Quick answer
Almost every tarot deck sold today belongs to one of three families: Rider-Waite-Smith, Thoth or Marseille. All three have 78 cards, 22 trumps and four suits, but they differ in artwork, in a few card names and numbers, and in how much the small cards show. Rider-Waite-Smith (1909) illustrates every card with a scene, which is why most guidebooks and most beginners use it. Thoth (published 1969) is denser and more symbolic. Marseille is the older French pattern with plain pip cards. The “thousands of decks” in shops are mostly re-drawings of the first family.
The three deck families at a glance
Tarot began as a card game in northern Italy in the 1430s, according to Britannica, and the Marseille pattern grew out of those playing-card designs. The two later families were made for reading rather than play. Knowing which family a deck belongs to tells you which meanings its guidebook will follow and how much you will have to learn from the pictures alone.
| Feature | Rider-Waite-Smith | Thoth | Marseille |
|---|---|---|---|
| Origin | London, 1909; A. E. Waite and artist Pamela Colman Smith | Painted 1938 to 1943 by Lady Frieda Harris with Aleister Crowley; published 1969 | French woodcut pattern, standardised in the 1700s |
| Minor Arcana | Every card shows a scene, so meanings can be read from the picture | Pips with symbolic patterns and a keyword printed on each card | Plain pips: five cups are five cups; meaning comes from number and suit |
| Notable card names | Strength VIII, Justice XI, Judgement, The World | Lust XI, Adjustment VIII, Art, Aeon, The Universe | Strength XI, Justice VIII, Le Jugement, Le Monde |
| Court cards | Page, Knight, Queen, King | Princess, Prince, Queen, Knight | Valet, Cavalier, Reine, Roi |
| Learning curve | Lowest; most books and apps assume it | Steep; built on Crowley’s Book of Thoth | Medium; needs a numerical method for the pips |
| Good first deck for | Nearly everyone | Readers who enjoy astrology and dense symbolism | Readers drawn to history or reading by pattern |
If a deck you like is labelled “RWS-based” or “Rider-Waite inspired”, the scenes and numbering follow the first column and any standard guidebook will work with it. Thoth-based and Marseille-based decks exist too, but they are fewer and usually say so on the box. When in doubt, look at the Eight of Cups: a figure walking away from a stack of cups means Rider-Waite-Smith; eight decorated cups with no figure means Thoth or Marseille. For a first deck, our beginners’ guide explains why the illustrated minors make the early weeks so much easier.
Keep in mind: Card meanings in all three families are traditions, not findings, and no deck predicts events or reads another person. Choose by the pictures you can describe and the guidebook you can follow. For health, legal, money or safety questions, the right next step is a qualified professional, not a different deck.
Read the full guide
Our deck hub compares Rider-Waite-Smith, Thoth, Marseille and modern decks in detail and walks through how to choose one.