Reddit mentions: The best divination books

More or less, yes. There are a lot of great resources out there. I did have a friend who read them, but even though she got me into them, I really taught myself.

First, discard any and all nonsense about "you have to be gifted your deck" or "you have to bury your old deck in the ground." It's bull, really. A lot of Tarot "myths" like that are, mostly born from traditions passed down, I imagine. But you can absolutely buy your own deck, and used decks too. It's a great way to see if you like a style of deck without dropping a ton of money for nothing.

Some people recommend never reading for yourself, while others swear that they can only read themselves. In reality? Read for whoever you want.

The main thing is to realize that Tarot really is what you make of it. So many people have so many ideas of what it is, from communing with spirits/collective unconscious/gods, to psychology and Jungian archetypes, and I don't think any one way is right or wrong. Tarot is Tarot, whatever that means to you.

There are also a lot of decks out there. "Tarot" isn't limited to just Tarot; there's actually a lot of different types of cartomancy out there, like Lenormand and Oracle cards. I don't know Lenormand myself, and am only beginning on working with an Oracle deck.

And then you have different types of Tarot itself: Thoth Tarot decks and similar ones, mostly "invented" by Aleister Crowley; Rider-Waite/Rider-Waite-Smith decks, sometimes called RWS, commissioned by the Order of the Golden Dawn; historical decks, based off the tarrochi card game popular in the Renaissance; and some decks just barely following a Tarot deck and pretty much created by the author. None of them are better than another, it's all just based off of what you like and what you feel drawn to/comfortable with.

For good or for bad, there are many, many resources out there. Always critically examine what you're reading from.

Aecletic Tarot is a good first stop. Not only does it have listings of decks, from popular to rare, with pictures and sometimes reviews, but it has a lively forum section where you can find just about anything related to Tarot there.

Biddy Tarot is a site I have used in the past. Careful, though, it seems that they have been promoting their online Tarot course more and more. I've never taken it, so I can't say whether its bad or good, but I always feel a little wary about Tarot courses. I feel like you never know what kind of instructor you'd get -- there are some people out there who are a little too... "fluffy bunny" as it can be said at times. That is to say: no scholarship or scholarship based on poorly-researched books, often promoting an unbalanced and inaccurate worldview on the Roma people or Wiccans or anything else. I digress: if you stick to the free parts of the site with card meanings and spreads, its pretty good, and generally the first place I hit when I can't quite get the feel of a card.

Next, there's always reddit's very own /r/tarot. It's not terribly active, but there's good people there. Ask questions, read what is posted, and you can learn a lot. Everyone has different opinions, though, so keep that in mind. And plenty of people trade free readings there, so it's a good place to practice as well!

There are some wonderful Youtube channels out there as well. I'd like to link you this one in particular, because it's a great place to start learning how to discern sources. I also love Rose from The Cackling Moon, and she has a great Tumblr blog that could point you to a ton of good diviners there as well.

As for actual books, I had some around here, but its been so long since I read them that I don't know where they've gotten to. I know one was Tarot for Dummies, which was okay for a start. The other was Complete Book of Tarot Spreads, which I'd peg at intermediate. (That's probably the level I'm on myself). One I want but have yet to get is Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack. Again, Aecletic Tarot has a good list going, and you can always ask /r/tarot for their favorite books as well.

A few tips for getting your first deck:

• As I said above, there are so many out there, so pick one you like the best. That said, most resources out there are for Rider-Waite-Smith decks and their clones, so you might find that its easier to start out with in that. But there are a lot of varieties out there, so find a pretty one that draws you in. You'll be spending a long time studying them. For that matter, if you find one and don't "click," try another. I've had several different decks over the year, including one that I really ended up hating. I have one of my original RWS decks that I mainly read with, and it suits me just fine even after all these years.
  
  
• The Little White Book (often referred to affectionately as LWB) is good for starting out, but can seriously hold you back. It's just simple keywords and phrases that can be associated with the cards, but honestly you'll find that there's so much more than what can be expressed in a few words, especially when you take in a whole context of a spread.
  
  
• Conversely, don't be afraid to reach for resources when you do a reading. Seriously, don't put pressure on yourself to memorize all 78 card's meanings. Sometimes going through a couple different sources can a meaning stand out to you, especially when you start looking at the card less individually and more in combinations.
  
  
• Keep a journal. Write down your spreads and your interpretations of them. Not only will you be able to look back and see what you found was right, but you'll find common themes in certain cards or card combinations.
  
  
• Cards have different symbolism for different people. Sure, they may have general themes, such as The Tower being a card of disaster or sudden change, but we can all have an opinion or feeling of a card all our own. I highly recommend writing your thoughts on different cards down in your journal too: what jumps out at you, what you didn't notice at first glance, how the card makes you feel. Eventually, you'll impart your own meanings onto them.
  
  
• Don't be afraid of certain cards, though. Media likes to play up cards like Death or The Devil, but they aren't evil or scary, and they don't mean your going to die or get possessed by the devil or anything. Generally, the meanings are symbolic: Death is an ending (or sometimes, a new beginning), and the Devil can mean you let your passions and vices control you.
  
  
• No matter what they cards say, they are changeable. In fact, often the point of Tarot reading is to see where you are now and if you don't do anything, where you'll end up. It's generally a tool for great self-reflection more than predicting anything concrete in the future, I've found.
  
  
• After you've been reading for a while and shuffling your deck (regular card shuffling is okay, but the method doesn't really matter as long as they're shuffled well) and you find it getting difficult to read the cards, try putting them in "order" like it was freshly out of the box. It's kind of a reset button. I don't know if its psychological or "magical" but it works for me. There's lots of ways to "cleanse" a deck, though, so do what you feel is best.
  
  
• This one may be a tad advanced, but I feel like I should say something on it: research Tarot ethics. This is a big one when you start reading for other people. Ask yourself: what kind of questions would you be comfortable answering to the best of your ability? Generally, most readers avoid medical questions (including pregnancy-related) and legal ones, and many avoid reading about third parties without permission out of respect. And if there's a less than pleasant implication in the cards, how would you handle that? Would you tell the truth? What would you do if they reacted negatively? What would happen if they disregard it, it came to pass, and blamed you? It's a lot to consider. If you just read for yourself, obviously that's not a big deal, but keep it in mind if you ever read for someone else.
  
  Last but not least, I have to comment on your username... I love pugs! Sadly, the last pug in the family, my grandma's old guy, was put down tonight. I'm going to miss him, but it was his time to go to rest.
  
  Good luck with your journey into Tarot. I hope it pans out well for you, and that I was in some way helpful :)

I've been studying Tarot and western mysticism for over 2 decades. My recommendation is that you ignore all the fancy decks out there and pick up some version of the Rider-Waite. It isn't the prettiest, but it's the one that almost EVERY deck for the past 100 years has been based on. If you can read a Rider-Waite, then you can read anything. Someone suggested the Marseille deck (of which there were a few from the 18th c. onwards), but I wouldn't recommend starting out with an older style deck like that. Older decks (Marseille, JJ Swiss, Visconti-Sforza etc.) were designed for Game Play - NOT divination. They don't have handy titles or pictures on the minor arcana (number/suit/pip cards).

Some decks you might consider:

Standard Rider-Waite. Can't get any easier than this.

Quick and Easy Tarot. This one has the meanings printed right on the cards! Easy to learn from, and based on Rider-Waite.

Golden Dawn tarot. This one was my favorite for a while. The colors are nicer than Rider-Waite, but it's still a traditional deck, and all the cards have titles and additional symbolism (Astrological/Qabalistic) so they're easier to read and remember.

B.O.T.A. deck. This one comes in black-and-white. You're supposed to color your own cards! I've used the link that includes the book with coloring instructions/descriptions. You can buy the cards by themselves here. Following the traditional (Qabalistic) color scheme and coloring your own (with markers, colored pencils, or maybe watercolors) will help you learn and remember them better.

Regarding the influence of Qabalah on modern decks, it's VERY hard to find a modern deck without it. A.E. Waite was a member of the Golden Dawn (19th c. Hermetic order), and they're largely responsible for the popular appeal of modern Qabalah-influenced decks. They drew on several 18th-19th c. sources (Levi, Etteilla, Court de Gebelin etc.) and put it all together into the tarot we know and use today.

Some books that may be helpful:

Mystical Origins of the Tarot. This is a very good book that talks about the history of the cards, all the way back to the 14th c. Extremely insightful. You can read this on Scribd, btw.

Qabalistic Tarot. The best book on how modern tarot fits onto the Tree of Life, and how the symbolism describes states of consciousness and aspects of Qabalah. When you're ready to scratch below the surface and use your cards for meditation, this book will help you.

