Tarot Taxonomy

We're getting ready for a bit of a site design change at The Game Crafter, and I need some help deciding whether we need to sub-categorize the "Tarot" section of the site.

Some people in the past have told me that we may want to split up "Tarot" and "Oracle". I have to admit that I'm ignorant of the difference. Also, I'm not sure if we should have a Lenormand section separate from the rest. And if we do these things, is there a hierarchy to them? For example is "Oracle" a subdivision of "Tarot" or are they both related and a parent category would be "Divination".

Any help or explanations that you could provide would be both interesting and useful. I appreciate your time. Thank you.

Tarot and Lenormand are types of Oracles however now-a-days people make Oracles also which is kind of an appropriation of the word. To be safe I would put them all under the heading Divination.

I agree. 'Divination' would be a great category to have. Tarot, Oracle and Lenormand could be sub-categories. I've found that Oracle and Tarot decks are two separate entities, and most people would prefer to make the distinction clear.

Tarot is ALSO a playing card deck

The Game Crafter said:

We're getting ready for a bit of a site design change at The Game Crafter, and I need some help deciding whether we need to sub-categorize the "Tarot" section of the site.

Some people in the past have told me that we may want to split up "Tarot" and "Oracle". I have to admit that I'm ignorant of the difference. Also, I'm not sure if we should have a Lenormand section separate from the rest. And if we do these things, is there a hierarchy to them? For example is "Oracle" a subdivision of "Tarot" or are they both related and a parent category would be "Divination".

Any help or explanations that you could provide would be both interesting and useful. I appreciate your time. Thank you.

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The main difference between oracle cards and Tarot cards is that an oracle deck by definition is a divination deck. The Tarot is also a playing card deck which is more often currently used in divination. The most basic definition of Tarot which distinguishes it from cards most often called "oracles" is that the Tarot consists of 78 cards using a 4*14+22 structure. Unlike oracle cards, Tarot cards are not only used in divination. I think it would do a disservice to game designers and game players to employ a taxonomy which implies that Tarot is ONLY used in divination. Some Tarot decks are designed for games and I see more than a few Tarot game decks in the TGC Tarot section including some of my own creations. I think Tarot should be in its own category where divination Tarots and gaming Tarots could co-exist. I think Oracle cards should be in a distinct category from Tarot.

TGC already has these distinct categories; Playing Cards, Tarot, and Non Games. I would propose simply adding an Oracles category.

Game decks in the TGC Tarot category

Below is a list of Gaming decks in the Tarot section for those who are curious.

Decks designed mainly for traditional Tarot trick taking game
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/anaithnid-tarot-french-suited-
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/anaithnid-tarot-latin-suited-
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/psychonautica

My own contributions
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/trionfi-blue-back-
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/the-las-vegas-tarot


Game deck for an RPG
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/machinations-of-the-space-princess-tarot

Divination Tarot appears to be inspired by traditional Tarot game
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/the-numerical-tarot

I think that all you need is a main category of divination, with subsets of Tarot, Oracles, & Lenormands. The game-playing tarots are not used much in the English speaking world, and are not what come to mind with the word tarot. They are better known as Tarocchi or Trifoni decks.

magpie9 said:

I think that all you need is a main category of divination, with subsets of Tarot, Oracles, & Lenormands. The game-playing tarots are not used much in the English speaking world, and are not what come to mind with the word tarot. They are better known as Tarocchi or Trifoni decks.

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The word "Tarocchi" is simply the Italian word for "Tarot"
English language sources from Mathers to Dummett call it the "Game of Tarot" and not "Tarocchi" http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/mathers/mtar05.htm

Interest in Tarot games in the English speaking world has in fact been growing recently because of the internet. I'm not only speaking of the traditional trick taking games but for nearly 40 years the Tarot has been used as a prop in Role Playing Games and games with medieval fantasy subject matter. The Tarot is just as much a playing card deck even today as it is an oracle/divination deck. The standard playing card deck is also used in divination as well and until the 1960's or 1970's this practice was more popular than Tarot reading.

I think to promote the usual Anglo American prejudices about these cards, that playing cards are for games and Tarot is for divination, stifles innovation so I would have to disagree with having Tarot as a subset of divination unless Tarot is also present as a subset of playing cards. I think a divination category might also be superfluous as I think "oracle" would cover that if Tarot or Lenormand doesn't. In any case, Tarot belongs in more than one category.

Mabuse said:

......Tarot is also present as a subset of playing cards....In any case, Tarot belongs in more than one category.

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That should work fine.

From a practical standpoint organizing-wise, I think you can just expand the Tarot section to a Tarot and Oracles" section, and then have 2 subsets, "Tarot" and "Oracles." Though Tarot is indeed also used for games, I'm thinking most of those who pubish Tarot with you intended their creations to be used for divinatory purposes. In any case, you can check with them, and have those Tarot game decks put in the games section.

Thanks

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I'd love to put the Tarot games (non-oracle) in with the other games, but I think that people would have a hard time finding them. Based upon this discussion I'm thinking that it could be a simple taxonomy like:

Tarot
|- Trifoni
|- Oracle

Does that seem reasonable?