Decks of the Tarot: S through Z

Sacred Rose Tarot

This description contributed by Debora Allen:
The back design of the Sacred Rose tarot deck comprises five mystic roses entwined in a lattice of branches and resting upon a bed of green leaves representing the fertility of nature. The roses are the western equivalent to the sacred lotus of the Orient. Cosmic rose (in the center) suggests time and space: "Red rose stands for sacrifice/white rose stands for purity/blue rose represents the impossible/gold rose signifies absolute achievement." The art in this deck colorful and magical.
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The Servant of Light Tarot

This description contributed by Alan Pert:
This is by English occultist Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki.The trump cards are very colorful and well drawn by Jo Gill.Mostly they follow traditional tarot symbolism, but some cards have original additions which expand their meaning,e.g.the Hermit has a small Tree of Life in the top right corner.The court and number cards are by another artist, and unfortunately they do not reach the same artistic standard of the trumps.Ashcroft-Nowicki's approach is firmly in the Western Mystery Tradition, using elements of Qabalah, Celtic mythology and the Egyptian mysteries in her card descriptions.Only three spreads are offered.However one of these can prove very interesting in practice: it involves two people asking questions about themselves and their relationship, picking up a card each time to answer a question.She has also written a number of other books, some on ritual magic and pathworking, which can be used to amplify the approach of this tarot.

The Shakespearian Tarot

This description was provided by Matt.
"This deck is by Delores Ashcroft-Nowicki, with art by Paul Hardy. Each card features a figure(s) and a quote from Shakespeare's major plays -- Macbeth the Hanged Man, Prospero the Magician, Lear the Hermit, Iago the Devil, and so on. Plays include the Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Hamlet, and more. The art is extremely well done, and each quote is exactingly chosen; this deck is especially apt for the literature enthusiast. The Minor Arcana employs Swords, Orbs (Pentacles), Crowns (Cups), and Sceptres (Wands)."

The Starter Tarot

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Starter Tarot is created by George R. Bennet. The meanings of the card are written on the top and the bottom in such a way that the meanings are always up right corresponding to the position of the card, hence, the card's upright meanings are upright when the card is upright and the card's reversed meanings are upright when the card is reversed. The card is supposed to be done in the style of ancient woodcuts based on traditional motifs. This is certainly true for the Major Arcana where the pictures seem to come from the Tarot of Marseilles but the origin of the Minor Arcana is unknown, to me at least, it is probably the creator's own design.
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Swiss IJJ Tarot

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Swiss IJJ Tarot is so named because the High Priestess and the Hierophant have been replaced by Juno and Jupiter respectively. The predominant colour in this deck is white; that is to say, there is a lot of uncoloured space on the card. The other predominant colours are red, blue, yellow and black. This deck is done in the fashion of the older decks (decks before the Rider Waite Deck) and hence, the Minor Arcana shows only the suits. The title of each card is in some other language, probably French.
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Tarot of the Witches (not to be confused with The Witches' Tarot)

This description contributed by Lysander:
This deck was first used in James Bond 007 : Live and Let Die. It was also used in The X-Files. A beautiful deck with a dream like quality to the cards, the interpretation of the cards have changed somewhat though. Strength is a male who tears a book confidently in two and the World shows a globe with a face. There is a rather strange characteristic in the figures of this deck, and that is the upper half of their bodies seems rather unproportional to their lower half, and the top half is a little bigger. The Minor Arcana just shows the suits with no extra pictures, other than a symbol present in every numbered card except the Ace. In the Major Arcana, the landscape is strangely barren; there is little else except for the main character, occasionally an animal or two, or a planet or two in the sky.
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Terrestial Tarot

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Terrestrial Tarot Deck is created by Ara Gerhardt and Ad Zeeuwen. Instead of 78 cards, there are 82 cards, 4 additional elemental cards. The artist has a unique drawing style. The dominant colour in this deck is black. All the cards have black backgrounds and lines of vibrant and brillant colours are drawn over the black surface to create a picture, creating a luminous effect. The pictures are symmetrical about a vertical line that is normally in the centre, a beautiful and abstract deck but the pictures (and possibly meanings) deviate from the average Tarot Deck.
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Ukiyoe Tarot

