What does indie tarot actually mean?

A deck that its makers brought into the world themselves: the artist, sometimes with a writer beside them, decided the idea, made the artwork and took it to print without a publisher licensing it, usually self-published or crowdfunded in a small edition. It says nothing about the art style and everything about who made the decisions.

Why do indie tarot decks cost more?

You are paying for a small edition rather than a warehouse run. The decks here are mostly printed on 350 to 400gsm card with gilded edges, many are numbered and signed. Most arrive with a full book written by the people who made the deck. The price reflects the object and the years of work behind it.

How can I tell if a deck is genuinely independently produced?

Name the maker. An independent deck has a person behind it who will talk about making it, usually with a crowdfunding page, a studio site or a signed certificate in the box. If you cannot find the artist, or the same artwork appears under several shop names, be careful. Our guide to spotting a fake deck goes further.

Which indie tarot decks are good for beginners?

The ones that keep the Rider-Waite-Smith structure, so the books still apply: the Lucid Dreams Beginners Tarot with its printed keywords, the Cosmosis Tarot, The Shadows We Cast and the Amber Tarot, which keeps the Rider-Waite-Smith imagery itself. Our beginners guide goes deeper.

Where can I buy indie tarot decks in the UK?

You can buy them from us. Every deck on this page is sent from the UK, so there is no campaign to wait on. For UK orders there is nothing to pay at the door.

Are indie decks printed to the same standard as mass-market decks?

The ones we stock are printed with care. Most come on 350 to 400gsm card with gilded edges, in rigid or magnetic boxes, with a full book inside. Each product page lists the card stock, the finish and the box for that deck.

Do indie decks come with a guidebook?

Every deck on this page does. Most are full books written by the people who made the deck. A few are shorter booklets. Each product page says which.

Independent · Sent from the UK

Indie Tarot Decks UK

There are decks that come off a publisher's list and then there are decks that their makers brought into the world themselves. We carry only the second kind.

Indie is not a style. An independent tarot deck can be gothic or gentle, photographic or collaged by hand, faithful to Rider-Waite-Smith or built on suits of its own invention. What the word actually tells you is who was in charge. With an indie deck the artist, or the artist and the writer working beside them, decided the concept, made every card and brought the deck to print themselves, usually self-published or raised through the people who wanted a copy. No publisher licensed it. The deck is theirs in every sense.

The simplest test is this. Can you name the people who made it and did they bring it into the world themselves? If the answer is a studio name and a licensing arrangement, you are holding a published deck, which may be a fine one but is not an independent one.

What you are paying for with an independent deck is the object and the person behind it. The decks here are printed in small editions, some of them numbered and signed. Most come on 350 to 400gsm card with gilded edges. Most arrive with a full companion book written by the creators rather than a folded leaflet. Buying one is one small way of honouring the years of work inside it.

Every deck on this page is sent from the UK. There is no crowdfunding timeline to wait on and no parcel from the other side of the world. For UK orders there is nothing to pay at the door.

A word on what indie is not. Two kinds of deck borrow the look without the maker: decks generated by AI, where no artist drew the cards at all, then counterfeits, where the artist drew them and someone else printed them without asking. We have written about both. The links at the foot of this page will take you there. Every creator below is named. Every one of them made their own cards.

Our indie tarot creators and why

Rae Serafina BarkerRooted Remembrance Tarot Deck£67.50

One tarot, two oracles

Rae Serafina Barker

Rae makes every card herself in hand-layered collage with no AI. We hold her tarot, which renames its suits, together with her two oracles for the deep self.

Eugene Vinitski and Elsa KhapatnukovskiLiber Somnia£105

Three decks, three books

Eugene Vinitski and Elsa Khapatnukovski

Eugene draws and Elsa writes. Each of their decks is a system of its own: dreams, the Tree of Life and time. Each comes with a certificate numbered and signed by both.

Danielle NoelThe Moonchild Tarot Deck£60

Two editions of one deck

Danielle Noel

Danielle Noel assembles each of her 81 cards by hand. The Shadow Work Edition is the twilight mirror she carried in her mind from the moment the original was finished.

ST SOLEILLucid Dreams Beginners Tarot Deck£55

The first reader's indie deck

ST SOLEIL

ST SOLEIL is a small imprint that publishes slowly and prints in small editions. Lucid Dreams carries its keywords on every card, so you can read from the first spread.

