starting to learn tarot

A michaels

hi my granddaughter is eleven and has a collection of oracle cards, she is fascinated with the tarot too but I feel this is a little to young , does anyone know if there are any simplified tarot cards for a young person just starting / something gentle suited to her age? some child related oracle decks ive seen are aimed at younger children but I cant find anything kind of a little more age appropriate for her in terms of tarot,
Or should I put her of this until shes older? anyones opinions greatly appreciated.
 

Sentient

The Hanson-Roberts tarot deck is a Waite-Smith clone, but deliberately drawn in a cute and upbeat way, almost sentimental. While all the cards are there, cards that tend to frighten (like Death and the Tower) are much milder than the standard imagery.

As long as your granddaughter is emotionally mature, she should have no problem with this deck. It's what I would recommend if you have concerns.

Otherwise, you might consider Doreen Virtue's Angel Tarot cards, where Death has been renamed "Release," and the Tower "Life Experience." In this deck every card seems positive.
 

violetdaisy

Aside from Hanson Roberts; Joie De Vivre is gentle visually. Honestly though, after you've made a decision whether or not you are going to allow any nudity at all in her first Tarot deck, you may want to leave the choice up to her. (After you've screened for said nudity. At that age I was ok with waist up stuff, as long as it was tasteful, but each child is different) I found my daughter has much different tastes than I do.

ETA: there's a list here of child-friendly decks to peruse through as well.
 

Grizabella

The Wonderland Tarot comes in a sturdy tin and I think it would be a really nice deck for a child. It's very cute and isn't anything scary. Someone here disagreed with me about it being for a child, but I don't see anything about it that would be inappropriate for children. You might choose to have a look at that one since tastes do vary. The tin it comes in would be ideal for a child to carry around, too. I was thinking of giving a copy to my great-grandson who is five years old.
 

barefootlife

I don't have any deck advice (my taste in decks is a little more on the weird side, and other people have made great suggestions), but I do think it might be a good idea to vet some decks and then let your granddaughter choose what appeals to her. She might be learning to read, but learning to trust her intuition is important too. If she loves Alice in Wonderland, that might be the perfect deck for her, but if she wants a deck 'like grandma's' that's important too. She's hit the age where making her own decisions about stuff like that is important.
 

Tanga

Hmmm...

Happy Tarot
Delos Tarot
Monstarot (not available until end-March)
Stickee Critters Tarot
White cat tarot (there's a mini size)
Ator Tarot...

Personally I lean towards Stickee Critters or Monstarot - I'm waiting for my Monstarot copy.
Hanson-Roberts would work nicely.

Check out children tarot deck section here on AT.
 

gregory

HONESTLY - I'd let her choose. It's all very well saying what deck we feel she should have - but she will have a better idea than anyone. (My own granddaughter, same sort of age, has a passion for the Pagan Cats, and has made some very to the point observations about some of the cards.)
 

nisaba

hi my granddaughter is eleven and has a collection of oracle cards, she is fascinated with the tarot too but I feel this is a little to young , does anyone know if there are any simplified tarot cards for a young person just starting / something gentle suited to her age?

Never dumb something down for kids. Have more respect for them than that. What they don't understand now they will simply not notice, and will understand it later. A childhood acquaintance of mine had a mini Rider-Waite when her age was in Single Figures, and it never did her any harm.

I find *adults* like the childhood decks better than children, and are far more fragile than children are. For adults, if they need a soft, childlike deck, I really recommend the Whimsical deck, conceived and designed by a friend of mine and illustrated for her by Mary Hanson-Roberts.







some child related oracle decks ive seen are aimed at younger children but I cant find anything kind of a little more age appropriate for her in terms of tarot,
Or should I put her of this until shes older? anyones opinions greatly appreciated.[/QUOTE]
 

A michaels

suitable tarot decks

Thanks everyone for your opinions I read them all and I think you've all given me really good advice, I agree I think at 11 I should let her choose after ive vetted them of course, nudity im not too worried about as long as its nothing tacky,
funnily enough there was some great suggestions for suitable decks a couple of them which I presume are more designed for children I hated them and as you pointed out children sometimes prefer the ones intended for adults,
I think she may like the Hanson Roberts deck or the Angels by Doreen virtue maybe a good one to start with as it has key words underneath, pagan cats also is another im gonna take a look at and also the Whimsical Tarot deck, Thanks once again you've all given me something to think about.
 

Gwynydd

The Distant Past Tarot was designed by Jeri Totten for her daughter (a child). It's absolutely beautiful and is on etsy :)