To create a Tarot deck is a non-trivial exercise, although many go through such a process. As a professional Tarot reader I have happily used the same deck for nearly 30 years. There is no reason to change…

I use the same Tarot spread too – and with every reading I learn something new. There is constant evolution, and I never get bored when there are so many new things to learn.

I am happy with the same deck, and I have no intention of changing spreads. Why bother going through the hassle of designing, creating and refining 78 cards? Maybe it is the challenge?

Create a tarot deck to Learn

There are plenty of courses out there where pupils create their own deck. The process of creating each card and applying some attributions, is a good idea. Going freestyle however, is not necessarily so clever.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn demanded that students should create their own Tarot deck. It was a test of their knowledge and application of the attribution as it relates to the Tree of Life and ritual magic. Its a bit like those exam questions where you have to demonstrate your working out.

Create a Tarot deck to show off

The range of attributions as found in Liber 777 is so big that it is futile to try to include them on each card. The various Heads of the Golden Dawn will have gone through this process, and we can assess how well they did.

For example, A.E. Waite’s deck is average at best, as he inconsistently applies the attributions. However, he includes just enough secret knowledge across the deck to demonstrate his grasp of the system. The point of the Rider-Waite deck is to advertise the existence of a secret Order.

Aleister Crowley not only consistently included core material from the Golden Dawn and Liber 777, but he added more of his own philosophy.

For me, the purpose is to create a tarot deck that I would be happy to use professionally, that consistenly includes the fundamentally useful attributions which facilitate reading for clients. How much more ambitious than this time will tell.