This may be a good book to help you get started. I haven't read it, but it gets good reviews.

Related-topic: if you enjoy playing cards, I highly recommend trying out the traditional Tarot games that make use of either modern French or German style decks (which look like modified normal playing cards with extra cards) or older decks such as the JJ Swiss, Marseille, or even Lo Scarabeo's Ancient Italian Deck. Tarot games are quite fun! You can't use a divination deck for them, though. European or Italian folk games such as Scopa and Briscola are also quite fun, and they make use of decks that are distant cousins to Tarot. This link will explain other tarot type games if you're interested.

Anyway, I hope that helps you make sense of the Tarot. Go with Rider-Waite to start, and take your time. There's a lot to learn!

update: given how many people have shown an interest in tarot from this post, here's a quick rundown *(and I'm by no means an expert so don't hesitate to add or correct me if I'm wrong)*:

one of my friends did a reading on me a few months ago, and I felt more seen in those 10 minutes than I have in years of prayer and priesthood blessings — this is not going to work for everyone but if you're like me and looking for a healthy replacement for Mormonism but not too interested in organized formal religion, it's worth checking out.

for those who know nothing about tarot:

there are normally 78 cards in a deck (basically a 52-card deck but the suits are different, plus each suit has a knight as well making 56, plus 22 major arcana). each card represents a different message, and when you shuffle and arrange the cards in certain ways (called "spreads"), it spells out a story that can be used to tell the future or divine supernatural knowledge (it's believed that shuffling the cards allows supernatural forces to pull out specific cards so you get the message they want you to get), or for me it's just a nice helpful secular meditation practice that I do about once a week or so.

I bought the Smith-Waite deck (link to Amazon), which is very standard and most tarot decks are based on it — but you can get really any deck that appeals to you. they're all the same 78 cards, just different art which helps you look at the messages in the cards in different ways.

I also have Book of Tarot by Danielle Noel, which is a very helpful guide to beginners to tarot. she herself definitely believes in it as a supernatural way to access divine truth, but she also is good about allowing people to take her resource as seriously or casually as they want.

for people who are even more casual about it: the Golden Thread app (on iOS and Android) is a helpful resource, both for helping the reader understand their cards, or also for a digital reading in case the person doesn't have access to a deck.

some of the responders on my post have offered to do readings via internet — I'd rather do so in person, but if you're ever in Provo/Orem area don't hesitate to message me (I'm new to Reddit and not sure how to open my messages) and I'd love to meet up for a in-person tarot reading.

Oh man, I have opinions lol So I've been collecting decks for about a decade now and have 13 total. I'll just unload... I hope this is helpful!

My all time favorite, the Mythic Tarot (all greek mythology), is super inaccessible though, unfortunately, but it was the one that I grew up with by some fluke of a chance and when I finally got it for myself (and for under $100 which is very rare) I about lost my mind. There's a new version of it with the same overall stories and art but the art style has greatly changed and it just can't hold a candle to the original.

My second favorite is the Wild Unknown. It's beautiful and boy oh boy is she rude. Sometimes you might notice after fiddling with a variety of decks that they'll have a bit of personality and this one pulls no punches in my experience and even for a few of my freinds who have the deck. Plus it's just a really stunning deck.

Another beautiful deck is the Linestrider. Watercolors. Like the gentle version of Wild Unknown. My Rider-Waite is the Pamela Colman Smith commemorative version and has really lovely back and vivid colors. Rider-Waite is easily the most recognizable of the decks and is very accessible. Also honorable mentions, since they're just beautiful decks: Wildwood, Mucha, Ostara (gilded edges!), and the Halloween Tarot.

1. Mythic
   
2. The Wild Unknown *
   
3. Halloween
   
4. Rider-Waite *
   
5. Ostara *
   
6. Wildwood
   
7. Mucha
   
8. Linestrider *
   
9. Welcome to Night Vale
   
10. Raven's Prophecy (Raven Cycle)
    
11. Zombies
    
12. Marseille
    
13. New Mythic
    
    * - I think these would be particularly good for a first deck
    
    ​
    
    EDIT: If there's any these particular decks you'd like to see pictures of, let me know! I'll see what I can do. :)

Whenever I saw the Mystical Manga deck at the bookstore, I would just glance at it briefly, but never felt drawn to it. Recently though, I was feeling nostalgic about youth, and someone somewhere in this sub really encouraged people to give this deck a chance. I looked up the actual cards online and BAM, I felt this instant connection to it!!! Honestly, it's such a beautiful beauuutiful deck and the answers I asked it during the interview were super accurate and interesting.

I think the outside box did not give the cards justice, but hey don't judge a book by its cover. I can't wait to use it more and it's very easy to read because it has a lot of RWC elements...but still is its own magical masterpiece without being a replica! Please give this deck a look :) Especially if you were/are into anime/manga!

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Mystical-Manga-Tarot-Barbara-Moore/dp/073875353X

My favorite cards that I could look at for hours: https://imgur.com/a/4J3rcol

If you really want to dig into this buy a Thoth Tarot deck, Crowley's book, and probably also Duquette's book to give you a good primer on Crowley.

Modern Tarot decks are visual representations of the Tree Of Life because almost all modern decks are based on either the Rider-Waite-Smith deck or the Thoth Deck. Waite and Crowley were members of the Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn which used the tarot as a tool for learning Kaballah(among other things). I'm suggesting the Thoth because it's better in almost every way and you will really appreciate the artwork. The small cards are the sephiroths (ace=kether, 2=chokmah... 10=malkuth, the suit of wands represents the tree of life in the kabbalistic world of atziluth(the classical element fire and the first Yod in the Tetragrammaton) etc...) and the major arcana represent the 22 paths between the sephiroths(Atu 0 The Fool connects Kether and Chokhmah, Atu 1 The Magus connect Kether and Binah, etc...). Here is some of the artwork The Magus, The Universe, The Ace Of Cups. The cards will give you more to meditate on then you could possibly get through in a single lifetime.

Also Malkuth means Kingdom and is related to the physical world. The Knowledge and Conversation Of The Holy Guardian Angel is attributed Tipheret.

I'm glad to see some conversation about the occult on here. I don't think anyone would argue that all occult and mystical practices arise from the type of shamanism the people in this forum practice. The two types of approaches go great together whether you are into Kabballah, Buddhism, Daoism, or any other system.

The Tree Of Life is just a map created by people who have been there before. It might be fun to just storm off into the wilderness without knowing where you are going, but your chances of finding something interesting will increase greatly with the help. I've had great luck performing a little ritual where I get into a trance, take a hit of hash, invoke one of the cards, and experience it's energy. It's much more powerful than just taking a drug to see what will happen and all kinds of interesting synchronicities will start appearing in your life.

Good luck! If you have any questions I can try to answer them.

The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot - Ever!! by Dusty White is an awesome book that helps a lot of people. I think most people shuffle the deck between each use, but it's entirely up to you. You can shuffle as many times as you like, lay down as many cards as you like (1 card readings are a thing too). It's really up to you!

As for tips, I would practice with the cards without looking up the meanings just yet. Your own interpretations of the cards will always be most accurate for you, and if you learn the textbook meanings first it's hard to shake those as a beginner when you're trying to intuitively read them at the same time. I would maybe even consider writing down what the cards mean to you and then you can start learning textbook meanings and see how you feel about them. Tarot journaling is a great way to do it too, just writing down everything you see in each card one at a time.

A good exercise is to pull 3 cards and read them like a story from one side to the next, then flip those around and read them in different orders. You can also read them in a simple 3 card spread of your choosing, like Past-Present-Future or Me-Them-Us, etc.

Also, do readings for everything as practice. Do a spread each morning for the coming day, at night, ask about your dreams, ask about school, work, your friends, etc. The more you practice, the better you'll get and the more you'll understand what the cards are trying to tell you.

Let me know if you have any more questions! :)

"Modern" is a pretty broad category -- it would help to know more about what kind of art style you're looking for. For example, are you hoping for something that's more minimalist, or detailed? colorful, or monochrome? digitally drawn, or painted? focused on figures, or more inventive with imagery?

That said, here are some decks in a pretty wide variety of styles that come to mind when I think "modern art." I personally own the first six decks on this list and can vouch that I like them; the rest I don't own but I know other people like them.

• The Light Grey Tarot
  
  
• The Cosmos Tarot & Oracle
  
  
• The Body Language Tarot
  
  
• The Fountain Tarot
  
  
• The Dark Goddess Tarot
  
  
• One of my all-time favorite decks, a feminist classic Thea's Tarot is apparently getting a second printing soon! Maybe not in time for your friend's gift, but perhaps for the future.
  
