The Essential Tarot Kit is a mini tarot deck, with a hardcover reference book and a box to keep it all in. The deck itself is a Hanson-Roberts tarot deck, which is largely considered to be a more modern interpretation of the Rider-Waite tarot deck. All in all, this is a fun little tarot kit, but the book could use some work.
Let’s go over the cards, then the book. We’ll talk about the box as well. Then, I’ll dive into what I really liked and what I didn’t to help you decide if you like this kit.
The Cards
The cards are great for a mini tarot deck. They’re printed on a nice material which has made them extremely durable. They don’t feel quite as good as my Everyday Tarot deck, but they don’t feel cheap either. It’s a solid quality mini deck which will do you well. As for longevity, my deck has survived at least several years of use without much wear.
Since the cards are solid, we should look at their appearance. The illustrations are whimsical and feel somewhat reminiscent of 70’s to 80’s style animation. Each card is lush and heavy with symbolism. As mentioned before, the symbolism used in these cards is largely in line with the Rider-Waite deck.
The cards were illustrated with what appears to be pen and pencil. Pen lines for the outlines and pencil for coloration and shading. This gives it each card a very cartoonish appearance. Some cards are also a lot better looking than others in my opinion.
These cards feel good for readings too. The imagery fits pretty much any modern tarot resource such as Lisa Chamberlain’s Tarot for Beginners. Some decks just don’t fit (like the Shadowscape Tarot which is a great deck, but diverges from mainstream tarot).
The Book
The Essential Book of Tarot looks nice and is really well bound, but leaves a lot to be desired for beginner’s. It weighs in at 112 pages, which is pretty big for a mini book like this. The book introduces several advanced spreads in the beginning. It features the Celtic Cross and a 7 card spread.
It’s actually much more suited at someone who has been working with tarot for a while. The book covers more advanced spreads, and the readings are a bit veiled for new practitioners. This was my first Tarot deck, but it wasn’t the first one I really learned.
The book was a bit too cryptic for me to get much out of. In hindsight though, the descriptions fit more like a quick note for someone who is familiar with the symbolism already. This book has gotten more useful for me as I learned more about tarot. That being said, there are still plenty of other more detailed resources. The whole kit strikes me as something put together for advanced beginners to grow with the tarot rather than a true beginner’s kit.
The Box
The kit comes with a pretty nice box. I personally didn’t end up using it since I used a different book when I used this deck. I’m sure it keeps the kit well organized and it was pretty decent quality. It was basically thick, laminated card stock with plastic insert spots for the deck and book. For a cheap kit it’s really nice, as a display box it’s okay, and as a useful box it’s passable. It’s really good for what it is, and it’s good enough to display, but it’s not the best box you’ll ever own by any metric.
The deck comes with a box as well. This box is extremely tight and even after using it for ages, it’s hard to put all of the cards back in easily. The box is tight and keeps the deck locked in place. It’s a pretty standard small deck box which keeps the cards from getting wear and tear in a bag. Since I only used the deck, I only used the standard deck box which is now scuffed, but is still very functional.
The packaging is better than most standard tarot kits. This can be a waste if you want something much nicer or skip the book. Ultimately, the price point is good even for a standard mini deck if you exclude the book and keep the box.
What I Liked
The imagery in this deck is great. It’s vivid and a little surreal which helps with more mystical applications. I use these cards for their similarity to the Rider-Waite deck when I need something small. They fit really well with that symbolism, and the deck is small.
The box for the deck is more than adequate. The book is a good set of notes on symbolism and meaning once you are familiar with tarot. Until then, the book is extremely weak in my opinion. It works as a quick reference if you go more off of the “feel” of a card rather than the written description. I tend to prefer to think of the more literal card description (imagery, situation, description of meaning, etc.) and abstract from there rather than only work in abstracts.
This book is good for the notes when you’re more familiar, but is kind of a miss otherwise. The spreads are intended for more advanced practitioners ideally as well. The Celtic Cross spread uses 10 cards, the 7 card spread introduced is like a 3 card spread with many extra bits of information. They are great spreads, but they’re harder for beginners.
What I Didn’t Like
The book has great spreads, but they’re tailored to more advanced practitioners. This kit isn’t made to be someone’s first tarot kit, but it’s marketed as such. The miniature size makes it much more approachable as a first foray into tarot as well.
The deck itself is great, but the book leaves a lot to be desired for a new learner. Make this your second deck and not your first if you like it. The deck is based on Rider-Waite which means it works with most more serious tarot works. It’s also a nice change of pace from the Rider-Waite as well.
Since I didn’t use the book when I first got this, I ended up tossing the box since it didn’t do much for me. In hindsight, I regret doing so, because the book is actually pretty good when you know more. I think if this were just targeted as a second deck or similar, it would work much better.
Conclusion
If you want a second tarot deck, or want another deck after learning the basics, this kit is great for you. It doesn’t really work as a first deck, but it’s a great next deck, especially if you haven’t read any books on tarot. The cards are based on the Rider-Waite symbolism, so they work as a nice alternative for many occult tarot based practices. Books written to explain the Rider-Waite work perfectly for this deck as well.
It’s a great mini deck and the cards are solid. The art is a bit more surreal, but it helps these for more mystic readings. It’s an affordable, portable deck which works with more standard tarot materials.
When you’re ready to learn more about the tarot, this might be the deck to make that leap. It’s a change of pace, different art style, and it fits the more standard tarot resources. I used it much more when I learned more about standard tarot. It’s a great little portable deck which can go with you. It also introduces new art and new interpretations of the standard symbolism which can help you further understand a card.
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