About Site

Historical Tarot Decks

This Web site presents images, from a few historical tarot card decks, for contemplation, study and art appreciation. It offers a number of interactive features to help you deepen and enrich your experience. We encourage you to explore other Tarot history Web sites; there are many more decks not included here.

Notes about each deck and layout can be viewed by clicking the “About Deck” and “About Layout” buttons. The notes also link to articles at other Web sites about tarot history. (Also check out our embedded article, “Tirage en Croix & Suit Cards Tableau” on an interesting numerological pattern that we have not seen described elsewhere.)

You can move the card images across the display, and choose from a selection of layouts for card readings or compose your own. Each card image is linked to articles offering possible meanings, and the cor­re­spond­ing cards' images from different decks can be compared side-by-side. (To compare, after selecting an image, click theicon or the C key.)

Many of the images of cards were obtained from the Web downloads offered by libraries and museums; source links are provided where possible in the “About Deck” description page for each deck. Some of the images were of poor quality due to lighting conditions or other factors; Photoshop was used to correct color balance and adjust contrast to bring out details, at the risk of strengthening digital artifacts or giving an inaccurate impression of the physical condition of the original cards. Some of the card back designs used here are not historical; where images for those are not available for a deck, or are in poor condition, we opted to use contemporary abstract designs.

Reading the Cards

This Web site does not perform a card reading (the art of interpreting the cards and their layout in relation to your question), but can facilitate your performing a reading. For those interested in doing so, this Web site provides a variety of methods and options.

Keep in mind that the symbolism of the cards has evolved, and been reinterpreted, by many tarot teachers over time. We link each card to a range of meanings that readers may use as a guide but, beyond any traditional meaning, we suggest that readers allow themselves to creatively connect the images to their own questions or issues, using them as a tool to spark personal insights and intuitions.

You can follow this general procedure:

  1. Choose a deck and a layout. You can start simply with a 1 Card (“Single Card Draw”) layout. Or, select a different layout from the drop-down list.
  2. Focus on asking a question, then click Shuffle. The Web site will randomize and lay out the cards. This simulates the physical process of shuffling and taking cards from the top of the deck, and has worked surprisingly well for some readers. Or, select and position cards manually: Some readers like querents to intuitively select cards. In that spirit, this Web site provides an option to “Choose from spread deck”.
  3. Magnify the card image and look up divinatory meanings. After the card images have been laid, you can click on any to view the image at a larger size. In the caption will be links to relevant information in this and other Web sites.

Tips: To expand on some card layouts, it is possible to draw additional cards from the deck shown in the upper left corner of the display. Further, you can try re-laying the cards from one reading’s spread, keeping the same order, in other layouts or decks to see if that evokes a richer reading. (To try this, use the Substitute button; the Substitute function will not be able to translate all cards between decks, as some decks have more cards than other decks.)

For a general introduction and easy how-to guide, see How Stuff Works — How Tarot Cards Work.

Bonus! Get Free Books on Tarot

The default set of divinatory meanings featured in this Web site are from Mark McElroy’s “uncopyrighted” A Guide to Tarot Card Meanings, used here with our thanks to him. You can read the text of the earlier editions of his books within our Web site,

and you can get updated editions of his books (as e-books or physical paperbacks) through his Web site at TarotTools.com .

Additionally, we provide, in PDF format, a selection of classic writings about tarot, including Arthur Edward Waite’s The Pictorial Key to the Tarot .

Keyboard Shortcuts & Technical Tips

You can explore and use this site without reading this list of technical tips; we provide them here for users who may have special requirements.

All features of this Web site have been tested on the Chrome Web browser from Google, circa 2016, using a computer running Mac OS X. Depending on your brand/version of Web browser and of computer operating system, most features should work as described.

List of Keyboard Shortcuts & Tips ▾

  • Please maximize the size of your browser window for best viewing; the card layouts will automatically resize to fit the window’s width.
  • Single-click on a card’s small thumbnail image to view at larger size. In the image’s caption will be links to meanings and relevant articles. Double-click to both view the image at larger size and to look up meanings quickly.
  • While viewing the “magnified” card image, you can
    • Click on the image to proceed to the previous or next card in the layout; you can also use the left and right arrow keys on your computer’s keyboard.
    • Click on links to information (or press number keys to activate links).
    • Click on the Compare icon (or press C) to view the corresponding cards from all available decks.
  • You can use your computer’s mouse, touchpad, or touchscreen to drag the card images (individually or as a “lassoed” group) across the display. Press G a few times to try the “snap-to-grid” feature. To shift, as a group, all of the cards laid out, you can hold down the ⇧ Shift key when you press the arrow keys. To center the layout, press ⇧ Shift+. keys.
  • “Power users” and users needing to use keyboard navigation, please see the list of Shortcut Keys.

How to Contact Us

Thanks for checking out our tarot study project.

To submit feedback and questions about the historical card images on this site, or about the site, send a message to us at tarotmysterium@gmail.com. Please note that we are technology and art specialists, not tarot experts, and cannot offer help in card interpretation beyond the facilities built into this Web site.

But, to those needing a reading, we suggest checking locally for professional readers, and we recommend these consultants for remote readings:

List of Consultants ▾

  • Lynn Walcutt — intuitive counselor, therapist and artist available for in-person psychic readings in the Hudson Valley of New York and sometimes in New York City, and for remote readings by phone. She normally receives psychic impressions through mental imagery and mental hearing, but on request can use the Tarot in an intuitive way.
  • Benebell Wen — author and reader specializing in analytical tarot and astrology, available for in-person readings in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, and for remote readings handled via e-mail.

Privacy

Our Web site uses your Web browser's technological capabilities solely for supporting site navigation and essential features. It began and is maintained as a not-for-profit educational project. It is not connected to commercial advertising, marketing or sales systems.