Nicky FerradaThe Shadows We Cast Tarot Deck£45

One deck, hand-illustrated and gentle

Nicky Ferrada

Nicky hand-illustrated all 79 cards with a gentleness towards the shadow. It is a full Rider-Waite-Smith deck with one bonus card, sold by the artist herself and a handful of other shops.

The Shadows We Cast Tarot Deck by Nicky Ferrada, 79 Cards

Nicolas BrunoThe Somnia Tarot Deck£57

One deck, photographed

Nicolas Bruno

Nicolas is a photographer who staged and shot every card himself, drawing on the sleep paralysis he has lived with since his teens and the dream journals he kept through it. The deck came to print through his own crowdfunding campaign.

The Somnia Tarot Deck by Nicolas Bruno, 78 Cards, Revised Edition

Fanny Wuyts & Bridge BerneCosmosis Tarot Deck£65

One deck, two makers

Fanny Wuyts and Bridge Berne

Fanny illustrated all 78 cards over five years with no AI. Bridge wrote the guidebook. It keeps the traditional structure and adds subtle keyword signposts, which makes it an easy first indie deck.

Cosmosis Tarot Deck by Fanny Wuyts & Bridge Berne, 78 Cards

J. Edward NeillDark Fantasy Tarot Deck£60

One deck, painted in acrylic

J. Edward Neill

J. Edward Neill's original acrylic paintings are gothic throughout. They sit on the familiar Rider-Waite-Smith structure, with a 177-page guidebook of his own interpretation beside them.

Dark Fantasy Tarot Deck by J. Edward Neill, 78 Cards

Anastasia DyshlovenkoAmber Tarot Deck by Life Spirit Team£70

A deck shot on film

Life Spirit Team

Life Spirit Team staged the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot with real people, costumes and sets and photographed every card on film. The imagery stays so close to the classic deck that almost any traditional guidebook teaches it.

Amber Tarot Deck by Life Spirit Team, 78 Cards

How to choose between them

What does indie tarot actually mean?: A deck that its makers brought into the world themselves: the artist, sometimes with a writer beside them, decided the idea, made the artwork and took it to print without a publisher licensing it, usually self-published or crowdfunded in a small edition. It says nothing about the art style and everything about who made the decisions.
Why do indie tarot decks cost more?: You are paying for a small edition rather than a warehouse run. The decks here are mostly printed on 350 to 400gsm card with gilded edges, many are numbered and signed. Most arrive with a full book written by the people who made the deck. The price reflects the object and the years of work behind it.
How can I tell if a deck is genuinely independently produced?: Name the maker. An independent deck has a person behind it who will talk about making it, usually with a crowdfunding page, a studio site or a signed certificate in the box. If you cannot find the artist, or the same artwork appears under several shop names, be careful. Our guide to spotting a fake deck goes further.
Which indie tarot decks are good for beginners?: The ones that keep the Rider-Waite-Smith structure, so the books still apply: the Lucid Dreams Beginners Tarot with its printed keywords, the Cosmosis Tarot, The Shadows We Cast and the Amber Tarot, which keeps the Rider-Waite-Smith imagery itself. Our beginners guide goes deeper.
Where can I buy indie tarot decks in the UK?: You can buy them from us. Every deck on this page is sent from the UK, so there is no campaign to wait on. For UK orders there is nothing to pay at the door.
Are indie decks printed to the same standard as mass-market decks?: The ones we stock are printed with care. Most come on 350 to 400gsm card with gilded edges, in rigid or magnetic boxes, with a full book inside. Each product page lists the card stock, the finish and the box for that deck.
Do indie decks come with a guidebook?: Every deck on this page does. Most are full books written by the people who made the deck. A few are shorter booklets. Each product page says which.

Worth reading alongside these: why we champion independent creators, how to spot a fake tarot deck, all our deck reviews. Looking for something else? tarot decks for beginners, shadow work and dark tarot decks, dream and psychological tarot decks, indie oracle decks, tarot and oracle decks for meditation and mindfulness. Or see the full collection of indie tarot decks, every one of them stocked and shipped from the UK.

Indie Tarot Decks UK

Our indie tarot creators and why

How to choose between them

The Unveiled List