Decks of the Tarot: J through R

Kashmir Tarot

This description provided by Lysander:
Dutch Artist Nicolaas C.J. van Beek created 2 Tarot Decks that are unusual in their own right. The first deck is carved in wood and the second is printed. Much of the symbolism of the decks have to do with the chakras, described as points of energy that emanate from the spine and, when stimulated through mental and physical training, awaken latent spiritual and psyhic capacities. There is something missing; the face of every character in the cards are blank. The hairline and neckline is there but that is all, the face is just...empty, nothing there. The predominant colour in the deck is blue, shades of blue, so it seems all the scenes are at night, making it eerie but it beautiful. This deck is supposed to have sold for over 100 US dollars, for each card was printed seprately and several passes were required to lay down all the appropriate colours. This deck might no longer be in print. The Wooden Tarot was created with the help of a Kashmir wood carver, Abdul Salama in a limited edition of 22 sets. The 22 cards are carved in walnut bas-relief and presented in a box of walnut. The printed deck is modeled after the first, the medium of paper allowed for more subtle lines, and a symbolic geometry system was overlaid. The deck was issused in 1984 in heavy paper, with each colour silk screened on the cards, resulting in 15 - 20 print runs for each card. The printing was executed by the artist Dik Al of the Netherlands. The artist takes pride in basing his deck on Westurn Tarot such as the Riderwaite and Tarot of Mareseilles while incorporating Easturn motifs. On a few cards such as the Wheel of Truth (Card 10), a wholly Tibetan image is used.

Legend: Arthurian Tarot

This description is provided by Lysander:
This deck is based on the Arthurian legends. The deck is beautiful, in every sense of the word, for each picture is a water colour painting, and I would imagine the artist spent much effort on each card. Even the frame around the picture on each card is beautiful, with gold bars, sort of like a frame of gold, studded with purple gems. At the base of each deck is a key word that links the card to a legend. This deck is interesting for people who already know the Tarot but is a bit difficult to start from because it comes with a guide book entitled the Keeper of Words and contains a mass of text on the legend that the card relates to, as well as a bit of symbology, which can be quite confusing for a beginner. Each card has a legend associated with it, or is associated with part of a legend and the connection is not always linear. For example, the 3 of pentacles (otherwise called shields in this deck) speaks of a mother making a tunic for her son who wishes to set off to be a knight but her son's journey is shown in the Fool (card 1 of the Major Arcana).
Appendium
I first came upon this deck as a set and only found out recently that they were both available seperately.
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Light and Shadow Area

This description contributed by Gillan:
This deck, created by Michael Goepferd is unlike any I have ever seen. It is composed entirely of woodblock prints and the cards themselves are huge (4 1\2 x5 1\2 inches.) The artwork is derived from Celtic, European and African styles which make the deck interesting from a med- itation as well as divinatory perspective. They come packaged with a book that explains each card in full. One of the most interesting decks I've seen.

Londa Tarot

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Londa Tarot is an interesting deck. There is no dominant colour but the artist's style is apparent, all the characters have bushy eye brows and rather wild, unkept hair. The characters of most, if not all, the figures potrayed have square shoulders and look rather elfin, without the pointed ears. To those who are sensitive, the deck can be slightly intimidating, or might border on frightening because of the appearance of the characters. The colouring in the Londa Tarot is quite pleasing to the eyes. There is a border around the central picture on the card but sometimes, an object in the picture will intrude onto this border, for example, in the card Judgement which simply shows a female blowing a horn and the horn pokes through the frame of the picture and into the border.
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Tarot of Love

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Tarot of Love is designed by Marcia Perry. It comes in a pretty purple box and is truely a beautiful deck. The images are soothing and not the lest intimidiating. The dominant colour in every card is white, most cards have a lot of uncoloured space, other colours often seen are blue, a wonderful shade of sky blue, red, a rich red and a fresh green.. The red is for the hearts which are seen on almost every card and the green for the leaves and stems of the plants that are also seen on almost every card. The Yin Yang symbol is found on a few of the cards but where as the traditional symbol is black and white, the symbol in this card is silver and gold. Storks are also seen here and there, representing change or rebirth. The traditional suits of Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles have changed to Rods, Blossoms, Lightning and Nuggets. The 10 and 9 of Blossoms are interesting cards for they are drawn in such a manner that the entire picture looks almost like a face. The names of the cards have been radically altered. Judgement, Death, Devil, Tower, the Hanged Man, Justice. Strength, the Wheel of Fortune, the Hermit, the Chariot, the Hierophant, the Emperor and Empress no longer exist in this deck. Rather, they have been replaced by the Call, Transformation, Entanglement, Lightning, Reversal, Balance, Climax, Destiny, the Seekers, Companionship, the Master, the Father and the Mother. The card the Fool has been renamed the Fools. Instead of 1 person, 2 are shown. There are 23 cards in the Major Arcana with an extra card numbered card 23, Soul Mates.
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Mage: The Ascension Tarot