This description was contributed by Lysander:
The Ukiyoe Tarot is an interesting deck, the art work obviously of Japanese origin. The colours used are bright and vivid and the meanings of the deck are steeped heavily in Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Tradition, Culture as well as a bit of History here and there. The cards of the Major Arcana has not undergone any major changes save for the Devil in which the meanings have changed. The Devil in the Ukiyoe Tarot represents not an evil entity but someone who vanquishes and frees people from evil and the meanings change like wise. As for the Minor Arcana, the cards show only the suit they represent and a few added illustrations here and there such as a blue back ground, leaves, flowers and so forth, and they do not really aid in remembering the meaning of the card. In every number card of the Minor Arcana, in the picture, is a picture of the corresponding suite in an ordinary deck of poker cards.
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The Unicorn Tarot

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Unicorn Tarot, as implied by the name, shows a unicorn on every card. There is at least one unicorn and on occasions, like on the card Justice and the Hanged Man, there are two. Even in the card Death, although there isn't a Unicorn, there is the skeleton of one. The cards are quite pretty and the colours used are pleasing to the eyes. The Minor Arcanna depicts scenes on every card and these scenes assist the reader in remembering the meanings of the cards. The Suits are colour coded, for example, in the suit of swords, the background (sky) is almost always blue to signify winter and air. This is a good deck to start with, as the pictures are not too intimidating.
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The Universal Tarot

This description contributed by Heather Dunfield:
"The Universal Tarot" is a very new deck (1995) designed by Maxwell Miller. He draws his inspiration for the cards "from the whole spectrum of the world's cultures and religions"*. There is an emphasis on Kabbalism, Egyptian Mythology, Sufism, Astrology, Buddhism, Shamanism, as well as many others. The deck comes with a book with detailed descriptions of the cards, their symbolism, and background, as well as general information on Tarot and spreads. It also includes nine cards with abbreviated meanings for quicker reference. While it uses the basic tarot composition--major and minor arcana--there are some minor changes: there are only 3 court cards (King, Queen, and Knave) for each of the four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords, and Disks) and four of the minor arcana cards have different names: Desire (Strength), Karma (Justice), Time (Temperence), and The Revelation (The Last Judgement). The cards are colourful, and deeply symbolic. They require some adjustment time to absorb all the ideas involved in each card, but personally, I find the deeper, complex meanings more rewarding.
*quote from back of box.
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The Vertigo Tarot

This description contributed by Ann:
The Vertigo Tarot deck is based on the Vertigo comic line, which is the adult horror/psycholgical branch of D.C. Dave McKean did all of the artwork. He was the cover artist for the entire Gaiman Sandman run. McKean's artwork is a very unique and beautiful combination of photography, distortion, and painting. The Major Arcana are all characters from Vertigo comics; many of the Endless from Sandman are represented. This deck is probably most meaningful for those familar with the Vertigo line because they would know the roles that the individual characters play, which adds an additional possible interprentation to the Major Arcana cards. Even without that knowledge, it is still a beautiful deck. Only limited number were made. Check for it in comic book and card shops.
"Just as a sort of addendum to the description of the Vertigo Tarot, The Vertigo Tarot adds a whole new twist on the interpretive meanings of the cards... The one that sticks out most in my mind is the Emperor, depicted as a marionette, with strings attached, falling into the throne, as if he were thrust into the position by other forces..." (sent by Jason Chandler)

The Vision Tarot

This description contributed by Mun Hon:
The vision Tarot is definitely an usual deck for all the pictures are all real photographs with real people. The scenery is rather questionable though, some of the natural landscapes are easily found but some of the backgrounds in the Major Arcanna (ie, caves and castles) are a little hard to find and one cannot help but wonder if they were drawn and rendered on a computer. Nevertheless, the artwork is exquisite and the creator certainly used photographs to illustrate the cards well. Each card is labelled in both roman numerals as well as arabic numerals, with English and French Titles. The Roman Numerals and French title always appear within the picture, usually as part of the scenery. The English Title and Arabic Number appears outside the picture. This deck clearly a reinterpratation of the older Tarot Decks and looks very similiar to the Beascon Tarot (eg, the Death Card has no name, Lovers shows two women and a man etc and the Minor Arcanna shows nothing but the suites for the numbered cards). Those who are interested in the old meanings of the Tarot but find the old decks too boring would find this deck useful.
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Voyager Tarot