  
• The Book of Shadows Tarot, Volume 1: As Above and Volume 2: So Below
  
  
• The Wild Unknown Tarot
  
  
• The Wooden Tarot
  
  
• The Prisma Visions Tarot
  
  
• The Linestrider Tarot
  
  
• The Wanderer's Tarot: Solar Edition and Midnight Edition
  
  
• The Golden Thread Tarot
  
  
• The Illuminated Tarot (note that this is a playing-card style deck with 53 cards instead of 78)
  
  
• Dame Darcy's Mermaid Tarot
  
  
• The Prismatic Tarot
  
  
• The Ethereal Visions Illuminated Tarot (I'm including this even though Art Deco is decidedly not modern because it is very different from the traditional RWS style, so your friend might like it anyway)
  
  
• I don't know of any specifically videogame/media themed decks, but The Steampunk Tarot does come to mind as being up that alley, thematically.
  
  I have to stop here otherwise I'll just keep on going, lol, I love talking about different tarot decks. So I'll just leave you with a note that there are lots of items in the Little Red Tarot shop that might interest you.
  
  Hope this helps!

Personally speaking, I use the Crowley Thoth deck. You are probably on the right track in regards to dumping the R-W deck for this colossus of Tarot. It is a bit intimidating to get all the symbols and their meanings in the Thoth deck but hang in there. Should you need any help along the way, there is this book-
http://www.amazon.ca/Understanding-Aleister-Crowleys-Thoth-Tarot/dp/1578632765
As well as other resources. So far as how it all relates, I think it relates somewhat nicely. There is still debate as to how the Tarot Cards got lumped together with the Tree of Life, but I'm not going to get into that. For me, I found the relation to the Paths a very helpful one. The meanings/relationship to the Tree of Life and the elements, from the Tarot are yours to interpret, yours to discover and make your own. This is what is both maddening and wonderful about the Tarot. In many ways, it's rudderless nature allows for the person working with it to make up the story for themselves And there's the beauty! No need to worry about forcing meaning when it is not relevant. If it feels relevant to you, meaningful to you, go for it. That's magic.
I'll give a quick example. To me, Tiphereth/Beauty is the highest human point on the Tree of life. Before that we have Netzach/Victory. Connecting the two is path 24 Death- which for all intents and purposes is Change. How do I connect these? Again, to me Netzach is a highly emotional Sephiroth, it's chief gods being that of Love- Venus, Aphrodite, etc. Love prompts one to feel a great deal of emotions, some good and some bad and some very very bad. This is why I equate it to this Sephiroth, among other reasons. Alright, so this isn't a short example but bear with me. So, how does one get to the higher Sephiroth Tiphereth? Death. Change. Killing those lower base things within us that hold us back. All the petty emotions; the ones that sully the name of love. Cut 'em down. Conquer your emotions, claim Victory over them. Then, one can get to a place of greater understanding; A place of Beauty- Tiphereth. Crowley, when writing about this card put it this way- 'The Universe is Change; every Change is the effect of an Act of Love; all Acts of Love contain Pure Joy. Die daily!'
To me, this makes sense. It carries meaning.
Hope this helps.

The Smith-Waite Centennial, the smaller tinned edition. I adore this deck. It consistently amazes and surprises me. I love the muted colors and the faux antique look of the deck. I like the tinned edition because it's smaller (about the size of a standard playing card), which makes it easy to shuffle and handle and easy to use for larger spreads when you don't have a lot of room, which I often don't. It also makes it easier when reading for other people, since I like to have them shuffle the cards a bit before the reading, and a lot of people have trouble shuffling larger cards when they aren't used to it. The metal tin makes it really easy to tote around too. I just wrap a rubber band around it and pop it in my bag without worrying about any damage to the cards. There is also a larger, standard size edition, which I would recommend over the tinned edition if size isn't a factor for you because it makes it easier to enjoy Smith's lovely artwork.

Forgot to add this - my other fave, and one I only use to read for myself at the moment, is the Druidcraft Tarot. Will Worthington's art is so lovely.

Well I'm fairly new myself, but I'm really liking learning from Liz Dean's Ultimate Guide to Tarot. It's linked to the Rider-Waite as well, which is helpful. I like that she guides through the symbolism and colors as well!

And for advice, I'd say run with symbols that click with you. Like with seeing yourself in the Knight of Swords! Having that symbol of you leaping before looking under the "what do I do?" spot seems to be a sign that the best course of action includes you in the picture and maybe leaping before looking is even an option in this situation!

Also, pay attention to card spot meanings. Also the message of judgment has a lot to do with self-acceptance of past actions. After all, judgment is typically the reward for the good and the punishment for the bad. Perhaps the best course of action now is a time to reward yourself for your past victories? Maybe there's a past action you're thinking about?

I think you've got most of the interpretation right. It's just a lot of practice to make the interpretations your own, looking for your own symbols and such. I'm struggling with this too.

I'm a traditionalist, so i've been using rider-wait for a long while, but I would like to save up for some prettier decks! Linestrider is a popular favorite, but really, for all the right reasons... It's so gorgeous! Etheral Visions is also a fav of mine... I'm a huge sucker of that kind of style. I also wish I could remember the name of the deck, but I remember a really nice foresty-themed one that had like a deer-man on it! I want to say it was something-something irish woodlands? I'm probably 99% wrong knowing myself.

and this is me being a large nerd more than anything, but I would love cardcaptor sakura cards!

My first piece of advice is to completely divorce in your mind the tarot and the runes. They are two completely different systems. The tarot were developed by Ceremonial Magicians in the late Victorian Age, and the runes are an ancient symbol set used by an ancient culture as a language and magical symbols. In fact the runes are a whole system of magic.

To really get started with runes you have to read up on each one and the history behind each. Divining with them is as simple as grabbing a few and scattering them and reading their meanings but you'll need to background about each letter for that to work. Here are a few sources that I like for runes.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jordsvin/Runes/Rune%20Of%20The%20Month/Index.htm - Ignore how this site looks. because it hasn't been updated in a while but each article on the runes is very well written by a couple who know the runes very well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1578633257/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1459023490&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=rune+divination&dpPl=1&dpID=51eexi1vgZL&ref=plSrch - A great book on the whole system of magic that the runes are. I really like this one as it doesn't try and "culture wash" the runes. Instead she frames each meaning historically so you can get a better understanding of why things are as they are.

http://www.amazon.com/Rune-Poem-Jim-Paul/dp/0811811360 - This book is a translation of the original Norse poems that the runes are mentioned in. It doesn't offer much in the way of interpretation so you are meant to take your own from it. It gives you a reference point to think about when meditating on the runes.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!

For books on the Qabalah, the two best books to have been written on the subject are The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune and The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford by Lon Milo Duquette. I'd also pick up a copy of 777 And Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley, which is a book of qabalistic correspondences.

The best book on the Golden Dawn would be The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magick, which covers (almost) everything someone would wish to know about the original Golden Dawn and was written by one of the most famous initiates of the Golden Dawn.

There is not many books on Rosicruciaism, and many books that are out there on it are fraudulent and are not an accurate representation of the Rosicrucians. The only book that I would say is worth a read is Zanoni, which is a fictional story written by a Rosicrucian. It is based on Rosicrucian philosophies and symbolism.

As for Tarot, I myself prefer the Crowley/Thelemic system of tarot over that of the Golden Dawn, so I can only really recommend books on that system, which are The Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley and Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot by Lon Milo Duquette.

For the goetic demons, the best text would simply be The Goetia

Also, some beginner books I usually recommend are:

Circles of Power: An Introduction to Hermetic Magic by John Michael Greer, which is a beginners guide to ceremonial magick.

Book 4 by Aleister Crowley, which is the most comprehensive treatise on the practice of magick to ever be written, in my own personal opinion.

Enochian Magic in Theory by Frater Yechidah with Enochian Magic in Practice by Frater Yechidah, which are guides to the Enochian system of magick, a very popular and powerful system of magick, developed by the famous magician and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I John Dee, and used and improved upon by many occult orders, most notably the Golden Dawn.

And finally, The Corpus hermeticum by Hermes Trismegistus, which is the foundational text of all hermetic and occult philosophy.

A few disclaimers/additional info:

The full story is in the imgur album, for anyone who likes the narrative approach :)

My version of the deck does have some differences from the version presented in the DMG; I made a few aesthetic changes due to the art on the cards and what I felt was fitting for my campaign. For example, I felt the "Stars" card was more fitting as the Wish-granting card.

If any other DMs out there would like to replicate this, I used the Universal Golden Tarot deck for my cards. As you can see, the art is absolutely beautiful and the gold leaf really makes the cards pop when a player draws. I used the High Arcana portion of the deck, and I put together a list here of which Tarot cards correlate to the official DoMT. Please feel free to use this, or come up with your own versions!