This description contributed by Gillan:
The Mage: The Ascension Tarot deck is based on the roleplaying game, Mage: The Ascension, and is put out by White Wolf Game Studios. The deck is based on the Rider-Waite Tarot but has a much darker, modern feel to it. The game upon which it is based deals with the struggle of modern Magi to shape reality in their vision of perfection and the deck accurately conveys the feel of the game. Because of its origin, it is probably best used by those who are at least moderately familiar with the roleplaying game. Each of the Minor Arcana suits and the Major Arcana are illustrated by a different artist which lends a feeling of fragmentation and struggling forces to the deck. The Cups suit is particularly dark and disturbing. But overall, it is an excellent deck.

The Magickal Tarot

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Magickal (this word is not mispelt) Tarot is a reinterpretation of Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth . The pictures are abstract and the colours used are bold and clear. The creator of this deck is Anthony Clark. This deck comes as a set which includes a book enetitled Magical Tarot by Tony Willis. Those who are interested in the Crowley Thoth Deck might be interested in this deck.
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Tarot of Marseilles

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Tarot of Marseilles is an old deck created by Nicolas Conver in 1760. As with all old decks, all Minor Arcana Cards show only the suits, with a little added illlustration to decorate the card. The dominant colours are red, blue, yellow and green, all the primary colours, and white, for there is much uncoloured space on the card. Its is rather estoeric and would be recommended for those who already know the Tarot and are able to understand the deep symobology within these cards. The original card titles were not in English though English versions might be available today.
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The Medieval Scapini Tarot

This description contributed by Astarte:
This deck was creted by Luigi Scapini and is characterised by its medieval look. Many of its pictures emulate the artwork of the Renaissance, giving the tarot reader of this deck a sense of being in the Middle Ages.
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The Merlin Tarot

This description contributed by Alan Pert:
The Merlin Tarot is by Scotsman R.J.Stewart, with wonderful artwork by Miranda Gray(illustrator of the Matthews' Arthurian Tarot).Careful attention is given to even the tiniest details, and the people are exceptionally lifelike.The number cards are not fully illustrated, but have stylised Celtic animals.This helps re-inforce the shamanic elements of this tarot.It is based on original Merlin texts, which pre-date the first tarot cards by over 200 hundred years.A number of stories and symbols in the Merlin mythos are directly related to later tarot traditions.For Stewart, the notion of a devil is outdated and degrading, so he is replaced by the Guardian.A very comprehensive book accompanies this deck, giving a detailed explanation of each trump.Stewart relates the cards to the Tree of Life and the Three Worlds (Stellar,Solar and Lunar), which place it in the context of the ancient wisdom traditions.He covers divination, but Stewart emphasises use of the tarot for meditation and visualisation.This tarot can be used to assist genuine personal transformation because it connects to the land and ancient traditions.
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Merryday Tarot

This description contributed by Sandi:
The Merryday Tarot is a beautifully illustrated deck with vibrant detailed watercolor images on a black background that are vivid and evoke feelings of a faraway place, a fairy-land (if you will) with some medieval qualities. There are some cards that differ from traditional decks such as the use of a warrior instead of a knight, an 'elemental' card that replaces the page and is a different image for each suit (such as Pegasus for swords, Mermaid for Cups, etc.) And the aces have been replaced with a different dragon for each suit. This may not be the best deck for beginners since it does not come with much instruction or explanation, and many of the major arcana cards are different (such as an Oracle, instead of the traditional High Priestess). But the imagery is truly something to see.
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Tarot of the Moon Garden

