I'm looking for a queer tarot deck - hopefully something with the lovers card not being really cis heteronotmative, you know? Do you have any recommendations?
Oh I do know! And I’m so glad you asked because I’ve been meaning to point out some awesome queer decks on this blog!
(Before I begin: No animal decks or otherwise people-less decks are going to get mentioned because lack of people does not equate “queer friendly.”)
This gets long so it’s under a cut, but if you know of any other queer decks not mentioned (or any warnings about queer decks that you feel should be shared), please message me or reblog this post!
TW: Nudity under cut
Let’s get into it, starting with decks I own:
Tarot of the Silicon Dawn by Egypt Urnash
This deck’s Lovers features three people, whom Urnash never distinguishes the gender of. Urnash herself is a trans woman in a polyamorus relationship (at least at the time of writing the booklet for the deck!) Is it any surprise the Lovers would have more than two people?
The deck itself tends to have a lot of sexual undertones, that are explicitly stated in the deck’s booklet. For this reason, I would not recommend the deck for anyone who is sexually repulsed or made uncomfortable by nudity. There is one card in particular that is very, very sexual, which is 8½: Maya [click here to see an image of it, but remember it’s very NSFW!] The other cards display nudity, but for the most part it’s not necessarily sexual, if that makes sense.
Unfortunately, the Court cards are still called Queen and King, with Chevalier and Prince/Princess depending on the suit. Also the Pentacles and Wands have their elements switched, so Pentacles are Fire and Wands are Earth.
Also this deck is very small. A little longer than playing cards perhaps? So if that’s something you want, or don’t want, keep that in mind.
Modern Spellcaster’s Tarot by Melanie Marquis and Scott Murphy
This deck is significantly not really meant to be “queer” but it has a lot of LGBTAQ themes. Aside from The Lovers being hooded figures that disguise any obvious gender, the Four of Wands has two feminine people getting married and Two of Cups has two masculine people sharing a cup together. But it still has Queen/King/Knight/Page titles.
There isn’t any avert sexual themes in the deck, which could be useful if someone is sex repulsed.
My biggest problem with the deck is that it’s very NeoPagan and NeoWiccan in its symbolism… Lots of the Triple Goddess Moon symbolism throughout the deck. I don’t recall if the book itself was sprouting stuff about “masculine” or “feminine” energy, which is nice (and happens so much that I usually just filter it out when I read any tarot book.) Also, the book that comes with it is very dogmatic about how to handle a tarot deck – which I tend to disregard.
But a fairly nice deck with some diversity!
The Numinous Tarot by Noel Arthur Heimpel
… Okay I don’t technically own this deck yet, but I did participate in the Kickstarter and will get a deck when it comes out in February 2018! This is seriously probably my favorite deck I’m going to list, just because I love the imagery.
This deck was explicitly made queer. Heimpel is a genderfluid artist who wanted to represent a variety of people and genders, and I think they did just that! Seriously this deck is breathtaking and you can still preorder it even though the kickstarter ended.
The Court cards have been renamed to Mystic, Creator, Explorer, and Dreamer. Some of the gendered Major cards have also be renamed, like High Priestess is now The Diviner. It’s all very rad.
And suits have been changed! Which is kinda cool I think?
Anyway I am so excited to own this deck!
Now onto decks I don’t own, but I heard good things about:
Slow Holler Tarot by Various People (screencap of the deck from this video)
This deck is known for being Southern Queer Wonderfulness. I don’t personally yet own it, but I plan to someday get it because it’s very beautiful artwork at the very least.
Gendered cards and then some have been renamed too, which is fantastic in my opinion. Suits are also renamed to various things, like Swords being now Knives and whatnot.
Next World Tarot by Cristy C. Road
This Lovers card is pretty gorgeous, not gonna lie…
Anyway, I don’t own this deck nor have I preordered it, but it looks pretty awesome. Taken from the pre-order page: “Featuring body outlaws, endangered cultures, and anti-colonial belief systems, THE NEXT WORLD TAROT envisions a world where justice relies on respect and revolutionary love.”
It’s pretty revolutionary in that regard, and the art is fantastic. I don’t know much about it beyond that. It seems like the gendered names of cards are still there, which is meh but not the worse thing since the deck displays a lot of different body types and genders nonetheless.
That’s about all the ones I know. I’ll update this list if I find any others!