For the Deeds associated with my "Throne" card, I used a variety pack of premade parchment paper from Staples. The official seals were made using wrapping ribbon and a traditional wax seal. You cannot use standard candle wax for this, use a basic kit like this one and then whatever sort of stamp you would like. I used a Crown from smartbargain on Amazon.

It was a huge joy to bring this to my table, and the reaction from the player in question really just made my week. Moments like these make DMing so worth-while.

Out of all my decks, the Linestrider deck is the one I resonate with the most. I bought it a year or so ago, but I just checked on Amazon, and it’s still selling for about $20:
The Linestrider Tarot https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738748293/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_W9aUBbEQA4NHF

Things are really, really good! I’ve received so many birthday messages today and I feel very loved. Thank you so much for the good vibes and well wishes! :)

sure. i'll help you out. if you or your parents have an amazon account, make a wish list. then send me the link so i can buy you the gift through my account.

https://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-Amazon-Wishlist

i'll send you the deck of your choice and i won't need to know your address or anything. my treat to encourage the hobby :)

​

if you need some inspiration, here are some of my favorites:

the wild unknown

ethereal visions

the fountain

​

tbh though, i own about ... 30 or so tarot decks at this point and i'd guess about 25 of them i've purchased for myself, haha. i pick and choose what tarot "rules" to follow since i believe the cards will tell me what they will tell me no matter what :)

A lot of tarot readers are also deck collectors. :)

I order my decks online, typically. There is a Waite-Smith mini deck (in a tin) available from Amazon for only 10 dollars, and I highly recommend getting a physical deck if you can. The deck I linked has really nice coloring too, it's on my wish list. :)

Etsy has a lot of the fancy indie decks, but you'll be paying ~$40 and up for a deck.

Go to Aeclectic Tarot to find deck reviews, or look up "tarot deck collection" on YouTube if you want to see what people have in their own collections. YouTube is my favorite way to learn about decks!

Edit: You can also get nice decks from bookstores, even Barnes and Noble - that's where I got my Shadowscapes Tarot. Since you can't look at a deck in the store, I recommend looking it up online to see if you like the cards.

I completely agree with your comment.

The Thoth tarot is wonderfully deep, if you are also interested in studying the occult symbology.

If you prefer a gentler approach to learning, then other decks - especially R/W are a good starting point.

I only came to love the Thoth deck after using RW for tarot for several years, and, in addition, studying occult disciplines. And I read The Book of Thoth before I read "Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot"

Rider-Waite is a fantastic learning tarot, and far, far more powerful as a teaching deck than most others on the market today IMHO.

I personally use Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson ( https://www.amazon.com/Futhark-Handbook-Magic-Edred-Thorsson/dp/0877285489 ) as my rune guide. It is a basic rundown of the lore and use for the runes, including the tools you would need and even goes into the numerology (which for me still makes my head spin but I enjoy the challenge of theorycrafting powerful rune charms via numerology) and color meanings.

​

In my opinion, it is really easy to understand as far as how the runes are, and if you just sit down and read it, it goes over how you can do coded notation and how to read that code as well, and it's really useful.

I disagree with the other reply - a fantastic book on Enochian is Enochian Vision Magick by DuQuette. For the runes, if you're taking a traditional approach, I recommend Thorsson's Futhark though it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea.

As for learning to write in another language - practice, practice, practice! The biggest help will probably be concentrating on learning one language, don't try to confuse yourself with too many at once. Once you've chosen one, just write out anything you can think of in that language. For me, just an hour a day of sitting down and writing things out, not even trying to translate it back to english, is the best way of learning. After two weeks or so, you'll be great at writing and re-translating, just because the letters are so ingrained in your head. My friends and I used to use Tolkien's Elvish alphabet as a secret code in high school, and I can still write in it to this day, seven or eight years later!

Magick is for all, I would recommend working on the kabbalah for a start, or reading the liber 4, not necessarily in that order, maybe try liber 4 and then A Garden of Pomegranates by Israel Rgardie and Mystical Kabbalah by Dion Fortune. The Hardcover edition of Liber 4 is a great edition. I have it and it is amazing, and not as complex as most of his writings. This book has a lot of appendixes too, that helps. Having the Thoth Tarot deck and the Book of Thoth and studying its correspondencies with the tree of life is very helpful too.

Fascinating readings anyway.

About what he is in relation to mankind, better judge yourself from his writings.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Thoth-Egyptians-Equinox/dp/0877282684/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z

http://www.amazon.com/Thoth-Tarot-Deck-Aleister-Crowley/dp/1572815108/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422560601&sr=1-1&keywords=thoth+tarot+deck


http://www.amazon.com/Magick-Liber-ABA-Book-4/dp/0877289190/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422560336&sr=1-2&keywords=magick

http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Pomegranates-Skrying-Tree-Life/dp/1567181414

http://www.amazon.com/Mystical-Qabalah-Dion-Fortune/dp/1578631505/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0TNF7RPG3Y67DX4G00QH

For me, personally, I'm kind of picky with decks. Try and subtly find out if they have any specific decks they really like but don't own as it'll be a much more welcome gift than buying a deck they don't vibe with.

Not sure what style they're into but maybe show them Ethereal Visions and True Black cards - those are probably my favourite two and look like pretty classy gifts to me. :3

Honestly one of the best books I've found for starting is Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack

https://www.amazon.ca/Seventy-Eight-Degrees-Wisdom-Book-Tarot/dp/1578634083

It gives a great fundamental look at the history of the cards as well as teasing some more advanced topics, so you can really take any topic from the book and go wild with your journey. It works with the RWS deck which most people start with I would say, but the wisdom is universal. It's a great resource and I've never stopped sourcing it even though I've gone through tons of other books since reading this one.

I've been loving the ethereal visions illuminated deck! I never fully connected to the standard RWS, and this gives me just enough of the symbolism with artwork that I really enjoy. The cardstock is also really good. If anyone is interested, here it is :) Ethereal Visions Illuminated Tarot Deck https://www.amazon.com/dp/1572819251/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_oCEYBb4CWWZS2

The book that I found most useful is Freya Aswynn's Northern Mysteries and Magick.

A great source is also Diana Paxson's Taking Up the Runes.

Love your set. Enjoy your journey!

Edit: You may also find this site useful.

What are you interested in? Wicca, candle magick, hermeticism and alchemy, Setianism, Qabalah, tarot, mythology, astrology, goetia, esoteric christianity? A little bit of everything?

My recommendation is to start with something you're really interested in and pick up that one thing. If you're interested in Crowley, then you might be interested in tarot. My suggestion is getting a simple book by a laymen's author like Amber Jayanti on the tarot. As you read the book, circle, highlight or write down (or add to a shopping list) sources to which that author refers - Jayanti may cite Paul Foster Case a lot. Once you read some Case books, then you'll start to see Crowley pop up. Pick up Lon Milo DuQuette's book on Crowley's Tarot. Then you can probably read Crowley's Book of Thoth.

My other advice is not to worry about not picking up every little detail of every book. You won't have the schema necessary for every small detail in every book, and part of reading in the occult is rediscovering the deeper meaning of something you thought you already knew, like a spiral upward.

I would suggest the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, which you can buy for pretty cheap on Amazon. Most other decks are based on this system and almost all books and websites for learning the cards use this deck. When you start to learn, the LearnTarot website is free and very helpful. Have fun! Exploring Tarot is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

It comes with a small explanatory booklet. I'd say the best actual book that really encompasses the whole system (because obviously it's not just a mere fortune telling device) is Crowley's own The Book of Thoth (1944). https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Thoth-Egyptian-Tarot/dp/0877289506/ref=sr_1_2?crid=341Z03425G3GA&keywords=the+book+of+thoth&qid=1568848465&sprefix=The+book+of+thoth%2Caps%2C559&sr=8-2

However, if you're starting out with tarot or unfamiliar with Crowley's often convoluted and in depth writing-not to mention his oft made assumptions that we've all got a clue what the fuck he's trying to say- I can heartily recommend Lon Duquettes approachable, concise and easy to swallow Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Aleister-Crowleys-Thoth-Tarot/dp/157863623X/ref=sr_1_4?crid=341Z03425G3GA&keywords=the+book+of+thoth&qid=1568848843&sprefix=The+book+of+thoth%2Caps%2C559&sr=8-4

I'd start with the deck and Lon's book then move on to The Great Beast's volume, but I'd say they're both pretty much required reading for any serious student of the Thoth tarot. Duquette's book isn't exactly essential but it does make life a whole lot easier for us mere mortals!

Edit; there is a few other books of the deck out there but imho none come close to these two.

This will help greatly

https://youtu.be/DWhFaz415hQ

> I had especially in mind free resources from the internet.

