Famous tarot decks
Nearly every tarot deck sold today descends from one of three traditions: Rider-Waite-Smith, Thoth, or Tarot de Marseille. Rider-Waite-Smith (1909) gives every card a full illustrated scene; the Thoth deck layers Aleister Crowley's dense esoteric system onto each card, painted by Lady Frieda Harris; and the older Tarot de Marseille shows only stacked suit symbols on its number cards. Knowing what separates them makes it easier to pick a first deck, and to read any deck someone hands you later.
What is the Rider-Waite-Smith deck?
The Rider-Waite-Smith deck is the 1909 tarot that gave every card, including the small number cards, a scene to read rather than a pattern to memorize. Arthur Edward Waite designed the system and Pamela Colman Smith illustrated it, publishing through William Rider & Son in London. Before this deck, most minor arcana cards showed only their suit symbols in a grid; the Three of Swords, for instance, was three swords and nothing more. Smith gave it a heart pierced by three swords under a rain cloud, and a beginner can read that image before opening a book. That single change is why the Rider-Waite-Smith became the template most tarot writers, apps, and teachers still build on. Auspice's card library follows this structure, so meanings you learn here carry over to almost any deck published since.
What is the Thoth tarot deck?
The Thoth deck is Aleister Crowley's esoteric tarot, painted by Lady Frieda Harris through the 1940s and published in 1969, and it reads more like a diagram of correspondences than a set of scenes. Crowley layered astrology, the Kabbalah's Tree of Life, alchemy, and Egyptian imagery onto each card, and renamed several majors to match: Strength became Lust, Judgement became Aeon, the World became the Universe. The artwork is striking and the system is genuinely rewarding once you know it, but reading Thoth well means learning Crowley's framework alongside the cards, so most teachers point newer readers toward it after, not instead of, a first deck.
What is the Tarot de Marseille?
The Tarot de Marseille is the older lineage, a French woodblock pattern dating to the 17th and 18th centuries in which the minor arcana show only their suit symbols stacked in a pattern, with no illustrated scene. Where the Rider-Waite-Smith gives the Three of Swords a pierced heart, the Marseille version is simply three swords crossed. Reading those pips leans on what the number means and what the suit means, combined by the reader, rather than a picture cue supplying the answer. The major arcana keep their own iconic woodcut figures, Le Bateleur and La Papesse among them, and many historians treat the Marseille pattern as the trunk that Rider-Waite-Smith and Thoth both branched from. The full lineage is traced in the history of tarot.
What about modern decks built on Rider-Waite-Smith?
Most decks published in the last few decades keep the Rider-Waite-Smith's 78 cards, scenes, and upright meanings, and simply repaint them in a new visual language: botanical decks, minimalist line-art decks, decks built around a particular culture or mythology. Once you know the Rider-Waite-Smith structure, you can pick up nearly any of these and start reading, because the card you are looking at still tells the same story in different clothing. If you are choosing your first physical deck, choosing a tarot deck covers what else is worth weighing beyond which tradition it follows.
1909. Every card, including the small number cards, shows a full illustrated scene. The standard most modern decks and apps follow.
Painted by Lady Frieda Harris to Aleister Crowley's design, published in 1969. Dense with astrology, Kabbalah, and alchemical symbolism, and several cards carry new names.
17th and 18th century French woodblock pattern. Minor arcana pips show only stacked suit symbols, no scene, so reading them leans on number and suit meaning.
Which deck should you start with?
Start with a Rider-Waite-Smith deck, or any modern deck built on its structure, because the illustrated pips let you read a scene before you have memorized a single meaning. Save Thoth for once the upright Rider-Waite-Smith meanings feel steady and you want to go deeper into its symbolic layering. Save Marseille for once you are comfortable enough with suit and number meaning to read a card without a scene to lean on. Auspice's learn hub is built around the Rider-Waite-Smith structure end to end, so it is a steady place to begin regardless of which physical deck ends up in your hands.
Frequently asked questions
Do all tarot decks have the same 78 cards?
Structurally, yes: 22 major arcana and 56 minor arcana across four suits. Thoth renames a handful of majors and some independent artists add a bonus card or two, but the 78-card skeleton is shared by all three traditions.
Can you use more than one deck at once?
Yes. Many readers keep one deck for daily draws and another for bigger questions, or switch between an RWS-based deck and a Marseille deck as their reading style grows. Nothing about tarot requires sticking to a single deck.
Do you need to cleanse or bless a new deck before using it?
No ritual is required. Most readers simply go through a new deck card by card once, reading the art before their first real reading, so the images feel familiar rather than foreign.
Why did Crowley rename cards like Strength and Judgement?
The Thoth deck maps each card onto Crowley's own occult framework, so names shifted to match the ideas layered onto them: Strength became Lust, Judgement became Aeon, and the World became the Universe.
Is Tarot de Marseille harder to read than Rider-Waite-Smith?
For the minor arcana, usually. Without a scene on the pip cards, you are reading suit and number meaning rather than a picture, which is a skill worth building once upright RWS meanings feel steady.