This description contributed by Jim Marshall:
This deck by James Wanless and Ken Knutson departs from tradition tarot decks in its imagery, artistry, and interpretation. From the different configuration of the "royalty' (Sage, Child, Woman, and Man) to the suits (Crystals, Cups, Worlds, and Wands), the Voyager Tarot is a deck for the "new age," as the authors state in the accompanying booklet (graphic design by Louise Riswold). The characters of the Major Arcana are relatively traditional, with the exception of Justice, Temperance and Judgement (now Balance, Art and Time-Space). Photo-collage is the style used to present the concepts of the deck, with emphasis on historical statues, imagery from various world cultures, and nature.
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William Blake Tarot

This description contributed by Mary K. Greer:
The William Blake Tarot consists of 80 full-color cards with a 176-page interpretive book, and is designed for creative problem-solving, divination, and meditation. All the card illustrations are based on the works of William Blake, collaged and colored by Ed Buryn. In addition to the 22 Triumphs cards (Major Arcana) and 56 Creative Process cards (Minor Arcana), it includes the new card called Eternity, plus an introductory Keywords Card that describes the suits. The four Creative Process suits, named after Blake's "Arts in Eternity: Painting, Science, Music, and Poetry" focus upon the use of creative imagination to illuminate personal and creative issues. The 22 Triumphs tell the story of the "Soul's Journey" towards redemption. The new Eternity card is a significator of spiritual destiny, a reminder of Blake's statement that "every Natural Effect has a Spiritual Cause." Another innovation is that each card of the Creative Process suits includes a "symbol window," a space in which to write or paste additional symbols, if desired. These can add a uniquely personal dimension to readings and meditations. The accompanying illustrated book by Ed Buryn (which is edited by Tarot author and teacher Mary K. Greer) describes the cards in terms of William Blakešs mythology, in which his "Zoas" or immortal human powers struggle for dominance within the psyche, especially worldly rationality versus divine imagination.
This description was annotated. More information can be found on this deck at TAROT: Tools and Rites of Transformation.
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The Witches' Tarot

This description contributed by Astarte:
The description for this deck was provided to me by Ellen Cannon Reed, the woman who designed the deck. She has been studying Qabalah for many years and took the Qabablistic symbolism of the Waite tarot and translated them into pagan symbols for the Witches' Tarot. Rather than a Hierophant, she chose to make that card the High Priest; the High Priestess is not sitting and reading but is active, the Hermit became the Seeker, and the Devil became the Horned One (with a different interpretation that the Devil in the Waite tarot).
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The Wolf Pack Tarot

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Wolf Pack cards are in black and white, an usual deck for the cards are laid on their 'sides', the side of the card that is longer. Even more unusual is that it only has 60 cards. Each card is in black and white. As a starter deck, all the meanings are written on the deck so it is very easy for the beginner or professional alike. Every card shows the picture of a wolf in a scene of some sort.

The Wonderland Tarot

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Wonderland Tarot is derived from the Lewis Carroll stories of Alice in Wonderland as well as Through the Looking Glass. The cards are humourous and light hearted at first glance but deep meanings can be found when studied carefully. Key figures in both stories replace the human characters in the cards. For example, the Emperor becomes the Chesire Cat and the Hierophant is the catepillar. The Minor Arcana has undergone radical changes. Instead of swords, wands, cups, pentacles, there are flamingoes, peppermills, hats and oysters. The Minor Arcana cards are marked with playing card symbols. Some of the decks of this card are based on the Rider-Waite Tarot (the resemblance is quite apparent). This deck is almost as small as an ordinary poker deck and would be good for beginners, as the images are not intimidating nor is the size too difficult to handle.
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Yeager Tarot of Meditation

This description contributed by Lysander:
The Yeager Tarot of Meditation. A unique deck, the cards are rather wide with respect to their length. The frames off all the cards are black, another unique characteristic. The pictures are drawn with dark backgrounds so that the main character stands out with an irdiscent effect. The background of the Minor Suits reflects the elements each suit represents with the appropriate colour. The numbered cards show just the suits and nothing else. This might make it a little difficult for a beginner to remember the meaning. The artwork is superb and beautiful.
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Decks of the Tarot: A through I
Decks of the Tarot: J through R