In the market for a new Tarot deck…or perhaps in the mood to be tempted? Tis the season for lighting a few candles, spreading out a decorative cloth on the table, and divining with some gorgeous new cards. These decks range in style, from minimalist illustrations to Art Deco inspired scenes to photographs and more. There are decks depicting all kinds of bodies, that eschew gender altogether or that embrace gender diversity — even a deck containing multiple versions of The Lovers so that you can choose your own. A Tarot deck is a highly personal thing, but perhaps within this list of fifteen, you’ll find one (or two, or three) that stand out to you.
Liberation Tarot($46.50)
This deck just came out this year from independent, radical publisher PM Press. From the description: “Liberation Tarot seeks to serve as a tool for those inspired towards revolution in the face of the able-centered, capitalist, heterocis-normative, white-supremacist patriarchy.” Some of the cards are altered to suit this revolutionary outlook, with, for example, the Major Arcana card Judgment becoming instead “Uprising” in the Liberation deck. Don’t stress though, every introvert’s favorite card, The Hermit, remains in the deck with its classic name. The booklet which “includes an introduction from deck organizer Elicia Epstein, insightful essays by adrienne maree brown and lawrence barriner ii, and beautifully crafted card descriptions from poet emet ezell” will guide you in your readings. With over 30 individual artists contributing, it’s impossible to describe the art style, but if you want a deck created collectively that is imbued with revolutionary, resistant energy — this one’s for you.
Turning Terrestrial Tides Tarot ($37)
In a similar vein to the above, the Turning Terrestrial Tides Tarot deck by Sarah Calvarese exists distinctly within our current time. The last time the world experienced Pluto in Aquarius, we saw both the American and French Revolutions, and the turning of the world — for better or worse — toward the beginnings of industrialization and the seeds of change that have brought us to where we are today. This deck takes the astrological shifts into account with its cards having a distinct political bent. The zine-esque, sharp, black and white collages add layers to each of the cards, including a renamed Hierophant card — a distinctly old-fashioned card in older decks — that is now “The Authority” with images of churches, of police, and of the state crashing together in ominous high contrast. The Emperor is renamed The Authentic, something that I find makes the card much more relatable, with bodies and therefore gendered bodies absent from the card, an empty throne sits below the phrase “Take Up Space” repeated four times. The essence of the card is retranslated and ungendered and made more relatable and powerful, without needing to insert a person into the image. I could spend a long time looking at each of these individual cards, poring over the art, considering how the artist has made choices that expand and modernize the meanings behind the cards. The deck is travel sized, and with an included mini guidebook, is perfect for taking with you as you traverse our ever-changing world.
Prism Tarot ($35.00)
Also by Sarah Calvarese, Prism Tarot, came recommended by a trans friend who enjoys reading with the deck. This minimalist, colorful, holographic deck doesn’t look at all like it was designed by the same person, and yet the decisions made when it comes to imagery feel distinctly queer. In this deck, there appear to be fewer alterations to the names of the cards, but as an example of the queering of it, The Hanged Man becomes instead The Hanged One, with a disembodied leg hanging upside down from a string. This Simpsons yellow leg is wearing fishnet tights and a rugged hiking boot, giving off just the right kind of gay vibes. This deck is also great for beginners as each card has a helpful key word at the bottom to help jog your memory when it comes to the meanings.
*Does not come with a guide book.
The Queer Tarot ($28.00)
It’s called The Queer Tarot after all! This is a vibrant, colorful, retro-inspired take on the Rider Waite deck, where much of the imagery and layout of the cards will be familiar to readers of that Victorian deck — but with a gay little twist. Ash + Chess mention in the description that each card (with a person or persons on it) was created based on a real, LGBTQ+ model who was compensated for their time. The cards depict a range of people of varying “races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, sizes, and abilities.”
*Does not come with a guide book.
Haunted: A Cursed Appalachian Tarot Deck ($50.00)
Made by a Pittsburgh-based queer artist, this deck embraces something that gay people are known to love, ghosts. Haunted: A Cursed Appalachian Tarot Deck came out last year, when the artist, Genevieve Barbee-Turner, also did an interview with Autostraddle. The cards are hand-drawn and layered with meaning and real, Appalachian ghost stories, and the accompanying guidebook will help keep you on track so you don’t get lost in the woods and dark, mountainous ravines. The art of this deck has a melancholy to it that I just can’t seem to shake whenever I look at it. The research and care that went into creating this deck would make it a gorgeous yet disturbing addition to your deck collection.