All of these books are interesting in places: sacred texts tarot

The best ones I have read are not online:

The Thursday Night Tarot: Weekly Talks on the Wisdom of the Major Arcana by Jason Lotterhand
and
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot by Rachel Pollack

Not entirely sure if this is what you're looking for, but, there's a handful of books that people have written that attempt to explore the symbolism and meaning of Crowley's deck.

A friend of mine, a member of the local OTO Lodge and EGC, has several. I know these two are in his library for sure:

- Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot
- The Thoth Companion

There's also the old stand-by, Crowley's own exploration and essay about the deck:

- The Book of Thoth

Apologies if these aren't what you're looking for, and I hope someone comes along that can answer your questions more satisfactorily.

To me, the deck is cheeky. It's often blunt with a funny twist. I liken it to seeking advice from a good friend with a dark sense of humor who always tells me what I need to hear.

Since you mentioned the Hermetic Tarot was your first deck, and the Zombie Tarot is your first time branching out to other decks, I think it's important to mention just how different the Hermetic Tarot is from most other decks that stick more closely to the RWS style and meanings. If you've done the majority of your studying with the HT, almost any deck you add to your collection right now is going to be harder to click with at first. People who start with the Thoth Tarot tend to have the same issue.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the Zombie Tarot considering it's a novelty deck. They did a really good job adjusting the cards into the context of a zombie apocalypse. Keep in mind, though, it also deviates quite a bit from the common RWS meanings and imagery. The Devil card is a perfect example with the cigarette machine. Of the multiple meanings for The Devil, the ZT has focused in on addictions, vices, and temptation. I would read that card differently than if I pulled The Devil from another deck.

That being said, my advice would be to not give up o the deck just yet. Instead, purchase a RWS style deck--the Centennial Edition is my favorite--and begin studying that. From there, decks like the ZT, Wild Wood Tarot, Deviant Moon Tarot, etc. will be easier to click with and understand. It's like knowing Spanish and trying to learn Portuguese.

Edit: Formatting.

Cicero Golden Dawn Magical Tarot https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738723398/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_FM.HybKCPX6S4

It's similar to the Robert Wang deck, but it's more vibrant and to me more compelling. The Cicero one is my favorite one that I've seen that is built fairly strictly on the Golden Dawn specifications.

My favorite decks are the Thoth and Dowson Hermetic Tarot

Ohhh! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm totally over the moon with this style. I've learned on a traditional Rider-Waite tarot deck but I've never found one that had a nicer art style I liked without changing the actual deck structure. Most of them keep the traditional medieval style art which is not really my style.

Thank you again!

Link for the others!

Please, please, don't take this the wrong way or be offended, but reading this made me extremely sad -- especially the part about giving up and moving to chaos theory instead.

If you want to understand the basics of the structure of the Tarot and learn some simple rituals, then I would strongly suggest this book and deck by the Ciceros.

Without a firm grasp of the basic Tarot, I feel that Crowley's Thoth deck and book will be too confusing. If you insist on learning the Thoth before the basic Tarot, then I would suggest supplementing Crowley's text with this book by Duquette.

Please don't give up... just study a lot more theory! Good luck!

P.S. PM me if you'd like and I can point you copies of these books online.

EDIT: You may also be interested in this other book by the Ciceros. I have a copy but I've only flipped through it. Don't let the cover or title turn you off. Check out the Table of Contents and you'll see it hits a lot of important topics and provides a lot of example rituals.

Thanks for this perspective, and for some context from your lived experience. I am happy (and my wallet sad) that you have included a link to a translation of the Neiye. Also, the video you link to is helpful in explaining why the Yijing is important in the study of, for instance, the Daodejing, with a nice concrete example.

As for the Yijing, I have been working my way through the Alfred Huang translation after having read the Tao Teh Ching translation by John C.H. Wu, to try to get some more background. Thanks for the confirmation that I'm at least partially on the right track.

Ok. Start with these books. And know that despite what you’ll learn, it is still 100% okay for you to enjoy Tarot without using them for divination. Lots of people do and that’s a wonderful thing.


The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot

Tarot - The Open Reading

I decided to cruise the town one day and check out all the local occult shops. One was mostly focused on wicca. I happened to put my address on their e-mailing list, and one day I received an e-mail from them about a series of beginner tarot classes that would be held nearby for $30, presumably taught by an acquaintance of the owner of the shop.

I didn't attend these particular classes, but my point is you might try finding local community stuff in a similar manner, by poking your head in an occult shop and asking around.

I have consulted these sources:

• The Book of Thoth on Hermetic.com - Crowley's approach to tarot is syncretic, throwing qabalah and astrology into the mix among other things. If you're wanting to work with popular Rider-Waite-style decks maybe skip this one and check out:
  
  
• Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom - A popular reference. Pretty dry, IMO, but comprehensive.
  
  
• The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages - Paul Foster Case knows his shit. I just got this one, haven't started it yet. Also a syncretic approach tying in other disciplines.

I have three.

My first deck was the Original Rider Wait Tarot Pack.

My second and main/ favorite deck is the Morgan Greer deck. I love the colors, and full bleed on the edges.

And my newest deck that I've been working with is the Golden Universal deck. I got it second hand on ebay. I customized by coloring the edges black. Looks very sleek and elegant now!

Crowley's Book of Thoth is also available online for free as it's now public domain. There's also an excellent thoth book by Don Milo that's almost required reading if you're into Crowley mysticism as it relates to the Thoth tarot: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Aleister-Crowleys-Thoth-Tarot/dp/1578632765

I'd recommend getting the large format Thoth deck, there's a ton of tiny detail that kind of gets lost in the smaller reprints.


That said, the Rider-Waite deck comes from the same Hermetic tradition and has much of the same symbolism. The imagery is a little less... dense? Surreal? and a bit easier to relate to at first (plus all the pip cards are illustrated, making the minor arcana easier to learn). There are also a bunch of excellent resources for the RW since its sort of the "default" deck.

They have some very nice Halloween items at Etsy (.com) can get Halloween jewelry, Halloween makeup bags or purses, decor, etc.

They have handmade and vintage items. I've been very happy with my purchases from there, but I do always check the sellers ratings (esp. on quality) before I buy anything. I've gotten a lot of Halloween gifts there over the years.

Another idea: You could check out The Halloween Tarot on Amazon, if you think she might be into that. I have it and I LOVE it. Here's a link: https://www.amazon.com/Halloween-Tarot-Tin-Kipling-West/dp/157281621X/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=halloween+tarot&qid=1566090905&s=gateway&sr=8-2#customerReviews

https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Up-Runes-Complete-Divination/dp/1578633257

This is argubably the best book on runes currently on the market. It'll teach you the meaning of the runes, how to divine with them, and even delves into rune magic if you're interested in it. The author is a Asatru and has a really good reputation in the Pagan community.

I buy from Amazon. I like the Rider-Waite-Colman deck. As you'll see, it comes in many flavors:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_12?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rider+waite+tarot+deck&sprefix=rider+waite+%2Caps%2C220&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Arider+waite+tarot+deck

I recommend Dusty White's book, it really makes you interact with the cards and rely on your intuition to pull the meanings together. I believe he recommends that you also buy the jumbo-sized deck so you can really see the images.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Easiest-Way-Learn-Tarot/dp/1419692887

Joan Bunning offers a free class online. She also has a book.
http://www.learntarot.com/

There are numerous resources. I suggest you start with these to keep from getting overwhelmed. You're lucky to have a roommate with whom you can learn.

This is my favorite book on the Major Arcana.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Fools-Pilgrimage-Kabbalistic-Meditations/dp/0835608395

I think the author is Donald Tyson, but Portable Magic is a great book on constructing rituals for tarot.

As for learning card meanings almost any is fine to get yourself started. I usually recommend starting with whatever your local library has on it instead of spending money or searching for a .pdf.

However if you get a Thoth Deck this is the most reccomended book on it.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Aleister-Crowleys-Thoth-Tarot/dp/1578632765

Well this idea is not 100% risk free, but would be something unique... a deck of tarot cards and a lil booklet on how to tell fortunes can be had for around $20 []. They're interesting to look at even if she doesn't ever try to tell a fortune with them. Of course, you don't really want her to take it too seriously, so maybe a lighthearted card would set the right tone.

Dunno. Either way hope you find something she's happy with.




[] https://www.amazon.com/Rider-Tarot-Arthur-Edward-Waite/dp/091386613X

The Easiest Way to Learn Tarot—Ever!! by Dusty White is a fantastic place to start. It’s a workbook that guides you through learning the cards intuitively and also provides lots of information on spreads, interpretations, history, etc. I love it!

