Collection: Tarot & Arcana

Two decks, and the difference is whether the small cards have pictures

There are two 78-card tarot decks here and they answer the same question in opposite directions. The Witch of the Forest's Tarot Magick Deck ($26.95) is built on the Rider-Waite system, so all fifty-six minor cards are illustrated scenes — you can often read a card from what is drawn on it, and every beginner resource ever written applies to it. The Hermetic Tarot ($37.95) is a Golden Dawn deck in black and white, and its own description opens by saying it is not a beginner's deck and does not pretend to be: the minors carry astrological, sephirotic, angelic and Hebrew attributions instead of scenes, which is why it ships with a 72-page booklet. The cheaper deck is the easier one. That is not usually how this works.

Both oracle decks are lunar

An oracle deck has no fixed structure — no twenty-two and fifty-six, no suits, no set count. This shop stocks two, and both are built on the moon. Moonology ($29.95) organizes its cards by lunar phase and keeps the guidebook digital, so it cannot be separated from the box. Moon Witch ($23.95) is forty-two cards and gives every card its own ritual or spell, so the doing is the reading. If you want an oracle deck on any other theme, it is not here.

Twenty-two major cards exist. Seventeen of them are sold here as objects.

Outside the decks, single cards turn up in two forms, and the two lists barely agree. Eight are beeswax spell kits at $43.95 — the Fool, the High Priestess, the Empress, the Lovers, the Chariot, the Star, the Moon and the Sun, each a relief cast of the card with three herbs, a dressing oil and printed instructions. Nine are pendants at $17.95 — the Star, the Sun, the Moon, the Magician, the Empress, the Lovers, the World, the Wheel of Fortune and the Knight of Cups. Five cards appear in both lists. And the Knight of Cups is the only minor arcana card sold on its own anywhere in the shop.

The card is fixed; the color is the choice

All eight kits cost $43.95 whichever card you pick, and all nine pendants cost $17.95 whichever card you pick. What does vary is the wax: each kit is offered in ten colors, so you choose the card for the question and the color for the tone — pale blue for serenity, green for renewal, white for clarity, black to release what is finished. The candle stands 3.75 inches, pure beeswax, fragrance-free, lead-free cotton wick.

Honestly named

There is no Tower, no Death, no Devil, no Hanged Man and no Judgement in either range. Every card this shop sells as a separate object is an encouraging one; the difficult cards exist only inside the two full decks. There is also no tarot cloth, no card bag, no deck box and no stand anywhere in the catalog — we checked the whole shop rather than guess. And the one book here with a sustained reading of the Major Arcana is Aleister Crowley's Mysticism ($42.95), which reads the Thoth deck — a deck this shop does not stock.

Frequently asked questions

Which tarot deck should I start with?

The Witch of the Forest's Tarot Magick Deck at $26.95. It is a Rider-Waite deck, which means the fifty-six minor cards are illustrated scenes rather than arrangements of suit symbols, so the picture carries most of the meaning while you are learning. It also comes with its own guidebook of card meanings and spreads, so you do not need a second book. The Hermetic Tarot at $37.95 is the other deck here and it is a study deck first: black-and-white Golden Dawn designs dense with astrological and kabbalistic attributions, sold with a 72-page booklet because the pip cards cannot be read from the pictures.

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

A tarot deck is a fixed system: seventy-eight cards, twenty-two major arcana and fifty-six minor arcana in four suits, and that structure is the same in every deck, which is why spreads and reference books transfer between them. An oracle deck has no fixed structure at all — the maker decides the count and the theme. Both oracle decks in this shop are lunar: Moonology is organized by moon phase, and Moon Witch is forty-two cards, each carrying its own ritual. No tarot background is needed for either.

Can I buy a single tarot card?

Not as a card, but as an object, yes. Eight major arcana are sold as beeswax spell kits at $43.95 — the Fool, the High Priestess, the Empress, the Lovers, the Chariot, the Star, the Moon and the Sun. Nine are sold as stainless steel pendants at $17.95 — the Star, the Sun, the Moon, the Magician, the Empress, the Lovers, the World, the Wheel of Fortune and the Knight of Cups. The price is the same whichever card you choose. If you want the card itself, it only comes inside one of the two seventy-eight-card decks.

Why is there no Tower, Death or Devil candle?

Because the shop does not stock one. Every major arcana sold here as a separate object — eight candle kits and nine pendants — is one of the encouraging cards. There is no Tower, Death, Devil, Hanged Man or Judgement in either range. The difficult cards exist in this shop only inside the two complete decks, the Rider-Waite Tarot Magick Deck and the Hermetic Tarot.

Do the tarot candle spell kits include everything I need?

Yes. Each kit is a complete working in one box: one hand-poured beeswax candle cast in relief with the card, in your choice of ten colors, three herbs chosen for that card's work, one consecrated dressing oil, and printed instructions written plainly enough for a first spell. The candle stands 3.75 inches, is fragrance-free and has a lead-free cotton wick. Booster packs sold elsewhere in the shop add a second layer to a kit you already own, but nothing further is required to work the kit as sold.

Do you sell a tarot cloth, a card bag or a deck box?

No. We checked the whole catalog rather than guess: there is no tarot cloth, reading cloth, card bag, deck box or card stand anywhere in this shop. The decks ship in their own boxes with their booklets. If you want something to lay the cards on, the Moon Phase Black Tapestries in Wall Art are the nearest thing here, and they are sold as wall hangings rather than reading cloths.