Gold Lyre Tarot ($27.85)
The Gold Lyre Tarot centers rich photography and collage on its simple, but beautiful cards. Based off the Rider Waite Tarot deck, but with a gender agnostic approach to populating the cards with figures, new readers will find this deck easy to read with, especially with the included guidebook. This is a deck that I could see working well in a certain kind of apartment decor scheme, one where you might just leave your cards out on a table as a display between readings.
Fyodor Pavlov Tarot ($43.66)
This exquisitely illustrated deck named for its queer artist, Fyodor Pavlov, has a deceptively vintage style, reminiscent of Art Nouveau and resplendent with fine details and delicate watercolor layers. However, it was when I saw Pavlov’s version of The Lovers, where a trans masc person and a trans femme person stand nude and looking at each other with adoration, that I myself fell in love. Pavlov brought queer and non-binary identities into this deck, modeled off the traditional Rider Waite, that took them four years to create. The deck is also gold-stamped, with gold gilt-edged cards, and the accompanying book is full-color and hard-bound.
From the artist: “My deck pays homage to Pamela Colman Smith’s seminal tarot illustrations, and draws inspiration from my own lived trans and queer experience and my personal interpretations of the cards. The result, I hope, is a deck that is accessible, comfortingly familiar, yet welcoming and refreshing to a new generation of diverse querents.”
Star Spinner Tarot ($23.20)
The Lovers card is also a centerpiece of the Star Spinner Tarot, which includes four different options to choose from. The idea of being able to customize your deck with a card that makes you feel seen is a beautiful one, and readers of this website will appreciate the sapphic-coded version, I’m sure! The cards are lushly illustrated by Trungles, a Vietnamese American queer comic book artist, who took much of the inspiration for the illustrations from fairy tales. Also modeled on the Rider Waite deck, this one will be easy to pick up for those who’re familiar, and the deck comes with a 160-page guidebook, too.
This Might Hurt Tarot ($25.10)
The cartoonist and illustrator behind A Quick and Easy Guide to Consent, Isabella Rotman, brings us this playful deck full of diverse, contemporary characters. You’ll see “alternative lifestyle haircuts,” septum piercings, and flannel adorning the figures on the cards. Rotman’s cartooning background comes through in the expressive faces found on each character that add to the mood and meaning contained in each card. The deck comes with a helpful booklet, too.
The Modern Witch Tarot ($25.10)
This deck by Lisa Sterle follows the format and symbolism of the Rider Waite deck, but infuses it with high doses of feminine energy. The artist describes the deck, illustrated in a color palette reminiscent of the original Waite deck, as “all woman” which means, importantly to me, that for The Emperor, we get a hot masc woman in a suit. The deck is peppered with bits of contemporary life. A laptop makes its way into The Hermit and we see, as is a common trope among new decks, a motorcycle replaces the traditional Chariot. For those who want a deck that is just Very Full of Ladies, this one will suit you very well. It also comes with a hardcover guidebook.
Many Queens Tarot ($25.10)
We’re just in time for the reprinting of the Many Queens Tarot, by Lettie Jane Rennekamp who set out to intentionally “blend the boundaries between gender, sex, family, friendship, shape, and size.” The deck is in black and white, with the backs of the cards decorated with a mesmerizing array of eyeballs. The illustrations are quirky with some Cubist influences, with tons of fine line details, and little surprises tucked into the tableaus. The booklet contains some of the artists own personal interpretations of the cards. This is another deck that would feel at home in an eclectically decorated apartment, and the artist
Fifth Spirit Tarot ($26.96)
This Tarot deck by Charlie Claire Burgess — a queer and trans-non-binary tarot reader, teacher, deck creator, writer, artist, and witch — seeks to queer the archetypes of each of the 78 cards which are hand-illustrated and lettered. The cards are set on an off-white background, giving the illustrations a warmth and a depth that feels like reading tarot while drinking coffee on a cool fall day. From the cards I’ve seen in the deck, this artist crushed their goal of creating a deck where the figures represent a true range of people we might see in our communities. Not only are there people who appear to have a variety of gender presentations, but there are also disabled people gracing the fronts of these cards, something not always found in decks that seek to diversify the people in them away from the white, cis-heteronormative Rider Waite cards. Additionally, it’s simply great that the Queen of Wands reads as a literal drag queen. Looking through these cards feels like walking through my local gayborhood when the art galleries are all open on a Friday night and everyone’s out and about to socialize. The deck feels homey and not tokenizing, is what I’m saying — and the cards are, of course, just really pretty, too. Burgess is also the author of Radical Tarot, but the deck does come with a guide book written by Burgess as well.
