By Lalia Wilson
If you are making or buying a gift for a friend who loves tarot, what would most impress them? I don’t recommend that you buy a deck for someone unless you are sure that they are interested in that deck, or have it on their wish list. One exception is to choose a similar deck to one they really like and regularly use. Here are two ways to find similar decks to any given deck.
Let’s use the Halloween Tarot as an example of one your friend likes. Go to Amazon, input Halloween Tarot and bring up the page for that deck—the one they already have. Then notice a couple of things. One is the featured recommendations which include: the Santa Muerte deck, the Halloween Oracle deck, the Everyday Witch Tarot, the Tarot de la Nuit, the New Era Elements Tarot (2018) and there’s another 2018 deck, the Tarot of the Haunted House. You will also note that there is a category of “frequently purchased with” that brings up more options.
Another approach is to go to a site like aeclectic tarot (http://www.aeclectic.net) where decks are sorted into categories. Find the category/theme in which your friend’s favorite lies and look at which decks are similar. There are about 80 different themes for tarot/lenormand/oracle decks which are all intermingled. Also a single deck may show up in more than one theme. But this will give you a great place to find additional decks, perhaps the deck to wow, based upon which deck your friend loves.
Let’s use the Osho Zen deck as an example deck. Your friend loves this deck. On the aeclectic tarot web site the Osho Zen deck is in the “Australian” category. Other decks in that category are the 7th World Tarot, the Australian Animal Tarot, the Celestial Tarot, the Far Sight Tarot, the Watersprite Tarot and other decks. On the other hand, at Amazon we see these “similar” offerings: OSHO Transformation Tarot: 60 Illustrated Cards and Book for Insight and Renewal (2015) by Osho and Osho International Foundation (the same people who created the Osho Zen Tarot), the Work Your Light Oracle Cards (2018) by Rebecca Campbell, Postcards from Spirit: A 52-Card Oracle Deck (2017) by Colette Baron-Reid, The Akashic Tarot: A 62-Card Deck and Guidebook (2017) by Sharon Anne Klingler and Sandra Anne Taylor, and other suggestions for decks as well as books.
But don’t let that limit you. You could buy your friend or loved one a gift colored in the palette of their favorite deck. (Remember if they are protective of their deck you can still look it up online and see images of many of the cards.) A scarf? Flowers? A sweater? Gloves? Boots? A winter hat? Let your creativity flow as you create or find gifts for those you love.