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Tarot of a Moon Garden is drawn by Karen Marie Sweikhardt. Every card on this deck has an elaborate frame, like that of plants and vines, and only on the sides is it complete grey. The dominant colour, not exactly dominant but seen almost every card in rather large quantities, is black. The pictures are painted in bright colours, making them luminous against the black background and the background makes it look as if it were night. Only a few cards, like the Sun and Temperance, for example, have brillant back grounds because the card demands it, the Sun must have sun in the background and there is one in the background for Temperance as well. Strangely, in the 5 of Pentacles, the colour black is almost absent, which is odd since the 5 of Pentacles represents desolation, lost and so forth. The card is almost white. The artists seems to be influenced by the Fay or Faerie for many of the characters in the cards have butterfly like wings which are a characteristic of the Fairy Folk and their kind.
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Morgan Greer Tarot

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Morgan Geer Tarot after a brief glance through all the cards, is quite obviously a reinterpretation of the Rider Waite Deck. The pictures are more detailed and the colours are richer and darker. Some cards have changed totally though, for example, the 5 of wands just shows 5 hands holding five wands crossed. The artist of this deck appears to like zooming in on a particular part of a person, for example, in most of the court cards, only the person's upper torso is seen. Some of the interprataion of some cards have changed and differ from the Rider-Waite Deck (an example would be the 5 of wands mentioned above).
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The Motherpeace Round Tarot

This description contributed by Astarte:
This deck is one of the most unusual on the market; its cards are round. The images are definitely feminine as this deck is geared specifically for women. The shuffling, I have heard, is rather difficult to get used to; from what I understand, however, the roundness of the cards is meant to signify a full circle of life.
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Mythic Tarot

This description is provided by Lysander:
This deck is based on the Greek mythology. The set includes a piece of silk and a book with no special title. On each card of the Major Arcana is the picture of a Greek god or goddess. For example, the Emperor is Zeus or Jupiter and the Emperess is Demeter. Mars drives the Chariot and Iris bears the two pitchers in Temperance. In the Minor Arcana, the numeric cards are based on one single legend in Greek Myth. For example, the suit of wands is based on Jason and the Golden Fleece. The suit of Cups is based on the eventful courtship of Cupid and Psyche.
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Native American Tarot

This description contributed by Don Mansmann:
The cards for this deck were created by Magda Gonzalez and illustrated by her husband J. A. Gonzalez. The deck has full color scenes based deeply on and in Native American spiritualism folklore. The cards are relatively easy to read; once accustomed to the deck, one can read almost directly from the story and symbols on the face of the card depicting daily life from a large variety of Native American tribes. The suits are correlated with many other decks this way: Swords is Blades, Cups is Vessels, Wands is Pipes, and Pentacles is Shields. The deck has a large informational book which describes each card in detail and teaches lessons in visualizations, as well as several Native American spreads with a sample reading for each spread.
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The Norse Tarot

This description contributed by Astarte:
One of my favorite decks, this has become my personal tarot. Each of the Major Arcana tells the story, in the order of the cards, of the Norse Saga, which alone makes it worth having, especially for a Vikingphile like me. I've noticed that most of the readings have a "warrior" bent to them; not surprising, I guess.
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Tarot of the Old Path

This description contributed by Greywolf:
"Tarot of The Old Path" by Howard Rodway. Inspired by "Insights and inspirations for self realization and creative participation in the development of planetary consciousness. A modern presentation of the old path of female wisdom, based on the experiences of eight "Witches" from England and the U.S." Quote from the back cover of the accompaning book.
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The Osho Zen Tarot

This description contributed by Bradlee Johnson:
While the deck is different than the "standard" tarot deck, it is by far the best one to use for oracle gazing and contemplation. It is very well drawn and colored with lively pictures and is solidly based in the ideas of Buddhism. It isn't just a cheap rip-off of concepts that have been slapped together. Ideas and concepts flow through deck as does the symbolism. Anyone involved in yoga or Buddhist meditation should enjoy this deck as a contemplative adjunct ot their mediation.
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The Pomo Tarot

This description contributed by Kelly Adey:
This is quite an unusual deck in that the creator, an artist with expertise in Renaissance iconography, has used modern imagery and titling (Guns, TVs, Money, Bottles for the suits, The Expert, The Idiot, Out of It, Evil etc for the Major Arcana). The Major Arcana cards are original artwork and the Minor Arcana use adaptations of post-modern art including that of Dali, Klee, Ernst, Matisse, Hockney and so on. The handbook is written in a slightly tongue-in-cheek style -- it's quite funny in places -- but on the whole it shows respect for tarot and the images chosen for each card are very appropriate (and quite subtle in some cases). The handbook makes clear what each card represents and its parallel in traditional packs (and is a great way to bone up on postmodern art per se, incidentally). Gives reversed meanings.