The Gay Marseille Tarot ($44.00)
Charlie Claire Burgess also created The Gay Marseille Tarot! And it is, yes, very gay. These illustrations are more inspired by the Tarot of Marseilles, a standard pattern of tarot cards of Italian origin, around the 17th and 18th centuries. This deck predates the Victorian Rider Waite Tarot deck. This deck includes two options for The World card — you can choose a person with ta-ta’s, or a person with lovingly illustrated top surgery scars! Also noteworthy is The Tower card, which playfully draws on imagery from the Stonewall Riots and features a cop falling onto his face while Marsha P. Johnson raises her fist from the top of the tower in victory. Joyful, colorful, and replete with lovingly-illustrated gays, this deck belongs in a queer house.
*Guidebook sold separately.
Next World Tarot ($46.50)
Next World Tarot is illustrated by Cuban-American artist, writer and musician, Cristy C. Road. In this deck, set in a post-apocalyptic (or really, current and all too real) landscape, “The Fool’s Journey is about smashing systemic oppression, owning their truths, being accountable to the people and places that support them, and taking back a connection to their body that may have been lost through trauma or societal brainwashing.” In this deck, Road trades The Tower for Revolution, depicting the trauma inflicted on the earth and its people by the greedy owners of fossil fuel companies as well as protesters and a child representing hope for the future. The cards are highly detailed and illustrated in full color, and also depict figures with an array of bodies, abilities, gender presentations, races, and ethnicities. Additionally, the astrological and elemental correspondences for each card grace the bottom along with the number, making it easy to remember, for example, that Strength corresponds to Leo or The Hermit to Virgo. Road’s punk rock and poster illustration background comes through in the illustration style that has a maximalist, grungy feel. For those specifically looking for a deck where the majority of characters are Black and brown, this is one that will deliver for you. The deck comes with a reader written by Road.
The Urban Tarot ($21.34)
Inspired by her home, New York City, trans woman, feminist and utopian socialist artist Robin Scott created The Urban Tarot in a digital collage style. The deck is suffused with the people and places that surround Scott and city dwellers in general. You’ll find New York’s skyline in the background of The Aeon, and a Pride parade with a sapphic couple taking center stage on the 10 of Cups. For those who find their intuition sparked by city settings, crowded with traffic and people, splashed with graffiti and maybe with a hot dog or two on a picnic table, this is a unique deck that, through setting, offers additional meanings for the traditional cards. This deck also depicts a diverse array of people, all whom you might find at home in New York. One notable addition is that the artist chose to give the court cards (the Queens, etc.) professions. The Knight of Discs is a Gourmet Chef and the Princess of Cups is a costume designer. You might or might not find this helpful when interpreting the cards. In addition, within this list, this deck stands out as it’s Thoth-based, as opposed to following the Rider Waite system. However, once you get used to princes and princesses occupying the roles of knights and pages, respectively, and the knight being in place of the king, it’s not difficult to read.
Rainbow Moon Tarot ($27.85)
The Rainbow Moon Tarot by artist and illustrator Sam Rook is spacey, minimalist, and full of pastel colors. This deck also renames certain cards, transforming the High Priestess into simply Divine and The Empress into the much more gender-neutral Creator card. The characters are fantastical, some with pointed ears, others with purple skin or horns, a mer-person sits near the water on the Five of Cups card. The deck is soft and light-hearted, gender-fluid, alien, and queer, and is actually one of five different decks by the artist, who also made the Cosmic C*nt Tarot, if you’re feeling cheeky. The deck also comes with a guide book.
Honorable Mention: A Tarot book I’m excited about
Red Tarot $25.95
Order from Firestorm Books in Asheville to support them and their mutual aid efforts after the recent devastating storms in the region.
While many of the decks in this article work to decolonize the tarot through imagery and illustration, Red Tarot, a guidebook by Christopher Marmolejo, is designed to be used with any deck, and offers new anti-colonial framings for the cards and their interpretations. From the description: “Each card’s interpretation is further bolstered by the teachings of Toni Morrison, bell hooks, Paulo Freire, José Esteban Muñoz, and others, in an offering that integrates intersectional wisdom with the author’s divination practice—and reveals tarot as an essential language for liberation.”