I've personally always been a fan of the Thoth deck or the Hermetic Tarot. My main deck is a vintage printing of the Rider-Waite though. Basically just find one you resonate with and can easily interpret. Also as /u/somegermanlady pointed out, traditionally tarot decks are supposed to be a gift given wrapped in cloth.

If you want other deck recommendations, just let me know what kind of art you like and I can probably recommend something!

The tarot can be for you whatever you want it to mean.

I've been doing it on-and-off for maybe about six years now, and every single time I return to it my method feels more refined and more "me" as I get older and learn more about myself.

For me, tarot is like a fun-house mirror. The same mirror can be held up to different people and they can have much different reactions to it. Some people go "Wow, I look funny!", and others can go "Dammit, my thighs are huge". People have different reactions and interpretations of the same readings.

I've met a tarot reader who would always un-reverse the cards because he doesn't like reading reversals. I've met another one who would only answer yes/no questions with a full tarot deck. Some people take the pictures on the cards as the only definition, some people depend entirely on books that are independent from the cards, and some people just make shit up entirely depending on their own personal experiences. Some people think they have supernatural properties, and some people (like me) think they're entirely random, but when people read them they put meaning into them based on their lives.

There's no wrong way to use a tarot deck, and there's no wrong way to view tarot or to interpret the cards. They're a subjective tool in that way, almost like an art. How you want to approach tarot will come in time as you practice and refine your methods and you come to figure out what the cards mean to you.

In getting to know them: that really depends on you. I started out with reading this book, completely unrelated to the tarot, but it helped jump-start my interest in it. I also give readings to other tarot readers, since I've found them more likely to "believe" and therefore less likely to argue, so long as they lean more eclectic. I also give myself readings frequently, just single-card readings to answer simple questions, or I toss out a card when I'm hanging out with my friends and they ask questions like "What would happen if I ordered pizza at three in the morning". I know a common method is to just draw a card each morning and dedicate that day to paying attention to that card, but I'm too scatterbrained to remember to do that, plus I feel it imparts too much importance to something that I don't take all that seriously normally. I also like writing so sometimes I do spreads for my characters or for story planning.

That's a lot, but I hope some of it helps!

In line with the specific question I would suggest the following:

• [This website is useful for beginners!] (http://www.tarotwikipedia.com/)
  
• The Ultimate Guide to Tarot by Liz Dean
  
  Side note:
  The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Waite is always worth checking out. It's not exactly purely a guide book, but it is one of the earliest books to accurately discuss the origins of tarot cards. It also discusses the general meaning and symbolism behind each card, and if you are a fan of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, it's a wonderful read.
  

As others have said it’s the Golden Universal Tarot Deck by Lo Scarabo.

Here is the link for Amazon

I own this deck and I absolutely love it! They also have other decks that look amazing as well.

I'm not sure about essential to every occult library (and I realize some of these aren't necessarily considered primarily 'occult' texts), but here are a few I've found useful:

• The Golden Dawn - Israel Regardie
  
• Morals and Dogma - Alfred Pike
  
• Modern Magick - Donald Michael Kraig
  
• The Secret Teachings of All Ages - Manly P. Hall
  
• Initiation into Hermetics - Franz Bardon
  
• Sefer Yetzirah - Aryeh Kaplan
  
• The Secret Doctrine - Madame Blavatsky
  
• Liber Null & Psychonaut - Peter J. Carroll
  
• The Book of Thoth - Aleister Crowley
  
• Undoing Yourself with Energized Meditation and Other Devices - Christopher S. Hyatt
  
• Prometheus Rising - Robert Anton Wilson
  
• Enochian Vision Magick - Lon Milo DuQuette
  
• The Chicken Qabalah - Lon Milo DuQuette
  
• Brain Magick - Philip Farber
  
• Info-Psychology - Timothy Leary
  
• Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson - George Gurdjieff
  
• Initiation, Human and Solar - Alice Bailey
  
• The Red Book - Carl Jung
  
• Principia Discordia - Malaclypse the Younger

The Rider-Waite deck is pretty standard, I'm new also and almost all the youtube videos I've seen say it's the best deck to start with since the drawings and symbols help you memorize the meanings, and you can move on to more "fun" decks after you learned them all.

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/091386613X?pf_rd_p=8e0819a9-0ef1-44cd-9544-a7f28374af8b&pf_rd_r=02QFBEAQHWXQQK8JH2QG

Easy Tarot is always my go to guide. And as a bonus, it comes with a lovely deck :)

This is my absolute favorite deck. The illustrations are beautiful and it comes with a very thorough book explaining not just the cards but the suits, positions, and correlations to each card. I fell in love with it right away.

Here are the basic, basic decks.

The Rider-Waite-Smith Deck, on which most decks base their symbolism. Has many different versions, such as the Radiant RWS or the Universal Waite Tarot. Most decks you find will be based on this one.

The Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley, which relies much more on occultism and knowledge of the symbols to read. If you want a project that you can really lose yourself in and study for, this is probably a good deck.

The Marseille Tarot which, unlike the other decks I've listed, does not fully illustrate the Minor Arcana (Ace-10 of Cups/Swords/etc). Instead they are called "pips" and don't show a scene, so you have to rely on your knowledge of the cards to read them.

These are the three most well-known tarot traditions for symbolism upon which most other decks are based, with RWS being the most popular in the English-speaking world. Marseille, as I understand it, is very popular in non-English speaking European countries, and the Thoth is just the Thoth.

You don't have to stick to these decks though. Choose any deck that you feel speaks to you. What's most important is feeling connected with your deck, that way you don't lose interest in the cards before you've learned all you can about them.

​

Most of the ones I really like are independent decks.

Tarot of the Golden Thread is more modern but the effect of the cards is simply captivating.

Raziel Tarot by Robert M Place and in his distinctive style. It's not completed yet though :,(

Revelations Tarot is a reversible deck with the reversed meanings incorporated into the illustrations.


Prisma Visions Tarot is very Van Gogh/Impressionist in style, and I love how each suit connects to be its own long mural.

I also have a tendency to lean towards decks that are more narrative in the illustrations so the Manga Tarot and Mystical Manga Tarot (to be released in Sept 2017) appeal to me as well... even if I may be showing my youth and inexperience by mentioning them.

Edit: corrected the links

I love these 2.....

This one is the best value. It's a solid deck and comes with a book and a paper tarot spread. If you bought the deck alone it would be much more than this. I recommend this one to my students. https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Tarot-Learn-Read-Cards/dp/0738711500/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2492TY300PB54&keywords=guilded+tarot+deck&qid=1557425818&s=gateway&sprefix=guilded%2Cstripbooks%2C154&sr=8-2

I also really encourage them to start here https://www.amazon.com/Rider-Tarot-Arthur-Edward-Waite/dp/091386613X/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=rider+waite&qid=1557425881&s=gateway&sr=8-2

​

My last favorite that I tell them about is this one but it's a little more pricey https://www.amazon.com/Witches-Tarot-Ellen-Dugan/dp/0738728004/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=witches+tarot&qid=1557425951&s=gateway&sr=8-2

I recommend reading books. There are a zillion books about the Waite-Smith deck. For the Thoth deck, this book is a must read.

Edit to add: This series was very helpful to me. The "Tarot Reversals" one by Mary K. Greer is the bomb.

Just ordered: https://www.amazon.com/Tarot-Bible-Definitive-Guide-Spreads/dp/1402738382 and https://www.amazon.com/Rider-Tarot-Arthur-Edward-Waite/dp/091386613X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=TS8S6KR0GEA8KC963X25
Hope it will server me well. Thanks all :)

Hexagram 10 is a tricky one, it denotes a dangerous situation, perhaps charged affectively by yourself. That's the proverbial tiger in it.

Regarding the changing lines and transformed hex: Devote yourself to probing the situation thoroughly before stepping, be dilligent, wary, try to have both internal and external clarity. Then act on it with integrity and will.

Use these resources for interpreting the castings:

- Amazing synthesis done by James DeKorne: The Gnostic Book of Changes

- Vastly superior to Willhelm's translation and commentary. Symbolically sound and historically informed (!): The Complete I Ching

> And does anyone know which meanings Crowley personally ascribed to the cards?

Check out the Book of Thoth.

The Thoth Tarot is special in that its genesis in symbolism and meaning is very well documented through the letters Crowley and Harris wrote during its creation, the Book of Thoth itself and by Crowley's other works which shed light on what he thought about some aspects of the Tarot and its various correspondences. Nonetheless reading the cards is a matter of interpretation. Individual, personal interpretation. You might have wondered why the chapter with the divinatory meanings of the cards in Lon's Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot is so short compared to the rest of the book. It's because these are Lon's interpretations, not yours or any kind of objective truths. Get to know the cards by heart, check out the correspondences on the Tree of Life and from astrology and alchemy, the connections between them and the symbolism depicted in the images. Of course be inspired by the interpretations of others, but do not consider these as truths. Rather try to reconcile the apparent contradictions in different interpretations and find your own way to read their message.

