A deck painted by Frieda Harris under Aleister Crowley, featuring renamed trumps, abstract pips with printed keywords, and a distinct court structure (Knight, Queen, Prince, Princess).

Numbered suit cards (1–10) that show full scenes or stories, as in RWS-style decks, giving immediate narrative cues for interpretation.

Numbered suit cards shown mainly as arranged suit symbols (e.g., cups, swords), as in Marseille decks, requiring reliance on number, suit, and context.

The numbered cards (Ace/1 through 10) in each suit of the minor arcana.

The four face cards in each suit (such as Page, Knight, Queen, King, or their equivalents), often representing roles, people, or aspects of self.

Tarot approaches and decks that foreground LGBTQIA+ identities and experiences, reworking gender and relationship norms.

An esoteric tarot deck designed by Aleister Crowley and painted by Frieda Harris, featuring renamed cards, abstract art, and printed keywords.

Tradition and Innovation: Comparing Historical and Modern Decks — Tarot Card Deep Dive: Symbolism, History, and Story Across the Arcana

Orienting Yourself: Why Deck Traditions Matter

Many Tarot Languages

Tarot is not one fixed system but a family of visual languages. In this module you will compare how different deck traditions redraw the same archetypes.

Key Traditions

We will focus on three big lineages: Tarot de Marseille (TdM), Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS), and Thoth (Crowley-Harris), plus modern feminist, queer, and decolonial decks.

Your Goals

You will learn to compare the same card across decks, spot shifts in symbolism, understand current design trends, and choose decks intentionally as a reader or teacher.

Link to Earlier Modules

Earlier, you met court cards as inner voices and learned to read spreads as stories. Now you will see how deck choice shapes which stories and people can appear at all.

Three Pillars: Marseille, RWS, Thoth

Tarot de Marseille Snapshot

Marseille decks have iconic, simple trumps and non-illustrated pips. Minors show arrangements of suits, not story scenes. They lean on number, suit, and tradition.

Rider-Waite-Smith Snapshot

RWS, drawn by Pamela Colman Smith (1909–1910), uses narrative scenes for both majors and minors. It is the basis for most English-language teaching today.

Thoth Snapshot

Thoth uses renamed trumps, abstract pips with color and Qabalah, and printed keywords like Futility or Victory. Courts are Knight, Queen, Prince, Princess.

How They Relate

Marseille is minimal and archetypal, RWS is story-driven, Thoth is esoteric and keyword-heavy. Most modern decks remix these three foundations.

Side-by-Side: The Fool / Le Mat / The Fool

Marseille Fool: Le Mat

Le Mat shows a wandering figure with a pack and an animal tugging at them, against a plain background, often unnumbered. It can feel marginal, like a vagabond or outsider.

RWS Fool

The RWS Fool stands at a cliff edge, face uplifted, with dog, sun, and mountains. Numbered 0, it emphasizes innocence, spiritual risk, and open potential.

Modern Queer/Feminist Fool

Contemporary decks may depict a gender-ambiguous or trans figure, varied body and skin tone, urban settings, and renamed titles like The Dreamer or The Seeker.

Shifts in Emphasis

Across these Fools, risk may become marginalization or self-liberation. Gender, setting, and symbolism change which life stories and identities are centered.

Do-It-Yourself Comparison: Pick a Card

You will now design your own quick comparison of one archetype across eras.

Choose one card (Majors are easiest):

Suggestions: The Magician, The High Priestess/La Papesse, Strength, Death, The World.

Without looking at actual cards, write down what you expect from each tradition:

Marseille version: What is probably simple, flat, or emblematic about it?
RWS version: What scene or narrative do you remember or imagine?
Modern feminist/queer version: How might gender, race, body, or setting be changed?

Now check yourself (if you have decks or can search images):

Look up your chosen card in a Marseille deck.
Look at RWS.
Look at one modern deck that markets itself as feminist, queer, or decolonial.

Answer in your notes:
Which details stayed the same across all three?
Which details changed the most?
Which version feels most like it could include your life?
If you were teaching beginners, which version would you show first, and why?

Treat this as a rehearsal for live reading: you are training your eye to notice what each deck invites you to say.

Illustrated vs Non-Illustrated Pips: How It Changes Reading

What Are Pips?

Pips are the numbered suit cards (1–10). Different traditions show them either as plain suit symbols or as full scenes, and this changes how you read.

Non-Illustrated Pips

Marseille-style pips show only arranged suit symbols. You lean on number plus suit plus context, making your reading more abstract and flexible.

Illustrated Pips

RWS-style pips show story scenes, like the grieving figure on 5 of Cups. They give quick, emotional meanings but can also narrow your interpretations.

Thoth and Modern Hybrids

Thoth uses semi-abstract art plus keywords. Many modern decks keep RWS scenes but update characters; some return to plain pips to invite open-ended reading.

Pip Practice: From Symbols to Story

Practice switching between illustrated and non-illustrated thinking.

Imagine a non-illustrated 7 of Swords (Marseille-style)

Only seven swords, arranged decoratively.
In your notes, list three possible meanings using:
7 = assessment, strategy, testing.
Swords = mind, conflict, communication.
Example prompts: mental planning, overthinking, negotiating boundaries.

Now recall the RWS 7 of Swords scene

A figure sneaks away carrying swords, glancing back.
Write three meanings that people often use (e.g., stealth, theft, acting alone).

Compare your lists

Which meanings overlap?
Which came only from the RWS picture (e.g., deception)?
Which came only from number + suit thinking (e.g., mental experimentation)?

