Buddhist Tarot Decks - a list of them all

I am a practising Zen Buddhist and a Tarot Therapist. My Buddhist principles are not separate from my client work. They are central to it. I don’t think that a deck of cards needs to be explicitly Buddhist to help us work from a here-now, compassionate perspective. But it can help sometimes!

I haven’t collected all of the Buddhist Tarot decks out there. Yet! I try not to grasp at material stuff too much (another one of those great Buddhist teachings), although it’s not easy. I have an obsessive streak and a taste for old decks. What can I say? As I have, however, searched the internet deeply for Buddhist decks, I thought it would be good to create a page where they can be found listed in one place.

Please note that this list does not include Buddhist Oracle decks, of which there are many. I’m sure that a lot of those are wonderful, but I deeply appreciate the structure of the Tarot. I am very interested in the ways that people have brought the sacred structure of the Tarot together with the sacred teachings of the Buddha. I am also trying not to list decks that contain elements of Buddhism combined with other spiritual traditions. Lines are, however, blurry and my own perspective on what Buddhism is (no doubt different from yours) has definitely influenced a few choices. That being said, I am fairly confident that the decks here are (almost) 100% Buddhist/Zen and 100% Tarot.

I will start with the decks in my collection, and then I will link to others that I have discovered (which may or may not end up in my collection one day). Enjoy!

Buddhistic Fantasy Tarot

This deck of 22 Major Arcana cards from Japan was one of the first fully Buddhist decks. It was released in 1982 and designed by Shigeki Gomi (who also created two other decks around that time). It is very hard to come by (I think limited to 200 copies), but it is beautifully colourful, cosmic and a little bit trippy. Takes me to another world, and a peaceful one at that.

The Buddha Tarot

This early 2000s deck by Robert Place is deeply considered. It features the Buddha’s life story in the Major Arcana, and a variety of Buddhas and Buddhist Goddesses in the Court Cards. I didn’t get on so well with it at first – it can feel a bit hard to read with sometimes – but all Tarots have their strengths and this is an excellent tool for meditation. Plus, I have learned about other traditions through this deck, which is designed after the Vajrayana tradition (I am a Zen practitioner).

The Dharma Tarot

This collage deck by Michelle Sellers is exquisite. Sometimes, you can find poems and gathas written in the corners which I have often found very inspiring. Unlike the other decks listed here, it draws from many different Buddhist traditions and I really appreciate that. I’d recommend the accompanying book, too, although it’s pricey and the cards are not cheap either. Still, this is a self-published and beautiful deck of large cards, and the book is great quality and in full colour. You get what you pay for! The book itself is an excellent book of Dharma. You can find Michelle Sellers online here.

Little Buddha Tarot

The Little Buddha Tarot is as cute as hell. In some ways, it’s a Rider Waite Smith clone, an approach I usually dislike. However, there is deep Buddhist symbolism here and many scenes of meditation. This is colourful Dharma for the inner child. There’s a surprising depth to it.

Osho Zen Tarot

You knew this was coming, didn’t you? It’s a marmite deck, love or hate. And I am in love. It is one of my favourite Tarot decks of all time, if not my number one. It just reads so well. It’s rare for my clients not to connect with these cards in a Tarot Therapy session. I could give lots of disclaimers about Osho, a controversial figure, but perhaps instead we can heap praise on the extremely talented artist, Ma Deva Padma, who created this deck based on his Zen lectures. Osho was not a Buddhist, but he did channel Zen. Ma Deva Padma channelled this Zen into an immaculate deck.

Roots of Asia

Another rare and out-of-print deck, the artwork and symbolism is the softest and dreamiest of all the Buddhist decks. As I write this blog post, the deck is coming in the post after years of me admiring it online. I find these types of ethereal, gentle artworks really good for Tarot Therapy work. Soft, dreamy landscapes often allow the client to read what they like into the cards, and also to delve into how a card feels rather than what it might mean. I have a feeling that this will become a special deck for me.

Sacred She Tarot

The newest deck (2023) by Ma Deva Padma (the Osho Zen creator) does not explicitly state that it is a Buddhist or Zen deck, so I’m pushing it a bit here. But once I started using it, the Dharma just shone for me. As the title suggests, it honours feminine wisdom, and the Buddhist symbolism is everywhere. It's just such a gentle, compassionate and wise deck that it felt wrong not to include it. You will find the Buddha appearing time and time again, as well as Zen phrases and keywords such as ‘Be Here Now’ (the title for Two of Earth/Pentacles) to help us along.

And now, a few other Buddhist Tarot decks that might interest you further….

The Tarot of Japanese Poetry is another of those borderline ones. Is it Buddhist, is it not? Each card comes with an accompanying haiku poem. Haiku itself is not a solely Buddhist thing, but its links with the here-and-now of Zen practice in old Japanese culture is undeniable. It’s been on my ‘maybe buy this’ list for over two years, and I’m sure it will fall in the Etsy basket at some point.

The Non-Being Supreme Tarot ("tarot du non etre supreme”) is a black-and-white French deck that was released in 1979. Very rare but apparently a very interesting Buddhist deck.

The Siddhartha Tarot – a colourful and quite beautiful deck with contemporary artwork, released in 2022.

The Buddha Tarot: Great Journey of Siddhartha – a Thai deck exploring the Buddha’s life story. It seems to align closely with Rider Waite Smith Tarot imagery. (Apologies for the Amazon link, I couldn’t find anywhere else that offered clear images.)

Royal Thai Tarot features Marseille-style pip cards and Thai Buddhist symbolism across the Major and Court Cards.

Lux Prajna Tarot looks dreamy and beautiful. It was created by Thaworn Boonyaman, one of the co-creators of the Roots of Asia Tarot. It is out of print and hard to find info about, but there are some youtube videos exploring it here. Thaworn Boonyaman also seems to have other decks and tarot projects that may be only printed in Thailand.

If you know of any decks that are both Tarot and Buddhist that aren’t on this list, please let me know, and I will update it. And of course, please do post in the comments anything you have to share about Buddhism or Tarot generally, including Buddhist Oracle decks or semi-Buddhist Tarot decks, too. I didn’t want to open those cans of worms here but the comments section welcomes them.

As a final note, if being part of a Buddhist Sangha (group) of Tarot lovers interests you, you can email me at stephen@naturetherapyonline.net to enquire about joining the Zen Tarot Sangha. We meet online once a month to pull a card from a Zen/Buddhist Tarot deck, meditate, and explore Tarot/Buddhist Dharma together. In the meantime, go well.

Smiles from Scotland,

Stephen