I’ve compiled a short list of cards and books that may help. Although many people start with The Rider Tarot Deck (also called Rider-Waite or Rider/ Waite/ Smith) I strongly recommend the Morgan-Greer Tarot. The imagery is very similar, but with slightly updated and refined artwork that I prefer. The artwork in the Sacred Rose Tarot deck, which I also use, has more intense colours with fewer, larger, details that some might prefer while others find distracting. There are dozens hundreds of other designs offered; many using Rider Deck based imagery and its arrangement of Major Arcana titles.
Using different decks all based on the standard 78 card arrangement may be easier than adding other kinds of decks to your repertoire early on. Other kinds (‘oracle’, ‘divination’ or ‘spiritual’ decks) have unique card names, images and suggested interpretations. While valuable tools in their own right it is important to understand what purpose their designers had in mind.
The Complete Guide to the Tarot by Eden Gray, is a great introduction to the Tarot. In fact Ms Gray’s three books introduced the Tarot to generations of card readers, any one of them a great resource for folks interested in Tarot philosophy in the early to mid 20th Century.
Power Tarot and The Creative Tarot are newer additions to my library, but I highly recommend each title. The first of those is now about 20 years old, but is a great introduction to the cards as well as being packed with “more than 100 spreads that give specific answers to your most important questions.” The second book is just a few years old. It was written for Artists, with some very focused spreads. I use spreads from both; see the Catalogue section.
Any of the four volumes of The Encyclopaedia of the Tarot (by the founder of US Games) are for those who really want to get a feel for the history of Tarot. I believe all 4 are now out of print; used bookstores may be the only way to find them. Another, newer, look at the history of Tarot art is The History of Tarot Art. See my review on my personal blog.
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