What is the best tarot deck for beginners?

There are soooo, so many tarot decks on the market. It's a lot to choose from.

And in my opinion, some are much easier to read than others.

What makes a tarot deck easy to read?

I've had tarot decks that sing to me and decks that leave me scratching my head, trying to sort out meanings and connections between different cards. A tarot deck that is easy to read, in my opinion has the following qualities:

• The pictures are clear and implied meanings are easy to see/understand

• They have a LOT of depth in symbolism

• There is TONS of information (books, videos, courses) about all different levels of working with the deck -- literally something for everyone

• It adheres to the foundations of a classic tarot deck

What is the difference between a classic tarot deck and an oracle card deck?

Classic tarot decks have a very specific system in place behind the decks.

T: There are 78 cards in a classic tarot deck
T: Classic tarot decks have 22 cards in the Major Arcana and 56 in the Minor Arcana
O: Oracle decks can be any number of cards

T: Classic tarot decks have a Major and Minor Arcana
T: The Major Arcana symbolizes developmental stages and the Minor Arcana represents more daily life and experiences
O: Oracle decks generally don't have Arcanas

T: There are four suits in the Minor Arcana that represent the Elements Earth, Fire, Water, and Air
T: Each of the suits has numbered cards from 1-10 and Court Cards (the Page, the Knight, the Queen, and the King)
O: Oracle decks might not be split up into suits at all

T: There are elements of Astrology used in Tarot
O: Oracle cards may or may not have Astrological associations

There are some Tarot decks that deviate from this system, like the Thoth, which has 3 Magicians and the MaryEl Tarot, which shifts the meanings of -- IIRC -- Swords and Wands.

Should you learn how to interpret classic tarot card meanings if you read intuitively?

Personally, I think that everyone who learns to read tarot should learn the classic meanings of the cards. Why?

First of all, if you learn the classic meaing for all of the Tarot cards, you can pick up any deck and read it. There may be slight differences in the way the Elements are represented, like Coins or Rocks. Or there might be extra cards in the deck, like in the Dreams of Gaia Tarot. The general layout, though, will be pretty much the same.

The themes are pretty universal between the cards in a Tarot deck. The Magician has a specific meaning most decks. As I mentioned above, the images on a good tarot deck for beginners are fairly easy to read just from seeing. If you read tarot cards intuitively, you'll likely have a much easier time with the Rider Waite than with a deck like the Hermetic Tarot -- but maybe not... 🤔

So what is the best tarot deck for beginners?

Honestly, I would recommend the Rider Waite tarot deck to anyone who wants to learn to read tarot. It ticks off all of the boxes, in my opinion. It's super easy to read, the cards are easy to interpret just by looking at the picture, there's a lot of depth to them.

Additionally, they're pretty easy to buy. Most bookstores and Amazon carry them. You might even be able to find a deck at the Goodwill, just make sure to clear the energy before you use them.

Do you have a copy of the Rider Waite Tarot deck in your collection?