dark decks needed

Hi all!

I am looking to purchase a "dark" deck. I have browsed through and found these so far:
-mdm endora's fortune telling cards
-vargo gothic deck
-archeon tarot

i am looking for input on any of these decks re: reading with them, if you can combine some of them, any info

thanks
yara
"making my list, checking it twice" LOL!

Please define what you mean by "dark".

You might check out the Vampire Tarot, The Gothic Tarot of Vampires, The Gothic Tarot (Leila Wendell Majors only), and Geiger (sorry about the spelling). If you see the Archeon as being dark you might also like to look at the Margarete Petersen deck (German edition, wine colored borders preferably).

I would say the Haindl is pretty dark, though many people, including myself find it compelling visually, but difficult to read with.

The Savage Tarot by MichelleX is very dark -- I don't have it though.

There's the Majors-only Abysmal Tarot, as well. Every card is a demon.
Also, the major's-only Alchemical Wedding Tarot. Very cool images.
And of course, we can't forget the Vertigo Tarot. Very rare and highly valued.

I have Luis Royo's Black Tarot and Labyrinth Tarot, but mostly for art's sake -- they're pip decks.

I have the Archeon, and like it, but have been having difficulty reading with it -- so I gave it a break.

I agree that H. R. Giger's is a great dark major's only deck -- the book it very deep, but ponderous and difficult to get through.

Shadow Tarot

There's also an online majors-only one here: http://www.shadowtarot.net/tunnels_of_set.asp

Each of the cards is a demon here as well.

Edited to add:

It's actually available, at least in book form. And apparently, the book at least deals with the minors as well. There are color plates in the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Tarot-Revised-Extended/dp/1904658040

It's based upon Crowley's 22 'Tunnels of Set'.

yaraluna said:

Hi all!

I am looking to purchase a "dark" deck. I have browsed through and found these so far:
-mdm endora's fortune telling cards
-vargo gothic deck
-archeon tarot

Click to expand...

Go to www.tarotgarden.com
in the upper left find the search field. Under the field click on Advanced Search.
The fifth search field is theme. scroll down to Halloween/Horror/Dark
hit submit

you will find scans of 36 decks.

for Majors only I use Giger.

For 78 cards I switch between the Vargo Gothic and Mage: the Ascension Tarot (depending on what time frame I'm feeling that day).

Madame Endora has a good reputation but is not tarot, Archeon...if you really want dark, this ain't it. The Archeon is a deck for folks that want dark - but can't stomach real darkness. Think of the Archeon as Darklite (lol), or perhaps Darkness in a searchlite, or perhaps Sinister Free Dark...get the idea? If you want Dark - go Dark...

Umbrae said:

Mage: the Ascension Tarot

Click to expand...

I had completly forgotten about Mage, and I have and really like this deck.

Yaraluna, if you are at all familiar with the White Wolf World of Darkness, the Mage deck would definetly be a good choice for "Dark". The deck was published as part of the Mage The Ascension roll playing game.

thanks for your replies!
I guess i have to clrea up whta dark is for me. i said "dark" since that is the word use here more often for decks that are darker incolor hues, tones; themes; etc.

I don't think i want a deck with a lot of bloody scenes in them like the vampires. i like vampires but not in tarot decks. Nor a deck with demons that distract me from the cards/meaning.
i though of the african voodoo tarot but energetically i do not fit with many of the cards. it is lovely, but i don't think i want that one in my collection yet.

so far i like osme of your suggestions like vertigo, gothic vargo, endora, archeon, and some others.

any others?
tahnks
yara

Hi Yaraluna,
How about Crow's Magic?

Have you looked at the Roots of Asia Tarot? I find this has a depth of darkness to it. Maybe it is just me, but the cards seem almost carved out of stone and nothing is quite clear. And being based on such an ancient religion as Buddhism gives it a sort of dark, mystical feel, to me.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/roots-of-asia/

What about the Akron tarot ?
78 cards in print and Thoth based http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/akron/