The Great Debate: Tarot Decks with Keywords

Exploring the pros and cons of tarot decks with keywords, and a review of the Star and Strength tarot deck.

Earlier this year, I received a tarot deck called Star and Strength, created by Antonio Tourino. The deck is branded specifically as a tarot deck for beginners.

It’s adapted on the Rider Waite Smith, and includes keywords for upright and reversed interpretations, as well as brief descriptions on each card. These read as little messages, often oracular in nature: “You have what it takes to make things happen,” the Magician card reads before expanding upon the card’s meaning.

At first, I felt challenged by this deck. Those of you who have followed me here for a while, or who have taken my classes, will know that my core approach to tarot emphasizes visual readings – relying on tarot’s artwork, symbolism, and the history behind those things to delineate a reading.

But it’s good to step back sometimes and think about what I would want if I was in a beginner’s shoes again. I’ve had the occasional student show up to tarot classes with tarot cards that they have written on: People add notes, keywords, ideas, elemental clues…all kinds of things on their cards to help them learn.

And while I often say that tarot meanings aren’t the same as card readings, understanding the general consensus behind what each card represents is an important foundational exercise.

Plus, something happens throughout the process of learning tarot where you come to absorb those card meanings to the point where, with enough time and practice, they can become second-nature to you. You will realize eventually that they don’t fit every reading – which is why it’s good to have other techniques under your belt, too. But they’re there, in the back of your mind as you consider what to make of a layout of cards.

Still, tarot cards with keywords on them are quite a divisive topic among some tarot readers. They can inspire love-hate reactions. This is another thing I wanted to reflect on before I wrote an honest review about this deck:

Is the criticism fair?

Like anything, there can be a lot of reasons for and against something in tarot. If I was paying for a professional reading and someone was reading keywords off of their tarot cards, I would not be impressed – anyone can read off the standard meanings.

But if I was back in my beginner shoes, I would probably love a deck like this.

The Star and Strength tarot deck is essentially a learning device. It’s not necessarily intended to be your go-to deck forever: It is like an elevated flash card system. You could pull a card at random and learn about it, or use it for daily draws to receive a quick message.

One thing I also want to note about this deck is that it comes with built-in yes, no, maybe answers as well. While this another hot-button topic in the tarot world, I love working with tarot for quick questions, and many of my students and clients will know that I have nothing against yes-or-no queries. While it can be hard to bake-in yes or no questions across a deck – it really is question dependent – this deck can offer a learning opportunity to at least start to shape some thoughts around yes / no interpretations.

Overall, I could see the Star and Strength pack being a useful tool for beginner readers on many levels. It can also be a useful tool for anyone who struggles with memorization.

Tourino has also put effort into this deck beyond the cards themselves, having put together a more detailed digital guide and website with deeper interpretations.

Some people find writing on tarot cards to be distracting, and that’s a fair stance. But I think it’s important for the tarot community to make room for different ways of working with tarot.

We all start somewhere with tarot. For some readers, having a deck like this could be the stepping stone they need, and I’m not going to argue with that.

What is something that would have helped you when you started reading tarot?

Until next time,

Liz

Want to stay up to date with more discussions about tarot tips and trends? Join my newsletter here!

Categories: : learn tarot, tarot deck reviews