If you are interested in using the Tarot holistically, for healing and personal development, you will find that certain decks work better than others. Which decks that might be will vary from person to person, so what resonates with me might not work for you and that is totally fine. Below, I’m listing my favourite Tarot Healing decks in four categories:
- For readings (self and clients)
- For energy work (chakra healing, tarot healing meditation and tarot essences)
- For combining with other healing modalities
- For shadow work (integrating aspects of self we are prone to project onto others)
For holistic Tarot readings
- Voyager Tarot by James Wanless – Not based on any particular belief system and suitable to use with most clients. Ideal for brainstorming as there are lots of visual clues. Totally unique but belongs more to the Thoth family of decks. Definitely NOT a Rider Waite clone.
- Inner Child Cards: A Fairy Tale Tarot by Isha Learner – Because we learn the landscape of our souls best through storytelling
- Tarot of the Sidhe by Emily Carding – With its strong connection to the Sidhe and Nature, this is an ideal deck for working in a shamanic way. Very powerful, poetic readings come from working with this deck.
- Osho Zen Tarot – Extremely useful for exploring relationship dynamics as well as pretty much any personal development factors.
- Simply Deep Tarot by James Battersby and Chanel Bayless – A deck with a modern feel to it. Bright colours and well-thought-through symbology make this one of my favourite decks to work with for clear direction and problem-solving.
- Mary-El Tarot by Marie White – Another shamanic deck which also suits dreamwork. The strong imagery contains nudity which may not appeal to everyone. The writing in the companion book is deeply insightful and makes for a wonderful daily contemplation focus.
For vibrational healing work
- The Rosetta Tarot by M.M. Meleen – has been described as the ‘little sister of the Thoth deck’ (read my deck interview HERE)
- The Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris
When doing energy healing work, I rely heavily on Astrological correspondences. If working with decks in the Thoth family is not a comfortable fit, I recommend a regular Waite Smith deck. Lo Scarabeo did an excellent job with colouring the RWS Pamela Coleman Smith Tarot.
For combining with other modalities
- The Herbal Tarot – Excellent to combine with Flower Essences & Herbal remedies
- The Crystal Tarot Deck – Excellent to combine with Crystal Therapy
For shadow work
- The Bohemian Gothic Tarot by Karen Mahoney – Excellent for looking into the nooks and crannies of one’s psyche. Enchanting imagery. (For an example of this deck in action, click HERE)
- The Tarot of the Vampyres by Ian Daniels – Beautiful dark imagery. Comes with an absolutely amazing companion book, displaying in-depth knowledge about both the occult and psychology. Essentially, Vampirism is what we are forced to resort to if we are not taking responsibility for our own wholeness. We all go through various stages of Vampirism, both as ‘vampires’ and victims before we learn to manage our energy… something to be mindful of when working with this stunning deck.
Click HERE to learn how to cleanse and dedicate a deck for Tarot Healing work.
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Comments 4
You are welcome, Celeste. I must admit that I don't remember anything about the reading but I'm glad you found it helpful 🙂
By the way, I want to say a belated thank you. You did a relationship reading for me about a year and half ago or so that helped me put the final nail in the coffin and end it for good. I am with someone else now and much happier. So thank you for the honest reading that you did for me then-it was what I needed to hear at the time. 🙂
Thanks for sharing, Brigit. That's new me to me. Will definitely check it out! 🙂
I would have to add the "Healing Earth" tarot to your list. I received this deck about a year ago and only use it on special occasions. It is just MAGICAL. I can't describe it… so very powerful and beautiful to look at. My readings with these cards have been very accurate, and that's been with using the LWB only. Amazing.