There's a reason why the cards are images, not text. They speak at a intuitive, asthetic level to us, beyond rationality, and they speak directly to you.

Wow that deck looks pretty groovy! Might I ask if you're also into psychedelic experiences?

I actually got into tarot because the art in the [Ethereal Visions](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ethereal-Visions-Illuminated-Tarot-Deck/dp/1572819251
) deck is so beautiful.

I have also ordered but haven't yet received the Tattoo Tarot deck because American Traditional tattoo flash is one of my very favorite art styles.

> I have almost 20 decks in my collection

...

> I don't like to have a lot of decks

wat

Seriously, though, if you're into the Golden Tarot, go for it. It's a lovely deck (I'm assuming you're referring to Kat Black's deck). If you're looking for other foil stamped cards, the Golden Thread Tarot is a big hit in our deck spotlight thread this month, so obviously people are happy with their purchase. I also really like aspects of Lo Scarabeo's Golden Universal Tarot.

I have enjoyed this one.

Probably not a beginner's book, and I don't agree with everything that's presented, but it has helped me make connections that I might not have come to on my own. Easily one of my favorites.

I'm a fan of this science deck depending on the vibe I'm going for. When on the opposite end of the feels, I go with the Tarot of Ceremonial Magick. I've also been known to use the Jungian Archetype Deck but it is very hard to read (IMNSHO) and I recommend Robert Wang's book to go with it.

I'll also dabble with a Thoth Tarot, too.

But, tell the truth and shame the devil, I get my best readings, both for myself and giving to others, with the good ole' Rider-Waite. Its the set I learned on, using the visuals adds to my read and its simple

78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack is a great resource.

I got a great deal from 78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollock.

https://www.amazon.com/Seventy-Eight-Degrees-Wisdom-Book-Tarot/dp/1578634083

I have a copy of the Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot that has a pretty solid stock and is about a centimeter wider than the standard issue RWS. The colors are more subdued, almost like the cards were treated with a tea wash, but I rather like it. Definitely look at some pictures or even watch some videos on YouTube as some people really dislike the change in color. Personally, it's the reason I got the deck in the first place. Also the card backs are a lovely teal-mint color with a white rose (the same as the one adorning the flag of the Death card).

https://www.amazon.com/Smith-Waite-Centennial-Tarot-Games-Systems/dp/1572817623/ref=mp_s_a_1_15?keywords=rider+waite+tarot+deck&qid=1573107039&sprefix=rider+&sr=8-15

Check out the Thoth tarot book for more info on reading the cards. I also recommend reading Lon Milo Duquettes book on understanding the Thoth Tarot. Also also, check out liber Theta from Temple of Thelema . There's also an explanation and analysis on divination with Tarot from Soror Meral in Temple of Thelema's periodical called In the Continuum.

book of thoth

understanding Thoth tarot

liber Theta

in the Continuum vol 1

You'll want to read issue no.7 for divination

for android there is a super app with LOTS of explanations about the cards positions and layouts its free and called Galaxy Tarot.

Also you can buy literature:

http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Tarot-Learn-Read-Cards/dp/0738711500/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377598240&sr=8-2&keywords=tarot

Yes. The Halloween Tarot. I love it! It really speaks to me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/157281621X?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

For a good academic/historical text https://www.amazon.com/Rudiments-Runelore-Stephen-Pollington/dp/1898281491

For divination and the like this is a good starter text https://www.amazon.com/Futhark-Handbook-Magic-Edred-Thorsson/dp/0877285489

I just bought this deck https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1572819251/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and so far it's been super nice to work with. Time will tell, though, as we're just getting adjusted.

I have these and they are super cute. I've only recently started to learn to use them though.

It seems very boring to a lot of mystic newbs but I've been evangelizing the shit out of Qabalah lately. If you want to see the connections between all things and the machinery that runs the universe, this is the place to start.

Begin with something breezy that'll let you ease into the concepts: Lon Milo DuQuette's Chicken Qabalah. It's like an exegesis of Douglas Adams's Life, The Universe, and Everything.

Then dive in deep.

Dion Fortune's Mystical Qabalah

Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth

This shit will blow your mind wide open. You can see how the 10 Sephiroth directly correspond to the 10 dimensions of the universe, how the first 4 correspond to actual space and the 5th to time as we understand it.

It'll show you the operating schematic for literally everything and how we are all connected and sprang forth from the same no-thing. Every new page I read blows my mind.

I would recommend Rachel Pollock's 78 Degrees of Wisdom as the best book for someone who wants to take tarot seriously.

As to packs, it really is down to what 'gels' with you. It's not a bad idea though to start with a standard Rider-Waite deck and then move on from there.

It's the "thoth" tarot. I'm loving this autocorrect though lol

Thoth Tarot Deck https://www.amazon.com/dp/1572815108/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_OoL0DbFGQWQEZ

Many people I know who seriously work with the runes will periodically stain them with their own blood as an offering. The runes are considered to be independent spirits by many, rather than just a divination "tool" and should be treated very respectfully and cautiously. Remember that they are embedded in a cultural context and it's important to understand Heathen cosmology and theology properly to work with them. A few recommended resources: this book, this one and this site.

The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot - Ever!! by Dusty White is a really helpful book.

By far my favorite is Rachel Pollak's Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot https://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634083/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_alPTCb8MYZDZ1

Google is awesome, so is https://www.biddytarot.com/tarot-card-meanings/ and https://www.incandescenttarot.com/cardmeanings. I liked The Ultimate Guide to Tarot and also Kitchen Table Tarot. I've also heard that WTF is Tarot, and How Do I Do It? is also good, but haven't read it myself.

I would also advise patience. Runes are powerful symbols, runes convey messages, runes influence the world around us. Not being familiar with the runes could make you regret this decision for the rest of your life. This requires a lot more than a day to think about.

What actual message are you trying to convey? That would certainly help us help you. I'm not a runic scholar myself, in any sense. Although, I've heard great things about the first half of this book. I haven't read it myself yet but I did recently purchase it.

Diana Paxson's Taking Up the Runes is very well-regarded by almost everyone.

And if I can sneak in a bit of self-promotion, while learning the runes myself (not that I'll ever be done learning) I created a playing card deck with runes, images, and meanings on them. It's helped some of my friends learn as well. It's mostly based on the meanings given in Taking Up the Runes, plus a little bit of extra I've picked up here and there.

i like your metaphors. there's a book that they reminded me strongly of, here. there's nothing specifically about loneliness, but it gives me a boost when i'm down.

Taking up the Runes, by Diana Paxson, is pretty good.

For Rider-Waite deck I use The Ultimate Guide to Tarot by Liz Dean. It has the best definitions and meanings of cards. (most accurate in my opinion) I have a bunch of tarot books and this is my go to one. This is it on amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Tarot-Beginners-Revealing/dp/1592336574/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499005869&sr=8-1&keywords=the+ultimate+guide+to+tarot

http://www.amazon.com/Seventy-Eight-Degrees-Wisdom-Book-Tarot/dp/1578634083

Just get a copy of that. It's fifteen bucks, get a common deck like the Rider-Waite. Another 10 probs.

Tarot is more of a personal learning experience. Paying someone a hundred bucks to pat you on the back isn't gonna help. Learn it with your wife maybe?

I enjoy it. I pull it out every so often and learn a bit more about the subconscious shit going on with me in my life. Meditation is similar.

btw, that book is the best.

If you want a 'fun' and non-intimidating tarot, but one that still closely follows the classic Rider Waite tarot patterns, I HIGHLY recommend the Halloween Tarot by Kipling West:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/157281621X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_dkb.wb1SDA037

It looks 'kiddy' but the patterns and correspondences are there, without the overbearing Christian images in the Rider Waite. Ghosts = cups/water, Imps = wands/fire, Pumpkins = pentacles/earth, and Bats = swords/air.

Good advice. I recommend this and this for those reading this thread.

I would recommend getting a Raider-Waite Tarot Deck. It's a great place to start and one of the most widely used decks.

Spend some time looking at the images and finding out what speaks to you. Just build an intuition with the cards.

If that's not enough a great introductory companion to that deck is Liz Dean's the Ultimate Guide to Tarot.