Prediction Tarot

This description was contributed by Lysander:
The first thing one notices about the Prediction Tarot is its difference in size when compared to other Tarot decks; its length is pretty much the same as any other deck but its width is much thinner. As a result, in order to make the pictures on the cards look normal, the view of the pictures within is 'zoomed out' hence the people appear rather small. The deck is beautiful but close scrutiny is required to appreciate the fine art work because as mentioned before, everything appears rather zoomed out. The Minor Arcana is done in the old style; that is to say, like decks before the Rider Waite Deck, and there are no pictures other than the suits. This deck might be a little difficult for beginners in terms of memorizing the meanings for the Minor Arcana since there are no pictures to help out but would be recommended to those who can't get used to the size of the average Tarot Deck.

Rider-Waite Tarot

This description contributed by Astarte:

Probably the most commonly used tarot deck on the market today. Developed by A. E. Waite, a prominent occultist; the images were created by the artist Pamela Coleman Smith. This is the deck that is most widely available almost anywhere. Over six million copies of this deck has been sold.
Appendium : Many versions of the Rider Waite Tarot Deck are available today The original is still available today but in addition to that, the Golden Rider Tarot Deck , based on the original designs but done in bold colours by Francois Tapernous can be found in the market as well. For those who find the original Rider Waite Deck to bold in colours, the Universial Waite Deck will suite your taste. It is based on the original pictures but they have been re-coloured by Mary Hansen-Roberts . For those who are familiar with the Hansen-Robert Deck, one could guess that the Universal Waite Deck is a very beautiful deck.
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Click here to find out more about buying the Original Rider Waite Deck.
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Click here to find out more about buying the Rider Waite Tarot Deck (five languages).
Click here to find out more about buying the Rider Waite Tarot Deck (giant).
Click here to find out more about buying the Rider Waite Tarot Deck (miniture).
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Click here to find out more about buying the Universal Waite Deck (this version was re-coloured by Hansen Roberts and looks more pleasant due to the pastal colours
Click here to find out more about buying the Universial Waite Deck (tiny) (this is more of a collector's item, who can shuffle a deck 1.89 by 1.45 inches?)
Click here to find out more about buying the The Pictoral Key to the Tarot by Rider Waite.
Click here to find out more about buying the Univesal Waite Deck Set (consists of the Deck and The Pictoral Key to the Tarot).
This appendium is contributed by Lysander .

Robin Wood Tarot

This description contributed by Astarte:
Developed by Robin Wood and Michael Short with the assistance of Barbara Johnson, this deck takes traditional images from the Rider-Waite tarot and, in my opinion, makes them more vibrant, colorful, and interpretable
Appendium : The Robin Wood Deck is a re-interpretation of the Rider Waite Tarot Deck. In a few ways, it is less intimidating than the Rider Waite Deck (the pictures have been changed), so that Death no longer shows a Skeleton and so forth. A beginniner might like to start with this deck for this reason. Also, the pictures, as Astarte has already stated, are more colourful and pleasing to the eye.
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This appendium is contributed by Lysander .

The Rôhrig-Tarot

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The Rock Art Tarot

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Rock Art Tarot is created by artist Jerry Roelen who supposedly took to the canyons where pictographs and petroglyphs of past cultures remained. She adapted them into her unique, 78 card deck. The pictures on these cards resembles the rough sketches made by cavemen, rather like the sort we see in movies, on TV and such. The colours used are bright and the style is bold and the pictures clear though the pictures are extremly abstract, some just showing the outline of figures, leaving the reader to guess at the actual pictures themselves, while this may lead to new revelations in the seasoned reader, it might appear confusing for the beginner. An interesting deck for those interested in the very distant past.
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The Russian Tarot of St Petersburg

This description contributed by Astarte:
This deck is based on Russian icon art of the Russian Orthodox Church. The deck is extremely beautiful, and the cards are slightly smaller than those of standard decks. It may be a somewhat difficult deck to find.
Appendium
A beautiful deck in which the dominant colours are black and gilt. All the cards have black backgrounds and elaborate border. This 'border' leaves an empty egg shaped space in the centre of the card where the scene of the card appears. Due the the black background, the figures and scenes seem to shine brightly in contrast. The artwork for the borders are elborate, sometimes, requiring a brush with a single hair to apply the colours.
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This appendium is contributed by Lysander

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Decks of the Tarot: A through I
Decks of the Tarot: S through Z