage Pagan, and I really appreciated that this deck minimised the heavy Christian symbolism that is in the Rider-Waite-Smith. I liked the earthier approach of this tarot and its use of symbols and images that were familiar to me, that still are familiar to me as a Pagan.

It’s a bright and deep deck, but it still has a softness to it that I really, really like. And I don’t know; this is one of those decks that just has a special spot in my heart even though I don’t even use it very much anymore.

Of course, it comes with a little white booklet, and there’s also this book. I don’t know if this is still in print, but if it is, I recommend getting this along with the deck.

The Mythic Tarot by Juliet Sharman Burke and Liz Greene (Simon and Schuster)

This is the Mythic Tarot by Juliet Sharman Burke and Liz Greene, published by Simon and Schuster.

So this deck, I think, was first published in the late 1980s and has been re-illustrated since then. My deck is old, so if you were to go out and buy a brand-new one today, it wouldn’t look exactly like this one.

This deck is based on Greek mythology and depicts Greek goddesses and gods, and heroes in the cards. I love the Greek pantheon, and I love Greek mythology, so this is one of my favourite decks, and I use this one quite a lot.

Each of the suits tells a famous Greek myth. For example, the Swords is the story of Orestes after he kills his mother Clytemnestra, and the Erinyes pursue him. Apollo is there, and Athena steps in.

It comes with a book that explains the myths and everything in the cards. There’s also the Mythic Tarot Workbook, which I suppose must have been sold separately, but I don’t remember. I’m not even sure if this is still in print.

Dame Fortune’s Wheel Tarot by Paul Huson (Lo Scarabeo)

This is Dame Fortune’s Wheel Tarot by Paul Huson, published by Lo Scarabeo. This is one of my all-time favourite tarot decks.

A simple way to describe it would be to say that it’s like Tarot de Marseille, but there’s so much more to it than that. This deck has images that recall historical Italian and French tarot decks and playing card patterns. It’s Tarot de Marseille, but it’s a bit of Etteilla. It’s got some history. It’s got mythology. It’s got scenes that recall mediaeval illustrations.

It’s beautiful. I love the intense, bold colours. I love this face on the Devil’s body. The pips recall Tarot de Marseille, but they’re fully illustrated. And this deck is so readable. It has a lot to say. I’m surprised I don’t hear more about it.

It comes with a little white booklet. Oh yeah, and it comes with an extra card, the Significator. And there’s also a PDF out there on the internet, and I think this book is sold separately.

Tarot de Carlotydes by Carlota Santos (Fournier)

This is the Tarot de Carlotydes by Carlota Santos, a Spanish illustrator. It’s published by Fournier. You can see it has the titles in English and Spanish.

This is the most whimsical tarot deck in my collection. I tend to go more for historical decks and Rider-Waite-Smith decks, but I couldn’t resist this deck; it’s just so playful. I love this Death card; it’s just so gorgeous. I love the colour palette and the pop culture references.

It’s a beautiful deck. Very, very pretty and very sweet. The deck is also smaller than standard tarot decks, so I like how it feels in my hands. I find it easy to shuffle and easy to handle.

It comes with a little white booklet, and that’s my only complaint about this deck. It has about a paragraph of a description for each card in multiple languages. And what’s missing here is a statement from the artist. I would have really liked to have heard more about how the artist came up with these images, what she was thinking, and what her process was like.

The Wild Unknown by Kim Krans (Harper Collins)

And last but not least is the Wild Unknown by Kim Krans. This is the version by Harper Collins. Of course, this was a famous Kickstarter, and I didn’t get it back then. I didn’t get this deck for many, many years. I didn’t really like it that much. It didn’t speak to me very much. Like, I couldn’t tell how, you know, a tree was an Emperor, but this deck has helped me grow as a tarot reader.

It has challenged me to look at the tarot in a different way, and so I have a deep appreciation for it, and I find myself reaching for it more and more. I really do like it a lot. I like the artwork. I like the lines. I like the use of colour, and I like the way the deck feels in my hands as well. And this Death card is so beautiful.

It comes with this folded page of descriptions. And there’s also a guidebook. I don’t remember if I bought this separately. Maybe I did.

And that’s it. Those are my Only 10 Mass Market Decks. Questions, feedback–let me know in the comments below. And if you enjoyed this video, hit that like button, and subscribe. Maybe I’ll make another video one day.