Tarot D: The Didactic Tarot

You can totally make a "standard" 78-card tarot from Jeffrey Donato's Tarot D -- but you'll have to remove 24 beautiful cards from the deck to do it. In this original and poetic creation, Donato relates allegorical tales through the cards (and further through the accompanying 160-page companion book). The standard four minor arcana suits are referred to by their elemental attributions (fire, water, air, earth), and include two additional "pip" cards per suit -- a "0" card preceding each ace, and an unnumbered "resolution" card following the tens. The court cards are titled Acolyte (= Page), Bearer (= Knight), Keeper (= Queen), and Master (= King), for a total of 16 cards per suit. There is an overall message associated with each suit: BE = Fire, DO = Earth, THINK = Air, and FEEL = Water. A fifth "minor arcana" suit called "The Diffusion", includes twelve titled-but-unnumbered cards, and is associated with the message PAUSE. The major arcana is comprised of the standard 22 archetypes, but also includes an unnumbered card preceding The Fool (which is numbered as "0"), called "The Source and the Void". Furthermore, four variations of The Magician card are included: Alchemist, Apothocary, Scientist, and Philosopher. Together, the deck makes for both fascinating storytelling and unique readings -- just be glad there is an in-depth explanatory manual included with this one.