Agnostic Tarot uses the Tarot de Marseille deck. It is a so-called “pip deck”, meaning the number cards do not have scenes on them. They are like playing cards, showing just the suit symbol times the number, the 5 of batons for example only shows 5 batons. There are flourishes, flowers and other decorative elements - but there is no scene with a person doing something, unlike most tarot decks today.

We are going to start with rote memorization - think abc’s - as a jumping off point. This is the first benefit to using a pip deck. Rather than memorize 56 meanings for the number and court cards, plus 56 reversed meanings - You can have 14 keywords for numbers and court cards. See my chart below:

When you are getting started don’t worry about reversals. You can begin to incorporate them later if you choose. They are not needed at all to read. I do not use them, or very rarely.

Even without the reversals, using the TdM keywords requires less than 1/2 of the initial memorization. You will become comfortable with the cards quicker, and your own understanding will expand beyond the keywords. That is when the real fun begins, and the tarot becomes useful for every day problem solving. (And More!)

For this course you will need a Tarot de Marseille deck. Make sure you get an actual tarot deck.¹ It should be a classic replica. There are a lot of choices available, different artists’ renditions of the original from different publishers, ebay, Amazon.com, and more. Below are two recommendations you can order from the publishers’ websites:

⚜ CBD Tarot ⚜

Images on this site come from the CBD Tarot

⚜ Tarot de Marseille ⚜

This deck comes in various sizes and even has an antique styled one

Get your deck, look it over, and enjoy the artwork. Shuffle it and get the feel for it. Then begin the practice!