Teaching reflection

If you were teaching a group about 7 of Swords:
How would you acknowledge the popular “sneaky” image without getting stuck in it?
How could you use a Marseille or Thoth version to open up other angles (strategy, research, solo work)?

This exercise trains you to read beyond a single artist’s story, even when you are working with fully illustrated decks.

Modern Trends: Inclusive, Feminist, Queer, and Decolonial Decks

Inclusive Imagery

Recent decks show broader skin tones, body sizes, ages, disabilities, and genders. Lovers may be queer or non-romantic; courts may use mobility aids or neurodivergent cues.

Feminist Revisions

Feminist decks center women and femmes, often renaming cards like Emperor to The Founder and reframing burdens as emotional labor or systemic oppression.

Queer Reimagining

Queer decks treat gender as fluid, rename courts, and focus on themes like coming out, chosen family, transition, and queer joy, rejecting rigid active/passive roles.

Decolonial and Cultural Decks

Decolonial decks replace European medieval settings with specific cultures, landscapes, and spiritualities, often critiquing colonial imagery and explaining changes.

Ethical Use

Always ask who created the deck and whose culture it portrays. Prefer community-led projects and read guidebooks for cultural context and permissions.

Quick Check: Structure and Style

Test your understanding of deck structures and pip styles.

Which statement best describes a key difference between Marseille and RWS-style decks?

Marseille decks use fully illustrated pips while RWS decks use only suit symbols.
Marseille decks use non-illustrated pips and simpler trumps, while RWS decks use narrative scenes for both majors and minors.
Both Marseille and RWS decks use identical imagery; only the card titles differ.
RWS decks have no court cards, while Marseille decks have four courts per suit.

Show Answer

Answer: B) Marseille decks use non-illustrated pips and simpler trumps, while RWS decks use narrative scenes for both majors and minors.

Marseille decks typically have non-illustrated pips and more minimal trumps, while RWS decks present narrative scenes for both majors and minors. The other options misrepresent or exaggerate differences.

Choosing a Deck for a Reading or Class

Apply what you have learned to practical choices.

Imagine you are:

Reading for a queer friend exploring gender identity.
Teaching a beginner workshop at a university.
Designing a course on the history of Western esotericism.

For each scenario, answer in your notes:

Which deck tradition or style would you choose, and why?

Marseille, RWS, Thoth, feminist/queer, decolonial, or a mix?

What advantages does your choice bring?

Accessibility, representation, historical accuracy, depth of symbolism?

What limitations or risks might it have?

Cultural mismatch, overcomplicated symbolism, lack of representation?

How would you name those limitations out loud to your querent or students so they can make informed choices too?

Optional extension: Sketch a 2–3 sentence script you could say at the start of a reading or class that explains why you chose this deck and invites people to voice discomfort or preferences.

Key Terms Review

Use these flashcards to reinforce core vocabulary from this module.

Tarot de Marseille (TdM): A historical tarot pattern from 17th–18th century France/Italy with iconic trumps and mostly non-illustrated pips, emphasizing number, suit, and tradition.
Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS): A 1909–1910 deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith under A.E. Waite, using narrative scenes for all cards and forming the basis of most modern English-language decks.
Thoth Tarot: A deck painted by Frieda Harris under Aleister Crowley, featuring renamed trumps, abstract pips with printed keywords, and a distinct court structure (Knight, Queen, Prince, Princess).
Illustrated pips: Numbered suit cards (1–10) that show full scenes or stories, as in RWS-style decks, giving immediate narrative cues for interpretation.
Non-illustrated pips: Numbered suit cards shown mainly as arranged suit symbols (e.g., cups, swords), as in Marseille decks, requiring reliance on number, suit, and context.
Feminist tarot deck: A deck that centers women and femmes, critiques patriarchal symbolism, and often renames or reframes traditional cards to highlight power, agency, and systemic issues.
Queer tarot deck: A deck that foregrounds LGBTQIA+ experiences, treats gender as fluid, and often reimagines relationships, bodies, and court roles to reflect queer lives.
Decolonial tarot deck: A deck that challenges Eurocentric and colonial imagery, centering specific cultures, histories, and spiritualities, often with explicit critique and contextual guidebooks.

Key Terms

Pips: The numbered cards (Ace/1 through 10) in each suit of the minor arcana.
Court cards: The four face cards in each suit (such as Page, Knight, Queen, King, or their equivalents), often representing roles, people, or aspects of self.
Queer tarot: Tarot approaches and decks that foreground LGBTQIA+ identities and experiences, reworking gender and relationship norms.
Thoth Tarot: An esoteric tarot deck designed by Aleister Crowley and painted by Frieda Harris, featuring renamed cards, abstract art, and printed keywords.
Feminist tarot: Tarot approaches and decks that center women and feminist analysis, often revising or renaming traditional archetypes.
Decolonial tarot: Tarot approaches and decks that challenge colonial and Eurocentric frameworks, centering marginalized cultures and critical perspectives.
Illustrated pips: Pip cards that depict narrative scenes, commonly used in RWS-style decks.
Non-illustrated pips: Pip cards that show only suit symbols arranged decoratively, typical of Marseille-style decks.
Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS): A widely influential tarot deck from 1909–1910 with fully illustrated scenes on all cards, forming the template for many modern decks.
Tarot de Marseille (TdM): A family of historical tarot decks from early modern France/Italy, noted for simple, iconic trumps and non-illustrated pips.