African-American decks??

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 07 Nov 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ballekarina	07 Nov 2001
I am new to tarot and am looking for an African-American-focused deck and I can't seem to find one. Does one even exist? I have seen the voodoo deck and the egyptian decks, but I am really looking for African-American. Any info will be appreciated! Thanks!!!

purplelady	07 Nov 2001
I can think of decks that have pictures of african -american people, but not exclusively. Two great decks that come to mind are motherpeace , and merryday. I cannot think of a totally african-american deck . Perhaps that's an idea to deck creators out there? Until then , maybe one of the others will suit you , tarot-wise.

faunabay	07 Nov 2001
Oddly enough there is a deck called The African Tarot. It's a small deck with very bright colors and child-like artwork. I love it! Check it out.

purplelady	07 Nov 2001
You're right faunabay! I knew I had seen it , but could not find it on this site. Here is a link I found: http://www.astroamerica.com/t-africa.html I wonder if it is still available or in print as you don't hear of it much. But it is a cute deck!

Dee 04	09 Nov 2001
Also: Tarot of the Origins Tarot of the Orisas Shining Woman (out of print - with some African influence yet multicultural) (maybe?)- Shining Tribe Tarot Check those out and let me know.

Mojo	10 Nov 2001
Try the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot http://www.wicce.com/voodoo.jpg

goldie	11 Nov 2001
The Tarot of the orishas is an African American tarot, The orishas are dieties bought with the slaves to the new world, and how they hid there concepts of the orishas during their enslavement.... It is a complicated tarot, but intriging.....it is not a voodou tarot, Blessed be

dolphingirl	17 Nov 2001
Hi Just got the African Tarot at the half price store and I must say it is really neat. It is nice smaller size easy for small hands to shufle. The colors are bright and the art work is fun and light. The pictures follow the Rider Waite in pics but in a very relaxed way. Thanks Samantha

ballekarina	27 Dec 2001
I appreciate everyone's suggestions.... I would like to get the African deck... but it seems to be REALLY hard to find. *sigh* I'll also check out the other suggestions to help me. :-) Thanks again!!!

Lee	27 Dec 2001
Hi, Ballekarina -- The African Tarot is in print, and it can be ordered online from the publisher for $15.00 plus shipping. Go to this website and search for "African Tarot": http://www.usgamesinc.com Good luck -- -- Lee

funkpuss	06 Jan 2002
Hi Ballekarina, Ther is a tarot deck called Pop/Rock Tarot Calender published in 1972 by Scholastic Book Services, New YorK The cards were designed by Julia Noonan with accompanying text by Julia Remine Piggin. The cards titles are from songs popular in the 1960s and & 70s. The deck does contain black people but I'm not too sure weather you can find cards with African-American. Maybe you should design a deck! I hope the info helps. Funkpuss

divinerguy	06 Jan 2002
Although not a strictly african-american deck, the Daughters of the Moon Tarot is about as multicultural as you're going to find. It celebrates our differences in an attempt to bring us together. Gary

sungoddess	27 Oct 2004
The Tarot Lukumi I understand to be very grounded in the Santeria/Lukumi tradition and features African-descended people in it. I understand that is a multicultural deck as well. That said, I think there is a great need for a deck that features stong African-descended cultural images on it. I found a deck called Book of African Divination with some cards, but in no way should construe this as a tarot deck. I didn't like the deck very much, for whatever reason they didn't resonate with me much. The African Tarot is available at Amazon.com, and I saw it a number of other places when I was looking for Tarot Lukumi. I was thinking as I was doing some research into deck recently, that there really needs to be a deck with African faces on it... it's the one theme largely missing from the hundreds and hundreds of decks available.

Isis18	27 Oct 2004
Keep an Eye on Ebay, I was on the a couple of days ago and saw an African American Deck, didn't get a chance to look at the pic's though, but you never no what treasures are on ebay,lol Blessed Be *Isis*

Gerbear	27 Oct 2004
Although there are several decks with African people on them, there is no deck with African-American people at present. Various decks have black people on them, such as the Rock n Roll, but the American black culture is not represented in tarot.

Cerulean	27 Oct 2004
http://www.tarotpassages.com/IHADTarot.htm Hope this helps. Regards, Cerulean

sungoddess	28 Oct 2004
Cerulean, I had a look at that deck, and well... coming from the Caribbean I found that this wouldn't appeal to me much. I would be very interested in a Tarot deck that had a more Pan-African context than one solely focussed on the African-American experience. I'd like to see something more grounded in our overall heritage...

SongDeva	28 Oct 2004
African Tarot is $10 and change on abebooks .com. Anyway, Ballekrina (forgive spelling) I would take a look at the World Spirit if I were you. It's funky multicultural. The African Tarot is cute and might be fun to have, though it's not African American as you specified. You also might want to take a look at: Black Angel Cards : A Soul Revival Guide for Black Women

sungoddess	29 Oct 2004
Quote: Originally posted by goldie The Tarot of the orishas is an African American tarot, The orishas are dieties bought with the slaves to the new world, and how they hid there concepts of the orishas during their enslavement.... It is a complicated tarot, but intriging.....it is not a voodou tarot, Blessed be Except that the Tarot of The Orishas portray African deities with a decided Latino/European bent. There are African looking images in that deck, but for the most part, not all of the deities are portrayed as Africans. Mama Oya for example doesn't not look like a fierce African warrior Queen to me. There is the Tarot Lukumi, which is a little more 'dark', but as yet I have not seen a completely African or African-descended tarot deck with artwork that I like. There is a similar post to this that I posted somewhere, where they are talking about a deck with African-American heritage imagery on it, however, being from the Caribbean, I could only identify moderately with their choices so far. I'd like to see a tarot deck completely grounded in African heritage, both in the Motherland and in the 'New World'.

The African-American decks?? thread was originally posted on 07 Nov 2001 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.