Liz Dean's an Ultimate Guide to Tarot

Raider Waite Tarot

Firstly, runes. The thing is, runes are usually thrown by shaking them up in a bag and then choosing, and a square shape isn't that great for this - most runes don't have sharp edges or corners. Could you round them off?
There are loads of books about runes. Because I'm old-fashioned I'd recommend Thorsson, but there's plenty of other options around.
I have absolutely no idea whether anything I deal with on the spirit plane is 'real', I don't even know what the term 'real' means. What matters to me is whether it works for me. If it does (and in many cases it does) I'll leave it to the philosophers to decide what it means. It looks like a duck. It quacks like a duck. If it's just a duck impersonator, I'll handle that when the time comes.

i don't really like apps except as a reference, because it doesn't give you the option to draw your card of the day. i hold fast to the belief that divination in cartomancy is driven by the subconscious; how many shuffles you do, how you cut the deck, which cards you're drawn to. unless you have the option to do these things, i don't put much weight into the apps.

​

if you're short on cash you can always color your own deck, a book you can pick up at amazon. or you could find many of the less expensive decks, such as the smith-waite centennial deck, everyday mini deck, or the ceccoli mini deck. all these decks listed are cheaper than the coloring book, with the exception of the first they are under $10, and if you have prime they will come in two days with free shipping.

I think the Gilded Tarot would be a great place to start.

I have heard great things about this book from others new to tarot.

My handouts were a hit at the table. I stained them using coffee, folded them every which way, even stuck them in some clothes which went through the wash.

If you have the time you can get Strahd's seal from AliExpress or for a little more money on Etsy if you need it sooner.

I actually really dislike the official tarokka deck. I think it looks tacky af with the 90's style tribal tattoos around the edge. I replaced mine with a tarot deck from Amazon. I can't find the exact link but there's a few cool ones (and a bunch more you may like). You'll just have to use the name on the card instead of the book but my deck had some pretty similar cards.

I've heard this deck, the Pamela Colman Smith Centennial Deck, is very good quality. You can buy the deck alone, or as a boxed set. Don't buy the version in a tin, it is (allegedly) a smaller deck printed on cheaper cardstock.

This is a reprint of the original Ryder-Waite deck illustrated by Pamela Smith. It is very traditional.

https://www.amazon.com/Smith-Waite-Centennial-Tarot-Games-Systems/dp/1572817623

https://www.amazon.com/Pamela-Colman-Smith-Commemorative-Set/dp/1572816392

Amazon

"The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot - Ever!!"

Easy Tarot: Learn to Read the Cards Once and For All! https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738711500/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_jfF.Bb1BEVMC4

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack has been very useful to me as I'm still learning: https://www.amazon.com/Seventy-Eight-Degrees-Wisdom-Book-Tarot/dp/1578634083

This is one of the best: https://smile.amazon.com/Taking-Up-Runes-Complete-Divination/dp/1578633257

She compares a bunch of different meanings provided by various people, explains the history and the uses, and generally gives you the clearest foundation.

Also: avoid Blum.

I found them, thanks to another redditor below. mystic manga tarot

this is a good book about working with the Thoth tarot

Some years ago I read Lon Milo Duquette's book on the Thoth deck

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Aleister-Crowleys-Thoth-Tarot/dp/1578632765

and came away with the impression the king/queen/knight/page sequence is a matter of emphasizing, respectively, the fire/water/air/earth aspects of the particular suit energy. I read these as a matter of enacting or embodying these aspects, and I have (almost) completely gotten away from identifying, say, queen wands as a particular individual, but usually as an aspect of the querent, or a role she is undertaking.

Which I guess also means I am largely disregarding imagery, but that was sort of baked into my early experiences with a "dark" deck in which some of the imagery was literally so dark as to be almost indecipherable. These days I mostly read with playing cards.

I recommend [Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634083/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Nsbyyb2ZCJ74A)

For Rider-Waite deck I like the classic Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom book by Rachel Pollack.

here is the book

and here is the deck

also, here is a stylized reworking of the crowley thoth deck, which has illustrations for the pips and is a little simpler. I would recommend getting the original thoth, but if it simply does not speak to you, this is very close.

I would ignore almost all online sources for that sort of thing.

The most historically accurate source of runes, by one of the most respected authors, is here - https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Up-Runes-Complete-Divination/dp/1578633257/ref=sr_1_2?crid=5RT9VX1B0Q8U&keywords=taking+up+the+runes&qid=1572210026&sprefix=taken+by+mino%2Caps%2C197&sr=8-2

93 - I would look in Book of Thoth for a lot of symbolism as well as, of course, 777. I can tell you that the Vesica Piscis is understood to be a feminine symbol, composed of two intersecting circles, forming the Yoni. It is usually 'balanced' by various 'masculine' symbols, often those of the cross or some form thereof, in or around it. That one is fairly obvious.

You can find Ryder Waite or Ryder Waite Smith decks for next to nothing, but quality of cardstock is usually pretty low on cheap decks. If cost isn't an issue, I recommend either the Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot or the Pamela Colman Smith Commerative Set. These are the same deck, but they are produced by a reputable card maker using higher quality materials.

For what it's worth, the deck I started with is the Rider tarot deck

Just buy a standard Rider Waite deck, and a book about the cards/what each one means like [the Ultimate Guide to Tarot] (https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Tarot-Beginners-Revealing/dp/1592336574) and dive right in! That's the fun of it - there's no right or wrong way to go about it. Eventually you'll be able to read for people once you know all the cards and their meanings.

I bought the regular size Rider Waite tarot deck from amazon lemee see if I can get that link, https://www.amazon.com/Rider-Tarot-Arthur-Edward-Waite/dp/091386613X/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=tarot+cards&qid=1568478074&s=gateway&sprefix=tarot&sr=8-3

"The Crowley Tarot" by Akron and Hajo Bahnzaf has I Ching correspondences for every card. The book is designed to go with the Crowley Thoth Tarot (second link below), but the correspondences should apply with any deck.

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Crowley-Tarot-Handbook-Cards/dp/0880797150

Thoth deck: https://www.amazon.com/Thoth-Tarot-Deck-Aleister-Crowley/dp/1572815108

Just the regular Rider deck amazon link

Have you thought of trying a different deck? I could only find one source of information on that type of deck.

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Thoth-Short-Egyptians-Equinox/dp/0877282684/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396830124&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Book+of+Thoth

Concordance
http://www.amazon.com/Original-Ching-Oracle-Complete-Concordance/dp/1905857055/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464894039&sr=8-1&keywords=i+ching+concordance

Huang
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Ching-10th-Anniversary-Translation/dp/1594773866/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464894099&sr=8-1&keywords=huang+i+ching

I have that deck! See customer images in link:

https://www.amazon.com/Rider-Tarot-Arthur-Edward-Waite/dp/091386613X

$14 https://www.amazon.com/Rider-Tarot-Arthur-Edward-Waite/dp/091386613X/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=tarot+deck&qid=1564084671&s=gateway&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Rider-Tarot-Arthur-Edward-Waite/dp/091386613X/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=raider+waite+tarot&qid=1563931038&s=gateway&sr=8-2

Here you go

By Matt Hughes you can see pictures of his deck by searching and if you scroll down enough, you'll find this exact card

The Darkness of Light Tarot might be up your alley, maybe even the Linestrider Tarot (I don't think it scratches your Skyrim itch, but it's minimal and high fantasy-ish)

Taking Up the Runes

You might consider Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot by Lon Milo DuQuette.

Edit: formatting

Rider Waite Smith deck

Thoth deck and the Duquette book

Tarot de Marseilles and the Ben Dov book

rider wite

https://www.amazon.com/Rider-Tarot-Arthur-Edward-Waite/dp/091386613X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rider+waite&qid=1555442599&s=gateway&sr=8-1

I'm using these to learn

Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot:

https://www.amazon.ca/Understanding-Aleister-Crowleys-Thoth-Tarot/dp/1578632765

Book of Thoth

https://www.amazon.ca/Book-Thoth-Egyptian-Tarot/dp/0877282684/ref=pd_sim_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CWZHPFQA9ETTKABGTTGP

I completely understand and that’s why I always use my Rider Tarot deck. It’s simple nothing beautifully drawn or crafted, just the basics. The Rider Tarot Deck https://www.amazon.com/dp/091386613X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9fyXBbFK5VFG7

I had looked online at actually buying one and on amazon at least they were suuuper expensive, so I bought a tarot deck, pulled the right amount of cards following this guide mostly. Then I tea dyed them and dried them off between paper towels and pressed by a heavy book and used some scrap fabric and a tassel to complete the ancient magic deck look.

If anyone wants to do the same, my suggestion to you is to do the tea dying in waves and not let them sit too long. I let the whole deck soak for a few hours in a pot of tea that had been made with 14 black tea bags and the glue separated on some of them splitting the backs from the faces. They stuck back together but I lost a few of the cards. Doesn't really matter I guess, but for anyone's future reference.